James served in the US Navy during the Vietnam conflict.  

He served aboard the USS Valley Forge and was one of the last five sailors to leave its decks before it was decommissioned.

On its way to Vietnam

Off the coast of Vietnam

Above was taken by a sailor on another ship while James and the Valley were on their way to Danang from the DMZ - 1969.

Forward view.  James' duty station was the transmitter room underneath the 2nd helo from the right of picture.

Below are photos of James in various places on the ship.

         Above, the coast of Viet Nam is in the background.

Above, you can see James' shadow on the flight deck of the Valley.

Below, James and a couple of his fellow sailors in Okinawa.

Below, James in the Philippines.

James made Radioman 2nd Class before leaving the Navy.

James is from a long line of veterans.  His father, Walter V. Duncan, served in WWII in Europe, part of the 103rd Infantry Division, Reconnaissance Group.  He served as driver for the Captain, as noted on the windshield of his Jeep, in picture below.

James' great grandfather, Thomas Robert Duncan, served in the Civil War as a Union soldier.  He was captured and taken to the infamous Andersonville stockade prison.  He survived and with his wife settled in Kansas as a homesteader.  Below, he and his wife in later years.

James' maternal great grandfather, Zimri Dixon, also served in the Civil War.