James Edward Medley was the son of Edward James Medley and Ella Marie Hall. Step-son of Samuel Eugene Warwick.
Seaman Medley was a member of the Naval Armed Guard shipped aboard the freighter Jack. On 31 May 1942 while in transit through the Caribbean, the Jack was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U 155 about 100 miles southewst of Haiti. Three of the nine-man armed guard were lost. The others were rescued by the U.S. submarine Grunion.
Memorialized at the East Coast Memorial, New York, NY
The Knoxville News-Sentinel, June 14, 1942
From the Atlantic war area, tragic news has reached Mr. and Mrs. S.E. Warwick, of Fountain City. A Navy Department telegram yesterday informed them that their son, Seaman James E. Medley, 2nd class is among those missing since his ship went down on May 27. Seaman Medley, 18, former Central High student, joined the Navy in January and had been on active duty since training, his mother said. His last letter was postmarked, Puerto Rico, May 23. It reached his parents the day his ship was reported to have been sunk.
The Knoxville News-Sentinel, 15 June 1943
Seaman James Edward Medley, 19-year-old son of Mrs. Ella M. Warwick, Fountain City, is presumed to have lost his life when his ship was torpedoed in the Caribbean, according to an official message from the Navy Department. Mrs. Warwick was notified that her son was missing May 27, 1942. The message received gave details of the sinking of the merchantman on which he was serving and said that only seven members of her crew survived. The ship sank in five minutes after a submarine sent two torpedoes crashing through her. Young Medley was a former Central High School student and News-Sentinel carrier. He enlisted in the Navy on Jan. 6, 1942.
- Rank: Seaman Second Class
- Date of death: 31 May 1942
- County: Knox
- Hometown: Knoxville
- Service Branch: Navy
- Division/Assignment: USAT Jack
- Conflict: World War II
- Awards: Purple Heart
- Burial/Memorial Location: East Coast Memorial, New York, NY
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XIV, Middle Panel
- Contact us to sponsor James E. Medley
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