Col. Neel Kearby is going home.
About time, I say.
That memorial statue downtown is fine and good, suitable for our resident World War II hero. Still, there’s something a bit despairing about statues that sit and corrode outdoors with only markers as companions—lonely, random, and out-of-context, with residents scurrying past on their way to somewhere else.
Of the thousands of men and women who have headed off to war, Kearby is the only Arlington serviceman to earn a Medal of Honor, the highest military accolade a soldier can receive.
Now and then, we pay homage to Kearby with ceremonies, a mayor’s kind words, a tearful family member’s tribute, and a few stragglers who, by accident, learn about this fighter pilot who pioneered air combat tactics for the P-47 Thunderbolt.
Operating a fighter jet known for its high-altitude climbs and maneuvering, Kearby set a record for the number of downed enemy aircraft during an air combat operation over New Guinea.
That was 82 years ago this month.
Kearby was decorated with a pair of Silver Stars, four Distinguished Flying Crosses, five Air Medals, and a Purple Heart.
A missile facility at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls and the Officer’s Club at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio are named in his honor.
Six months after having General Douglas MacArthur pin the Medal of Honor to the chest of Kerby’s uniform, our soldier was dead.
While attacking a Japanese formation over New Guinea, Kearby’s plane was hit by machine-gun fire and crashed. He was then, and still is today, one of the most decorated flyers of the war. Probably any war.
When the $270 million National Medal of Honor Museum opens on East Randol Mill Road in the Entertainment District next spring, the theater where attendees will watch footage will be named in Kearby’s honor.
How fitting. From what I read, the museum will undoubtedly showcase the heroes who received these top-of-the-line honors, but it does not want to be merely a war memorial or “military” institution.
The museum, which is scheduled to be 100,000 square feet, will tell the stories of our 3,517 recipients of the honor. (Since there are 19 double recipients, the total is actually 3,536.). It will also highlight Americans who performed “behind the scenes” work.
Most impressive, though, is how Arlington came together regarding funding. You can’t build a museum without the funds.
The first large-scale donor was The Arlington Tomorrow Foundation, which started things off with a $1.5 million grant in 2021.
Since then, the Arlington Way has come into view. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones contributed $20 million, and the billionaire head of hedge fund Citadel countered with $30 million.
Watching workers hammer away at the building a few weeks ago, with Globe Life Field, Choctaw Stadium, and AT&T Stadium in view, we must remember that this national museum will lure people from all over, not just Texas.
The economist in us will see the museum as another destination venue and attraction, luring more than 800,000 visitors a year. That’s fine as long as we know it’s a platform of respect for those who deserve it the most.
“Make no mistake,” Mayor Jim Ross said, “This is a national museum. It belongs to everybody here in the United States. But we are so very proud that Arlington, Texas, gets to be the home of such a national treasure honoring the men and women who have received the highest medal possible in the United States: Medal of Honor.”
As for our guy Col. Kearby, Ross considers him not just one of Arlington’s most remarkable heroes but “one of America’s greatest heroes.”
Kenneth Perkins has been a contributing writer for Arlington Today for nearly a decade. He is a freelance writer, editor and photographer.
