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Service Details |
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Last Rank
Airman 1st Class
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Last Primary AFSC/MOS
30050-Electronics Systems Technician
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Last AFSC Group
Electronics Systems
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Primary Unit
1950-1953, 62nd Troop Carrier Squadron
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Service Years
1949 - 1953
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Last Photo |
Personal Details
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Home State
Illinois | |
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Year of Birth 1931 |
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This Military Service Page was created/owned by
A3C Michael S. Bell (Unit Historian)
to remember
Bell, Keith Willard, A1C.
If you knew or served with this Airman and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
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Contact Info
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Home Town Peoria |
Last Address Milpitas, CA
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Date of Passing Jan 05, 2011 |
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Wall/Plot Coordinates Ashes at sea |
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Last Known Activity:
PEORIA - Keith Willard Bell, 79, of Milpitas, Calif., formerly of Peoria, passed away Jan. 5, 2011, at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Fremont, Calif.
There will be no services or visitation. Cremation was accorded by San Jose Neptune Society.
Published in Peoria Journal Star on June 2, 2011
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From Global Security:
In July 1948, the 314th transferred to Smyrna AFB, Tennessee, and reorganized as the 314th Troop Carrier Wing in September 1949. On September 20, 1949, the 62nd was re-designated and, one month later, activated as the 62nd Troop Carrier Squadron (Medium). That same month, the C-47 Skytrain was replaced by the new airlift mainstay, the C-119 Flying Boxcar.
In August 1950, the 62nd went out on the road for what was intended to be a 60-day temporary duty assignment to Japan. It was to become a four-year stay in sunny, scenic Ashiya, Japan. The unit was originally tasked to join United Nations forces in the Korean conflict as a rotational unit. However, as the fighting on the Korean peninsula escalated, the commitment of the 62nd TCS to theater operations expanded and the squadron remained in Japan for approximately 4 years. During the Korean Conflict, while assigned in Ashyia, the 62d temporarily became known as the "Blue Barons." The blue portion of their emblem derived from their squadron color. "Baron" was chosen because history designates a baron as one of high position and honor, and a leader in the line of peers. The 62nd, having earned nearly every major honor and award for participating in the Korean War, returned from Ashiya, Japan to Sewart AFB, TN, with a distinctive title that captured the true spirit of the squadron...
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The 314th and 62nd late in Keith's service had their Boxcars stripped of insignia in order to carry out supply and napalm missions over Vietnam in support of the French under seige at Dien Bien Phu.
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Other Comments:
Note from Michael S. Bell - 21 Mar 2011
Keith Bell was my uncle.
Vernon Leigh Bell, his brother and my father:
army.togetherweserved.com/reflectionprofile/236733
Following the war, Keith became a lifelong Pacifist and eventually retired as a Social Worker.
His female heirs, 12 Mar 2011 in La Crescent, MN reunion:
His male heirs, 12 Mar 2011 in La Crescent, MN reunion:
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Reflections on A1C Bell's
US Air Force Service
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Reflections on Service Pending
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