Military
James enlisted into the U.S. Army on January 20, 1942, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He trained at Fort Knox in Kentucky until he was moved to Fort Dix, New Jersey, on April 10, 1942. He was sent overseas to Europe and landed in Ireland on June 11, 1942. While participating in additional training, however, Ball became ill and remained so for months. He landed in Oran, Algeria, on November 8, 1942, just days after recovering and nearly a year after the Pearl Harbor attack. He was a tank operator in the 13th Armored Regiment, and he was in Company H and the First Division. The 13th Armored Regiment had been assigned to Combat Command B during Operation Torch. After Ball’s death, Company H would become the first to enter Rome, which was the first major Axis city to be captured during the war. |