James K. Daniel was born in 1923 in Indiana, the son of Mr. and Mrs. James F. Daniel. The family lived at 2019 Border Ave. in Torrance.

According to the Torrance Herald, Daniel was a navigator in the Army Air Corps and had been in the service since April 1942, when he enlisted as a pre-medical freshman at Whittier College.

The family had moved to Torrance about two weeks before his enlistment where both of Daniel’s parents were employed at the Rubbercraft Corporation.

Daniel married Josephine Buckman, from Sacramento, California on November 23, 1942, whom he had met while training at Mather Field. He received his commission as a Second Lieutenant also in November 1942 and was sent overseas in February 1943.

On July 11, 1943, his plane crashed in India while on a flight to China. He had served one year and three months. 2d Lt. James K. Daniel was survived by his parents, his sister Florence, and three brothers: Robert, Jack, and Jean Daniel.