|
 |
|
|
| Missing In Action (MIA) | Prisoners Of War (POW) | Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) |
| Chronology | Locations | Aircraft | Ships | Submit Info | How You Can Help | Donate |
|
| USN USS Princeton (CVL-23) VF-23 |
Pilot Ensign Leonard C. Keener, O-176922 USNR (MIA / KIA) CA Crashed November 1, 1943 Aircraft History Built by Grumman as model G-50 in Bethpage, New York. Delivered to the U.S. Navy (USN) as F6F-3 Hellcat bureau number 66021. Wartime History Assigned to USS Princeton (CVL-23) to Fighting Squadron 23 (VF-23). No known nickname or nose art. Mission History On November 1, 1943 took off from the USS Princeton (CVL-23) piloted by Ensign Leonard C. Keener on a mission over Bonis Airfield on Bougainville. Last seen on a strafing run over the target and crashed over the target area. When this aircraft failed to return it was officially listed as Missing In Action (MIA). Wreckage In the early 1970s, pieces of wreckage with Bureau Number 66021 were noted by Charles Darby at Bonis in a pile where they had been collected. Charles Darby visited this wreckage in the 1970s: "I never got any shots of the shredded shards remaining of 66021. Was lucky even to find the serial. Don't know where it crashed --- maybe there's more left there and what I saw was only bits that had been carried back to the scrap pile?" Memorials Keener was officially declared dead on January 11, 1946. He earned the Air Medal and Purple Heart, posthumously. Keener is memorialized at Manila American Cemetery on the tablets of the missing. He also has a memorial marker at Visalia Public Cemetery in Visalia, CA at section Section X T 1 grave 27. References Navy Serial Number Search Results - F6F-3 Hellcat 66021 USN Overseas Aircraft Loss List November 1943 - F6F-3 Hellcat 66021 loss location as Rabaul [sic Bonis] American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) - Leonard C. Keener FindAGrave - Ens Leonard C Keener (tablets of the missing) FindAGrave - Leonard Calvin Keener (memorial marker photo) Thanks to Ted Darcy for additional information Contribute Information Are you a relative or associated with any person mentioned? Do you have photos or additional information to add? Last Updated November 19, 2024 |
 F6F  MIA 1 Missing |
| Discussion Forum | Daily Updates | Reviews | Museums | Interviews & Oral Histories |
|
