Kenneth C Kemper

Ken was born in 1933 and grew up close to Gettysburg, PA. During World War II, he and his mother were civilian plane spotters. Ken studied the manual and knew all of the aircraft, although they never spotted any. He enlisted in the USAF in 1952 during the Korean War with hopes of becoming a pilot, but this was not to be. The year that he served with the 90th Bomb Squadron at Kunsan AFB in Korea, kept him near the planes, but his primary duty was with the "idiot stick" loading the bombs. After the Armistice, to pass the time waiting to come home, he built and flew model airplanes. He returned and was stationed at Geiger AFB in Spokane, WA with the 497th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. He did not sign up for a second tour, as that would have taken him to Spain and his first child had just been born. He and wife returned to their home in central PA. Ken completed the OJT program with the Military and worked at a local garage and then at a Chevrolet dealership as a mechanic. As his family kept growing, he took a position as a Rural Letter Carrier and worked for the US Postal Service until he retired after 30 years of service in 1991. His love of all things mechanical provided extra income for his family as he was known as “the neighborhood car repairman”. If it had a motor, he could fix it. His neighbors would ask “Kenny” if he could fix their car, truck, or tractor and he helped many families in the community. He has always been an avid reader. He enjoys the game of golf and his clubs go along on every trip. He has traveled to almost all 50 states and even visited Australia and New Zealand. When the last of his children had left home, he was able to take the flying lessons that he had dreamed of for many years. He logged the hours, but the final physical kept him from flying solo. As a passing hobby, he did build and fly radio controlled model aircraft for a time. His children provided the gift of flight with a flying tour in the WW II North American AT-6 Texan fighter trainer. The smile on his face, after his flight, was from ear to ear. His dreams of flying have been kept alive by visits to the many airport museums around the country. When the Hazy Center finally opened, he may have been one of the first visitors. His knowledge of the military planes on display, especially the ones he worked on or was close to during his military service is quite impressive.