This Military Service Page was created/owned by
A3C Michael S. Bell
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.
Contact Info
Home Town Peoria
Last Address Milpitas, CA
Date of Passing Jan 05, 2011
Wall/Plot Coordinates Ashes at sea
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Keith Bell
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.
Other Comments:
Note from Michael S. Bell - 21 Mar 2011
Keith Bell was my uncle.
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:
Korean War
From Month/Year
June / 1950
To Month/Year
July / 1953
Description The Korean War; 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) began when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, came to the aid of South Korea. China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union gave some assistance.
Korea was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the closing days of World War II. In August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, as a result of an agreement with the United States, and liberated Korea north of the 38th parallel. U.S. forces subsequently moved into the south. By 1948, as a product of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, Korea was split into two regions, with separate governments. Both governments claimed to be the legitimate government of all of Korea, and neither side accepted the border as permanent. The conflict escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces—supported by the Soviet Union and China—moved into the south on 25 June 1950. On that day, the United Nations Security Council recognized this North Korean act as invasion and called for an immediate ceasefire. On 27 June, the Security Council adopted S/RES/83: Complaint of aggression upon the Republic of Korea and decided the formation and dispatch of the UN Forces in Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force, with the United States providing 88% of the UN's military personnel.
After the first two months of the conflict, South Korean forces were on the point of defeat, forced back to the Pusan Perimeter. In September 1950, an amphibious UN counter-offensive was launched at Inchon, and cut off many of the North Korean troops. Those that escaped envelopment and capture were rapidly forced back north all the way to the border with China at the Yalu River, or into the mountainous interior. At this point, in October 1950, Chinese forces crossed the Yalu and entered the war. Chinese intervention triggered a retreat of UN forces which continued until mid-1951.
After these reversals of fortune, which saw Seoul change hands four times, the last two years of conflict became a war of attrition, with the front line close to the 38th parallel. The war in the air, however, was never a stalemate. North Korea was subject to a massive bombing campaign. Jet fighters confronted each other in air-to-air combat for the first time in history, and Soviet pilots covertly flew in defense of their communist allies.
The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when an armistice was signed. The agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no peace treaty has been signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war. Periodic clashes, many of which are deadly, have continued to the present.
