On July 12 of this year, the USS Bonhomme Richard caught fire while at port in San Diego. The fire blazed for four days and was finally put out on July 16, but 11 of its 14 floors were already destroyed by smoke, fire, and water damage by the time it was extinguished.
Although the fire on the Navy aircraft carrier happened miles away, it still made a huge impact on Jim Crosby, who lived on the Bonhomme Richard while in the Navy.
“For three years, that ship was my home,” stated Jim Crosby. “It just touched my heart when I saw that it was burning.”
Jim didn’t stay very long in the Navy, but it was something that he loved doing and that he wishes he had continued to do. He did something that most people aren’t able to: he steered the aircraft carrier.
“I was one of the helmsmen that steered the aircraft carrier. I made out a watch list when we were at sea and when we were tied up in port,” said Jim. “I could’ve had a good career with the Navy and stayed for 20 years. I really liked it.”
He was a great helmsman for the ship and impressed the captain tremendously.
“The captain of the ship took a shining to me,” remembered Jim. “At nighttime when someone else was steering the ship, the captain would send someone to wake me up and get me if there was any trouble. I had to go up where the captain was and help get everything straightened out. I always thought that was such a compliment for the captain of the ship to request me. There was one time that we hit the edge of a typhoon, and it tore off parts of the ship.”
Jim was only 17 when he joined the Navy, and he believes that it was being in the Navy that helped him to grow up and be a man.
“My Navy time was a godsend for me because I did a lot of travelling and saw a lot of things I never would have seen if I had not been in the Navy,” said Jim. “When I first joined the Navy, I lived in Butler, AL. They put me on a train in Birmingham that I rode to San Diego, CA. That was a long train trip. I had never been away from home before, and I was so homesick on that trip. I grew up as a man in the Navy with all those trips to foreign countries.”
Although he loved being in the Navy, Jim decided not to sign on to continue on another round.
“The captain himself asked me to re-sign for another term in the Navy,” stated Jim, “but I told him no because I thought I was in love at the time.”
Jim left the Navy and married the woman he was in love with. His marriage to her lasted five years while in California, and then he returned home to Alabama. It was then that he became one of the local heroes who did everything that he could to help others.
“Three other guys and I helped form the Choctaw County Rescue Squad in 1972,” said Jim. “I was in charge of the squad for 10 years. We had a meeting in the courthouse, and I attended the supervisor’s meeting there. Everyone was begging them to give us money to build a building. They finally gave us $50,000. We had enough men that we were able to put the building up ourselves.”
Helping get a building for the group to meet wasn’t the only thing Jim accomplished while he was leading the Choctaw County Rescue Squad.
“I won’t ever forget when we used to have to use a Jaws of Life that had to be shared in 13 different counties. That’s just too many places to have to share one Jaws of Life,” stated Jim. “I got three or four men together, and in two weeks in Butler, we raised $5,000 to buy our own Jaws of Life to use.”
His didn’t just help with accidents on land. Although it was never a happy ending, they were able to help locate bodies in the water as well.
“They had a drowning in Meridian at Okatibbee Lake while I was still in charge of the rescue squad,” remembered Jim. “We came over to help with the search and recovery. We had drags that had hooks on them and were able to recover the body.”
He helped rescue countless people, but the trauma of the job eventually caught up with him causing him to give up his position.
“We operated the Jaws of Life, and I saw so many deaths on the highway. We retrieved a lot of drowned people,” explained Jim. “After 10 years, I got out because all the death just caught up with me. They made me an honorary lifetime member of the squad when I left.”
Jim eventually started working as a security guard at Watkins Hospital here in Clarke County. It was while in that position that he fell in love again.
“I met Nita Adcock while I was security guard at Watkins Hospital,” reminisced Jim. “At the time, I’d work nights here and then drive back home close to Butler, AL. A lot of times when I’d get home, we’d talk for an hour or so before I’d finally go to sleep. Nita was a good Christian lady. Finally, I moved over here in 1998, and we got married. We were married just over 17 years before she passed away April 2012.”
It was when he married Nita that he became involved in his church that he enjoys going to so much: Calvary Baptist Church.
“Nita and I talked about where we would go to church because we knew we were church going people,” stated Jim. “We decided we would go to Bro. Dennis Coats’ church and hear a sermon, and then we would go visit a few other churches before we decided which one to join. When we walked through the front door of Calvary Baptist Church, it was like God spoke to me and said we wouldn’t need to look any further. We joined the church the next Sunday. Bro. Dennis Coats is a godly man, and I’m glad to call him my pastor. I’m glad to be one of his deacons.”
Jim is very active in his church and enjoys doing things alongside being one of the deacons.
“Back in 2007, Bro. Dennis Coats, Bro. Dennis Kennedy, and I went on a mission trip to Trinidad. It was one of the highlights of my Christian life,” said Jim. “People living in the United States just don’t know how good we have it. I shed many a tear that week we were over there. There were little five and six year old kids taking care of the smaller kids. It’s just heartbreaking.”
As much as he loves his church, Jim does have something else he really enjoys: football—specifically Alabama football.
“I like Alabama football,” stated Jim. “When I was part of the rescue squad in Alabama, I had two local attorneys who would always give me free tickets to two Alabama home games. I knew every year that I would at least be able to see two Alabama games in person.”
Jim is not alone, either. Six years ago, he married Barbara Brewer Crosby on July 30. He has always gone to the nursing home where she stays every day to help take care of her until COVID-19 caused the visitor policy to change. He may not be able to see her every day now, but he still makes sure to check on her and call her every day.
Over the past year, Jim has had to deal with loss as he has had to lay both his father-in-law and mother-in-law to rest.
Despite his loss and having to be separated from his wife longer than he would like, Jim remains to be the positive, loving, Christian man that the people of Clarke County have come to know.
