James grew up in Newport News, VA with his brother and three sisters. He was a golf caddy as a teenager and later became a very good low handicap golfer. As a young man, with his straw hat on his head, he bore a strong resemblance to Sammy Snead. He liked to skinny dip in the James River and had his hair cut short so his mother would not know he had been swimming. He worked in the CCC during the depression in Arizona and as a welder in the Newport News Shipyard during WWII. He owned a dry cleaning business and later was a maintenance foreman with the Hampton Roads Sanitation District. He was an avid hunter and won many trophies in hunting and golfing. He was an excellent woodworker, built five houses and was a cabinet maker. He went by the name of Mike, and his grandchildren called him "Pop". James died of lung cancer on May 1, 1980 and is buried in Peninsula Memorial park Cemetery in Newport News, Va. (per notes of Carl Anderson, Dec 1997)601

Social Security records show James Webb born December 3, 1914 and died May 1980 (SSN 226-03-9981) with a last residence in Newport News, VA. This is undoubtedly the same person.