Queen, James Carlton, MAJ

Deceased
 
 Photo In Uniform   Service Details
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Last Rank
Major
Last Service Branch
Infantry
Last Primary MOS
1542-Infantry Unit Commander
Last MOS Group
Infantry
Primary Unit
1951-1951, 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team
Service Years
1944 - 1964
Infantry Ranger
Major
Two Overseas Service Bars

 Last Photo   Personal Details 

29 kb


Home State
District Of Columbia
Year of Birth
1926
 
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Contact Info
Home Town
Washington, DC
Last Address
Washington, DC
Date of Passing
Apr 14, 2004
 
Location of Interment
Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Wall/Plot Coordinates
SECTION 23, SITE 22549

 Official Badges 

75th Ranger Regiment US Army Retired Infantry Shoulder Cord US Army Retired (Pre-2007)




 Unofficial Badges 

Ranger Hall Of Fame


 Military Associations and Other Affiliations
American LegionNational Cemetery Administration (NCA)
  1964, American Legion - Assoc. Page
  2004, National Cemetery Administration (NCA)


 Additional Information
Last Known Activity:

James Carlton "Big Jim" Queen, 78, a retired D.C. public school administrator and Army Major whose actions in the Korean War as a Ranger leader led to his induction into the Ranger Hall of Fame, died April 14, 2004, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He had cancer.
 

Major Queen retired in 1985 as an assistant principal at H.D. Woodson Senior High School, where he spent about a decade. He began working for the school system in the late 1960s as a special education teacher and guidance counselor at Rebaut Junior High School. He also worked at Hamilton Junior High School.
 

The Washington native and resident's nickname came from his height: He stood 6 foot 5. He was a graduate of Armstrong High School, where he was on the varsity football and swimming teams, and D.C. Teachers College. He received a master's degree in special education from the University of Maryland.
 

He joined the Army toward the end of World War II in February 1944, and served in the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, an all-black unit. They were also called the "Smoke-Jumpers," because they spent the war fighting forest fires in the Pacific Northwest set by Japanese incendiary balloons.
 

"War Department studies indicated that they didn't believe that black troops could become paratroopers, just like they didn't believe black soldiers could become airmen," Major Queen told the Associated Press in 1995 during a dedication ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery honoring the parachutists. "They just didn't think we could do it." In Korea, he was a Ranger leader, leading patrols and overseeing his company's heavy weapons.
 

In May 1951, he led 65 men charged with taking a hill and ran into a battalion of Chinese army soldiers. He fought a three-hour campaign, but his group suffered 50 percent casualties and had to retreat temporarily. He returned at dawn the next day with the remnants of his company and with brutal force retook the hill in an hour from the Chinese.
 

He retired with the rank of Major in May of 1964 while at Walter Reed because of complications from diabetes, receiving many awards which include: Expert and Combat Infantry Badge, Master Parachutist Badge with Star, Pathfinder Badge, Ranger TAB, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, as well as several service ribbons. He was inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame in 1994.
 

He spent the last decade writing a history of the 2nd Ranger Infantry Co., one of the first black airborne companies to fight in Korea. His memberships included Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Washington, Kappa Alpha Psi social fraternity, the NAACP and the American Legion. He was a former Boy Scout troop leader. 


His wife, Phyllis Jeffreys Queen, whom he married in 1948, died in 2000. Survivors include four children, Reginald Queen of Clinton, David Queen of Tampa and Deborah Sears and Cheryl Gaskins, both of Washington; three stepchildren adopted by Maj. Queen, Jacqueline Suttice of Concord, Mass., Thomas Queen of Washington and Jeffrey Queen of San Diego; 15 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

 

In early 1945 the "Triple Nickles" received secret orders for a permanent change of station. They were sent to Pendleton, Oregon & assigned to the 9th Services Command, trained by the U.S. Forest Service, and became history's first military smokejumpers.

There were two reasons for this assignment, the first being that major commanders in Europe were leery of having highly trained colored paratroopers coming into contact with racist white elements of the time. Second, the Japanese were at the time floating incendiary devices attached to balloons across the Pacific Ocean, taking advantage of the jet stream's easterly flow, in an attempt to start forest fires in the northwestern United States. The Forest Service asked the military for help and the “Triple Nickle” was ready, willing and able. 

