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An image from a book about Gail Kerns shows him kissing the ground after returning to the U.S. after four years as a prisoner of war.
ALDERSON -- A former Vietnam POW from Randolph County -- who became famous for kissing the ground at Andrews Air Force Base upon his return to the United States -- passed away Friday.
Staff Sgt. Gail Mason Kerns, 77, died of natural causes at the Rainelle Healthcare Center, where he had been living for the past two years, according to his sister, Vesta Vandevender.
"Gail was in a nursing home when he passed away," Vandevender told The Inter-Mountain Monday. "He had been at the home for the past couple years and we learned that he passed away because of some heart trouble that he had."
Kerns was a prisoner of war for nearly four years during the Vietnam War.
He was shot on the left side of his head when he and his fellow soldiers were ambushed March 27, 1969, on a reconnaissance mission in a remote region of South Vietnam, near the Cambodian border. He survived 1,439 days as a prisoner of war.
"He was paralyzed on his right side after he was shot," Vandevender said. "He had told us that other POWs had carried him for 500 miles on a stretcher when they would move from one POW camp to another."
Kerns returned to the U.S. on March 5, 1973 as part of "Operation Homecoming." Kerns insisted on walking off the aircraft when he arrived, and with the assistance of two nurses, he descended the ramp and captured the attention of the nation when he bent down and kissed the American soil.
Elkins resident John Lothes, who was involved in bringing Kerns and another POW, Joseph Rose of Morgantown, home from Hanoi, Vietnam, remembers the day Kerns walked off the plane.
"I went to Hanoi twice as a crew member and brought two different loads of soldiers back, and Gail and Joe were on one of those flights," Lothes told The Inter-Mountain Monday. "But I didn't know either one of them was from West Virginia at the time. The way I found out Gail was from West Virginia was when the story broke about him getting off the plane.
"He was a 'litter patient' (meaning a patient who must be carried on a stretcher) because he had been shot and he told the nurses he was walking off the plane. They told him that the doctor had him classified as a litter patient and that he had to be carried off. He told them he was walking off, so a nurse got on each side of him and they walked him down the ramp.
"When he got down the ramp he got down on his hands and knees and kissed the ground," Lothes said. "And that made worldwide news. One of the headlines said, 'West Virginia Boy Happy to be Home.'"
Kerns was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with "V" Device and First Oak Leaf Cluster, the Purple Heart and First Oak Leaf Cluster, the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal and other military honors.
Kerns graduated from Tygarts Valley High School in 1965 and had completed one year of electrical engineering studies at West Virginia University Institute of Technology when he was drafted.
"Gail grew up in Randolph County and was well-known throughout the area," Vandevender said. "He had previously served as the parade marshal at one of the Forest Festivals and had several stories printed about him in The Inter-Mountain, which he actually delivered when he was a young boy. He rode his bicycle around Valley Bend and delivered door-to-door. He actually did that for many years."
Upon his return to the United States, Kerns eventually settled in Alderson, where he remained until the time of his death.
"He had one son who was a lieutenant in the service and he was killed in a plane accident," Vandevender said. "He had a wife that also passed away, so he was kind of a loner. He had a neighbor though, that turned out to be more of a brother to him down there. His name was Bob Johnson and he really took care of Gail and helped him write a book. He kept him active with all the military parades and other things like that. He helped Gail out with everything, it was amazing everything that they did together."
Kerns' funeral services will be held at the Morgan Funeral Home in Lewisburg on Thursday. Burial will take place in the Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.