Colin Kelly - Honors

Honors

For his extraordinary heroism and selfless bravery, Kelly was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

Aviation artist Robert Taylor painted a picture entitled The Legend of Colin Kelly.

In World War II, the United States liberty ship SS Colin P. Kelly, Jr. was named in his honor.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote a letter, "To the President of the United States of America in 1956" asking for an appointment for Kelly's infant son. In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower honored the request appointed Colin P. Kelly, III graduated in 1963 from West Point.

Colin P. Kelly Jr. Street in San Francisco, near AT&T Park, is named in his honor in 1942. The street had previously been named Japan Street.

Colin Kelly Dr. in Dayton, OH is one of many streets near Wright Patterson Air Force Base named to honor Air Force heroes. Colin Kelly Drive in Forest Acres, SC is also named in his honor.

The patriotic song "There's a Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere" by Paul Roberts and Shelby Darnell (recorded by Gene Autry) places Colin Kelly alongside other legendary Americans in the line "I'll see Lincoln, Custer, Washington and Perry, / Nathan Hale and Colin Kelly too".

The "Four Freedoms Monument" and Colin Kelly Highway, both in Madison, Florida, are dedicated in his honor.

Colin Kelly Middle School in Eugene, Oregon was named in his honor in 1945 by the school's first students, who preferred an "ordinary Joe" as a namesake, rather than prestigious military or political figures. The school colors are kelly green and white, and the nickname is "Bombers."