May 13, 1946

Pierce Winningham “Mac” McKennon, a talented musician more widely remembered as a famous World War II flying ace, married Beulah Irene Sawyer of Fort Smith (Sebastian County). McKennon had left the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville (Washington County) without finishing because of poor academic performance and had left the United States Army Air Corps because of lack of aptitude, but he eventually rose to the rank of major in the U.S. Air Force and became a decorated World War II pilot. The couple had one son before McKennon was killed in 1947 in a training accident near San Antonio, Texas, where he served as a flight instructor.