A memorial service for former Heavy Duty Trucking Senior Editor James Stacy is set for later this week following his death on June 18 at age 94.

The El Paso, Texas-born Stacy came to HDT from Transport Topics newspaper in 1980 and worked for HDT’s then-owner Newport Communications for nearly two decades. Before then he worked the Washington bureau of The Daily Bond Buyer.

Prior to his work in journalism, Stacy joined the U.S. Naval Reserve in June 1941 and trained as a fighter pilot. His first combat mission in WWII was aboard the carrier USS Nassau at the Battle of Attu. Flying F6Fs Hellcats, Stacy was part of Fighting Squadron 33, which saw land-based combat in the Solomon Islands and also from carriers Sangamon and Chenango.

According to his obituary, his war medal citations say, he "flew in the face of enemy fire," attacking with, "valor, bravery, and tenacious devotion to duty."

In Feb. 1943 Stacy married Irene M. Fogarty of Kenosha, Wis. There are four surviving children. His wife passed away in June 2011.

Stacy retired from the military in 1968.

The memorial service is scheduled for Nov. 6, at 2:00 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Costa Mesa, Calif.