Artifact Friday – Pierce McKennon's Letter

Today we have the letter sent by a pilot, Pierce W. McKennon, to his mother.

 Pierce was born and raised as an Arkansas native and attended the University of Arkansas. However, in 1941, Pierce dropped out of college to become a fighter pilot. Pierce joined the Army Air Corps and was stationed in Fort Worth, Texas. Unfortunately, the Army told Pierce he was to be removed from the Air Corp and, like any great fighter pilot, would not be so easily grounded. Pierce left for Canada and joined the Royal Canadian Airforce. Shortly after, America’s entry into World War II, Pierce was able to rejoin the US Army Air Corps and was made a 2nd Lieutenant in the 335th Fighter Squadron. Pierce would go on to fly many different fighters including the Supermarine Spitfire, P-51 Mustang, and P-47 Thunderbolt. Pierce’s daringness and bravery shone through when he, in his Thunderbolt, faced off against a German FW-190 in a head-to-head. This was only one of Pierce’s many victories in the air.

In this letter to his mother, Pierce regales her with the tail of being shot down while strafing a German supply train in France. Personally, I would think it a bad idea to tell my mother this kind of story but clearly Pierce is a braver man than I. Pierce, after bailing out of his plane, proceeded to work with the French Resistance to return himself to friendly territory and, undoubtably, get himself back in the air. We can only hope that his relaxed demeanor in this letter did well to calm his mother’s nerves.