One of the Most Decorated Women in WWII - AMERICAN EXPERIENCE - PBS

My name is Adrienne Whitmore. My mother is Lillian Kinkella Keele, who was one of the most accreted women in World War II and the Korean War. That's Mrs. Walter Keele at her home in Covina, California. Anyone would think she's the typical housewife. She's friendly, she enjoys life, and people enjoy her. What's more, they think they know her well. But few know that Mrs. Keele has a past which is incredible but true. This homemaker and mother is America's most decorated woman. Eleven battle stars, four air medals, more than 450 air evacuation missions of wounded during World War II in Europe, and later in Korea. My mother grew up very poor, so much so that her mother and her two brothers lived in a convent. My mother saw all the nuns helping others, and she got interested in becoming a nurse. Somebody mentioned to her, had she ever thought about being an airline stewardess? And at the time, you had to be a registered nurse to be an airline stewardess. One of her passengers said, with all your experience, have you ever thought about joining the Air Force? Without hesitation, she just says, what do I need to do? Then, in the beginnings of World War II, so she joined the Air Force, where she evacuated soldiers off the battlefield. She was there to take care of the soldiers. That was her concentration. And she cared for each one, bandaging their wounds, keeping them from bleeding, giving them sedation if they needed it. She eventually went on to participate in the invasion of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge. Then there was the advent of the Korean conflict. As part of that, she participated in the evacuation of soldiers from the Chosin Reservoir. They called them the Frozen Chosin. It was a short conflict, but one that, to this day, I mean, so many recount as having such painful memories of. She felt that she represented their sisters or their sweethearts or those at home. Her care was a comfort to them. They saw somebody there talking to them, giving them hope. You're going to be home. You're going to be with your family. In all her missions, she never lost a patient in her care. This is Mrs. Keel, formerly Captain Lillian Kinkella, United States Air Force. Tonight, this is your life. She was honored on This Is Your Life back in 1964. She was so shocked, so surprised. Where, during the Korean conflict, you fly 175 air evacuation missions. During 16 months in the Far East, accumulate 1,400 hours in the air. I think she was proud. August 18, 1954, you represent the Air Force at a recruiting display at the World's Fair. That's the day I met Lillian, and just five weeks and three days later, we were married. You recognize that voice of your husband, I hope, Walter Keel. By the time she got married, she was 38. She had had such a great life already, and it was time to change roles. She shortly after that became pregnant with my sister. At the time, the Air Force had a regulation that if you had a dependent under the age of 18, you would not be able to continue in the military. I don't think it was her will to leave the military. She was honorably discharged. Right about the time that she was being discharged, she was notified she was going to become a major. Growing up, honestly, she really didn't talk too much about her military life. She was my mom first. She was proud that she had the girls. And then I was one of the girls, you know, and I realized that nothing, I mean, she couldn't fake that. And she was like this was the most important thing to her, and it was me and my sister. And no matter what, she would have loved to be a major. I know she would have liked to have done that and continued, but we were her life. When she was sick in 2005, it got wind around the community that she was ill and not doing well. I was able to take time off of work and stay there. And by others visiting, I got to kind of meet the people that had been part of her life. They would be from her days as Erin Stewart is or Joan Westley, who portrayed her in the movie Flight Nurse, that was done on her life, or some of the people she had been in the military with. And I had almost a month where I would meet all these people, and it was like her life. She says, you know, don't feel sorry for me. I've had a wonderful life. She passed away June 30, 2005. She was remembering all that she'd done in her life, and she said there was a picture of her in her white Air Force uniform in the middle of military men, and here she was the only woman in the middle of all of them. And she says, that's the picture I would like everybody to see and remember me. And at the time, she would like to be at Riverside National Cemetery. I want to be at Riverside with my boys, and I'll never forget her saying it that way. And she meant the Marines, the chosen Marines. Everything was sort of meant to be. There were moments that happened to lead her to something else. So in that way, I guess she just felt like, who could ask to have done more?