Capt. Colin P. Kelly, Jr. Painting by Deane Keller, via Wikipedia.

Here, Hang Snow sings “There’s a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere,”

written in 1942 by Paul Roberts and Shelby Darnell. The song refers to a version of heaven reserved for a pantheon of American heroes, including “Lincoln, Custer, Washington and Perry, Nathan Hale and Collin Kelly too.”

The last named American hero, Collin Kelly, died this day 75 years ago, December 10, 1941. He was one of the first heroes of the Second World War. His was the first American B-17 to be shot down in the war.

On December 10, he took off on a bombing run from Clark Field in the Phillipine Islands. On the return flight, the plane was attacked. Kelly ordered his men to bail out. Moments later, the plane exploded, killing him.

Kelly was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, and President Roosevelt wrote a letter to the President of the United States in 1956, asking for an appointment for Kelly’s infant son. President Eisenhower honored this request by appointing Colin P. Kelly III to West Point.