Benjamin Ralph Kimlau (1918–1944) was a Chinese American

Chinese American

Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...

 aviator and United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 bomber pilot.

Kimlau was born on April 10, 1918 in Concord, MA and moved to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 with his parents in 1932. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School

DeWitt Clinton High School

DeWitt Clinton High School is an American high school located in the Bronx, New York City, New York.-History:Clinton opened in 1897 at 60 West 13th Street at the northern end of Greenwich Village under the name of Boys High School, although this Boys High School was not related to the one in Brooklyn...

. After his visit to China, he studied at Pennsylvania Military College in Chester, Pennsylvania

Chester, Pennsylvania

Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Chester is situated on the Delaware River, between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.- History :...

 from 1938 to 1942. Upon graduation he was promoted to Field Artillery 2nd Lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

. With America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 at war, Kimlau joined the US Army Field Artillery, but later transferred to the United States Army Air Force's 380th Bombardment Group of the Fifth Air Force

Fifth Air Force

The Fifth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan....

. After training as a pilot, he was stationed at Fenton Airfield

Fenton Airfield

Fenton Airfield is a World War II military airfield located at Tipperary Station, Hayes Creek, Northern Territory, Australia.Abandoned since 1945, the site is an outstanding example of a World War II heavy bomber airfield construction and layout, and is one of three surviving examples of heavy...

 in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. In Australia, Kimlau flew B-24 Liberator

B-24 Liberator

The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...

 bomber in missions during the New Guinea campaign

New Guinea campaign

The New Guinea campaign was one of the major military campaigns of World War II.Before the war, the island of New Guinea was split between:...

. On March 5, 1944, Kimlau's bomber was attacked by the Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese and crashed near Los Negros Island

Los Negros Island

Los Negros Island is the third largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is significant because it contains the main airport of Manus Province on its eastern coastline, at Momote. It is connected to Lorengau, the capital of the province, on Manus Island via a highway and bridge...

.

His bomber group was given 2 Presidential Unit Citations.

Honors

Kimlau has been honored by American Legion

American Legion

The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...

 1291, which named their post after him. In 1962, the Benjamin Ralph Kimlau Memorial Gate (金劳纪念牌坊) was erected at Kimlau Square, located within Chatham Square

Chatham Square, Manhattan

Chatham Square is a major intersection in Manhattan's Chinatown. The square lies at the confluence of seven streets: Bowery, East Broadway, St. James Place, Mott Street, Oliver Street, Worth Street and Park Row. The postal ZIP Code is 10038.-History:...

in his memory.