American Hero, Aurora HS Grad Passes Away at 74

Thursday, January 4, 2024 at 11:27 AM

Dennis Kern helped saved the lives of 30 people on 9/11.

Dennis Kern in 2002. Photo via Naval History and Heritage Command.

(Aurora, Ind.) – Dennis Kern was an American hero.

He was born October 23, 1949, in Cincinnati and lived his formative years in Aurora, where he attended St. Mary’s School through grade 8 and Aurora High School where he graduated in 1967.

Following graduate, Kern was commissioned in the U.S. Navy and immediately attended flight school in Pensacola, Florida and Corpus Christi, Texas – which launched his 31-year career as a naval aviator.

On September 11, 2001, Captain Kern was with the Undersecretary as she was presenting to guests of the Pentagon. There was a group of 30 Navy civilian employees in the briefing when the Pentagon was attacked.

Kern is credited with single-handedly responsible for saving the lives of all of the people in that room that day. You can read more about his heroism at https://tinyurl.com/yuncpnt3.

Unfortunately, Captain Kern passed away on December 17 after a 10-month battle with brain cancer.

He will be laid to rest on January 11 in San Francisco, California, the place he had called home since 2005.