Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Lillian Kinkella Keil (November 17, 1916 – June 30, 2005) was a highly decorated

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

flight nurse A flight nurse is a registered nurse specializing in the field of providing comprehensive pre-hospital, emergency critical care, and hospital care to a vast scope of patients. The care of these patients is generally provided during aeromedical ...

. Keil made 250 evacuation flights (23 of them transatlantic) during World War II and 175 evacuation flights during the Korean War, becoming one of the most decorated women in American military history.Capt. Lillian Kinkella Keil
, United States Air Force website.

Biography

Keil was born in

Arcata, California Arcata (; ; ) is a city adjacent to the Arcata Bay (northern) portion of Humboldt Bay (United States), Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, 2020 census, Arcata's population was 18,857. A ...

. She was raised in a convent after her father abandoned her mother and their three small children. Watching the nuns tend to the sick is what drew her into nursing. Immediately following high school, Keil attended the nursing program at St. Mary's Hospital in San Francisco and became a

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a healthcare professional who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized ...

. In 1939, she became one of the first

stewardesses A flight attendant is a member of the aircrew whose primary responsibility is ensure the safety of passengers in the cabin of an aircraft across all stages of flight. Their secondary duty is to see to the comfort of passengers. Flight attenda ...

for

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...

. After the United States entered

in 1941, a passenger suggested she become a flight nurse for the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. She was among the first flight nurse graduates of the

Army School of Air Evacuation An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by p ...

at Bowman Field,

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. Captain Keil served in London by the summer of 1943 and at

Omaha Beach Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors of the amphibious assault component of Operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies of World War II, Allies invaded German military administration in occupied Fra ...

after the June 1944

D-Day invasion The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

. She was among the nurses who tended the wounded of

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (11 November 1885 – 21 December 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, then the Third Army in France and Germany after the Alli ...

's Third Army as it drove across France. Her older brother, SSGT John J. Kinkella served with the Army 184th Infantry Division in the South Pacific and was killed in action on February 4, 1944, at Kwajlein Atoll, in the Marshall Islands. She arranged to have her brother's remains repatriated after the war and he was interred at

Golden Gate National Cemetery Golden Gate National Cemetery is a United States national cemetery in California, located in the city of San Bruno, California, San Bruno, south of San Francisco. Because of the name and location, it is frequently confused with San Francisco ...

in September 1949. After the war, she returned to being a United Airlines stewardess, but reenlisted when the

broke out, this time in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. She was one of only 30 Air Force nurses stationed in the Far East. In all, she flew 175 air evacuations out of Korea, to go with her 250 in World War II, for a total of 425. It is estimated that she tended over 10,000 wounded in her military career. She served as a technical advisor for the 1953 film ''

Flight Nurse A flight nurse is a registered nurse specializing in the field of providing comprehensive pre-hospital, emergency critical care, and hospital care to a vast scope of patients. The care of these patients is generally provided during aeromedical ...

'', starring

Joan Leslie Joan Leslie (born Joan Agnes Theresa Sadie Brodel; January 26, 1925 – October 12, 2015) was an American actress and vaudevillian, who during the Hollywood Golden Age, appeared in films such as '' High Sierra'' (1941), ''Sergeant York'' (1941) ...

and

Forrest Tucker Forrest Meredith Tucker (February 12, 1919 – October 25, 1986) was an American actor in movies and television who appeared in nearly a hundred films. Tucker worked in vaudeville as a straight man at the age of fifteen. While he was on a trip ...

, which was partly based upon her own experiences. In 1954, she met Walter Keil, a former Navy intelligence officer during World War II. After only six weeks, they married, and when she became pregnant in 1955, she received an honorable discharge. The couple settled in

Covina, California Covina ( /koviːnə/) is a city in the San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles The population was 51,268 according to the 2020 census, up from 47,796 at the 2010 census. ...

, where she continued to work as a nurse. They had two daughters. When she was the subject of a 1961 episode of the TV show '' This Is Your Life'', the show drew one of its ten highest mail responses. Keil died of cancer at the age of 88 and is buried at

Riverside National Cemetery Riverside National Cemetery (RNC) is a cemetery located in Riverside, California, dedicated to the interment of United States military personnel. The cemetery covers . It has been the most active cemetery in the system since 2000, based on the n ...

in Riverside, California.Military Hall of Honor
/ref>

Awards

Keil was awarded 19 medals and ribbons, including: *4

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establi ...

s *2 Presidential Unit Citations *1

World War II Victory Medal The World War II Victory Medal was a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945. Histo ...

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or service period. T ...

s in World War II *1

Korean Service Medal The Korean Service Medal (KSM) was a military award for service in the United States Armed Forces and was established November 8, 1950, by executive order of President Harry Truman. The Korean Service Medal is the primary US military award for ...

with seven battle stars In 2005 following her death, Congress passed a bill renaming the post office in Covina the Lillian Kinkella Keil Post Office.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keil, Lillian Kinkella 1916 births 2005 deaths United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War Female United States Army nurses in World War II Burials at Riverside National Cemetery Deaths from cancer in California Flight attendants Korean War nurses Recipients of the Air Medal United States Air Force Nurse Corps officers United States Air Force officers Women in the United States Air Force Women in war in East Asia

Biography

Awards

References

Further reading

External links