Leo F. Post
Two days before the base was to open Kearns still didn’t have a Colonel to oversee the business of the base. In the
early morning hours on July 10th a jeep cursed down the dirt roads carrying the first Commander of Kearns, Leo
F. Post coming in from Fort Douglas Utah. That afternoon the first group of men arrived at Kearns, from Denver Colorado.
Leo F. Post was born August 13, 1895 in St. Petersburg Russia. He was the son of a famous Russian aviator and balloonist
pioneer, Fedor Alexis Postnikov, who had used balloons during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.
After the war had ended the Postnikov’s immigrated to the United States in 1905, when Leo was between nine and ten
years old. Upon entering the United States the name shortening his name to Post. Today family members still living in Russian
and researching this family line believe it was the outcome of this war that lead to the family coming to America
In the 1930 census it shows Leo he had not yet became a naturalized citizen but yet he was a Lieutenant in the Army, having
served in the First World War, a military career that lasted nearly 35 years.
On October 5, 1917 Leo was tested for his pilot license that were conducted on a Curtis J.N. 4 at San Diego. On November
14, 1917, Leo Post received his Aero Club of America Pilot License No. 931. By June 8, 1917, Leo was a Private by December
10 1917 and was a Private 1st class in the U.S. Army Signal Corps under the Aviation Section. On January 11, 1918
he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. By July 1920 he was 1st Lieutenant of Sir Service and was stationed
at Crissy Field located in San Francisco California. From 1924-1926 Leo Post, was stationed at Luke Field in Honolulu, Hawaii,
his military record’s show that he was on leave in late 1926- early 1927. In early 1927 he was stationed at Brooks Field
in Texas then at Kelly Filed in Texas. By November 1927 he was stationed at March Field in Riverside California and remained
there until the spring of 1932. The census records will show this is where his two children were born, a girl Mary and a boy
Leo F Post Jr. he entered the United States Air Force in 1952 and he passed away on February 1958. It was also at this base
he was known as a top rated air pilot. By October 1, 1930 he was promoted to a Captain two years later he was sent to Mitchel
Field, Hempstead Long Island New York in July 1932 and remained there until mid 1938.
It was while there he obtained the rank of Major, temporarily on April 20, 1935. By October 1938 he received orders and
was then sent to Maxwell Field in Montgomery Alabama and remained there until mid 1939. By June of that same year he was promoted
permanently to a Major. It appears that he was then sent to Scott Field in Belleville Illinois and remained there until mid
1941, while there he graduated from Air Corps Technical School. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel temporary on June 23,
1940, and became permanent in October 1941 when he was then sent to Keesler Field, Biloxi Mississippi. He was at Keesler Field
on December 7, 1941, WWII was now just getting underway when Leo Post was promoted on to the rank of Colonel. As Colonel his
first obligation was being sent to Kearns Utah to open up the new base there on July 17, 1942. He was only at Kearns for a
month before he was sent elsewhere. There are no more records that could be found on his military duty until on December 31,
1951 when he retired from the United States Air Force. He and his family moved back to Riverside California where on April
18, 1978 Colonel Leo F Post past away.
The following are a couple of newspaper clippings I have located on Col. Post.
From the San Francisco
Chronicle, December 26, 1921 and January 9, 1922
Thousands See
Daring Stunts at Air Circus
Army and Civilian Flyers Stage Thrilling
Aerial Extravaganza
Over twenty thousand spectators fringed Crissy Field yesterday to watch twenty army and
civilian daredevil airmen put on a program of every known stunt in aviation. The show was billed as a flying circus under
the direction of the Air Service Men's Club, No. 2, of Crissy field, but there were several side shows as well. There were
flights in battle formation by members of the 91st Aero squadron and serial acrobatics by Captain Lowell Yerex, the hero
of many battles over the western front in France while a member of an English chasse squadron.
Many Demonstrations
There was a demonstration of new flotation gear with an army bombing plane landing in
San Francisco bay and there was a demonstration of an airplane
in flight controlled by radio from the flying field below. There was a mock air fight between Captain Yerex
in a British Sopwith "Camel" and Lieutenant Eugene Battan in a German Fokker.
