James H. Barron

Bio for 1st Lieutenant James Barron

James Henry Barron was born in Chicago Illinois March 12, 1933. Very early in his life, his family moved to SAN DIEGO, to 305 Playa Del Sur, near Wind and Sea beach, just a block and a half from the water, not far from the famous Grass Shack, in La Jolla. He went to La Jolla High School and then California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo CAL POLY, where he studied Electronics and Radio, afterwards returning to San Diego and working for Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corperation, which later became GENERAL DYNAMICS and then CONVAIR.  

After he applied to the USAF in 1954, James Barron was sworn into the United States Air Force and then attended Aviation Cadet and Student Pilot training at Williams Air Force Base in Arizona. It was there he met his future wife, Linda Carl Barron, after friends suggested he look up another La Jolla local while she was attending University of Arizona there...but they would not be married until after he returned from his future assignments abroad.

In 1955, James Barron went on to fighter pilot and Helicopter pilot training at Arizona, Texas and Tennessee Air Force bases and excelled in his training. 1st Lieutenant James Barron became a highly trained U. S. Air Force Helicopter pilot proficient in Aero-Medical evacuation, Search and Rescue missions. This was a critical job for saving the lives of downed combat pilots in enemy territories, and foreign countries.He had demonstrated his capable flying skills in extreme weather in landing on unimproved fields with cargo and passengers without the aid of radio navigational equipment.

While assigned to the 23rd Helicopter Squadron, 66th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at British Royal Air Force base Wetherford England, he helped design training and procedural systems for Air Search and Rescue for British Royal Air Force personnel. He participated in numerous flight training missions for combat readiness between Bremerhaven, Germany and Wetherford, England. He spent time stationed in Spain, at Zaragoza Air Force Base, also conducting rescue flights during the Cold War. 

The Commanding Officer of 3974th Air Base Squadron, 16th Air Force, (Strategic Air Command) wrote of him in his fitness reports that 1^st Lieutenant Barron “Enthusiastically accepts extra assignments and strives for perfection in them” AND was “Extremely successful in inspiring and leading his men, easily commanding respect of his subordinates, and compelling them to follow his lead”. His evaluations also credited him more than once of being a “good mixer leading to the success of many base and squadron social functions” 1st Lt Barron had TOP SECRET CLEARANCE rating on his records, until he separated from the military in 1958, and returned to San Diego.

After his military service, as a civilian working for what later became GENERAL DYNAMICS, James Barron was an integral part of the ATLAS MISSLE PROGRAM at Vandenberg Air Force base, Santa Maria California. It is a huge understatement to say the Atlas missile program was a key part of the space race and national defense programs and cutting edge in every way. He then transitioned into the RED EYE MISSLE PROGRAM Fort Bliss in El Paso Texas. The Red Eye Missile  program was yet ANOTHER ultra cutting edge, highly technical system that for the first time put a heat seeking, anti-aircraft seeking missile system in a shoulder mounted launcher of a soldier. No other missile system in that day was that tiny, capable, or in development. This is in the earliest years of missile development and a massive deterrent against or enemies in the field.

After his military service, and during his time as an Engineer for General Dynamics,  James Henry Barron would marry Linda Lee Carl at Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church in La Jolla and they would have their reception just down the hill from here in La Jolla at the La Valencia Hotel, where the same black and white Parque square tiles still exist today in their event venue overlooking the Cove. They would go on to live in El Paso, Texas near Fort Bliss where he would continue to work closely with General Dynamics and with the military, assisting in designing and developing the RED EYE HANDHELD SHOULDER LAUNCH MISSLE project which was extremely cutting edge at that time.

James and Linda Barron raised a family of four children, Michael, Elizabeth, Cynthia, and James Jr. established a sense of community and attended Catholic Church there. Linda was a stay-at-home mother to her 4 children and taught Catechism while there. El Paso is a city similar to San Diego in that it is a border City, adjacent to Juarez, Mexico and was very much a military town at that time. One of his children, Michael, followed in his father’s footsteps into the Military. James Henry Barron came back home often to see his parents and sisters who also lived in California, because San Diego was and still is the most beautiful City on the Planet. James Henry Barron lived in Texas until he was buried, after passing FAR too young, at Fort Bliss Military Base in El Paso in 1976, with Military honors.

Linda returned home to raise her children in the town they had both lived, San Diego, and resided here until her death in 2022.