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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Gen Frederick J. Kroesen

Major Robert Kline Kroesen enlisted in the US Army, February 1943. Assigned immediately to Air Corps pilot training program. Schooling at Coe College, IA and Thunderbird Field, AZ he earned pilot's wings and 2ndLt commission in August 1944.

Initially a B-25 pilot he was sent to England and the 8th Air Force as a co-pilot of a B-17. Returned to the US enroute to the Far East when the war ended. He served as an instructor pilot at Childress AFB until discharged in January 1946. He was appointed to the USAF Reserve.

In June 1949 he joined the 695the Field Artillery Battalion, New Jersey National Guard. His unit was mobilized in September 1950 for the Korean War. He served as battery commander and battalion staff officer, was awarded the Bronze Star for heroic achievement before separation in July 1952 as a Captain.

He rejoined the National Guard in the 112th Field Artillery, later becoming Chief of Information, New Jersey Department of Defense in 1967. He was promoted to Major and was still serving when he died in 1975.