Colonel James D. Herndon graduated from Infantry Officer Candidate Class Number 2 on 30 August 1951 after two years of enlisted service. During the Korean Conflict he served as a Platoon Leader in the 5th Infantry Regiment. He then joined the 188th Airborne Infantry Regiment in Fort Campbell, Kentucky and deployed with that unit to Europe. | Colonel Herndon returned to Fort Benning, graduated from the Infantry Officer Advanced Class and was a Special Forces Detachment Commander at Fort Bragg and in Okinawa, from June 1960 to March 1965. He returned to CONUS, attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and the Vietnamese Language School at Fort Ord, California. From there he went to Vietnam as an Advisor of the Second Vietnamese Corps and as Battalion Commander of 1st Battalion, 11th Infantry. His second visit to Germany brought him duties as the Deputy G2, the G2, G4 and the Community Leader of Ludwigsburg-Stuttgart North. | His awards and decorations include: the Master Parachutist Badge, the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, the Combat Infantryman Badge (2nd award), the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Air Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, and Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Silver Star.