Captain Colin P. Kelly

www.findagrave.com

Imagine having to bomb a bunch of ships. The air surrounds you with smoke. Your gargantuan bomber plane has had a successful mission, but the enemy has one trick up his sleeve. The enemy comes and attacks you with many planes. Your main gunner has been shot and killed. How can you get out alive? There is only one answer, You can't. The men in your ship have a chance though. You tell them to jump out while you steady the plane. Your plane goes down, and you don't survive. You're honored for your acts and your descendants look up to you. This is the story of my great-grandfather, Captain Colin P. Kelly. His life demonstrated bravery, selflessness, and sacrifice that earned him the honor that he so rightly deserved.

en.wikipedia.org

Primarily, Colin Kelly's bravery was a huge attribute to his life. The first way he showed bravery was in joining the army. At that time, it was very dangerous to join the army because of the dangers that it brought. The Japanese were strong opponents. Germany was ruled by a cruel man named Adolf Hitler, who killed many Jews. Colin also flew into dangerous territory and bombed Japanese ships. This was a brave thing to do because this happened in enemy controlled territory. To bomb the enemy is very difficult because the enemy will fight back. That is exactly what they did. It was almost a successful mission until the end. On their way back to the base, Japanese Zeros met up with them. The bomber was hit many times by enemy bullets. The struggle to fight off the well trained Zeros was unimaginable, but the enemy had shot Captain Kelly's gunner and killed him. What would Colin Kelly do? How could he and his crew survive?

Colin Kelly chose sacrifice. My great-grandfather realized something: he couldn't get out alive. His bomber was not fast enough to escape. Maybe he couldn't get out alive, but his men could. My great-grandfather put his men before himself by him letting them jump out of the plane to safety. America lost a great hero in Colin P. Kelly. His crew lived through the end of the war. The United States of America honored Colin Kelly for his heroic deeds. The honor he received continues today. There is even a school in San Francisco named after him!

The last heroic thing he did was to show was selflessness. On and off the battlefield Colin was and is a hero, in Jesus' eyes. He loved Jesus. He honored God with everything he did. When he knew that he was going to die, he knew that paradise with the savior Jesus lay ahead. When his plane was going down, he knew his time had come. At the age of 26, he knew that Jesus had come to take him home. The needs of Jesus and of others were his concern, rather than his own. For his sacrifice, he was awarded on the day he died, The Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest award for heroism.

fcit.usf.edu

Colin P. Kelly was obviously a heroic man. Colin Kelly saved the lives of his men just like Jesus saved the lives of us. In a way, Colin was acting like Jesus. His heroism saved the lives of his men. We are like Jesus' crew and he saved us. Jesus and Colin were alike in their heroism.