On December 8, 1941, the Empire of Japan began its attack on the U.S. territory of the Philippines.
General Douglas MacArthur was aware that Pearl Harbor had been attacked hours earlier but, despite this, U.S. forces in the Philippines were not prepared. The Japanese ended up destroying most of the B-17s and pursuit planes at Clark Field, the U.S. Army Air Base on Luzon.
One of the U.S. pilots stationed in the Philippines at that time was Captain Colin P. Kelly, Jr. (whose first name was pronounced KOH-lin).
Two days after the attack, in one of the few remaining B-17s, Kelly and his crew of seven men took off from Clark Field in search of enemy warships.
Kelly spotted a Japanese ship off the north coast of the island and dropped three bombs in that location. (Though it was widely reported that he’d destroyed a battleship, in truth he damaged a cruiser.)
While attempting to return to Clark Field, Kelly’s plane was chased by Japanese Zeroes that, “in repeated firing runs, raked the aircraft with machine gun and cannon fire.” One crew member was killed instantly, and the B-17 was set ablaze.
Kelly ordered the surviving men to bail out while he stayed at the controls and struggled to keep the bomber level. Soon after, the plane exploded in mid-air.
At a time when nearly all war news was bleak, the story of Colin Kelly’s bravery and sacrifice “profoundly affected the American public.”
His name remained in the news for months. It also started popping up elsewhere: on posters, on trading cards, even in song [vid].
As a result, the usage of the baby name Colin more than quadrupled in 1942:
| Boys named Colin | Boys named Kelly | |
| 1944 | 237 [rank: 394th] | 275 [rank: 363rd] |
| 1943 | 320 [rank: 345th] | 275 [rank: 369th] |
| 1942 | 349 [rank: 323rd] | 249 [rank: 385th] |
| 1941 | 75 [rank: 713th] | 160 [rank: 470th] |
| 1940 | 58 [rank: 822nd] | 142 [rank: 485th] |
The usage of variant spellings like Collin and Colon also increased that year, as did the male usage of the name Kelly.
Records reveal that dozens of the babies named Colin in the early 1940s also got the middle name Kelly. For example, a boy born in Vermont in mid-1942 was named Colin Kelly Ducolon.
One of Colin Kelly’s later namesakes was his own nephew, Colin Kelly Howerton, born to his sister (Emmala) in 1948.
And at least one pre-existing Colin — former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell (b. 1937) — changed the pronunciation of his name from KAH-lin to KOH-lin in honor of Kelly.
What are your thoughts on the name Colin? (Which pronunciation do you prefer?)
Sources:
- Wikipedia: Colin Kelly, Clark Air Base
- Frisbee, John L. “Valor: Colin Kelly.” Air & Space Forces Magazine 1 Jun. 1994.
- Graff, Cory. “The Legacy of Courageous B-17 Pilot Colin Kelly.” National WWII Museum 21 Jan. 2022.
- “Colin Kelly died saving crippled plane’s crew.” Detroit Sunday Times 21 Dec. 1941: 11.
- Soergel, Matt. “North Florida’s ‘No. 1 hero of World War II’ after Pearl Harbor.” Florida Times-Union 6 Dec. 2011.
- Major Player: Gen. Colin L. Powell (Ret.) – OnPolitics – WashingtonPost.com
- SSA
Images:
- Adapted from Portrait of Westpoint graduate and World War II hero Colin P. Kelly Jr. (public domain) via State Library and Archives of Florida
- Adapted from When you think the going is tough — remember Colin Kelly (public domain) via University of Minnesota