| United States Army Air Force (USAAF) Captain Colin P. Kelly (July 11, 1915 – December 10, 1941), 7th Bomb Group, 14th Bomb Squadron, ferried Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress serial number 40-2045 to Hickam Field, Territory of Hawaii, on May 14, 1941. Kelly and crew departed Hickam on September 5, 1941, flying to Midway’s Eastern Island, Wake, Port Moresby, and finally to Clark Field, arriving on September 12. Transferred to the 19th Bomb Group on December 2, 1941. Dispersed to San Marcelino Field, 40-2045 missed destruction at Clark Field. On December 10, 1941, 6 B-17s, including Kelly’s crew in 40-2045, were sent from San Marcelino to Clark Field. Only 3 arrived; 3 turned back due to fears of an impending air raid. Kelly landed and was quickly armed with 900 pound (270 kilogram) bombs, less than a normal bomb load. Another B-17 from Clark joined the flight, and they took off to attack a Japanese invasion convoy headed for Aparri. This was the 1st American bombing mission of World War II. Sighting the convoy, Kelly headed for the Imperial Japanese Navy heavy cruiser Ashigara. The crew misidentified it as the battleship Haruna. Bombing from 22,000 feet (6,700 meters), the bombardier claimed a hit. In actuality, Ashigara suffered no damage, and no battleship was part of the invasion force. It’s possible that Minesweeper W-19 was damaged. The flight headed back to Clark Field, but was intercepted by Imperial Japanese Navy Mitsubishi A6M2 “Zero” fighters, including 1 piloted by Petty Officer 2nd Class Saburo Sakai (August 25, 1916 – September 22, 2000), 1 of the only Japanese aces to survive the Pacific War. During their 1st firing pass, the nose compartment was hit, damaging the pilot’s instrument panel. The Zeros made repeated firing passes and started a fire in the bomb bay, which engulfed the rear of the bomber in flames. Heavily damaged, the pilot ordered the crew to bail out. As they opened their parachutes, several were strafed by the Zeros until they reached the ground, making holes in their parachutes. Meanwhile, the B-17’s 2 right engines were inoperative when an explosion ejected the co-pilot out of the observation dome, but he was able to open his parachute and landed safely. All the surviving crew landed in the vicinity of their base and quickly returned to duty. As the stricken bomber descended, it exploded again and impacted the ground. The wreckage was found along a rural road 2 miles west of Mount Arayat, about 5 miles east of Clark Field. The tail assembly was missing. Parts were scattered over an area of 500 yards. The right wing with 2 engines still in place remained almost intact, although it was burning when the search party arrived. The fuselage and left side of the plane were badly wrecked and burned. Kelly was killed in action. 40-2045 was the 1st USAAF B-17 lost in combat in World War II. For a nation desperate for positive news, Kelly was said by the United Press on December 13, 1941, to have “hurled a United States Army plane down into the blazing muzzles of Japanese guns and, dumping his deadly cargo of bombs at suicidal range, dealt a mortal blow to the twenty-nine thousand ton battleship Haruna.” A picture of his wife and son accompanied the article. “too proud to weep,” the headline intoned. His co-pilot said he met death “smilingly.” United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945) wrote a letter to the future President of 1956, asking that Colin P. “Corky” Kelly III (born May 6, 1940) be admitted to West Point. But within a few weeks, America learned that Kelly had nursed his stricken plane and died while most of his men had bailed out. The Coos Bay, Oregon, Times editorial page read on December 22, 1941, “When America heard that Colin P. Kelly, its first hero of World War II, had died in a suicidal attack on a Japanese battleship, there was universal revolt at the thought of a fine young American adopting the oriental idea of hari-kari, even for so great a cause as victory…Fortunately for national morale, the full report of Colin Kelly, as printed in this paper Saturday, indicates the first quick conclusions were erroneous. The young airman took his risks as any other pilot, deposited his bombs where they would do the job on the Japanese warship, then turned tail and headed for home. It was on the return trip that enemy planes shot him down, and he crashed with the bomber that had helped make him famous. It was a much more fitting ending to the first great American story of the war. America has always admired the man who was willing to take great chances, to risk his life for his country. However, we have held that the fighting man is as human as his civilian brothers, and that it is just as important for him to survive and help attain new victories as it is for the nation to live and enjoy those victories.” Kelly was America’s 1st war hero. By September 18, 1942, Deane Keller (December 14, 1901 – April 12, 1992), a Professor at Yale’s School of Fine Arts and a noted portraitist, had been contracted by Emerson Electric Company to paint a life-size composition, and it was complete. Keller met with the Kelly family and the Army Air Force to complete the artwork. The new Emerson Electric Company gun turret factory in Saint Louis was dedicated to Kelly, and the painting was unveiled there, with Kelly’s parents, widow, and child in attendance. It was the “best we’ve ever seen of him.” Keller’s painting was exhibited at the Saint Louis City Art Museum for 2 weeks before it was displayed in the plant’s main office. After World War II, the painting was displayed at Clark Air Base in the Philippines at the Kelly Theatre, named in his honor. When Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1992, the painting was moved to the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1502.jpg |
| Image Size | 393.11 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1800 x 1476 |
| Photographer | Deane Keller |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Air Force |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | December 10, 1941 |
| Location | Clark Field |
| City | Angeles |
| State or Province | Luzon |
| Country | Philippines |
| Archive | United States Air Force |
| Record Number | 050607-F-1234P-008 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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