GRAVETTE — A gold watch, which Gravette citizens presented their “aviator warrior,” Capt. Field E. Kindley, in January of 1920, has been returned to Gravette.

Field Wasson, of Fort Myers, Fla., and his brother and sister, Marion Wasson and Rebecca Wasson, both of Fayetteville, were in Gravette earlier this month and presented the watch to the Gravette Historical Museum. The Wassons, second cousins of the World War I air ace, also presented Field’s personal Bible to the museum’s archives.

Others who attended the brief presentation held in the living room of the Kindley home were Carl Wasson of Duluth, Minn., son of Field Wasson; Gary Phipps of Gravette, a cousin of the late aviator; John Lee Mitchael, museum commission chairman,who accepted the donations; Louise Evans, a commission member; and David Wills, from the Bank of Gravett. The watch will be kept in the bank’s vault except for special showings. A.E. Kindley, a pioneer resident, was one of the founding stockholders of the bank, which was founded in 1898.

Phipps, who served as Gravette mayor from 1966 to 1970, is the only descendant of the Kindley family now living in Gravette. He is the son of the late Glenn and Mary Phipps. Mrs. Phipps was a second cousin of the aviator.

Capt. Kindley, for whom Kindley Memorial Park in Gravette was named, had received the watch Jan. 9, 1920, when he stopped in Gravette to visit relatives. He was en route to his new assignment at Kelly Field near San Antonio, Texas.

The aviator, recognized as one of America’s leading air aces in The Great War, died when his plane crashed at that fi eld just three weeks later, on Feb. 1, 1920. Kindley was fatally burned when the plane caught fi re.

The watch and his Bible wereamong effects which later came into the possession of family members.

His funeral was held at theKindley Home in Gravette, now the Gravette Museum, where he spent so much of his youth. The full military ceremony servicewas followed by a procession through downtown Gravette tothe I.O.O.F. Cemetery, now known as Hillcrest Cemetery. The funeral, attended by scores of military personnel, was considered one of the largest ever held in Gravette.

Kindley History

Field Kindley was born March 13, 1896, on a farm near Pea Ridge to George and Ellen Kindley. His mother died when he was just over two years old and he was cared for by his grandmother and later by aunts and uncles in the area, including in Gravette. He joined his father, George, who was in the education field in the Philippines, until his return to Gravette to live with his aunt and uncle, Amos and Mary (Mollie) Kindley. He attended Gravette schools and, although he dropped out, the Gravette News Herald printed his picture, in uniform, and listed him as a graduate from Gravette High School (1918).

Now fighting in the air

Before joining the service Kindley moved to Coffeyville, Kan., where he was partner/owner of a theater. His life there and his service record, training with the British Royal Air Force and war record, and his funeral are chronicled in a biography, “War Bird Ace: The Great War Exploits of Capt. Field E. Kindley.”

The hard-bound, well illustrated volume is the work of retired Air Force Lt. Jack Stokes Ballard, a Gravette native. Ballard, who lives in Colorado, taught history for five years at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Published by Texas A&M University Press, the book is available through book stores, on line and at the Gravette museum which sometimes has copies available. In his position, Ballard had access to offi cial military records and used otherdocumented sources for the biography.

As described in “War Bird Ace,” Kindley’s death occurred when he maneuvered his plane to warn unauthorized persons on Kelly air strip, an action which took his life and possibly saved theirs. It was not the first documented action that Kindley took to save the lives of people on the ground.

The book quotes from many sources, including “The New York Times” and “The Gravette News Herald,” in building a printed picture of Kindley and his character. It lists the offi cial details of the 12 German planes Kindley is credited with downing in just four months as World War I came to an end.

The following brief paragraph describing when Kindley was presented the watch appeared in the Jan. 16, 1920, issue of The Gravette News Herald: “Captain Field E. Kindley, Gravette’s aviator warrior, passed this way last Friday, en route to San Antonio, Texas, visiting briefly with relatives and friends. He is still in the service and is transferred to the training field at San Antonio, to have charge of training there. While here, the beautiful $100 gold watch, presented by the citizens of Gravette, was very feelingly received by Capt. Kindley.”

A quote from an issue ayear earlier, in January of 1919, suggested “Gravette should erect a substantial memorial tablet to Field Kindley - while he is alive and give him such a welcome when he comes home that he shall never forget.” Area memorials, displays

Several years after Kindley’s death, the park in Gravette was named Kindley Memorial Park. His grave site in the Kindley family plot in Hillcrest Cemetery is marked with a small and simple ground-level headstone.

An exhibit about Kindley is displayed in the Gravette Museum exhibit hall, andan oil portrait of the offi cer which hung in an airbase in Bermuda that at one time was named Kindley Field hangs in an upstairs bedroom of the Kindley home, the room Field occupied during his years in Gravette.

Some of his military paraphernalia is displayed at the Arkansas Air Museum in Fayetteville as well is in Coffeyville, where several artifacts are displayed in that town’s high school, Field Kindley High, named in his honor.

The Gravette museum is open Tuesday and Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. and Thursday from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

News, Pages 1 on 10/23/2013