James Edward Bevins, Jr.

Other than his birth and death dates shown above, there were two other significant dates in Jim’s life. He was just 16 years old when he joined the Marines on July 19, 1972. He was a corporal by the time he was discharged at age 20 on October 9, 1975.

His father was in the Army for about 19 months, from 1946 -47. During that time he married Malinda Williams, and both were Philadelphia natives living with her family at the time of the 1950 census. Jim may have been their only child.

The only other information available about this Marine was this newspaper account of how he died. Six months later a suspect was brought to trial but was acquitted after a woman admitted that she lied to police in giving her testimony.

The suspect’s attorney said his client “was falsely accused of this crime by a woman who thought she was doing justice by repeating rumors she had heard on the street.” The shooter also fired into the front door of the Bevins home, wounding a woman who was inside.

A military headstone was placed over Jim’s grave but his name was actually not the same as his grandfather’s, so it should  have identified him as “James Jr.” His father died nine months later but the location of his grave is unknown. Malinda died in 2008 and is buried next to her son.