As a young teenager Jim Baillargeron wanted to fly. One day in July 1965 he walked into an Air Force recruiter's office in Newport, Rhode Island. But the fact he never attended high school was not to his advantage. Disappointed, on his way out the door a Marine recruiter grabbed the tall, slender teenager, "So you want to fly kid... we can make that happen?" Indeed, Jim Baillargeron arrived off the coast of Vietnam in November 1967 on a helicopter carrier. Over the next thirteen months Jim flew 357 combat missions into battle zones sitting behind a

machine gun. It was a defining moment in Jim's young life. The closest he came to receiving a Purple Heart was when a bullet creased his helmet.

Jim Baillargeron was born August 27 1946, in Utah, soon after his family moved to Newport, RI.

After his Marine service he married Connie Niemi from North Dakota whom he met in California before leaving for Vietnam. Together they bought a home on Elm Street, and raised five children. Jim became a voracious book reader, an experienced mechanic, fishermen, and so many other abilities, too many to mention in this writing. His friends were many.

Jim suffered from PTSD, before it was given a name. Though he rarely talked about his experiences in Vietnam, he was very proud of his service to the country he loved and the United States Marines. He remained a patriot unto his last breath. In his last interview with a friend, he was asked to share one good memory he had about his time in Vietnam. He said, "When we picked up wounded Marines and they thanked me for rescuing them."

On July 14, one day short of his enlistment date in 1965 into the Marines Corps sixty years ago, James Baillargeron passed away in Hospice care knowing the Lord. He had fallen several times, injuring himself, and did not recover. James Vietnam story, along with four-hundred other high school boys from across America will be told in a book, Beyond the Graves.

James is survived by his five children, James Paul Baillargeron, Jennifer and her husband Colby Field, Moriah and Jerry Bowen, Sarah Baillargeron, Jesse and Samantha Baillargeron, and two granddaughters, Amelia Rose Baillargeron and Mari Apolline Field.

James was the son of Oscar and Elsie Baillargeron whose other children included Jack and Lauren Baillargeron, John Baillargeron, Fred Baillargeron and two deceased children, sister Sharon Sather, and Cary Baillargeron who was killed in a car crash in Hawaii in 1968 while serving in the Navy. James left his Marine unit in Vietnam to identify his brother's body before returning to complete his combat tour. It was a painful memory that haunted him.

James's wish for a private farewell are being held and there will be no public service. His final resting place will be in the ocean to reunite with his Vietnam era bride, Connie.