But the thrills of the afternoon were provided by Thornton
("Jinx") Jenkins. For instance, he climbed all over a plane in flight, hanging by one hand or one
foot, standing on his head or standing on the top wing. He changed from one plane to another in midair, and he jumped from
a plane, landing in the cool waters of the bay, twenty feet offshore.
Army Men in Charge
The flying circus was put on under the supervision of Major H.H. Arnold,
air officer, ninth corps area, and Major Greorg H. Brett, commanding officer, Crissy
field. Ivan Gates,as
director of the day, was in actual supervision. Aside from Captain Yerex
and "Jinx" Jenkins eleven army lieutenants participated in the circus. They were Lieutenants Eugene Battan, John
W. Benton. B.S. Catlin, W.C. Goldsborough,
F.D. Hackett, H.A. Halverson, E.C. Kiel, A.G. Liggett, W.A. Maxwell, Leo F. Post and Robert E. Seiff.
Captain Yerex, who by victories over
five German planes gained the coveted title of ace, was twice shot down. The first time his damaged ship landed in Bavaria. He and his observer were uninjured and escaped. The second
time he was shot down Yerex was made a prisoner and was held for seven months in a German prison camp at Karlsruhe. He again escaped.
John W. Monahan
Colonel John W. Monahan became Commander
of Kearns on September 12, 1942 after the first formal review was held.
John William Monahan was born September 25, 1891 in Amboy Illinois,
a small railroad town an acre large, established in 1876. The family soon moved after his birth to Chicago and he grew up
at 12031 Wallace St. He entered the military on June 5, 1917. By 1920 he was stationed at Carlstrom Field located in DeSoto
Florida as a Lieutenant in the Army Air Service. Soon after WWII had ended the field was abandoned, leaving the state of Florida
to purchase the land for a dollar and turning the field into an state mental hospital, G Wood Pierce State Mental Hospital.
The original buildings were reconstructed and the hospital is still in use today. The next record we find is that on July
12, 1924 he left New Yoke for San Francisco California aboard a US Army Transport known as St. Mihiel they arrived in San
Francisco July 28, 1924.
Because this name is so common it had been impossible to locate
any information on him. Until another research learned that the middle name was William, from the year 1900 nothing was located
on a John William until we considered that all the other Cols. was born in the last ten years of the 1890’s. The for
mentioned information was then developed when we found a birth record.
The history written on Kearns and found on micro films that
he was the Base Commander somewhere from mid September to the end of September. When Col. Monahan received orders and was
transferred out of Kearns only to return to Kearns on December 21,1943 with the 34th Bombardment group. They left
Kearns in the early morning hours on Christmas day, making their journey off to war. After he brought home his men from the
war that was the last time anyone had seen or heard of him. No one from the 34th Bombardment Group could remember
him ever making any of their reunions up to 2003, when it was held in Salt Lake City Utah.
Colonel John William Monahan passed away May 15, 1959 and was
laid to rest at the Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery, he had served his country in both WWI and WWII.
Converse R Lewis
Converse R Lewis was born January 30, 1882 in Montana. He became the Commanding Officer of the Basic
Training Center #5 located in Kearns Utah.
He arrived at Kearns September 15, 1942 only 3 months after Kearns was officially dedicated and accepting
the soldiers he was lucky enough to set many mile stones for the base. He was the commander for the first Thanksgiving at
Kearns, Christmas and Memorial day was at Kearns for the one year celebration of the opening of the base. He sat the example
during the fist year for many of the celebrations that the base carried on with for the next four years.
During this first year twenty-six men that had been through Kearns had been killed in action by memorial
day, in which he honored their memories, for their sacrifices for their country.
The base was still under construction during his time at Kearns, and he was in charge of all the problems
of Kearns being new, mainly the dust problems because of the wind blowing and the steam shovels moving up and down dirt roads.
His comment he is best known for at Kearns was, “Welcome to Kearns where we are honored to serve you your daily requirements
of dirt, dust and grim.”
