James Edwin Womack was born September 20th, 1932, as the second son of Dr. Carroll Womack and wife, Travis, of Carlsbad, New Mexico. His brother, Carroll the second, was known as "Son," and was three years his elder. James started his education in Carlsbad's elementary school, and the brothers grew up playing near the Pecos river with other boys from the neighborhood. James knew from an early age that his father was an important man. Some of his earliest memories were of his father taking him along for visits to the Carlsbad Elk's Lodge, where gentlemen would fold their newspapers and place their cigars in ashtrays as they stood to greet Dr. Womack in the smoke-filled, oak-paneled sitting room.

Dr. Womack was, indeed, a very well-respected man in southeast New Mexico, having set bones and delivered babies for ranchers and townfolk throughout the area. He owned the Circle Cross Ranch, which spanned some 50,000 acres south of Cloudcroft, and later the Slash-W, a smaller ranch in the Guadalupe Mountains. James grew up with ranch hands teaching him to ride and shoot, and he loved the outdoors. One ranch hand, Paul Swisher, would become one of James's closest friends as he matured, and they remained pals until Paul died in the 1980s.

In 1943, when James was turning eleven years old, his father was preparing to leave the family to serve as a Flight Surgeon* in the Army Air Corps, flying on PBY rescue missions in the Pacific. Dr. Womack's brother, Paul, had been taken prisoner by the Japanese on Bataan, and was in the Death March. James and Son were to relocate with their mother to Eldorado, Arkansas, where Travis had family that could look out for them while Carroll served in the war. Before Dr. Womack left for the war, it was decided that the boys should attend military school, and they were taken to Peacock Military Academy in San Antonio, Texas. Jim never forgot the sadness he felt when he was dropped off at the military school a month before his twelfth birthday. He sat crying on a bench at the school with his mother consoling him. She finally had to tell him good-bye and leave - Dr. Womack was in the car with the engine running.

James received a good education from the school that Colonel Donald Peacock had established in the West. In between semesters at Peacock, he would return to his mother and her family in Arkansas and had nothing but great memories of exploring and playing with friends during the summers and holidays. At school, he played basketball, becoming Captain of the varsity team. When World War II ended, his father and uncle Paul returned, and the family reunited and moved back to Carlsbad.

Jim spent six formative years as a cadet at Peacock, rising through the leadership ranks to the top cadet position of Regimental Commander of the Corps. At a dance early on in his senior year, he met a sweet little girl from Lamar, Colorado, who was almost a full year older than he. Jeannie Crowe had grown up in Lamar, and was attending her first year at Trinity University in San Antonio, after graduating the previous year from Lamar Union High School.

He was immediately smitten with her. She had been a barrel racer, a cheerleader, and had just been crowned the first-ever Miss Southeast Colorado. James invited her for a visit to Peacock, and took her to the little rock and wood clubhouse on the school grounds. They drank Coca-Cola, ate burgers, and talked and talked, getting to know one another better. Her father, a pharmacist, owned the Corner Pharmacy there in Lamar, and had a ranch outside of town with riding horses and Hereford cattle they raised and sold. Like James's parents, Don and Helen Crowe were pillars of their community.

They dated when they could, and she and a girlfriend would meet James and his cadet buddy, Luke Rampey, at various places in town for nights out. Luke remembers nights where the gals would sneak beer to them, and they would lower down a rope to hoist the illicit beverages up to their room in Lee Hall. Although Jeannie corroborated these stories over the years, James had no recollection of this behavior recently when quizzed about it... Luke and Jim would remain best friends for the rest of his life, going Elk Hunting and staying in close touch with one another.

During a furlough from Peacock, James decided to make the drive from Carlsbad to Lamar, so that he could meet his sweetheart's parents. Just seventeen years old at the time, he drove an old Ford sedan up into southeast Colorado, stopping along the way to cool the engine off with water bags he filled at windmills along the way. When he got to the Crowe house at 809 South Sixth Street in Lamar, he was quite nervous. Don met him at the door, and all apprehension disappeared as he was welcomed with sincerity and respect by his future father-in-law.

James graduated high school from Peacock in 1950, and decided to attend Baylor University, where his father had graduated, and his grandfather had been a medical school professor. James figured on being a doctor as well, but early grades in Chemistry and Physics led him to believe that perhaps Medicine was not the career meant for him. Life at Baylor wasn't any fun for the young man from Carlsbad, and his destiny was about to be determined.

