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Service Details |
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Last Rank
Sergeant
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Last Primary AFSC/MOS
AAF MOS 747-Airplane and Engine Mechanic
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Last AFSC Group
Ordnance/Maintenance (Enlisted)
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Primary Unit
1944-1945, 5th Air Force
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Service Years
1942 - 1945
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Personal Details
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Home State
Michigan | |
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Year of Birth
1916 |
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This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Steven Loomis (USAAF & USAF) -Family
to remember
Loomis, Kenneth B., Sgt.
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
Tustin |
Last Address
Cadillac, Michigan
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Date of Passing
Sep 01, 2006 |
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Location of Interment
Mount Carmel Cemetery - Cadillac, Michigan |
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Last Known Activity:
KENNETH B. LOOMIS
1916-2006
U.S. Army 5th Air Corps
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.
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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).
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Reflections on Sgt Loomis's
US Air Force Service
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TO THE BEST OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE, WHAT INFLUENCED HIS/HER DECISION TO JOIN THE AIR FORCE?
This is a Remembrance Profile of Kenneth B. Loomis, my father's brother.
Ken and Stan, the twins, were born in 1916. Ken served in the Army Air Corps while his twin worked at the Chris-Craft plant in Cadillac, Michigan. Although Stanley attempted to enlist the government denied his request, stating that his job with the war effort required his services.
Ken served for three and a half years, most of it in the Army's 5th Air Force in the Pacific.
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