Veteran of numerous wars has no regrets
Staff reporter
The memory is "fuzzy" but for the most part retired Lieutenant Commander P. Ernest "Kelly" Kelsch can recall the highlights of his military career with the U.S. Navy.
Born in 1927 in Trego County, the proud sailor shared some of his experiences.
He enlisted when he was 17 years old in Brooklyn, N.Y., and began serving Dec. 28, 1944, on the USS Essex, an aircraft carrier.
"I enlisted in the Navy because I wanted to see the world," said Kelly. "I ended up in the South Pacific."
He and other crew members would spend eight to 11 months onboard the ship at sea before enjoying six to eight weeks on shore.
"There were 2,143 who served on the ship," Kelly said. Squadrons (fighter jets) would refuel and get new armament.
Kelly was a petty officer during World War II while on the Essex.
"We saw quite a bit of action," he said.
Kelly said he served active duty in Libya, Lebanon, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
"Wherever General Westmoreland wanted me, that's where I went," he said.
During his military career, Kelly was hit by flying debris and was unconscious for two days. When he was well, he returned to the ranks, again fighting for his country.
During the Korean Conflict, he was in a plane crash when an engine failed. Kelly suffered broken bones in that incident.
While in Vietnam, Kelly said he was exposed to Agent Orange.
"I was married to a Vietnamese and we had two daughters," said Kelly. Today his family resides in California.
Although the dates and places are difficult to recall, Kelly remembers when a mortar blew him against a tree, causing injury to his brain.
He has had brain surgeries, the most recent in 1996 in Oklahoma City to remove a blood clot.
Because of the injury, Kelly is unable to care for himself.
"I would forget to eat or go to bed," he said. He currently lives at Marion Manor at Marion. And he misses the interaction with other people.
"I'd like to just walk down the street and go in somewhere and have a beer," he said with a smile.
Kelly, who later was trained as a flight engineer, said he served for 18 months on Air Force One for President John F. Kennedy.
"He and I got along so well," Kelly said. "He was a real 'man's man'."
Kelly's duties on Air Force One were to check fuel and engine pressures, and electrical manipulations of the aircraft.
"There were seven crew members at that time," Kelly said. He was not serving the President when Kennedy was assassinated.
"It's hard to believe one man could affect so many," he said.
Kelly spends his days longing for a different life but knows this is his fate.
"I have no regrets," said Kelly. "Eighty percent of my life was happy."
He appreciates the opportunity to serve in the military.
"The military life was a good life for me," he said.
Kelly's "good life" meant fighting for the freedom of every U.S. citizen and being willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.
