James H. Isbell USAF Brigadier General Ret.

Born in Union City, Tennessee, in 1914, Isbell enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1933, and attended the West Point Preparatory School. He received a Presidential appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1934, where he was elected captain of the Army football team.

After his graduation from West Point in 1938, Gen. Isbell took pilot training at Randolph and Kelly fields in Texas, receiving his wings in August 1939. He remained at Kelly Field as an instructor until 1942, then served brief tours at the newly activated bases at Midland, Big Springs, and Childress, Texas.

In January 1944 Isbell took the 458th Bombardment Group to England for combat duty in the Eighth Air Force. He led the group on 22 combat missions in B-24 Liberator aircraft over Germany and enemy-occupied Western Europe. His unit distinguished itself by participating in more than 200 missions over enemy territory.

After the war Gen. Isbell served on the staff of the Air Training Command at Randolph Field and Barksdale A.F. Base, Louisiana. He returned to England in 1949 to serve on the staff of the Third Air Force. Between 1953 and 1957, he graduated from the Air War College, then served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff and in the Directorate of Plans of the Air Staff. In 1958 he graduated from the National War College. Isbell served for four years as Chief of Staff and then Deputy Commander of the Alaskan Air Command, and for a year as Chief of Staff of the Continental Air Command.

In 1963 he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and assigned to Andrews Air Force Base, as Commander, 1st and 2nd Air Force Reserve Regions.

Gen. Isbell's decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star, the Air Medal with two clusters, and the French Croix de Guerre, among many others.

Gen. Isbell's wife of 58 years, the former Virginia Fleming of Fulton, Kentucky, died in 1996. He is survived by a daughter, Reed Isbell-Hobbs of McLean, Virginia; a son James H. Isbell Jr. of Austin, Texas; a son Thomas G. Isbell of Henderson, Nevada; a grandson James G. Meek of Arlington, Virginia; a grandson Reid Isbell of Ashland, Oregon; and a great-granddaughter Melena Meek of Arlington, Virginia.

His memberships included the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels, the Order of Daedalians, the Air Force Association, and the West Point Alumni Association.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made to the American Red Cross.