Kenneth Leon Calvit enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in September 1940 and was sent to the Philippines, passing through Pearl Harbor one month before it was bombed.

He was captured on Cuyo Island on May 2, 1942, and was held in the Philippine islands until being transferred via Japanese warship in August 1944. In Japan, he was forced to work in a copper mine until his liberation in September 1945. Kenneth was awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, POW Medal and Philippine Campaign Medal.

On his first night out of the hospital, upon arriving in the states, he met the love of his life, Mary, and they married three months later. In the years following the war, Kenneth worked in sales for a variety of companies in Minnesota, Kansas, Louisiana and Arkansas. He remained active in veterans groups and regularly attended 27th Bombardment Group and POW conventions. He also spoke many times at schools and libraries about his World War II experience. Some of his most-cherished possessions were the thank you letters he received from school children after giving a talk to their class.