Frank "Jesse" Otis (1905-1937) was a

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

surgeon and flight surgeon for the

Massachusetts Air National Guard The Massachusetts Air National Guard (MA ANG) is the aerial militia of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States of America. It is, along with the Massachusetts Army National Guard, an element of the Massachusetts National Guard. As common ...

101st Observation Squadron The United States Air Force's 101st Intelligence Squadron (101 IS), Massachusetts Air National Guard, is an Military intelligence, intelligence unit assigned to the 102nd Intelligence Wing and located at Otis Air National Guard Base, Massachuset ...

who was memorialized after his death when

Otis Field Otis Air National Guard Base is an Air National Guard installation located within Joint Base Cape Cod, a military training facility located on the western portion of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It was known ...

was named after him.

Biography

Frank Otis was born on 19 Jun 1905 in Chicago, Illinois to Frank J. Otis, Sr. and Mabel Howe. Frank was an intern at the

Boston City Hospital The Boston City Hospital (1864–1996), in Boston, Massachusetts, was a public hospital, located in the South End. It was "intended for the use and comfort of poor patients, to whom medical care will be provided at the expense of the city, and . ...

. He was a graduate of the Harvard University Medical School. He was also a member of the

, based at

Camp Edwards Camp Edwards is a United States military training installation which is located in western Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. Originally the Massachusetts Military Reservation (which was another name for it until 2013) acquired in Se ...

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

. On January 11, 1937 while traveling to his parents' house in

Moline, Illinois Moline ( ) is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in 2020, it is the largest city in Rock Island County. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island ...

, his plane went down in the Illinois River near Hennepin. Otis Air National Guard Base#World War II At the time of his death, he was a

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the Air National Guard. The official military explanation says that he was killed on a cross country training mission, and this is backed up by the fact that he was flying a Douglas O-46A. In 1938, the airfield at

was named

after him.

References

United States Army officers Harvard Medical School alumni People from Chicago 1905 births 1937 deaths Military personnel from Illinois {{US-army-bio-stub