Post WW2 Air Force Career

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Lt Kitzman was liberated from his POW camp by the 14th Armored Division / 3rd Army on April 29, 1945. He spent an additional 3 months in Europe, finally arriving home to Iowa in August 1945.

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Kitzman married Elizabeth (“Betty”) Vander Heiden (1925-2017) in 1946, and they had four children. 

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Kitzman re-enlisted in the Air Force in 1946, and continued his career as a pilot. He flew 16 B-29 missions in the Korean War, and then commanded B-36s and B-52s for the Strategic Air Command.  Major Kitzman was stationed at many bases, including Westover AFB in Massachusetts and McCoy AFB in Orlando.  

 

Major Kitzman retired in 1965 to Roseburg, Oregon, where he and Betty continued to work and raise their children.