Statue of this World War II hero at Arlington City Hall honors veterans every day

Note: Updated Monday to reflect that Kearby was the top P-47 ace in the Pacfiic Theater, not the top overall.

One of the often-repeated reminders when the annual celebration of Veterans Day comes around is that we should honor our veterans every day.

A statue at the entrance to Arlington City Hall serves as an ever-present way to do that. The opportunity came home to the granddaughter of the veteran whose image has been memorialized there in bronze for all to see.

The city’s news and information office marked the holiday last Monday with a video of Julie Knight standing at her grandfather’s sculptured image as she reflected upon his recognition and the account of the gallantry for which he earned the Congressional Medal of Honor.

“It’s keeping the memory of him alive, the memory of what he did for our country. The memory of what all those men from World War II did for our country, so we don’t forget.”

We Americans count ourselves as the freest people of the world. Some may take such a privilege for granted. Instead, all of us share the responsibility of ensuring that no one in the current and succeeding generations should fall into such complacency.

A review of just one of our country’s greatest heroes, whose life was ultimately sacrificed in the greatest war in history to preserve our liberty, should give us all pause recognizing the reality of the often repeated refrain of “freedom is not free.”

Neel Kearby, a graduate of Arlington High School and then North Texas Agricultural College (which later emerged as the University of Texas at Arlington), entered service in the U. S. Army Air Corps at the age of 26.

As a P-47 Thunderbolt pilot he scored a total of 22 aerial victories and remains the top P-47 ace in the Pacific theater. Along the way, he reached the rank of full colonel and was assigned to administrative duties with the Air Force Fighter Command.

Determined to remain in combat, he flew missions whenever he could.

The action that brought him the nation’s highest honor was achieved against staggering odds after he completed his original mission on Oct. 11, 1943.

The Medal of Honor Citation describes his leading a flight of four fighters to reconnoiter a strongly defended enemy base. The small formation had sighted some 12 enemy bombers accompanied by 36 fighters.

He gave the signal to attack . Diving into the midst of the enemy airplanes, he shot down three in quick succession. Then, seeing one of his comrades with two enemy fighters in pursuit, he destroyed both enemy aircraft.

Adding those kills to the one he had shot down in the initial mission, he brought down a total of six enemy aircraft in the day’s action. The citation concludes by saying he demonstrated “superb daring … conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy.”

In his first such ceremony in his Southwest Pacific command, Gen. Douglas MacArthur himself pinned the Medal of Honor on Kearby’s tunic before a group of witnesses on Jan. 22, 1944.

Forty-two days later, Col. Kearby was shot down and crashed into the jungle, where his remains were found in 1947 but unidentified for two more years. Later he was returned home and buried in Dallas’ Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery.

In addition to his Medal of Honor, Kearby’s legacy comprises individual awards such as the Silver Star with bronze oak leaf cluster, the Distinguished Flying Cross with three bronze oak leaf clusters, the Air Medal with four bronze oak leaf clusters and the Purple Heart.

Once encountered, our nation’s heroes such as Col. Neel Kearby will indeed not be forgotten.

This story was originally published November 14, 2019 at 1:45 PM.