• Nov. 16, 1917 – Dec. 17, 1943
• Tipton County, Tennessee
• UT Junior College – 1938-1940
  • Football player
• 1st Lt – Army Air Corps
• Enlisted in 1942
• 493rd Bomb Sqn, 7th Bomb Grp. B-24 bombardier. 10th Air Force. Plane shot down (11/14/43) over Burma, and crew captured. Died in Rangoon prison camp from burns/injuries received in crash.
• Flying out of India
• Shot down on November 14, 1943
• Memorialized at:
  • Arlington National Cemetery at Arlington, Virginia
  • Shiloh Cemetery at Tipton County, Tennessee
  • Manila American Cemetery and Memorial at Manila, Philippines
• https://johnckelley.wordpress.com/

John Calvin Kelley (Nov. 16, 1917 – Dec. 17, 1943) was born in Tipton County, Tennessee. He attended and played football for the University of Tennessee’s Junior College at Martin from 1938 – 1940. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1942 and was trained as a 1st Lieutenant on B-24 bombers. He was deployed in the China-India-Burma Theater and flew bombing operations out of India with the 493rd Bomb Squadron of the 10th Air Force’s 7th Bomb Group. His plane was shot down over Burma by Japanese forces on November 14, 1943. He and the rest of the crew were captured by the Japanese following their crash. 1st Lt. Kelley suffered severe burns and injuries from the crash while the crew was interned as prisoners of war at the Rangoon prison camp. He died from his wounds while imprisoned on December 17, 1943. He is memorialized at the Arlington National Cemetery at Arlington, Virginia, Manila American Cemetery and Memorial at Manila, Philippines, and Shiloh Cemetery at Tipton County, Tennessee. For more information on 1st Lt. John Kelley and his family’s pursuit to have his remains returned home to Tennessee, see https://johnckelley.wordpress.com/