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Sent: Thu, Dec 08, 2011 07:25 PMDownload All | FLASH TRAFFIC
"OLD TIGER RTB"
HMM-262 Combat Helicopter Association
Kellan "K-Bar" Kyllo
(Apr. 9, 1947 - Dec. 2, 2011)
(2009)
(1967)
Some of you will probably be surpised not to have heard from me since our brother Kellan Kyllo Returned-To-Base (RTB) one last time, on Dec. 2, 2011. I have not been able to send this email sooner, simply because I have been struggling to find the right words. Losing "K-Bar" has been difficult for those of us who were close to him. I have spoken with his son, GySgt Nels Kyllo, USMC, who just forwarded the funeral arrangements, which will be detailed further down in this message. He would appreciate hearing from all of you who know his father:
(GySgt Nels Kyllo thrush311@charter.net)
We all have brother Marines with whom we enjoy a very special bond. Just as in civilian life, some Marine Corps friends are closer than others. But Marines need no further explanation than to say: "He is/was my Brother"... and it is clearly understood!
K-Bar was one of my "Brothers".
(1967)
In 1967, while onboard the USS Tripoli, LPH-10, we were given "liberty" in Olongapo, Phillipine Islands. Above, K-Bar raises a glass as he toasts us all, from 44 years ago.
Kellan got the nickname "K-Bar" for a couple of reasons. For those of you who do know know the term, the K-Bar is a survival/combat knife, issued to all of us when we arrived in Vietnam, and Kellan was never without it:
When we were just sitting around the Flight Shack or just "hanging out" in our "Hootches", Kellan was constantly flipping his K-Bar into the wooden floors or tossing it at a post (inside or outside). He became very efficient with that knife and could stick it into a post or floor, almost anywhere he aimed. Thus, the knick name: "K-Bar Kyllo"
L-R: "Peachy" Keene, "Hip" Loftin, "K-Bar Kyllo, UNK
1968 Line Shack, Quang Tri, RVN
L-R: Sam Beamon, Bob Gehlen, Rich Buda, Kellan Kyllo
2001 Washington, DC
L-R: Kellan Kyllo, Kreig Loftin, Steve Bravard
2005 Houston, TX
Now it is time to say "Fairwell" to a freind, a Brother, one of the finest CH-46 Sea Knight Crew Chiefs to ever "Strap-On a Phrog", a true Marine in every sense of the word and one of the nicest men I have ever had the honor to meet.
Church Service at 10:30 AM
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
7600 Cahill Avenue, Inver Grove Heights, MN 55076.
Phone number: 651-451-6225
Burial Service at 1pm
(About a one (1) hour drive from the Church)
Vesa Lutheran Church
15235 Norelius Road, Welch, MN 55089
Phone Number: 651-258-4327
"With pain in our hearts, And a tear in the eye;
We are proud to have served with this Marine,
Semper Fi ! "
Posted : 2011-12-08 23:31
Re: Kellan "K-Bar" Kyllo - HMM-262
I sent my condolences to the Gunny, I remember him when K-Bar brought him to our DC reunion and I think he was just out of boot camp. RIP Bro!
Posted : 2011-12-09 07:49
Re: Kellan "K-Bar" Kyllo - HMM-262
I first met Kellan when we were both 18 years old. We were Marines in training to become helicopter crew chiefs. He had a laugh that could rattle walls and once you heard it, you never forgot it.
Someone said it's good to stay close to those that knew you when you were young - because they tend to remember you when you were at your best.
I remember Kellan when he WAS at his best. He was the finest enlisted Marine I had ever known.
He was selfless, proud, keenly intelligent, fiercely loyal and a brave warrior. He was the embodiment of the Marine Corps ethos..........."honor, courage and commitment" were not just words to him.
At 20 years old, Kellan found himself far from loved ones and in a war.
His daily missions were centered around keeping his fellow Marines alive. In that effort, Kellan flew over 640 combat missions in Vietnam. He saved the lives of countless Marines. He did his job well and with great resolution. And when it was time, he went home and began a new life.
Time and the pressures of daily life conspired against us and I lost touch with Kellan. Years later we reconnected through squadron reunions and for that I am grateful.
I'm proud to say - I remember K-Bar and I remember him at his best.
May he rest in peace.
Semper Fi,
Kreig "Hip" Loftin
Kreig "Hip" Loftin
HMM-262, Combat Helicopter Association
Posted : 2011-12-09 13:38
Re: Kellan "K-Bar" Kyllo - HMM-262
It's heavy heart day - I have known Kellan since we were in grade school and as you already know he was always squared away and a stand up guy even when we were kids. I got to the Marine Corps a different route. Kellan your free however we miss you.
Semper Fi
Doc Bradley
Posted : 2011-12-09 17:16
Topic starter
Re: Kellan "K-Bar" Kyllo - HMM-262
Obituary
Kellan's son, GySgt. Nels Kyllo, USMC has requested that we publish his Father's Obituary and the website where you can enter your condolences:
Kellan Marc Age 64, of New Braunfels, TX, formerly of Inver Grove Heights, MN, passed away December 3, 2011. He was born April 9, 1947 in Rochester, MN to the late Hiram Ingvald and Marion Doris Kyllo. He graduated from Terra Linda High School in San Rafael, CA and enlisted in the Marine Corps in the summer of 1965. During his 2 tours of Vietnam, Kellan earned the nickname "K-Bar" where he served as a crew chief with his brothers of HMM-262, the Flying Tigers, and was a veteran of the siege of Khe Sanh.
After returning home, he married Anna Huck and they moved to MN where he graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Science degree, and became a dairy farmer in Kenyon, MN. Retiring from farming, Kellan attended William Mitchell College of Law and graduated from the Dakota County Technical College to refinish and restore furniture, an activity he enjoyed for many years.
He is survived by his wife, Gena, and also by his wife of a previous marriage, Anna; their four children, Erica Kyllo, Nels (Aviva) Kyllo, Ella (Andy) Collins and Liv (Roger) Garcia; four grandchildren, Nina and Leif Kyllo, Stella Garcia and Hazel Collins; his sister, Bonnie (Val) Mercer; nieces and nephews. He is also survived by stepdaughter, Shannon (Bob) Calder; two step- grandchildren, Malcolm and Ally Calder; family and many friends.
A memorial service will be held Thursday, December 15 at 10:30 am, at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 7600 Cahill Ave., Inver Grove Heights, MN 55044.
The burial service will be afterwards, Thursday, December 15 at 1:00 pm, at Vasa Lutheran Church, 15235 Norelius Road, Welch, MN 55089
Website to share your Condolences with his Family and Friends:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/startribune/obituary.aspx?n=kellan-marc-kyllo&pid=1550060 03&eid=sp_shareobit
Posted : 2011-12-11 16:20
Re: Kellan "K-Bar" Kyllo - HMM-262
I too got to know K-Bar from the Reunion's and again it shows just How important they have been. I will remember the Few talks that we had. God Bless and Keep Him. Have little to say right now!
Posted : 2011-12-12 00:27
Re: Kellan "K-Bar" Kyllo - HMM-262
K-Bar,
Thanks for so many wonderful memories, your friendship and the example you set for "ALL" Marine Corps helicopter Crew Chiefs. Rest in peace my brother. You deserve more than most.
Posted : 2011-12-13 17:20
