Home of Record: Newhall
Date of Birth: September 13, 1928
Birthplace: Newhall, Calif.

Service: United States Navy
Rank: Ensign
ID No: 508187
Specialty: Bomber pilot
Length of Service:
Unit: Fighter Squadron 54
Start Tour:

Incident Date: January 9, 1952
Casualty Date: MIA
Age at Loss: 23
Location: North Korea
Remains: unrecovered; memorialized in Court 8, Courts of the Missing, Honolulu Memorial

Narrative: ENS Kelly of Newhall was a pilot of an AD-3 Skyraider dive bomber assigned to Fighter Squadron 54 aboard the carrier USS Essex. At age 23, during a combat mission over North Korea on January 9, 1952, his aircraft was struck by anti-aircraft fire, nosed over in a vertical dive, crashed and burned. ENS Kelly's remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial. For leadership and valor, ENS Raymond Gene Kelly was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with Gold Star, the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.