Their Story

Glenn A. Hess was born January 6, 1918, in Burlington, Colorado, to Arthur and Sarah Hess. He graduated from Moline High School.
Glenn married Gwendolyn E. Kissell in 1937 in Clinton, Iowa, with whom he had a son, Quinn, and a daughter, Nancy. He was employed at John Deere Malleable Works in East Moline before entering the service in February 1943.1 In 1943, Glenn was stationed at Perrin Field, Texas, for basic flying training.2 In December, he received his commission as 2nd lieutenant after completing training as a bomber pilot at Lackland Air Field. In February 1944, he received his pilot’s wings at Fort Worth, Texas.3 In 1945, he was a member of the Moline High School graduating class but was listed as being in the service.4
In 1954, Lt. Hess, landed a B-29 bomber safely at Logan Airport in Boston, after it was damaged during flight. The bomber had nine persons onboard. 5 It turned out that a 5000’ steel cable broke loose from an aerial target plane and struck Lt. Hess’s B-29’s left wing.6
In 1966, he was certified as an aircraft commander at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey.7 He was a pilot with 24 years of military service. He was a member of the Military Airlift Command, which operates a global airlift system for US forces employing over 1,000 modern aircrafts.
He was an avid outdoorsman, spending his time fishing and hunting in the wilderness. Glenn worked at the Union Malleable Iron Works in Moline, Illinois.
References
1 16 Jul 1954, 2 – The Rock Island Argus at Newspapers.com
2 14 Aug 1943, 3 – The Rock Island Argus at Newspapers.com
3 21 Feb 1944, 10 – The Rock Island Argus at Newspapers.com
4 14 Jun 1945, 8 – The Dispatch at Newspapers.com
5 16 Jul 1954, 1 – The Rock Island Argus at Newspapers.com
6 17 Jul 1954, 3 – The Rock Island Argus at Newspapers.com