William E. Kepner’s Distinguished Flying Cross citation
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
AUTHORIZED BY ACT OF CONGRESS JULY 2, 1926 HAS
AWARDED
THE DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS
TO
MAJOR (AIR CORPS) WILLIAM E. KEPNER
U.S. ARMY AIR CORPS
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Major (Air Corps) William E. Kepner (ASN: 0-5686/6A), U.S. Army Air Corps, for extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight. Major Kepner was pilot and commander of the National Geographic Society Army Air Corps stratosphere Balloon flight, which took off from the vicinity of Rapid City, South Dakota, on 28 July 1934, and landed near Loomis, Nebraska, that same date. He assisted in piloting the balloon into the stratosphere to an altitude of 60,613 feet, and in making continuous scientific observations on route, and when the balloon became disabled through circumstances beyond human control, did attempt, under most adverse and hazardous conditions, to land successfully the disabled aircraft in order to preserve the scientific records that had been obtained. By the exercise of cool judgment and foresight under these conditions, certain scientific records were saved and the disabled air craft was abandoned only when it was clearly evident that not to do so would prove disastrous to human life.
Born: Jan. 6, 1893 in Miami, Ind…. Home of record: Kokomo, Ind…. Also awarded the Distinguished Service Cross during World War I… Held six ratings: command pilot, combat observer, senior balloon pilot, zeppelin pilot, semi-rigid pilot, and metal-clad airship pilot… Commanded 8th Fighter Command, the Eighth Air Force’s 2d Bomb Wing, then the Ninth Air Force during World War II — and personally flew 24 combat missions in fighters and bombers… Retired from the Air Force in 1953 as a lieutenant general… Departed: July 3, 1982… Interred: Greenwood Cemetery in Clarksville, Tenn.