James Doran Sanders was born on August 7, 1926, the youngest of four children of Esther and Elvis Sanders. Elvis had moved to Southern California in 1916 where he worked in the roofing business and later served in World War I. The family settled on Neece Avenue in the Walteria neighborhood of Torrance.

James Sanders graduated from Walteria School in 1940, enlisted in the Navy on August 13, 1943 when he had just turned 17, and trained at the San Diego Naval Base. Several months later he was aboard the aircraft escort carrier USS Liscome Bay when it was torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese submarine I-175 on November 24, 1943.

According to the Naval History and Heritage Command, one of a spread of torpedoes hit the Liscome Bay in the worst possible location, near the ship’s bomb magazine which caused it to sink in only 23 minutes. All told 644 men lost their lives, including Seaman Second Class James Sanders.

S2c James Sanders was survived by his mother, a sister, and his two older brothers who were in the Navy at the time, including Seaman First Class Patrick Sanders who was on a destroyer in the same battle. As the Torrance Herald reported at the time, in a letter written shortly before the clash, James Sanders said for weeks he was unable to communicate with Patrick whose ship for some time was “only 200 yards away.” Patrick would later name his son James Doran after his deceased brother.