James Bernice Cain VF-45
 

OK Bernice? Confused about this second name unless it's a French/Spanish thing? His mother was Mary Cain.

This chap rose from very difficult circumstances. His father was dead before he was nine years old, and his mother was running a boarding house before the war. He was the youngest of eight siblings, his brothers worked in the cotton mills of NC (except Alton Belus who joined the Army in 1939) and his sisters in beauty parlours. JB Cain attended two Catholic colleges.

Questions.

I cannot find mention of John Robert Cain, of Charlottesville Ga. except that I know he was dead by 1930 and was probably born before 1880. He married Mary E Jones in 1902.

Was James Bernice Cain married? No mention of wife or children in the few accounts of his long military life 1941-1972.

regards

Keith

Re: James Bernice Cain VF-45
 

Cain was married to Rita Paula Cain. She died in 2014. I have not found a reference to any children. Rita had a daughter by her first husband, but no children with Jim Cain.

Enjoy!

Frank.

Re: James Bernice Cain VF-45
 

From Ancestry,

John Robert Cain was born 21 August, 1857 in Webster County, GA.
He died on 29 March, 1924 in Toombs County, GA

Re: James Bernice Cain VF-45
 

Many thanks gentleman. JB Cain cetainly seems to have been a chap that got lemons and made lemonade. The more I read of him the more fascinated I am that he was able to surmount difficulties (probably helped by a very large family led by a matriarch with a positive outlook). I have been poring through Fold3 for days and have masses of information about VF-45 too. It just shows how one memory can, like Proust's Madeleine, ripple and capture so much interesting social and military history. My madeleine was an article read years ago about the encounter with Ki-79s in February 1945 ("Cats over Chiba"). The name Schecter stuck with me...and here we are :). (Apparently his brother Alton Belus Cain was in the Army from 1939).

Re: James Bernice Cain VF-45
 

Checked around after your posts and found he married Rita Perez (Jensen) in 1984 when she was fifty-two and he was sixty-four. The economic situation in Charlottesville, Toombs county in the 1920's appears to indicate his family were not wealthy. The area was given over largely to agriculture and it seems likely his father was involved in that.Probably in the cotton mills?

best regards

Keith

Re: James Bernice Cain VF-45
 

Gentlemen,

What kind of navy career did James Bernice Cain had? Did he served during the Korean War and the Vietnam War? What was Cain's highest rank before He retired from the US Navy?
Edward L. Hsiao

Re: James Bernice Cain VF-45
 

Back in the 1980s the Early and Pioneer Naval Aviators, in the vernacular "The Golden Eagles," had a big push for its membership to produce descriptions of their service. Almost all of those living did so. For those already deceased, write ups from obituaries, official USN biographies, or submissions from those who may have known the individual well and could produce a well and truthful account sufficed. This has continued to this day with new members (and one has to be nominated and the membership approved) submitting same.

Captain James B Cain wrote his own. Go here http://www.epnaao.com/Chronolog/2018%20Chronolog.pdf and then go to page 570.

Re: James Bernice Cain VF-45
 

Astonishingly I have found more stuff about Cain. He apparently had two wives! By his first he had three children Joyce (d.1992), John and Barbee. The first wife may be be Barbara Holden Cain (1924-2020). John Cain and Barbee Cain-Sibbit are her children. No husband is mentioned therefore Barbara probably was not a widow, but divorced Cain? An ancestor of JB may be James Cain Barbee of N Carolina (b.1783. Died 1820).

aAny comments, corrections, or info gratefully accepted :)

Stay safe

Keith

Re: James Bernice Cain VF-45
 

His Navy bio, dated 21 July 1966, but notes his retirement on December 1, 1970, states that he is married to the former Barbara Holden of Dallas, Texas, and they have two children, Mary Joyce and John Robert Cain.

He did serve in the Korean War, with VF-172 on Essex, for which he received a Gold Star in lieu of a 4th DFC, and a Navy Commendation Medal.

Enjoy!

Frank.

Re: James Bernice Cain VF-45
 

He divorced Barbara January 17, 1979. He married Rita November 2, 1985.