MacArthur's Airmen - George C. Kenney
 George Churchill Kenney was born in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1889, and grew up in Massachusetts. He joined the U.S. Army in the summer of 1917, and was
assigned to the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps – the forerunner of the Air Force. During World War I, Kenney was attached to the 91st Aero Squadron and flew 75 combat missions, shooting down two German planes – one of which is thought to have been piloted by Hermann Goering, leader of the Luftwaffe during World War II. Kenney remained with the aviation section of the Army following World War I, and developed several advances in military weaponry, including the installation of machine guns in the wings of pursuit planes
and also the concept of parachute bombs – something which would be used extensively by Kenney’s forces in the Pacific during World War II.
On the eve of World War II, Kenney was a Brigadier General commanding the Fourth Air Force in California. In August 1942 Kenney was selected by General of the Army Douglas MacArthur to head up the air wing in the Southwest Pacific and promoted to Major General. Kenney held a dual role under MacArthur, as head of the U.S. Fifth Air Force and also as senior air commander, heading up all Allied air units in the theater. In the summer of 1944, Kenney was promoted to Lieutenant General and given
command of the newly-reformed Far East Air Force, which included his own Fifth and the newly added Thirteenth Air Force. In early 1945 Kenney was promoted to full General.
 After World War II, Kenney served briefly in Europe and later was the first commander of Strategic Air Command. He retired from active duty in 1951. In addition to a history of the air operations under MacArthur, Kenney also wrote a biography of Richard Bong, top American ace of World War II, and of “Pappy” Gunn, one of the more colorful figures of Fifth Air Force. George Kenney died in 1977 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Gen. Kenney’s A-2 flight jacket is on exhibit in MacArthur’s Airmen.
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