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Steven Loomis (USAAF & USAF)-Family
to remember
Loomis, Kenneth B., Sgt.
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Contact Info
Home Town Tustin
Last Address Cadillac, Michigan
Date of Passing Sep 01, 2006
Location of Interment Mount Carmel Cemetery - Cadillac, Michigan
World War II Battle Streamers American and Asiatic-Pacific Theaters
1941-1945
Kenneth B. "Ken" Loomis of Cadillac, Michigan entered eternal life on Friday, September 1, 2006 at Cadillac Mercy Hospital. He was 90 years old.
Ken was born on April 19, 1916 in Tustin to Harry and Emma Grayce (Burkett) Loomis. He married Katherin A. Kailing on January 18, 1941. She preceded him in death on September 13, 1999.
Ken graduated from Tustin High School in 1936. He worked at General Motors in Pontiac for five years.
During World War II, Ken enlisted on 7 April 1942 at Fort Custer, Michigan. He served with the U.S. Army Air Corps for three and a half years, primarily with the 5th Air Force in the Pacific Theater. He was stationed at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri (Army AF Basic Training); Mitchell Field, Long Island, New York (AAF Training Command, 1st Air Force); Westover Field, Massachusetts (25th Army Air Force Base Unit, 1st Air Force); Grenier Field, New Hampshire (1st Air Force). He was trained and an airplane engine mechanic.
In the South Pacific with the 5th Air Force, he was one of the many who engaged the Japanese in New Guinea, the Dutch East Indies, and as part of the liberating forces in the Philippines Campaign (1944–45).
After the service, he was employed at Chris Craft Company in Cadillac as a pattern maker for 26 years. He later worked with his twin brother as a carpenter for 10 years until retiring.
Ken was a charter member and an organizer, with Reg Boulder, of the Cadillac AMVETS Post No. 110. He was a member of St. Ann Catholic Church where he was an usher and money counter. He enjoyed hunting and fishing.
He was interred in Mount Carmel Cemetery, Cadillac, Wexford County, Michigan.
Notes:
Kenneth B. Loomis, 1916 - 2006.
Wife, Katherine Agnes Kailing, 1921 - 1999.
Son, Philip, 1944 - 1995, U.S. Navy Vietnam.
Other Comments:
Fifth Air Force
It is one of very few numbered air forces of the United States Air Force never to have been based in the United States itself. It is also one of the oldest and continuously active US air forces.
Established on 16 August 1941 as the Philippine Department Air Force at Nichols Field, Luzon, Philippines. 5 AF was a United States Army Air Forces combat air force in the Pacific Theater of World War II, engaging in combat operations primarily in the Southwest Pacific AOR. 5 AF units first engaged the Japanese during the Philippines Campaign (1941–1942), then afterward withdrawing to Australia after the Japanese conquest of the islands. Rearmed, it engaged the Japanese in New Guinea, the Dutch East Indies and then as part of the liberating forces in the Philippines Campaign (1944–45).
World War II/European-African-Middle Eastern Theater
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
May / 1945
Description The European-Mediterranean-Middle East Theater was a major theater of operations during the Second World War (between December 7, 1941, and March 2, 1946). The vast size of Europe, Mediterranean and Middle East theatre saw interconnected naval, land, and air campaigns fought for control of the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. The fighting in this theatre lasted from 10 June 1940, when Italy entered the war on the side of Germany, until 2 May 1945 when all Axis forces in Italy surrendered. However, fighting would continue in Greece – where British troops had been dispatched to aid the Greek government – during the early stages of the Greek Civil War.
The British referred to this theatre as the Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre (so called due to the location of the fighting and the name of the headquarters that controlled the initial fighting: Middle East Command) while the Americans called the theatre of operations the Mediterranean Theatre of War. The German official history of the fighting is dubbed 'The Mediterranean, South-East Europe, and North Africa 1939–1942'. Regardless of the size of the theatre, the various campaigns were not seen as neatly separated areas of operations but part of one vast theatre of war.
Fascist Italy aimed to carve out a new Roman Empire, while British forces aimed initially to retain the status quo. Italy launched various attacks around the Mediterranean, which were largely unsuccessful. With the introduction of German forces, Yugoslavia and Greece were overrun. Allied and Axis forces engaged in back and forth fighting across North Africa, with Axis interference in the Middle East causing fighting to spread there. With confidence high from early gains, German forces planned elaborate attacks to be launched to capture the Middle East and then to possibly attack the southern border of the Soviet Union. However, following three years of fighting, Axis forces were defeated in North Africa and their interference in the Middle East was halted. Allied forces then commenced an invasion of Southern Europe, resulting in the Italians switching sides and deposing Mussolini. A prolonged battle for Italy took place, and as the strategic situation changed in southeast Europe, British troops returned to Greece.
The theatre of war, the longest during the Second World War, resulted in the destruction of the Italian Empire and altered the strategic position of Germany resulting in numerous German divisions being deployed to Africa and Italy and total losses (including those captured upon final surrender) being over half a million. Italian losses, in the theatre, amount to around to 177,000 men with a further several hundred thousand captured during the process of the various campaigns. British losses amount to over 300,000 men killed, wounded, or captured, and total American losses in the region amounted to 130,000.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1942
To Month/Year
May / 1945
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories During World War II, he served with the U.S. Army Air Force in 5th Air Force in Pacific Theatre for three and a half years and also at Jefferson Barracks, Mo.; Mitchell Field, Long Island, N.Y.; Westover Field, Mass.; Grenier Field, N.H.; and from there by troop train to California.
