Donald K. Kilgore, Senior.

The following biography is a synthesis of ideas about the Donald K. Kilgore family. Most of it was written by his son, Donald K. Kilgore, Junior, but parts were lifted from the Tillamook Air Museum exhibit for Donald Kilgore Sr.

Don Kilgore was working for a contractor on Dutch Harbor, Alaska, when the Japanese attacked in June 1942. He was so incensed by the attack that he joined the Army Air Force. But he had to wait until he was inducted; in the meantime he was transferred to Tillamook, where he worked as a civilian contractor, surveying and doing concrete inspection while the blimp hangar was being built.

In Tillamook Kilgore met his future wife, Hazel Hadley, at the Dawn Club, a local hotspot no longer in existence, which was located on Bayocean Road. The Hadley family owned the dairy farm on Third Street that is next to Tillamook County General Hospital. Hazel Hadley grew up in the house on Third Street where La Mexicana Restaurant is now.

After completing his Cadet training and flight school, Kilgore returned to Tillamook and married Hazel Hadley in 1943. Then he was assigned to the 15th AAF, 304th Bomb Wing, 459h Bomber Group, 758th Squadron, based at the Giulia airfield near Foggia, Italy from about April through September 1944. He completed 50 missions (30 sorties) and was awarded the DFC and Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf clusters.

After the war he returned to the University of Washington and earned a degree in Economics. After a short stint in the private sector he returned to the USAF in 1949 and was assigned to Nagoya, Japan in a Budget/Finance capacity.

Because he was a pilot, he was ordered by General Douglas MacArthur to join the 7" Infantry Division as a Forward Air Controller Ground (FAG) when the war in Korea escalated. He was further assigned to the 17th Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division.

His unit, the 17th Regiment, landed at Inchon, Korea and later made a second amphibious landing at Iwon on the Korean east coast. The 17th Regiment was one of only two American units to reach the Yalu River. The other one was the 32nd Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division. On his way to the Yalu River the 17th Regiment was involved in combat against the North Korean People's Army on several occasions. The 17th Regiment was subsequently withdrawn along the East coast of Korea and missed most the disastrous fighting taking place around the Chosin Reservoir, but played an important role in helping the 1st Marine Division withdrawal.

The 7th Infantry Division was evacuated from Hungnam on December 20, 1950. After the evacuation he returned to his previous position in Nagoya. He was awarded the Bronze Star. Army Commendation Medal and two Korean Presidential Unit citations.

Hazel Kilgore and her daughter, Marijo, and son, Don, joined their father in Nagoya in February 1952. They had palatial quarters in Nagoya, a two-story Western style home surrounded by a wall. It featured 14 rooms with a buzzer in each room to summon the live-in maid and house boy.

They lived in Japan for about 12 months until Donald Kilgore Senior was ordered to his new assignment at McCord Air Force Base, Tacoma, Washington.

Donald Kilgore, Senior, spent more than 30 years in the armed forces, and retired in Netarts where he died in 1985.