He says race "definitely" played a part in it.
"I was 21, no more than 22," says James, who is now 99 years old.
Dr. Marion Lane found her father's graduation photo in 2015, and he told her the story. She filed a DD149 form for correction of military records, and in June of last year, 75 years after he was supposed to graduate, James got his bars at the Museum of the American Revolution.
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"It was really nice. It's unbelievable," James said.
The Army sent her dad about $2,000 in back pay last December, Lane said, but they are working with an attorney to use the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to get damages for race discrimination.
"The denial that my father received altered his life," she said. "It would be the final step in making amends to someone who was not fairly treated."