Memorial

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1st Lt Virgil P. Kirkham attended before he joined the Regular Army in Lincoln, Nebraska, on 2 March 1943.

Statement from 2nd Lt Merrill E. Holland:
"I took off from home field flying Argue blue 4 position. Shortly after take-off, Blue 2 called Argue leader Lt Kirkham, and said he was returning to the field because his prop was out. I then moved up to No. 2 position in the three ship flight. Lt Kirkham called the ground controller and received a target to be bombed, after which we were to run a close support, armed recon for some enemy tanks. We found several M/T in this area on a small road that was well hidden by trees. We began to shoot up these trucks, when Lt Kirkham made a low pass and his left wing appeared to hit the tree tops, which caused the plane to do a quarter roll, and he went straight into a hill covered with trees. I saw his plane hit the ground, exploded immediately and burned. This accident was southwest of Taus, Czechoslovakia, on 30 April 1945 at 1250 hours."

Lt Kirkham is remembered just outside of Pilsen, Czechoslovakia.