James Tinneny is the son of John Tinneny of Greenock, Scotland and Philadelphia and Mary Redmond.  He enlisted in the United States Army in 1963 and completed training at Fort Jackson South Carolina, Fort Lee, Virginia and at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. He was then assigned with the Army Security Agency in Vietnam from November 1965 to October 1966.  He spent a brief time at Danang Air Base training with the United States Marines.  He then proceeded to his regular assignment at Phu Bai, which was 4 or 5 miles from the ancient city of Hue (way).  His duties at Phu Bai initially involved setting up towers, which served as eavesdropping points to gain intelligence on the Vietcong and North Vietnamese.  He also went out on patrol in a specially designed vehicle, which monitored sounds and other intelligence data along "Highway one."  Jim achieved the rank of Specialist 5 and was separated from the Army in October 1965.