World War II Honoree

Ray V. Hensman

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Sioux Falls, Iowa

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Staff Sergeant. Inducted into the United States Army from Iowa. Upon his graduation from recruit training, he was designated to attend the Flight Aviation Training Program. After completing the three phases of flight training, he accepted his Pilot Wings. He served aboard the C-47 ‘Sky-Train’ Troop Transport as an Enlisted Pilot, assigned to the 33rd Squadron, 374th Troop Carrier Group an element of the U.S. Fifth Army Air Forces. His unit was based at Henderson Airfield, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, Location: Southwestern Pacific Theater of Operations. Sunday, November 8, 1942 reported missing in action, when the transport with six crew members on board, crashed into the sea shortly after take-off. His name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at Manila American Cemetery and Memorial Location: Fort Bonifacio, Manila, Philippine Islands. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his Heroism and ultimate sacrifice.