His term at Kearns was short lived having to bid farewell September 15, 1943 By all accounts Colonel
Lewis was a highly respect man, and highly thought of by the men he served with. One of his drivers when asked what he remembered
most about Colonel Lewis reported he was a very caring and giving individual. He loved to read and when he found something
that he thought the others would like to hear he always shared it with us. His motto was a day of waste was when nothing
was learned. So he would make sure those who worked closely with him learned something new each day.
From 1936 - 1937 he was part of the Commandant at Texas A&M University. From there, he went to
Ft. Leavenworth after leaving Kearns he went back to Fort Leavenworth, as the Commander of Fort Leavenworth being a Federal
Officers.
He passed away March 20, 1956 at the age of 74 years. He was laid to rest at the Arlington National
Cemetery.
He had one son by the same name and a grandson, whose name appears on the Viet Nam Memorial Wall.
All three men served in the arm forces.
Walter F. Siegmund
Colonel Walter F Siegmund was born May 18, 1887, in St. Louis Missouri. He learned as a
young boy the significance of being free, and held freedoms merits high from those values which were installed in him from
his parents who had immigrated to America from Germany. He spent most of his life defending those freedoms, as he began his
military career as a second lieutenant in the 1st Missouri Infantry in the year 1914. He held the rank of full Colonel for
22 years when he retired from active duty July 4, 1944 at Lincoln Army Air Field in Nebraska. Through the years of his military
assignments have included infantry, field artillery, cavalry and air corps.
In 1938 after years in the service he requested to be transferred to the inactive reserve. In private
life he was an executive of the Western Cartridge Co., East Alton Ill, and its subsidiary, Winchester Repeating Arms Co. He
was also a sales manager of Stifel, Nicolaus and Company of St Louis an investment bankers in 1930.
St Louis was proud of their son, when there was a parade going on in town they always called on Colonel
Walter Siegmund, he would don his Colonel’s uniform and take his place as the grand marshal at the head of the line
and gave the town a real procession.
After his recall to active duty on September 5, 1942, he was transferred form the Cavalry to the Air
Corps and was assigned to the staff of the Commanding General of the Technical Training Command at Headquarters, Knollwood
Field in North Carolina.
Colonel Siegmund was given the mission to proceed to the various Basic and Overseas Training Centers
of the Technical Training Command for the purpose of instituting courses of instruction leading to the qualification of Army
Air Force personnel in the use of weapons, physical preparations for personal and close combat and general combat training,
to render it capable of successfully defending Army Air Force Installations and Fields if attacked by paratroopers, airborne
infantry, raiders and commandos.
In November 1942, he was transferred to the Kearns Field in Utah and assigned to command the Overseas
Replacement Training Center. At his own request he was then transferred to the Second Air Force by General Arnold in May of
1943, and after completing a trip to the various aerial gunnery centers on training matters he was appointed Plans and Training
Offices of the 18th Wing, Second Air Force in Salt Lake City Utah. In addition to his other duties he designed, developed
and supervised several aerial gunnery training at the Army Air Bases in Utah. Kearns was known for one of the best and the
largest gunnery training ranges in the West. He was highly commended for his accomplishments by the Commanding General of
the 18th Replacement Wing of the Second Air Force.
On October 1, 1943 he once again returned to Kearns, by the time he was 63 years old, and was assigned
the Commanding Officer of the Kearns Army Air Base when the base was taken over from the Technical Training Command by the
Second Air Force. Schools of the various specialties of the Air Forces were established and small arms training was given
and many other functions performed in the processing and training the men for overseas duty. In addition, the Overseas Replacement
Training Center of the Training Command was located on the Base; thus it created a dual function and responsibility of the
Base Commander.
On April 15, 1944, the Second Air Force mission at Kearns was complete and the Base was then turned
over to another command to become the Overseas Replacement Dept No. 2. When Colonel Siegmund received word that he would be
leaving Kearns, it broke his heart. Upon reading the letter that his mission at Kearns had been completed he laid the latter
down in his secretary’s desk and without saying a word he walked into his office shutting the door behind him.
