My Father Honored for WWII Heroism

In the summer of 2004, my father, Melvin McKenzie, was honored at the Gathering of Eagles at Maxwell Air Force Base, the home of Air University. He flew the Boeing B-17D Flying Fortress in the early days of World War II.

Melvin McKenzie

On 8 December 1941, Lieutenant McKenzie was the Duty Officer at Clark Field when the Japanese attacked, destroying the bulk of America’s most forward-deployed airpower contingent in the Pacific. For the next twelve months, McKenzie flew 25 B-17 Flying Fortress missions against the enemy’s “Centrifugal Offensive” in the Southwest Pacific, while also participating in the Battle of the Coral Sea and supporting the Allied invasion of Guadalcanal.

Gathering of Eagles - History