Kenneth Wade foster was the son of Cicero Thomas Foster and Linnie Droke. He had one brother, Paul Everette Foster.
1Lt Kenneth W. Foster, US Army Air Forces, was assigned to the 490th Bomber Squadron, 341st Bomber Group Medium. The Group, Known as the Burma Bridge Busters, was involved in the China-Burma-India Campaign during 1944, flying B-25’s out of Kurmitola, India.
1Lt Foster was from Bristol, Tennessee. He was a Navigator. He is listed as Missing in Action on the 26th of February 1944, and is listed on the Tablets of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Philippines.
Awards include the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
Crew members of Aircraft B-25H with serial number 43-4363
Pilot, 1st Lt Kenneth A. Hardy
Navigator, 1st Lt Kenneth W. Foster
Engineer-Gunner, S/Sgt Floyd M. Campbell
Radio Operator-Gunner, S/Sgt Albert Chibnik
Armorer-Gunner, Sgt William J. Mahen
Photo-Gunner, S/Sgt William H. Rinne
The Bristol Herald Courier, 16 April 1944
Mr. and Mrs. Cicero T. Foster, 105 Blountville road, received a telegram from the War department in Washington announcing that their son, First Lieutenant Kenneth W. Foster, previously reported slightly wounded in air combat, had been missing in action in the Asiatic theater of operations since February. The telegram stated that the information that he was wounded in action was in error and that he was in fact missing in action. First Lieutenant Foster was 28 years old and joined the air corps as an enlisted man on March 7, 1940. He was sent to Hickam Field, T.H., where he made such a splendid record in the enlisted service that he was recommended by his commanding officer for the Officer Training School. He was graduated from the officer air training school at Santa Anna, Calif., Nov. 1, 1942 and sailed for overseas duty from New York Feb. 1, 1943. He has since been on active duty as a navigator on a Flying Fortress operating in India. He was recently heard from in Delphi, India. Born July 22, 1916, First Lieutenant Foster was reared in Bristol and graduated with honors from Bristol, Tenn., high school. He recently observed the fourth anniversary of his enlistment as a private soldier, during which time he rose by his own work and merits from the enlisted service to First Lieutenant of the air corps. A brother, Paul E. Foster, is on active duty overseas as a member of the U.S. Marines. While Mr. and Mrs. Foster have heard regularly from their son since he went into the army in 1940, they have not seen him since he left civilian life. Upon his graduation from the Air Corps school in California in 1942 he was anxious to visit Bristol but his unit was being hurriedly prepared for overseas and he could not find time to visit his home. The many who knew Lieut. Foster are loud in their praise of him as an upstanding young man and point to his excellent army record in rising from the ranks to a commission in the air corps. Further news of his fate will be anxiThe Bristol Herald Courier, 16 April 1944
Mr. and Mrs. Cicero T. Foster, 105 Blountville road, received a telegram from the War department in Washington announcing that their son, First Lieutenant Kenneth W. Foster, previously reported slightly wounded in air combat, had been missing in action in the Asiatic theater of operations since February. The telegram stated that the information that he was wounded in action was in error and that he was in fact missing in action. First Lieutenant Foster was 28 years old and joined the air corps as an enlisted man on March 7, 1940. He was sent to Hickam Field, T.H., where he made such a splendid record in the enlisted service that he was recommended by his commanding officer for the Officer Training School. He was graduated from the officer air training school at Santa Anna, Calif., Nov. 1, 1942 and sailed for overseas duty from New York Feb. 1, 1943. He has since been on active duty as a navigator on a Flying Fortress operating in India. He was recently heard from in Delphi, India. Born July 22, 1916, First Lieutenant Foster was reared in Bristol and graduated with honors from Bristol, Tenn., high school. He recently observed the fourth anniversary of his enlistment as a private soldier, during which time he rose by his own work and merits from the enlisted service to First Lieutenant of the air corps. A brother, Paul E. Foster, is on active duty overseas as a member of the U.S. Marines. While Mr. and Mrs. Foster have heard regularly from their son since he went into the army in 1940, they have not seen him since he left civilian life. Upon his graduation from the Air Corps school in California in 1942 he was anxious to visit Bristol but his unit was being hurriedly prepared for overseas and he could not find time to visit his home. The many who knew Lieut. Foster are loud in their praise of him as an upstanding young man and point to his excellent army record in rising from the ranks to a commission in the air corps. Further news of his fate will be anxiously awaited.ously awaited.
- Rank: First Lieutenant
- Date of birth: 22 July 1916
- Date of death: 26 February 1944
- County: Sullivan
- Hometown: Bristol
- Service Branch: Army/Army Air Forces
- Division/Assignment: 490th Bomber Squadron, 341st Bomber Group, Medium
- Theater: Burma-India
- Conflict: World War II
- Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart
- Burial/Memorial Location: Manila American Cemetery, Fort Bonifacio, Manila, Philippines
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XVIII, Middle Panel
- Contact us to sponsor Kenneth W. Foster
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