James T. Hannay was born in the "Garden City" of San Jose on March 27, 1912, to James and Nettie Hannay and spent much of his youth Santa Clara County. He completed grammar school but did not continue through high school. Later James married and the couple settled in Santa Cruz, where he was employed by the Doudell Trucking firm. James and his wife had one son named James.

On June 27, 1942, James Hannay was inducted into the army as a private and sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky, for training in armor. Following his training, he is believed to have joined an armored unit in North Africa. In March 1943 those units were involved in combat operations against German forces under General Rommel. At the time of of Hannay's death, US armored forces in North Africa were fighting in Tunisia. On March 28, 1943, Private James T. Hannay was killed in action.

The burial location of James T. Hannay has not been identified; however, his remains were likely returned to the US following the war.

(CBR; NARA2; SCSn May 3, 1943 2:7, April 29, 1943 1:7)