 
The battalion answered some 36 fire calls with more than 1,200 individual jumps during the summer of 1945, operating from Pendleton and Chico, Calif. The operation covered all of the northwestern states including Montana. During fire operations the battalion suffered numerous injuries but only one fatality. Malvin L. Brown, a medic assigned to the battalion's headquarters company, died on Aug.6, 1945 after falling during a letdown from a tree in the Siskiyou National Forest near Roseburg, Ore. His death is the first recorded smoke jumper fatality during a fire jump.

 

   
Other Comments:

Major James C. Queen is inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame for his valiant actions while serving as a Ranger leader in the Korean War.
 

While serving with the 4th Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) (redesignated the 2nd Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) Major Queen led numerous patrols and controlled the company heavy weapons. He made the combat jump with the company at Munsan-ni and saw action at Tangerine Pass.
 

In May of 1951 Major Queen led the company on a mission to take Hill 581. During this operation he acted as the Company Commander for the 2nd Ranger Company. They moved as the lead element for the 7th Infantry Division and with only 65 men came into contact with a battalion of Chinese regulars. Major Queen immediately called for artillery fire and led his men into battle. They fought the enemy for three hours but after taking 50% casualties the company fell back to the 7th Division lines.
 

At dawn the following day, Major Queen led the remainder of his company in a counterattack on the Hill. After nearly one hour of intense fighting, the Rangers pushed the Chinese back and retook the Hill. Major Queen's leadership ability and courageous actions are in the finest traditions of the Rangers and the United States Army.

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The 2D Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) was the first and only all-black Ranger unit in the history of the United States Army. Its ten month lifespan included selection, training, and seven months of combat deployment in Korea, after which the unit was deactivated. Unit members were drawn from the 3rd Battalion of the 505th Airborne Infantry Regiment and the 80th Airborne Anti-Aircraft Battalion.

 
After experiencing the normal travails of boot camp at Fort Benning, which segregation and racism only made worse, the all-black Rangers set out to join the Korean War in late 1950. On January 7, 1951, the Rangers found themselves defending a critical rail-road running through Tanyang Pass, which Communist guerillas tried to infiltrate. Additional combat with the North Korean and Communist Chinese forces erupted near Majori-ri and Chechon.

 
But the event that propelled the 2d Rangers into the record books was their airborne assault near Musan-Ni on March 23, 1951--the first in Ranger history. Once on the ground, the rangers attacked and captured Hill 151. The fighting--often conducted at very close quarters, and some of it with the bayonet and rifle butt--demonstrated the courage of these tough African American soldiers.

 
Heavy fighting marked their months at the front, including a magnificent attack and defence of Hill 581 that May. Throughout their deployment in Korea, the 2d Rangers served with honor and achieved an outstanding combat record.

   
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Korean War/CCF Spring Offensive (1951)
From Month/Year
April / 1951
To Month/Year
July / 1951

Description
On 22 April enemy activity across the whole front suddenly increased and the U.N. advance halted abruptly. The expected spring offensive was at hand.

Following a four-hour artillery bombardment, three Chinese Communist armies attacked the U.N. line in the evening hours of 22 April. The main attack was against the U.S. I and IX Corps in the Seoul sector, coupled with a secondary thrust in the central Yonch'on-Hwach'on area and a p w h in the seat near Inje. U.N. lines held firm except in the IX Corps central sector, where ROK units were forced back in confusion. With the line broken, Van Fleet ordered the I and IX Corps to withdraw through a series of delaying positions to Line KANSAS, thus giving up the ground gained in recent U.N. offensives. When the enemy cut the Seoul-Kaesong highway on 26 April, Van Fleet withdrew the IX Corps back to the Hongch'on River.

Meanwhile, in the I Corps area, the enemy crossed the Imjin River on 22 April and drove the ROK unite south of the KANSAS Line on the 23d. On 27 April the enemy outflanked Uijongbu, forcing U.N. units to pulls back to within four miles of Seoul, and also made an unsuccessful attempt to outflank the city to the east. On the east-central front North Koreans captured Inje. By 29 April, however, their drive had been halted. On this date Van Fleet established a new line, designated NONAME-LINE, extending from north of Seoul to Sabangue and thence northeast across the 38th parallel to Taepo-ri on the east coast. Because the major enemy attack had been in the west, Van Fleet reshuffled his units to put more American divisions there. By the end of April, U.N. forces had stopped the enemy short of Seoul and the Han and held a strong, continuous defense line.

