Military Veterans
Jim Kirkland
Brick Location
Panel Number
Biography
As soon as Jim Kirkland turned 18—in November of 1943—he joined the Army Air Corps and became a B-17 pilot.
His high school sweetheart and eventually his wife—Pat Kirkland—was so excited when he wrote her from Italy and asked her to marry him. Before she could give him her answer, though, they received word that his plane had gone down over Italy. Jim was missing in action and presumed dead.
Pat’s eventual response to this devastating news was to join the Navy herself, even though the war was winding down.
Then two days before she was to leave for Boot Camp, she received the most surprising phone call of her life. It was Jim, calling from New York City. His plane had indeed been shot down and broken into two pieces. The front end (where he was located) lodged in a tree. He and several crew members were trapped there, captured, marched to Germany, and placed in a POW camp. News of this had failed to reach American sources until the Allies liberated the camp.
Branch:
Years
World War II
Duty
B-17 Pilot