Colonel Leland Thornton "Lee" Kennedy (January 1, 1934 – December 28, 2003) was a career officer and pilot in the United States Air Force, and a highly decorated veteran of the Vietnam War. Kennedy flew the EC-121 Warning Star during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and later served two tours of duty in Vietnam.
In his second Vietnam tour, he distinguished himself as a combat search and rescue helicopter pilot, twice awarded the Air Force Cross in 1966 for actions occurring 15 days apart in which his crew, while under intense fire, rescued seven airmen who had been shot down in enemy territory. Kennedy is one of only four airmen to receive multiple awards of the Air Force Cross.
Kennedy also received the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with five oak leaf clusters, and numerous other medals and campaign ribbons during his career.
After 30 years of service, Kennedy retired at Langley AFB, Hampton, Virginia, in 1985.
Education and family
From Kennedy's obituary:
Air Force career
Kennedy was commissioned through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program at the University of Kentucky on 30 May 1955, and went on active duty beginning 31 August 1955. After completing Undergraduate Pilot Training at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma, Kennedy entered helicopter training and completed it in March 1957. His first assignment was at Oxnard Air Force Base, California, from March 1957 to March 1959, flying Sikorsky SH-19B search and rescue helicopters, after which he completed Weapons Controller training and was assigned to the 4640th Support Squadron at Norton Air Force Base, California, from December 1960 to August 1962.
He was next assigned to the 963rd Airborne Early Warning and Control Squadron, 552nd AEWC Wing at McClellan Air Force Base, California, as a pilot flying EC-121 Warning Stars. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, he was assigned to its 966th AEWC Squadron based at McCoy Air Force Base, Florida, flying specially-modified EC-121Qs on Gold Digger missions (tracking Lockheed U-2 surveillance flights) and monitoring Cuban airspace.
In April 1965, still part of the airborne early warning force, Kennedy, now a captain and aircraft commander, was one of several crews of the 552nd AEWCW to be sent to Tan Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon, South Vietnam, as part of the Big Eye Task Force.
Upon completion of his temporary duty in Vietnam, Kennedy completed upgrade training to the HH-3E rescue helicopter at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, and became a pilot with the Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service (ARRS).
Second Southeast Asia tour
Kennedy was stationed at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, with Detachment 5 of the 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron, a Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) unit of six HH-3E "Jolly Green" helicopters. Standard operating procedures dispatched an airborne controller aircraft (a Lockheed HC-130H Hercules using the call sign Crown), two helicopters, and two to four A-1H Sandys tasked as rescue escort (initially "RESCORT" but later "RESCAP") on recovery missions. The force was divided into two tactical elements, with the initial recovery helicopter designated as Jolly Low and the backup as Jolly High. The ResCAP flight was likewise divided as Sandy Low and Sandy High, with Sandy Low Lead designated as the on-scene commander.
5 October 1966
On his eighth mission, and operating from a forward location at Nakhon Phanom RTAFB (NKP), Kennedy was aircraft commander ("RCC") of Jolly Green 04 on a CSAR for the crew of Tempest 03, an F-4C Phantom of the 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron. His crew consisted of copilot ("RCCP") 1st Lt. Donald R. Harris, flight engineer ("HM") SSgt. Donald Joe Hall, and pararescueman ("PJ") A2C Robert B. Williamson.
The rescue location was 300 miles distant inside North Vietnam, in a box canyon 20 miles northeast of Nà Sản. The F-4 had been an escort fighter for a pair of EB-66 electronic countermeasures (ECM) aircraft, and had been shot down by a MiG-21. Kennedy had not yet performed a combat rescue and so received assignment as Jolly High, while Jolly Green 36, piloted by Capt. Oliver Edward O'Mara Jr, was tasked to make the recovery.