Benjamin Ralph Kimlau

Benjamin Ralph Kimlau
Benjamin Ralph Kimlau
Born	April 11, 1918; Concord, Massachusetts
Died	March 5, 1944 (aged 25); Los Negros Island, Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea
Buried	Near or off Los Negros Island
Allegiance	United States (United States Army ; United States Army Air Forces)
Years of service	1942–1944
Rank	2nd Lieutenant
Unit	380th Bombardment Group
Commands	530th Squadron
Battles / wars	Second World War Pacific War New Guinea campaign †; ;
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	劉國樑
Simplified Chinese	刘国梁
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Liú Guóliáng
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization	Làuh Gwoklèuhng
Jyutping	Lau4 Gwok3 loeng4

Benjamin Ralph Kimlau (金勞少尉) (April 11, 1918 – March 5, 1944) was a Chinese American aviator and United States Air Force bomber pilot.

Kimlau was born on April 10, 1918, in Concord, Massachusetts, and moved to New York City with his parents in 1932 when he was 14 years old. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School. After his visit to China, he studied at Pennsylvania Military College in Chester, Pennsylvania, from 1938 to 1942. Upon graduation he joined the United States Field Artillery Branch as a 2nd lieutenant.^[1]

Kimlau soon transferred to the US Army Air Forces' 380th Bombardment Group of the Fifth Air Force. After training as a pilot, he deployed to Fenton Airfield in Australia, from which he flew a B-24 Liberator bomber in 45 missions in support of the New Guinea campaign. On March 5, 1944, Kimlau's bomber was attacked by the Japanese and crashed near Los Negros Island, fatally injuring him.^[1]^[2] His remains were re-interred at Arlington National Cemetery in 1968.^[2]

Kimlau posthumously received the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart, and his bomber group received two Presidential Unit Citations for gallantry in battle.^[2]

Honors

In 1962, the Benjamin Ralph Kimlau Memorial Gate (金勞紀念牌坊) was erected at Kimlau Square within Chatham Square in Chinatown to his memory. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Kimlau War Memorial as a landmark in June 2021.^[3]^[4] In addition, Kimlau has been honored by American Legion 1291, which named its post after him.^[1]

^ ^a ^b ^c "Post History". Lt. B. R. Kimlau Chinese Memorial Post 1291. Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c Quirk, Christine M. (2024-05-31). "Concord-born Kimlau's military heroism remembered during AAPI Heritage Month". Concord Bridge. Archived from the original on 2025-05-09. Retrieved 2025-05-09.
^ Small, Zachary (2021-06-23). "City Approves Landmarks Honoring Chinese Americans and Native Americans". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
^ "Kimlau War Memorial" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. June 22, 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-07.