While in Roswell, New Mexico, James met a recruiter from the U.S. Air Force, and learned about Air Cadets, a program where college-age recruits could attend basic training and test for a career as an Air Force pilot. At nineteen years old, this was very appealing to James, and he signed up, attending Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base, back in San Antonio. Once there, no one talked about the test he had been told of, and he had to argue with his drill instructor to get an opportunity to take the flight aptitude test. He passed it, and became the only recruit in his Basic class to be selected for Air Cadets.

He attended flight school in Greenville, Mississippi, soloing for the first time in a T-6 Texan on January 20th, 1953, then went to Marietta, Florida for follow-on training. From there, he was sent to Foster Air Force Base in Victoria, Texas, to finish his Air Cadet Program. On the Second of November in 1953, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force, and that same day, he and Jeannie were married in the Base Chapel with their families and fellow Air Cadets in attendance.

James received his wings a few weeks later, and he and Jeannie headed for Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he started flying F-86 fighters. He began to build up hours in the Sabre Jet, and was called in to see his commander. It seems they needed an F-84 instructor pilot over in Korea, and Lt Womack's commander felt he was the young man for the job. The fact that James had never flown an F-84 didn't matter to his boss, and before he knew it, he was on his way to Kimpo Air Base, known as "K-14" in South Korea.

Reporting for duty, he found out that there were plenty of F-86s to fly, and he was assigned to a squadron as a line fighter pilot. The armistice had been signed between the North and South Koreans in late July of 1953, so it was a unique opportunity to fly in a post-war environment. James met Bill Bollinger and Bob Gay while assigned there, and became pals for life. After a few months, James received a furlough to head back to New Mexico. Jeannie had just given birth to their first child, Julie Anne, on December 30th, 1954, in the same Carlsbad hospital where James had been born.

Less than ten years after his father and uncle had been at war with the Japanese, Lt. Womack was re-assigned to Chitose Air Base in Japan, and his small family moved to Camp Crawford on the island of Hokkaido. The family of three made a seven-day journey onboard a troop transport ship out of San Francisco when Julie was only six weeks old. They lived in Japan for about a year, and loved it there. When the tour of duty was up, they headed back to New Mexico to settle down in Albuquerque. James left the Air Force, and enrolled at the University of New Mexico. He drove a cab in the city to make ends meet, and worked on finishing his Bachelor's in English and History.

While still an undergraduate, James learned from a friend that there was an Air National Guard unit out on Kirtland Air Force Base that flew F-80 Shooting Stars, and he went out to meet the pilots. He was hired on the spot and became a pilot in the unit in January of '57 due to his experience in the F-86. His flying career in the Regular Air Force laid the groundwork that lead to a thirty-one year fighter pilot career in the New Mexico Air Guard. Within a week or two of getting checked out in the F-80, Col Bob Sands, the Ops Commander, took Jim on a cross-country up to the Colorado Air Guard unit at Buckley Field. They met the unit's Commander, Walt Williams, at the Ops Desk. Sands wanted to introduce his newest young pilot, but hesitated and drew a blank on Lt Womack's name. Jim filled the silence by saying "I'm Lt Schultz!" Sands thought this was so funny, the callsign stuck, and he would be known as Schultz from then on.

Jim made fast friends with pilots in the unit out on Kirtland, and Fred Fink, Bud Weaver, Wilson Hurley, Dave Henry, Dave Quinlan, Dale Dodd, and Louie Bowerman were among his earliest buddies. As new pilots like Jim Vansoc, Vernon King, Gordy "Sonny" Denton, and Norlan Daughtrey joined the Air Guard, the Womack family grew as well, with these men and their wives becoming uncles and aunts, and their children honorary cousins - almost siblings - of the Womack kids. The Vansocs, Dodds, McNerneys, Quinlans and others were all part of a group that shared a special bond borne out of service to their country and the hazards of being fighter pilots. Within a year and a half of joining the Guard, Jim transitioned to the F-100 Super Sabre, the first of the Century Series fighters.

While attending Law School, he was a founding member of the UNM Law Review, and was among the first class of future attorneys to clerk for New Mexico District Court Judges along with Justices of the New Mexico Supreme Court. After graduating from Law School in 1961, he went to work for a firm in the iconic Bank of New Mexico Building, where he began another lifetime friendship, this time with a CPA named Harold Axness. Jim, Jeannie and Julie welcomed James Edwin the 2nd into the family on January 24th, 1957. The family also had a boxer pup that they named Beauregard, and they called him Beau. The Womack family would always have a pet dog. Money was tight, but they were happy in their home on Baldwin Avenue, in the northeast outskirts of Albuquerque.

