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Saturday, December 09, 2006

 

Capt. Collin P. Kelly Jr., USAF

Peace memorial pays 
tribute to first American war hero


MABALACAT, Pampanga: In a bid to promote peace, goodwill and friendship
worldwide, Mayor Marino ?Boking? Morales approved the construction of
the Capt. Collin P. Kelly Jr. Peace Memorial here.

?Mabalacat supports the establishment of the Capt. Collin P. Kelly Jr.
Peace Memorial not only to honor him but to promote goodwill, peace and
friendship among nations.? Morales said.

Kelly?s life size fiberglass statue will be erected within the allotted
5,000-sqm memorial at the Air Force City inside the Clark Special
Economic Zone (CSEZ). He is considered as the ?first American hero of
World War II.?

Morales said the construction of Kelly?s memorial, which is expected to
be finished in January next year, as a tribute to his courage and
bravery also serves as a symbol of unity.

The Mabalacat Tourism Office is now working closely with the 600th Air
Base Wing of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) for the establishment of the
memorial near the old Kelly Theater.

Citing the heroism of other Filipino pilots, Morales added that a
similar memorial would be built in the area for First Lieutenant Cesar
Basa who died on December 12, 1941; two days after Kelly met his fate on
December 10 of the same year.

Basa and Kelly died a few days after the December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor
bombing. The following day, Japanese ace pilot Saburo Sakai led the
attack on Clark Field destroying most American fighter planes on the
ground while refueling.

Robert Altman, one of the surviving crew and a prisoner of the Japanese
Imperial Forces for 40 months, recounted Kelly?s heroism. Using a B17
fighter plane, the American pilot destroyed heavy cruiser Ashigara in a
Japanese landing force near Aparri.

On his return to Clark Field, Kelly was jumped by 10 Japanese Zero
fighters that immediately cut down the flight engineer; setting the
aircraft on fire. Kelly ordered his crew to bail out before the
ill-fated B-17 crashed in Barangay Mabiga here.

The only B-17s to survive were those dispersed to a small strip in
Mindanao, one of which that had Kelly as skipper returned to Clark
Fields to load bombs.

The late US President Franklin Roosevelt awarded the Distinguished
Service Cross on Kelly for his bravery and sacrifice.
*--Joey Aguilar*

   

		
 

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