Remembering a hometown hero

As a kid, Henry Kleemann raised pigs for a 4-H project and helped out on the family farm.

He was one of those kids destined to go places after he left high school. Voted “most likely to succeed” by his classmates, Kleemann attended the U.S. Naval Academy.

Kleemann’s military and academic career were enough to earn him the status of hero. In 1981, an incident involving PF April website posts Kleemann’s F-14  and two Libyan fighters in the Gulf of Sidra put him on the front page of the New York Times.

But it was his death in 1985 that put Kleemann forever on the list of heroes for folks in Illinois and across the country.  With 128 combat missions and a Bronze Star for valor in Vietnam, Kleemann was a role model for his classmates and everyone who knew him.

When people talk about Midwestern military aviators, Kleemann’s name is on the list of what it means to serve and die with honor.  His story is proudly included in Prairie Flyers of Central Illinois: A Century of Aviation in America’s Heartland.  The book will be available this summer.