James drove a Singer automobile at the time, and once, when it broke down, he and Jeannie were besieged with despair. Too many bills to pay, and no car to get to work... things looked dismal. The two decided to spend their last fourteen dollars on a night out, to drown their sorrows a bit. The next day, one of their friends showed up to help with the car, and James' parents sent them a small loan to keep things rolling. James would always remember "The Death of the Singer" with fondness, for it was part of a lifetime of adventures with his "Green-Eyed" Jeannie.

Over time, they were able to move into a larger home on Glorieta Street, and on October 28th, 1959, Jenifer Susan was born. Jim continued to fly as a part-timer in the Air Guard, and continued to practice law as a young attorney with the law firm. Jordan Alan was born April 6th, 1962, and the family of six welcomed grandparents often to the little house on Glorieta. Jim converted the garage into a den with the help of Guard buddies, along with their next-door neighbors, the Groves.

In late 1963, Jim was representing a home builder who was in a bit of a fix due to ongoing divorce proceedings. The contractor needed to off-load a large home in order to make ends meet, and on New Year's Day of 1964, the Womacks moved into the legendary home at 1600 Moon Northeast. Jim and Jeannie had a hard time believing their good fortune, buying the home for under twenty-five grand, with a very small monthly mortgage payment. One memorable part of the transaction was having to turn over their Lincoln automobile to the builder as part of the deal.

In late 1967, the New Mexico Air National Guard received word that they were to be called into active service for the Vietnam War. Norlan Daughtrey had left the unit two years earlier to get to the fight, rejoining the Air Force to fly F-105 Thuds in the war. When he returned to Albuquerque during a break, he shared with Schultz and Jeannie an ominous feeling he had about the rest of his tour in Vietnam. His fears were realized when he returned and was shot down and taken prisoner by the Communist forces. The fact that a buddy was being tortured by the enemy fueled Schultz's desire to enter the fight.

In June of 1968, twenty-five pilots, along with a contingent of support, maintenance and Operations personnel deployed for a one-year tour to Tuy Hoa Airbase, on the coast of South Vietnam. It was at Tuy Hoa that the pilots chose the world-famous callsign "Taco" as a replacement for their initial Frag Order callsign of "Squid" - and the 188th Fighter Squadron was known as the Tacos from then on. Jim was a Major at the time, and he flew 246 combat missions, receiving the Silver Star for bravery as part of an air campaign to destroy hardened anti-aircraft artillery batteries that the communist forces were entrenched in. The unit served with distinction, but sadly lost three pilots during the tour - Mike Adams was a KIA in Laos, and Bobby Neeld and Mitch Lane were listed as MIA over the South China Sea. Eventually, they would be declared KIA as well.

Jim was able to see Jeannie in Hawaii during a hastily-planned, opportunistic R&R furlough, accompanied by his pal, Allan "Elliott" Ness, whose pregnant wife Joann flew commercial with Jeannie. Later, Jeannie and all four kids went to Hawaii and spent a full week with Schultz before he returned to Tuy Hoa to finish his tour of duty. In May of 1969, he flew an F-100 back to Albuquerque at the end of the deployment, rejoining his family on the flightline along with other pilots and their families.

Jim and Jeannie decided that the time had come for him to start his own legal practice, and he started operating as a business attorney for several prominent individuals. Notable clients through the years included Joe Skeen, George Koran, Manuel Lujan, Bill Roberts, Ernie Cummings, and the O'Conner family. He did a lot of work with fellow attorney Dale Walker, and CPA colleagues and buddies Harold Axness and Tom Broderick. His office was on Cardenas near Central, and Eddie's Inferno, owned by Eddie Perchak, was a favorite watering hole for the guys until it closed and was replaced by the Sundowner and the Wine Cellar. Many business deals and life decisions were made by Schultz and his friends in these dimly-lit, smoke-filled rooms, and when Charlie's Back Door - one of the last bastions of revelry that they frequented - closed its doors, it ended an era in Albuquerque.

