Kenneth MacLeish

Lieutenant Kenneth MacLeish, USN (1894 – 14 October 1918) was an officer in the United States Navy during World War I. A Naval aviator, he received the Navy Cross posthumously for his combat actions.

Born in Glencoe, Illinois, MacLeish was appointed ensign in the Naval Reserve Flying Corps 31 August 1917. MacLeish was the brother of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Archibald MacLeish, and like him attended Yale College. A member of the class of 1918, he left school to serve in the war. The young officer wrote home constantly, and his letters show the youthful enthusiasm and subsequent weariness of combat that is characteristic of men at war. In France he participated in many raids over the enemy’s lines before he was transferred in September 1918 to Eastleigh, England. On a raid with the Royal Air Force 14 October, his plane was shot down and Lieutenant MacLeish was forced to crash land. Macleish survived the initial crash but was found dead not far from the crash site.

He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for “distinguished service and extraordinary heroism”. He is buried at the Flanders Field American Cemetery in Waregem, Belgium.

The destroyer USS MacLeish (DD-220) was named for him.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.