Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Lillian Kinkella Keil (November 17, 1916 – June 30, 2005) was a highly decorated

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

flight nurse A flight nurse is a registered nurse who specialises in the field of providing comprehensive pre-hospital, emergency critical care, and hospital care to a vast scope of patients. The care of these patients is generally during aeromedical evacua ...

. Keil made 250 evacuation flights (23 of them transatlantic) during World War II and 175 evacuation flights during the Korean War, becoming one of the most decorated women in American military history.Capt. Lillian Kinkella Keil
, United States Air Force website.

Biography

Keil was born in

Arcata, California Arcata (; Wiyot language, Wiyot: ''Goudi’ni''; Yurok language, Yurok: ''Oket'oh'') is a city adjacent to the Arcata Bay (northern) portion of Humboldt Bay (United States), Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California, Humboldt County, Californ ...

. She was raised in a convent after her father abandoned her mother and their three small children. Watching the nuns tend to the sick is what drew her into nursing. Immediately following high school, Keil attended the nursing program at St. Mary's Hospital in San Francisco and became a

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to o ...

. In 1939, she became one of the first

stewardesses A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are primar ...

for

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

. After the United States entered

in 1941, a passenger suggested she become a flight nurse for the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. She was among the first flight nurse graduates of the Army School of Air Evacuation at Bowman Field,

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. Captain Keil served in London by the summer of 1943 and at

Omaha Beach Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors designated for the amphibious assault component of operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded German-occupied France with the Normandy landings. "Omaha" r ...

after the June 1944

D-Day invasion The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

. She was among the nurses who tended the wounded of

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

's Third Army as it drove across France. Her older brother, SSGT John J. Kinkella served with the Army 184th Infantry Division in the South Pacific and was killed in action on February 4, 1944, at Kwajlein Atoll, in the Marshall Islands. She arranged to have her brother's remains repatriated after the war and he was interred at

Golden Gate National Cemetery Golden Gate National Cemetery is a United States national cemetery in California, located in the city of San Bruno, south of San Francisco. Because of the name and location, it is frequently confused with San Francisco National Cemetery, which ...

in September 1949. After the war, she returned to being a United Airlines stewardess, but reenlisted when the

broke out, this time in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

. She was one of only 30 Air Force nurses stationed in the Far East. In all, she flew 175 air evacuations out of Korea, to go with her 250 in World War II, for a total of 425. It is estimated that she tended over 10,000 wounded in her military career. She served as a technical advisor for the 1953 film ''

Flight Nurse A flight nurse is a registered nurse who specialises in the field of providing comprehensive pre-hospital, emergency critical care, and hospital care to a vast scope of patients. The care of these patients is generally during aeromedical evacua ...

'', starring

Joan Leslie Joan Leslie (born Joan Agnes Theresa Sadie Brodel; January 26, 1925 – October 12, 2015) was an American actress and vaudevillian, who during the Hollywood Golden Age, appeared in such films as '' High Sierra'' (1941), ''Sergeant York'' (1941) ...

and

Forrest Tucker Forrest Meredith Tucker (February 12, 1919 – October 25, 1986) was an American actor in both movies and television who appeared in nearly a hundred films. Tucker worked as a vaudeville straight man at the age of fifteen. A mentor provided fund ...

, which was partly based upon her own experiences. In 1954, she met Walter Keil, a former Navy intelligence officer during World War II. After only six weeks, they married, and when she became pregnant in 1955, she received an honorable discharge. The couple settled in

Covina, California Covina is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles, in the San Gabriel Valley. The population was 51,268 according to the 2020 census, up from 47,796 at the 2010 census. The city's slogan, " ...

, where she continued to work as a nurse. They had two daughters. When she was the subject of a 1961 episode of the TV show ''

This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

'', the show drew one of its ten highest mail responses. Keil died of cancer at the age of 88 and is buried at

Riverside National Cemetery Riverside National Cemetery (RNC) is a cemetery located in Riverside, California, dedicated to the interment of United States military personnel. The cemetery covers , making it the largest cemetery managed by the National Cemetery Administration ...

in Riverside, California.Military Hall of Honor
/ref>

Awards

Keil was awarded 19 medals and ribbons, including: * 4

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

s * 2 Presidential Unit Citations * 1

World War II Victory Medal The World War II Victory Medal is a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945. The Wor ...

* 4

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

s in World War II * 1

Korean Service Medal The Korean Service Medal (KSM) is a military award for service in the United States Armed Forces and was established November 8, 1950 by executive order of President Harry Truman. The Korean Service Medal is the primary US military award for se ...

with seven battle stars In 2005 following her death, Congress passed a bill renaming the post office in Covina the Lillian Kinkella Keil Post Office.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keil, Lillian Kinkella 1916 births 2005 deaths United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War American women in World War II Burials at Riverside National Cemetery Deaths from cancer in California Female wartime nurses Flight attendants Korean War nurses Recipients of the Air Medal United States Air Force Nurse Corps officers United States Air Force officers Women in the United States Air Force Women in warfare post-1945 Women in war in East Asia World War II nurses

Biography

Awards

References

Further reading

External links