Byrnes, James G.

Description

James G. Byrnes was born in Connecticut May 18, 1908 to James C. and Sarah Powers Byrnes. He had one sister Mildred and a brother William. In Rye his family lived at 38 Elm Place and were members of the Church of the Resurrection. James attended Rye schools and enlisted and served in the U.S. Army during World War II.

During World War II he served for 38 months in the special service of the US Armed Forces.

Special Services was the entertainment branch of the American military. The unit was created on 22 July 1940 by the War Department as part of the Army Service Forces. Special Services not only used its own specially trained and talented troops but also would often engage local performers.

Among its activities were staging plays and stage acts, holding concerts, filming documentaries, and providing recreational opportunities for servicemen.

Special Services were one of the few U.S. Army units to be racially integrated during World War II. Special Services opened their first Recreational Officer school at Fort Meade Maryland on 1 April 1942

After the war James lived in Westport and was for many years the tennis instructor at Longshore Country Club of Westport. He was a member of the Joseph Clinton Veterans of Foreign Wars organization In Westport

James G Byrnes died November 5, 1950 at the VA Veterans Hospital in Hartford after a short illness He was forty-two years of age

At the time of his death he was survived by his mother and his wife Josephine Novello Byrnes, a brother William and a sister Mildred both of Rye

Obituary