Born on April 8, 1913, in Canton, China, where his American parents lived at the time while his ophthalmologist father was teaching eye surgery there, Howard returned with his family to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1927. After graduating from John Burroughs School in St. Louis, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Pomona College in Claremont, California, in 1937, intending to follow his father into medicine.[4][6] Shortly before graduation, however, Howard decided that the life of a Naval Aviator was more appealing than six years of medical school and internship, and he entered the United States Navy as a naval aviation cadet.
In June 1941, he left the Navy to become a P-40 fighter pilot with the American Volunteer Group (AVG), the famous Flying Tigers, in Burma.[6] Howard was assigned to the 2nd Squadron ("Panda Bears") of the Flying Tigers and on January 3, 1942, Howard was part of a flight led by squadron leader Jack Newkirk in attacking a Japanese-held Tak airfield near Raheng, Thailand. Upon their arrival over the airfield, the flight noticed three Nakajima Ki-27s on the ground and another three on a landing pattern. Howard led the strafing run on the airfield where he personally destroyed three Ki-27s on the ground while Howard's wingman Tex Hill shot down a Ki-27 that was attacking Howard. As Howard prepared to conduct a second strafing run, his P-40 was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire. Despite the damage, Howard managed to fly his P-40 along with remainder of the flight to Rangoon, Burma.[7] This mission was featured in a 2006 episode about the Flying Tigers in the History Channel series Dogfights.[8]
On January 19, he and two other pilots were credited with shared destruction of a Mitsubishi Ki-21 bomber engaging in reconnaissance over Burma and on January 24, he shot down a Ki-27 over Rangoon. On July 4, Howard shot down another Ki-27 over Hengyang, China with AVG shooting down three more Ki-27s with no loses. The aerial battle over Hengyang was the last combat action of Flying Tigers before it was disbanded.[9] He flew 56 missions and shot down 6 Japanese warplanes.[N 1][1]
On January 11, 1944, Howard led three squadrons of 354th FG P-51s on an escort mission to support bombers on the target leg at Oschersleben, Germany. The bombers had completed their target run and were already in trouble when Howard spotted them. After dispensing the other two squadrons to protect middle and rearward bomber formations, Howard's squadron flew towards the lead formation and broke up into flights.[11]
After the initial contact, Howard became separated from his flight[6] and then from his wingman[11] and flew unaccompanied into some 30 Luftwaffe fighters that were attacking a formation of American Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers.[4][12] For more than a half-hour, Howard defended the heavy bombers of the 401st Bomb Group against the swarm of Luftwaffe fighters, repeatedly attacking the enemy and shooting down as many as six.[12] Even after three of his four guns were out of action, he continued to dive on enemy airplanes.[12] The leader of the bomber formation later reported, "For sheer determination and guts, it was the greatest exhibition I've ever seen. It was a case of one lone American against what seemed to be the entire Luftwaffe. He was all over the wing, across and around it. They can't give that boy a big enough award."[6] However, none of this has ever been confirmed against German records and according to Air Force Historical Study 85, Howard was credited in destroying three enemy aircraft during the mission, which includes two twin-engine Messerschmitt Bf 110s and one Focke-Wulf Fw 190.[13]
The following week, the Army Air Forces held a press conference in London at which Major Howard described the attack to reporters, including the BBC, the Associated Press, CBS reporter Walter Cronkite, and Andy Rooney (for Stars and Stripes). The story was a media sensation, prompting articles such as "Mustang Whip" in the Saturday Evening Post, "Fighting at 425 Miles Per Hour" in Popular Science, and "One Man Air Force" in True magazine. "An attack by a single fighter on four or five times his own number wasn't uncommon", wrote a fellow World War II fighter pilot in his postwar memoirs of Howard's performance, "but a deliberate attack by a single fighter against thirty-plus enemy fighters without tactical advantage of height or surprise is rare almost to the point of extinction."[14] The following month, Howard was promoted to lieutenant colonel. On January 30, during a mission over Brunswick, he shot down another Bf 110 and on April 8, 1944, he shot down a Fw 190 over Brunswick, his last aerial victory of the war.[13] In June 1944, he was presented the Medal of Honor by General Carl Spaatz for his January 11 valor. That same month, Howard helped direct fighter cover for the Allies' Normandy landings on D-Day.[4] During the war, Howard was credited with eight aerial victories (2.33 over China and 6 over Europe) and three ground victories (in China), thus making him a flying ace.[13][10]
As a civilian after the war, Howard was Director of Aeronautics for St. Louis, Missouri, managing Lambert Field while maintaining his military status as a brigadier general in the United States Air Force Reserve. He later founded Howard Research, a systems engineering business, which he eventually sold to Control Data Corporation.[6] He married Mary Balles in 1948 in a military wedding ceremony. They later divorced, and Howard then married Florence Buteau.
Grave at Arlington National Cemetery
In the 1970s, Howard retired to Belleair Bluffs in Pinellas County, Florida.[1] In 1991, he wrote an autobiography, Roar of the Tiger, chiefly devoted to his wartime experiences.[6] On January 11, 1994, the 50th anniversary of the Oschlersleben attack, the Board of County Commissioners in Pinellas County proclaimed "General Howard Day" and presented him with a plaque.[15] A permanent exhibit honoring General Howard was also unveiled in the terminal building of the county's St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.[5][16] Another exhibit paying tribute to Howard was subsequently dedicated at his high school alma mater, John Burroughs School in St. Louis.
The citation accompanying the Medal of Honor awarded to Lieutenant Colonel James H. Howard on 5 June 1944, by Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz reads:
Howard receiving the Medal of Honor from Lieutenant General Carl SpaatzHoward presented with a plaque at a 1982 reunion of Air Force Medal of Honor recipients
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy near Oschersleben, Germany, on 11 January 1944. On that day Col. Howard was the leader of a group of P-51 aircraft providing support for a heavy bomber formation on a long-range mission deep in enemy territory. As Col. Howard's group met the bombers in the target area the bomber force was attacked by numerous enemy fighters. Col. Howard, with his group, at once engaged the enemy and himself destroyed a German ME. 110. As a result of this attack Col. Howard lost contact with his group, and at once returned to the level of the bomber formation. He then saw that the bombers were being heavily attacked by enemy airplanes and that no other friendly fighters were at hand. While Col. Howard could have waited to attempt to assemble his group before engaging the enemy, he chose instead to attack single-handed a formation of more than 30 German airplanes. With utter disregard for his own safety he immediately pressed home determined attacks for some 30 minutes, during which time he destroyed 3 enemy airplanes and probably destroyed and damaged others. Toward the end of this engagement 3 of his guns went out of action and his fuel supply was becoming dangerously low. Despite these handicaps and the almost insuperable odds against him, Col. Howard continued his aggressive action in an attempt to protect the bombers from the numerous fighters. His skill, courage, and intrepidity on this occasion set an example of heroism which will be an inspiration to the U.S. Armed Forces.[20]
^According to the USAAF, Howard officially is credited with 2.33 aerial victories and 3 ground victories during his time with the Flying Tigers. After the war, ground victories were not to be recognized by the USAAF.[9]
^The New York Times obituary that calls Howard the only ETO fighter pilot to receive the Medal of Honor is wrong; there was at least one other: 1st Lt. Raymond L. Knight."Knight -- 1st Lt Raymond L Knight". Air Force Historical Support Division. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
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