Alumni Hall of Fame
Military Service to Country (2025)

Gene Alton Dennis was born on December 27, 1925, in Tipton County, Indiana, the only child of Byron and Margaret Dennis. His family moved to Lima, Ohio, and then to St. Marys, Ohio, for his father’s work at the Nickel Plate Railroad. He graduated from St. Marys Memorial High School in 1944. Gene enjoyed everything about railroads and learned Morse code from his father. He also enjoyed reading about the exploits of Colonel Roscoe Turner, a stunt pilot, and the Army Air Force during World War I.

Shortly after graduation, at age 17, Gene enlisted in the Army Air Corps on June 19, 1944, during World War II. He attended Aviation Cadet Training at Keesler Field, Mississippi. Out of a group of 160 students, Gene was one of the six selected for pilot training at Spence Field in Moultrie, Georgia. While there, he received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point by Representative Robert F. Jones of Ohio’s Fourth District. In March 1945, he attended Army Pre-Cadet Training School in Amherst, Massachusetts. He was awarded the Good Conduct Medal in May 1945 for “exemplary behavior, efficiency, and fidelity.” He was honorably discharged from the Army in June 1945.

Dennis took the entrance examinations and was determined to be deficient in Spanish, so he left the U.S.M.A., attended the Sullivan Preparatory School, and retook the entrance examinations the following year. He was readmitted as a member of the Class of 1950. He was appointed Supply Sergeant of Company M of the First Regiment of the United States Corps of Cadets in October 1949. He was among 671 cadets who graduated on June 6, 1950. Gene was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force on June 2, 1950, and assigned first to Randolph Field in San Antonio for flight training and then reassigned to Goodfellow. He was in the first group to solo and was identified as a “natural” by his flight commander. Gene was selected for Advanced Jet Training at Williams Air Force Base in Arizona and was one of the first to solo in the T-33 jet trainer. His mother proudly pinned his silver pilot wings on him on August 4, 1951, Class 51-E, as an F-80 Jet Fighter Pilot in Chandler, Arizona.

Gene then attended Fighter Combat Crew Training at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. He developed a reputation there as an outstanding fighter pilot and was selected to attend theater indoctrination at Johnson Air Base in Japan. In a memorial posted on the United States Military Academy Class of 1950 webpage, it describes an accident that occurred during an F-80 training flight in which Gene showed remarkable professional skill. There was a complete electrical failure and engine flameout. Instead of ejecting, Gene elected to land the F-80, making a belly landing and saving the aircraft from destruction. That same day, Gene received orders to report to the 474th Fighter Bomber Group in Korea. He flew a F-84E Thunderjet Fighter with the 428th Fighter Bombardment Squadron, completing 20 combat missions, and was awarded the Air Medal. On September 28, 1952, he was pilot four of four on a combat mission targeting a main supply route known as Red 3, two miles south of Hukkyo-ri, near Pyong Yang, North Korea. The first three planes began their bombing run when they noticed the fourth plane – Gene’s - was missing. They reported seeing an explosion and hearing a garbled radio message that sounded like “Baker leader, I’m hit” or “they hit me.” His plane is believed to have been shot down by a MiG-15. No parachute was observed, and there were no reports of Gene being held as a prisoner of war. Gene was listed as Missing in Action. On December 31, 1952, he was declared dead.

First Lieutenant Gene A. Dennis was awarded the Purple Heart Medal, Air Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal, Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, United Nations Service Medal, the Republic of Korea War Service Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. A headstone commemorates his life and service at Memorial Park Cemetery in Lima, Ohio.

For his outstanding skills as a Pilot in the Air Force, for graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and for his dedication to country, First Lieutenant Gene A. Dennis is inducted into the St. Marys Memorial High School Alumni Foundation Hall of Fame for Military Service to Country.