It would be unfortunate if the story of World War I flying ace Field Kindley were lost to history. His story is important, not just because of the aerial combat lessons learned, but also because it is one of character and courage. He was but one man in a long and important line of those who, during wartime, step forward and serve their country with uncommon leadership and bravery.
Longtime Littleton resident Dr. Jack Ballard tells Kindley’s story in the biography, “War Bird Ace.” Ballard grew up next to the Captain Field E. Kindley Memorial Park in Gravette, Ark. He said, in a recent interview, “the name and the association there with the park always interested me.”
Ballard has abiding interests in aviation and, in particular, aviation history. He spent more than 27 years in the Air Force, and his career included a five- year stint teaching history at the Air Force Academy. “I thought it would be a great thing to put down the story about this Capt. Kindley, and I was attracted because of the history and because he was the fourth-ranking American air ace during World War I,” he said. Kindley’s story has faded into obscurity, perhaps in part because, after surviving the war, he died in a plane crash at age 23.
One of the questions Ballard examines is “what motivates a man to offer his life in combat for his nation.” Kindley, he said, demonstrated great heroism in his willingess, “on many occasions, to sacrifice himself for the sake of his comrades … As you look at his story, I would hope that the reader will come away inspired.”
It’s an example that reverberates in the present. He said, “I really think that there is far too much nonhero type of thinking in our country today, where they try to diminish heroism as some kind of extreme nationalism. But if you really examine it, (our servicemen and women) are willing to give their lives for others, for their comrades and for the people of the United States. And you have to always go back and ask yourself, ‘Why do they do this? What motivates them to do this?’… Mankind always needs inspiration, and heroic people are inspiring.”
Leadership, and how it is developed, is also theme central to the work. “Kindley was a high school dropout and … competing with Ivy League graduates. You see the evolution of a man who’s really at a disadvantage, yet he emerges in his life story as a very effective flight commander. Looking at what happened to him and how this develops is a great lesson in leadership.”
Ballard worked hard to create a work that focuses on one man’s life more than on the technical aspects of machines or battles. “I purposely avoided getting too technically involved in aircraft and weapons that were used in WWI. Also, I tried to steer a middle course with respect to coverage of the actual WWI battles. I tried to avoid going too far in order to let Kindley’s story stand pretty much alone.”
Research for the book began in the 1960s, with trips to Arkansas to collect materials and interview Kindley’s surviving relatives. Ballard became more committed to the venture when he was teaching at the Air Force Academy. He visited the high school named for Kindley, in Coffeyville, Kan., and used materials that had been donated to the school, including Kindley’s flight logs, to get a sense of the combat sequences.
“I was always fearful that there wasn’t enough data available to do a biography. But when I became serious about researching,” he said, “I found there was enough.”
Ballard retired from the Air Force in 1980. He continued gathering materials in the subsequent years, while working for Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin), and while presiding over the Littleton Public Schools’ Board of Education. Though time spent researching the book spanned 40 years, he said its actual writing took about three.
His current project is a biography of Col. Henry Clay Merriam, the man who served the longest term as commander of Fort Logan. Merriam won a medal of honor in one of the last battles of the Civil War before being sent out to the unsettled Northwest. He’s an important figure in the development of the West, Ballard said, and played a vital role in Colorado’s history.
Robin Vidimos reviews books for The Denver Post and Buzz in the ‘Burbs.
IN TOWN
Jack Ballard will speak about “War Bird Ace” at the Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch, 9315 Dorchester St., Highlands Ranch at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
