Son of Frank Austin Rodgers, Jr and Marie Emma Keating
US Air Force Veteran 25 Aug 1942-05 Oct 1945 41st Air Refueling Sq US Air Force Charleston AFB, SC
Married 9 Jan 1948 in Grand Rapids, Kent, MI to Mildred Emma Baker, age 29, born in Grand Rapids, Kent, MI daughter of William R. Baker and Maude McLeanBaker
Winner of the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Air Metal with Oak Leaf Cluster. He joined the Army Air Corps during WWII, flying in the China, India and Burma Theatre. After the war ended, he enlisted in the US Air Force and fought in the Korean War. He died on December 31, 1956 when the C121 (Super Connie) he was the Flight Engineer on crashed in Saudi Arabia. He survived the initial crash, but went back into the plane to help the Hungarian refugees in the rear of the plane. Just as he was standing the the doorway of the plane to exit, the fuel tank exploded, throwing him through the cockpit.
His wife, Mildred, and 3 children, Jacklyn, Jill and Frank IV, survived him. He was buried with full military honors. After his death, the Air Force delivered a box with 82 various metals he had received through the years. He wasn't the type to wear metals, and it appears he had never bothered to get them.
Sources:
Birth: U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947
Marriage: Michigan, U.S., Marriage Records, 1867-1952 County File #91-262 State File # 41 44328
Death: U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1861-1985
US Air Force Veteran 25 Aug 1942-05 Oct 1945 41st Air Refueling Sq US Air Force Charleston AFB, SC
Married 9 Jan 1948 in Grand Rapids, Kent, MI to Mildred Emma Baker, age 29, born in Grand Rapids, Kent, MI daughter of William R. Baker and Maude McLeanBaker
Winner of the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Air Metal with Oak Leaf Cluster. He joined the Army Air Corps during WWII, flying in the China, India and Burma Theatre. After the war ended, he enlisted in the US Air Force and fought in the Korean War. He died on December 31, 1956 when the C121 (Super Connie) he was the Flight Engineer on crashed in Saudi Arabia. He survived the initial crash, but went back into the plane to help the Hungarian refugees in the rear of the plane. Just as he was standing the the doorway of the plane to exit, the fuel tank exploded, throwing him through the cockpit.
His wife, Mildred, and 3 children, Jacklyn, Jill and Frank IV, survived him. He was buried with full military honors. After his death, the Air Force delivered a box with 82 various metals he had received through the years. He wasn't the type to wear metals, and it appears he had never bothered to get them.
Sources:
Birth: U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947
Marriage: Michigan, U.S., Marriage Records, 1867-1952 County File #91-262 State File # 41 44328
Death: U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1861-1985
Son of Frank Austin Rodgers, Jr and Marie Emma Keating
US Air Force Veteran 25 Aug 1942-05 Oct 1945 41st Air Refueling Sq US Air Force Charleston AFB, SC
Married 9 Jan 1948 in Grand Rapids, Kent, MI to Mildred Emma Baker, age 29, born in Grand Rapids, Kent, MI daughter of William R. Baker and Maude McLeanBaker
Winner of the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Air Metal with Oak Leaf Cluster. He joined the Army Air Corps during WWII, flying in the China, India and Burma Theatre. After the war ended, he enlisted in the US Air Force and fought in the Korean War. He died on December 31, 1956 when the C121 (Super Connie) he was the Flight Engineer on crashed in Saudi Arabia. He survived the initial crash, but went back into the plane to help the Hungarian refugees in the rear of the plane. Just as he was standing the the doorway of the plane to exit, the fuel tank exploded, throwing him through the cockpit.
His wife, Mildred, and 3 children, Jacklyn, Jill and Frank IV, survived him. He was buried with full military honors. After his death, the Air Force delivered a box with 82 various metals he had received through the years. He wasn't the type to wear metals, and it appears he had never bothered to get them.
Sources:
Birth: U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947
Marriage: Michigan, U.S., Marriage Records, 1867-1952 County File #91-262 State File # 41 44328
Death: U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1861-1985
US Air Force Veteran 25 Aug 1942-05 Oct 1945 41st Air Refueling Sq US Air Force Charleston AFB, SC
Married 9 Jan 1948 in Grand Rapids, Kent, MI to Mildred Emma Baker, age 29, born in Grand Rapids, Kent, MI daughter of William R. Baker and Maude McLeanBaker
Winner of the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Air Metal with Oak Leaf Cluster. He joined the Army Air Corps during WWII, flying in the China, India and Burma Theatre. After the war ended, he enlisted in the US Air Force and fought in the Korean War. He died on December 31, 1956 when the C121 (Super Connie) he was the Flight Engineer on crashed in Saudi Arabia. He survived the initial crash, but went back into the plane to help the Hungarian refugees in the rear of the plane. Just as he was standing the the doorway of the plane to exit, the fuel tank exploded, throwing him through the cockpit.
His wife, Mildred, and 3 children, Jacklyn, Jill and Frank IV, survived him. He was buried with full military honors. After his death, the Air Force delivered a box with 82 various metals he had received through the years. He wasn't the type to wear metals, and it appears he had never bothered to get them.
Sources:
Birth: U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947
Marriage: Michigan, U.S., Marriage Records, 1867-1952 County File #91-262 State File # 41 44328
Death: U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1861-1985
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