Staff report
John H. Klette, 100, a celebrated war hero and attorney, had died. He was buried in a private ceremony Tuesday at Highlands Cemetery.
He was a member of the board that oversees Highlands for over 50 years, dedicated to building the perpetual care fund so the cemetery would always be well attended.
John Klette in his Fort Mitchell law office. (NKyTribune photo)
He was an attorney for 76 years, always willing to help young attorneys, and he went to his office every day until the last week of his life, said a family friend.
He served as Grand Marshal at the Park Hills Memorial Day parade in May.
Klette was born in Park Hills in 1917.
The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, John Klette quickly enlisted and was accepted into the US Army Air Corps Reserves. In 1943, he was called to active duty and trained as a B-24 and B-17 bomber pilot. He flew 51 WWII B-17 combat missions from the U.S. air base in Foggia, Italy. Among his multiple combat awards, Klette was awarded the Silver Star for a mission to destroy factories in the suburbs of Vienna, Austria. His heavily damaged B-17 aircraft was the only returning aircraft from his squadron that returned to Foggia.
Following WWII, Klette was recalled to active U.S. Air Force duty in 1951. During the Korean War, he flew 50 Air/Sea Rescue Missions piloting the SA-16 and the C-47 before returning home in the winter of 1952.
See this NKyTribune story about John Klette at 97.