He loved Kearns, and it was at Kearns that he wanted to retire from as the last Colonel of Kearns,
as word had it Kearns was to be deactivated soon. He was perhaps one of the strictest of all Colonels that was sent to Kearns
he did love his job, Kearns, and so proud of all the boys that was at Kearns. Those few men that we have found that knew Colonel
have always spoken of him fondly and have said, "You never left his office without first seeing his gun collection and hearing
about some of his more special guns."
Colonel Walter Siegmund was well known for his gun collection and was the owner of the famous Winchester
73’ belonging to Buffalo Bill Cody. On July 4, 1950 the Colonel present it to the director of the Buffalo Bill Museum
who happened to be his niece Mary Jester Allen. He was also the owner of the famous "Old Betsy" the gun that belonged to David
Crockett. He obtained the gun through a long line of exchanges; he obtained it from his uncle the mayor of St. Louis Henry
Koch. Colonel Siegmund then restored the gun and for 20 years it was on exhibition at the Jefferson Memorial in St. Louis
until the Colonel took it home to Texas, presented it to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas custodians of the Alamo on
Nov.2, 1947. Having a keen eye for history he also left the State of Utah with a gift, a beloved Scrapbook telling of his
time he spent in Utah at the Kearns Base. Colonel Siegmund was also an author, he wrote "How to be a Successful Soldier" incorporating
21 points for men in the service which was widely distributed among the men entering the armed forces from civilian life.
He was a versatile athletic and sportsman, expert horseman, swordsman, rifle, pistol, wing, trap and
skeet shooter, and won 3 national professional skeet shooting championships in San Francisco in 1939, and the world all-gauge
professional skeet shooting championship in Asheville North Carolina in 1940.
Colonel Walter F Siegmund past away on a Friday afternoon, December 11, 1964 at Brookes General Hospital
in San Antonio Texas, he was 84 year old. He was laid to rest in the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery with full military
honors.
Weldon W. Doe
Colonel Weldon W. Doe was born April 11, 1892 in North Carolina arriving at Kearns in July of
1944 perhaps the youngest of the colonels to serve at Kearns at age 52 years. He was responsible for closing the base on November
26, 1945.
Colonel Doe had been completely removed from any written history about the Kearns Base. After
locating his name a search was done and it was then we learned that he had a son by the same name stationed at Kearns. This
man’s family is also responsible for a lot of this history ever coming back to Kearns. I have often wondered where our
history would have ever ended up at if it was not for his family. They are the very reason this site has been made possible.
Enough cannot be said about them, I have thanked them every single day for letting us use his scrapbook in order to trace
back the history, and allowing us to transfer it on to a CD, for future use.
The following was found in Colonel Siegmunds scrapbook about Colonel Doe coming to Kearns. Which lead
to the search of trying to locate Colonel Doe.
Technical Training Command To Take Over Kearns Saturday
ARMY AIR FORCES GROUND TRAINING INSTALLATION: Kearns- The second air force will turn over the army air forces
ground training installation Kearns, to the western Technical training command of the army air forces Saturday. Colonel Walter
F. Siegmund, commanding officer of the installation said Wednesday.
Colonel Weldon W. Doe will become the new commanding officer. Colonel Siegmund said he was being
transferred to an undisclosed assignment . The camp originally was under command of the technical training command and came
under supervision of the 2nd. Air Force early last fall
Kearns Awaits Transfer To New Command
The Western Technical Training Command will assume jurisdiction of the of the army air forces
ground training installation at Kearns Saturday with Colonel Weldon W. Doe as commanding officer it was announced Wednesday.
The move is in accord with previously announced plans. Originally a technical training command installation, the camp was
placed under the Second air force last fall.
Colonel Walter F. Siegmund commanding officer, AAFGTI, Kearns, said he would leave shortly for
an undisclosed destination.
Colonel Doe was graduated from West Point in 1914 and served with the army until 1920. A veteran
of World War I, he entered civil life in 1920. In 1942, he was called to active duty and served at Gulfport Field, Miss. A
year ago he was assigned to Fort Logan, Colo.
The colonel has a son, Major Weldon W. Doe, Jr., in the army air corps. His wife will accompany
him to Kearns.
Colonel Weldon W. Doe passed away in May 1980 in North Carolina.
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