William Ellsworth Kepner

Military
UPL 79481 UPL 79481 General William 'Bill' E. Kepner.

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Object Number - UPL 79481 - General William 'Bill' E. Kepner.

From 1909 to 1913, Kepner served in the US Marine Corps. By 1916 he was a second lieutenant in the Indiana National Guard. After a short spell in the US cavalry, in 1917 he transferred to the infantry as a captain and commanded a company at the Battle of Chateau-Thierry. He subsequently lead the 3rd Battalion of the 4th US Infantry in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. In 1920, at the age of 27, he transferred to the US Army Air Corps and trained as a balloon pilot, then subsequently as an airship pilot.



From 1927 to 1929 he participated very prominently in several US national and international balloon races, most notably winning the prestigious Gordon Bennett Cup with co-pilot William Olmstead Eareckson in June 1928.



In August 1929 he was commissioned as test pilot of the radical metal-hulled airship ZMC-2, newly completed at Grosse Ile, Michigan. After a successful series of evaluation flights, he flew the airship in September of that year to what was to become its sole home base at Lakehurst, New Jersey, arriving without mishap except for a small perforation in the envelope which press reports of the time claimed to be the result of a pot-shot en route from someone on the ground.



Promoted to the rank of major in October 1930, he took command of the Materiel Division's Lighter-than-Air Branch at Wright Field, Ohio.



In the period 1930-32, he learned to fly fixed-wing aircraft.



In the summer of 1934, Kepner took command of the joint National Geographic Society - US Army Air Corps Stratosphere Flight near Rapid City, South Dakota to make an attempt with the specially constructed balloon Explorer on the manned balloon altitude record. On 29 July, the balloon ascended with himself and two fellow US Army Air Corp officers, Capt. Albert W. Stevens and Capt. Orvil A. Anderson as crew. However, the attempt nearly ended in tragedy when the balloon envelope ruptured near maximum height, sending the spherical pressurised gondola plunging earthwards. Fortunately, as the gondola reached lower altitudes, all three occupants were able to exit and safely parachute to earth shortly before it crashed.



Ascending through the ranks, in February 1942 he was eventually promoted to Major General in April 1943, and in September of that year took command of 8th Fighter Command in the European Theatre. There he supervised the vital role that the fighters played both as guardians of the 8th Air Force's bombers and as ground-attack support for ground forces, not least in the crucial period around D-Day.



In August 1944, Kepner took command of the 8th Air Force's 2nd Bomb Division. During the war he personally flew 24 combat missions in fighters and bombers and received various decorations from his own country and also from several allied nations.



Immediately after the war he took command of the 12th Tactical Air Command. Various appointments followed, including command of the Atomic Energy Division, U.S. Air Force Headquarters. In 1950, Kepner was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and became commander-in-chief of US Air Force Alaska Command.



He retired from military service on 28 February 1953, and after moving to Orlando, Florida, died there on 3 July 1982. (Bio courtesy of Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ellsworth_Kepner)

Connections

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Units served with

Two airmen of the 466th Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Division
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Combat organisation

Aircraft

The nose art of a a P-47 Thunderbolt (serial number 42-26637) nicknamed "Kokomo" of the 495th Fighter Training Group, flown by General William E. Kepner. Image by Robert Astrella, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group . Written on slide casing: 'Kepner's A/C Mount Farm.'
  • Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
  • Nicknames: Kokomo
  • Unit: 495th Fighter Training Group 551st Fighter Training Squadron Headquarters & Headquarters Squadron (86th Air Depot Group)

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Miami, IN, USA 6 January 1893

Died

Orlando, FL, USA 3 July 1982

Revisions

Date
ContributorWD-C Mustang
Changes
Sources
Date
Contributor466thHistorian
Changes
Sources

466th BG Historian

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / The Mighty Eighth by Roger Freeman

William Ellsworth Kepner: Gallery (25 items)