James Russell West was born on August 22, 1931 in Augusta, Kentucky to Russell L. and Laura Connor West. His mother died when he was four years old and he and his sister were sent to live in a Catholic orphanage in Bracken County, Kentucky when his dad enlisted to fight in WWII. At the end of the war, his dad was killed in the front line of the Battle of the Bulge. With no other family that could take in him and his older sister, Jim spent the rest of his youth inside the orphanage. It's because of this that family became the most important thing in Jim's life.

He married Hyo Son (Sunshine) West in South Korea during his second deployment there. They moved to the United States when Jim volunteered the first of three times to fight in Vietnam. He was a paratrooper and, after being seriously injured, a military intelligence linguist and interrogator. His ability to problem solve and his desire to help others drove him to develop the enemy identification system that is used today in the wars we fight overseas. Commonly known as the "deck of cards", Jim received the Bronze Star for creating this system which contributed to saving thousands of allied lives in Vietnam.

Following his third tour in Vietnam, Jim went on to serve 22 years in the Army. He retired as a Staff Sergeant and then went on to complete all but his dissertation for a doctoral degree in educational counseling. He retired from his second career as an education counselor for the Army when his heart began to give him trouble in 1984. He spent the next twenty years taking care of his wife, Sunshine, who suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis and a stroke. Jim was her primary caregiver for many years until she passed away in 2003. He mourned her loss every day until he joined her on Wednesday, October 30, 2019.

During his life, Jim lived quietly, helping everyone who needed a hand and loving his children, Ray and Terri, their spouses, Angela and Michael, his grandchildren, Melynda, Kerri, Jessica, Lindsay, Jimmy, and Tyler, and his great grandchildren, Raylee and Hayes. Nothing brought Jim more pleasure than to be surrounded by his family. His family was with him when he fell asleep for the last time.