Soon after returning from Vietnam, Schultz, Bud "Bhuedo" Weaver, Gordy "Sonny" Denton , and Hugh "Cato" Williams, formed the Green Hornet Gang. They became the founding members of the New Mexico Fighter Pilots Association, bringing the plight of our POWs and MIAs to the press to raise awareness. Schultz wrote the inscription on the Flame of Hope, which is a landmark at the Albuquerque Sunport. Bobby Neeld and Mitch Lane were MIA, and Norlan Daughtrey was still being held in the Hanoi Hilton. They found this unacceptable, and when Norlan made it back in February of 1973 as part of Operation Homecoming, he was received with a hero's welcome. The Green Hornet Gang bought a couple boats together, along with a Limo that they took out on weekends as well as on TDYs. Many a weekend was spent at Elephant Butte and Conchas Lake (which Schultz nicknamed "Unconcious Lake"), with boating, fishing and water-skiing during the day, and dancing and carousing at night.

The Tacos transitioned to the A-7 Corsair, and Schultz flew as often as possible, and always volunteered for TDYs to various destinations - most notably to Cairo, Egypt as part of a Rapid Deployment Force that set the record for the longest A-7 flight in history. New Year's Day parties at the Womack home became an annual event for all who knew Schultz and Jeannie. The house would fill to overflowing with friends and families, with the aroma of Jeannie's posole ever-present.

Julie married Lavell, in June of 1982, the same year Schultz was promoted to Brigadier General, and they gave Schultz and Jeannie their first grandkid, Katie, in 1986. Jeni and Mark got hitched a couple of months later, in May. The growing family's world came crashing down in February of 1987, when Jim's oldest son and namesake, Jim Wommack the 2nd, lost his 11 year ordeal with lymphatic melanoma. Dying at only thirty years old, Jim had cut a wide swath as a general contractor and a gentleman. The devastation that faced Schultz and Jeannie was overwhelming, but with the strong family unit, and the support of Guard friends and colleagues, they got through it. Cato, who had always been a dear friend, became a savior of sanity for both of them.

Schultz retired from flying as the Air Guard's Chief of Staff in December of '87. He had started wearing a uniform as an eleven-year-old at Peacock, and took off his flightsuit for the last time over 44 years later, with 34 years of service. He had flown over 5000 hours in single-seat, single-engine fighters, with time in the F-80 and F-86, over 2300 hours in the F-100, and 16 hundred 60 in the A-7, the last fighter he flew. The bar in Schultz's house, a conversion from the original garage, was a surrogate Pilots Lounge for the Tacos, where he listened to the concerns and gripes of the new generation of Taco pilots, offering sage advice on all matters.

Jeni and Mark had their first child, Steve, in May of '88, and he was followed by Julie and Lavell's second daughter, Carolyn, in September of that same year. Jordy and Debbie were wed in May of '89, and Jeni and Mark had Mike the following year in March. Their third son, Matt, came along right after Christmas of '93, and their daughter, Maggie, was born in April of '95. Jordy and Debbie rounded out the eight grandkids with Stacey in October of '98, and Trevor in June of 2001.

Schultz retired from the Law in 1995, with over thirty years as a well-known and extremely well-respected attorney. He helped fellow Guardsmen adopt children, posted bail for friends, and represented clients in all kinds of legal matters, great and small. He argued one case all the way to the Supreme Court, and was justifiably proud of both of his careers, having maintained an impeccable level of integrity through it all.

Even an abbreviated list of his accomplishments seems overblown, but it all happened: As a founding member of the New Mexico Fighter Pilots Association, Schultz wrote the inscription for the Flame of Hope; he secured the injunction that ended the anti-war rioting by the hippies in the Yale Park area; and he and Jeannie gave Norlan Daughtrey a home when he returned with honor after seven and a half years as a captive of the Viet Cong. They raised four kids that remained close through all the years, and maybe that's the greatest gift of all. They laughed together, cried together, and faced successes and failures as a family unit. He in effect raised pilots in the unit, starting with Gordy and Cato, and ending with Ron "Ronbo" King and Tom "T-Ball" Ball, using his loyalty, experience and friendship to mentor those who were special to him. Schultz was the consummate patriarch, married to his Green Eyed Jeannie, the quintessential Fighter Pilot's Wife.

Schultz recently stated that he didn't want a long service, with a litany of his good deeds... he figured that those who knew and respected him had their own memories, and that is certainly true. He will be greatly missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him, and benefited from his friendship, guidance, and love. The example he set for his children and grandchildren is simple, yet profound: Take care of those you love, live fully, be compassionate towards others, and value a sense of humor above all else... it makes times like these bearable, and lightens the load for everyone you come into contact with.