As the enemy withdrew to recoup losses, Van Fleet improved his defenses on NO-NAME-LINE and planned an offensive to carry the Eighth Army back to Line KANSAS; but signs of another impending enemy attack led him to postpone it.

On the night of 15-16 May an estimated 21 Chinese divisions, flanked by 3 North Korean divisions in the west and 6 in the east, struck in the central sector against the U.S. X and the ROK III Corps in the Naep'yong-ni-No-dong area. ROK units were again forced back by the swarming columns of Chinese and North Koreans. Once more Van Fleet reshuffled his units, moved in reserves, and laid down a tremendous curtain of artillery fire which exacted heavy casualties and stopped the enemy offensive.

On 17 May the enemy struck down the Pukhan River toward the Han in the western sector, against the I and IX Corps, with a force of about 250,000 men. This attack was also contained after three days of violent action. By 20 May U.N. troops brought the enemy to a standstill, having thus stopped two major offensives in two months.

Van Fleet decided to renew the offensive, so as to give the enemy no chance to gather himself for another counterstrike. On 18 May he opened a series of local attacks. Once more enemy forces pulled back and U.N. forces moved forward against light resistance. Within a few days the I Corps reached the Imjin River north of Munsan-ni and entered Uijongbu and Sinp'al-li. The IX Corps pushed toward Kap'yong, drove the enemy across the Hanch'on River, and moved toward the Hwach'on Reservoir. In the X Corps area the 1st Marine Division attacked Yanggu on 24 May. The 187th RCT headed for Inje, which it captured on the 27th. The Marines were pushing toward the Hwach' on Reservoir and Yanggu. The 7th Division of the I Corps took Hwach'on. By 31 May the U.N. forces scored a significant advance which brought them just about back to the KANSAS Line, and South Korea was virtually cleared of the enemy.

At this point the Joint Chiefs of Staff prescribed that the Eighth Army was not to go beyond the general vicinity of Line KANSAS. The only tactical operations permitted were those necessary to protect itself, to maintain contact, and to harass the enemy. This was the basic pattern of U.N. military operations which was to be followed throughout the remainder of the war.

On 1 June, therefore, Van Fleet ordered his reserve forces to strengthen KANSAS so as to make it virtually impregnable. Meanwhile the I and IX Corps were to continue Operation PILEDRIVER toward Line WYOMING (the bulge north of KANSAS that ran from the Imjin River to points just south of Ch'orwon and Kumhwa and thence southeast). Ch'orwon and Kumhwa were captured on 11 June. Two tank-infantry task fences reached P'yongyang, the northern tip of the Iron Triangle, on 13 June and found it deserted. The dominating high ground north of the city was held by the enemy, however, and U.N. forces withdrew. The Chinese reoccupied P'yongyang on 17 June. Meanwhile the X Corps on the east-central front pushed through mountains toward its sector of the KANSAS Line, which extended over a series of ridges from the Hwach'on Reservoir northeastward to the lower lip of the "Punchbowl," an aptly named circular depression north of Inje. Thus by mid-June the Eighth Army had attained the principal terrain objectives of Operation PILEDRIVER. Action for the rest of the month was confined to developing the KANSAS and WYOMING Lines, and to patrolling and local clashes.
 
   
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
April / 1951
To Month/Year
July / 1951
 
Last Updated:
Mar 16, 2020
   
Personal Memories
   
Units Participated in Operation

1st Cavalry Division

545th Military Police Company

212th Military Police Company

3rd Military Police Company, 3rd Infantry Division

3rd Infantry Division

563rd Military Police Company, Army Garrison Fort Hamilton, NY

19th Military Police Battalion (CID)

59th Military Police Company

142nd Military Police Company

95th Military Police Battalion

154th Transportation Company

55th Military Police Company

57th Military Police Company

512th Military Police Company

58th Military Police Company

563d Military Police Company, 91st Military Police Battalion

595th Military Police Company

728th Military Police Battalion

289th Military Police Company

I Corps

7th Infantry Division

91st Military Police Battalion

94th Military Police Battalion

92nd Military Police Battalion

96th Military Police Battalion

 
My Photos From This Battle or Operation
No Available Photos

  448 Also There at This Battle:
  • Dalton, Bob, SFC, (1951-1971)
  • Hewitt, Billie, Cpl, (1949-1952)
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