Flight Leader Robert B Keeton
No Photo Available | Flight Leader Robert B Keeton
Robert 'Buster' Keeton was born in 1915 in Manzanola, Colorado. Following college graduation, he entered Naval flight training at Pensacola and received his wings and commission in 1938. As a member of VP-12, he was assigned to a patrol/bomber station at North Island, CA. Bus resigned his naval commission in mid-1941 to join the AVG. Assigned to the Panda Bears squadron, he scored his first of 3.5 confirmed and 4 probable victories on February 3, 1942. Bus flew a number of significant AVG combat missions, including the March 24 raid on the airfield at Chiang Mal, Thailand, in which squadron leader Jack Newkirk was killed. 'I was flying on Frank Lawlors wing,' he remembers. 'We shot up a lot of trains, train stations and warehouses. I saw Newkirk go in as I was making a climbing turn after strafing a row of warehouses.' After the AVG, he joined the Naval Reserve and flew as a contract carrier, delivering war supplies in C-54s across the North Atlantic. Once the war had ended, he flew for several commercial carriers before beginning a career with Pan American Airlines until 1975. He retired at age 60, having accumulated 27,320 hours at the controls of a wide variety of aircraft during his 40 years of flying. Robert Keeton passed away on 25th January 2011. |