More detail on this person: YORKTOWN - Col.
(Ret.) Leland (Lee) Thornton Kennedy, age 69, of
Yorktown, Virginia, died peacefully Sunday,
December 28, 2003, with his family at his side.
Kennedy was born January 1, 1934, in Louisville,
Kentucky, to Edith and William Kennedy. He
graduated from the University of Kentucky,
Lexington, in 1955, and during college was a
member of ROTC and Kappa Sigma fraternity. As a
career military officer in the United States Air
Force, Kennedy flew the EC-121 (Radar
Constellation) during the Cuban Missile Crisis,
and later served two tours of duty in Vietnam.
During his first tour of duty in Vietnam, he
piloted the EC-121. In his second tour of duty, he
distinguished himself piloting the HH-3E Jolly
Green helicopter on rescue missions, and was
awarded the Air Force Cross with one Oak Leaf
Cluster. Kennedy also received the Silver Star,
the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with
five Oak Leaf Clusters, and numerous other medals
and campaign ribbons during his career. After 30
years of service, Kennedy retired at Langley AFB,
Hampton, Virginia, as Director of Operations at
TAC Headquarters. After retirement, Kennedy
served his community as a member of the
York/Poquoson Social Service Board, and served
as Chairman of that organization for three years.
In addition, he incorporated his interest in
woodworking and miniature ship building into his
own business, Why Knot, for many years. In recent
years, Kennedy joined his love of family and his
interest in history by researching the
genealogical history of his family. He leaves to
cherish his memory his loving bride of almost 50
years, Harriet June, as well as three children,
seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Visitation will be held Sunday, January 4, 2004,
from 5:00 to 7:00 pm, at Hogg Funeral Home,
Gloucester Point, Virginia. Burial will be in late
January in Arlington National Cemetery,
Washington, D.C. In lieu of flowers, donations may
be made to Guide Dogs for the Blind, 350 Los
Ranchitos, San Rafael, California 94903
(www.guidedogs.com) or the charity of your choice.
Kennedy was a man of great integrity, honest and
inner strength. We will miss his long emails,
lessons, wry humor, thoughtful comments, and
unconditional love. Published in the Daily Press
from 12/30/2003 - 1/2/2004.
From: Air Force News.
"No one who was in Southeast Asia during the long
course of the Vietnam war will be surprised that,
in relation to their number, Air Rescue and
Recovery Service (ARRS) crewmen earned more
combat decorations than any other group. One of
their number, then-Capt. Leland Kennedy, was the
first airman to be awarded the Air Force Cross
twice. His two awards of the nation's second
highest decoration for valor were for
extraordinary heroism in combat missions only 15
days apart. Captain Kennedy had been at Udorn
RTAFB, Thailand, with Detachment 5 of the 38th
ARRS Squadron only a short time when, on Oct. 5,
1966, he lifted his HH-3E Jolly Green Giant
helicopter off the ground to search for an F-4C
crew downed along the Black River west of Hanoi.
It was a deep penetration--some 300 miles into
enemy territory. He was flying backup to Capt.
Oliver O'Mara, pilot of the low rescue bird. The
F-4 crew was located in a box canyon. Two A-1H
"Sandys" made a low pass over the area, drawing
no fire. Captain O'Mara dropped into the canyon
and lowered his hoist. His helicopter was
immediately hit by fire from a ridge 200 yards
above the F-4 pilot. Captain O'Mara had to pull
out, but he made two more attempts in the badly
damaged HH-3E before his hoist was knocked out
and he had to head for Udorn. (Captain O'Mara was
awarded the Air Force Cross for his part in the
mission.) The usual practice was for the secondary
helicopter to escort the lead ship home if it was
heavily damaged, but Captain Kennedy was asked
to return and attempt a pickup. It was his eighth
mission and his first actual rescue attempt. On
the first pass, his Jolly Green was hit and one of
the crew wounded. In spite of the odds against
them, Kennedy's three crewmen joined him in
wanting to try again. Four times the HH-3E was
driven off by enemy fire, taking more hits on each
pass.
On the fifth try, with Captain Kennedy holding the
aircraft in a hover just off the canyon floor, the
crew dropped their hoist to the pilot and reeled
him in. Kennedy climbed out of the canyon and flew
his tattered chopper back to Udorn. His
determination, skill, and sustained heroism were
to make him a member of an elite group--only 25 at
that time--to earn the Air Force Cross. The
mission for which Captain Kennedy was awarded an
oak leaf cluster to the Air Force Cross came 15
days later, on Oct. 20. Again he was flying the
secondary helicopter in an attempt to rescue an
F-4 crew, both of whom had parachuted into trees.
The lead
helicopter flown by Maj. A.D. Youngblood, dropped
its hoist to the pilot, who had strapped himself
to a tree. While the downed pilot was hanging half
in the hoist, Major Youngblood's Jolly Green was
hit so hard he had to make an emergency landing.
Captain Kennedy, descending and dumping fuel to
compensate for the added weight of Major
Youngblood's crew and the F-4 pilot, directed
Youngblood to a field nearly a mile away. Kennedy
had to continue dumping fuel while on the
ground--engines running and rotor turning--knowing
that vaporizing fuel might blow up the aircraft at
any moment. Luck was with them. Major
Youngblood's crew and the rescued pilot climbed
aboard, one of them wounded by small arms fire,
and Kennedy lifted off with nine men in the
helicopter. At that point, an O-1E pilot spotted
the second F-4 crewman, still in a tree. As
Kennedy hovered to pick him up, enemy soldiers
came from the tree line, firing at the HH-3. The
F-4 crewman was wounded as he came up the
hoist, and Kennedy started for Nakhon Phanom.
Then one of the Sandys that had participated in
the rescue reported that it was losing power
Kennedy escorted the damaged Sandy all the way
to a safe landing. It was a great day for an
elated Jolly Green crew who saved six fellow
Americans from death or the horrors of Hanoi's
prisons. Leland Kennedy, now a retired colonel,
flew 99 missions in Southeast Asia for a
total of 354 combat hours. Colonel Kennedy spent
much of his subsequent career in Alaska before
retiring from an assignment as director of
Operations Plans at Tactical Air Command
headquarters. Like so many other ARRS crewmen,
the satisfaction of saving others whose lives were
in peril made his combat tour in southeast Asia
the high point of an Air Force career. Leland
Kennedy was a major player in Southeast Asia
rescue operations, called by former Secretary of
the Air Force Harold Brown "one of the most
outstanding human dramas in the history of the Air
Force." Published February 1992.
Burial information: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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