Lee Hill Batsel was born 1 August, 1921 in Sacramento, Kentucky. He married Olivia Krezdorn in 1943. Her parents were Louis Krezdorn and Catalina Martinez.
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At a time when most kids were interested in baseball and marbles (Muhlenberg County furnished two champion shooters during that perion) Lee Hill Batsel wanted to fly airplanes.
Lee Hill, although related to the other Batsels and Hensons, was born in Sacramento on April 1, 1921. The family moved to Greenville in 1927 when his father, R. W. Batsel, became the editor of the Greenville Leader after acquiring a half interest in the newspaper and becoming a partner of Mac Newman.
Captain Charles Lindbergh flew solo from New York to Paris that same year and the daring feat captured the attention of a hero-hungry world and including six-year-old Lee Hill Batsel.
The youngster was studious and managed to graduate from Bremen High School (his family had moved there two years earlier) in 1937 when he was 16. He attended Western State College at Bowling Green for one year before joining the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). It was difficult to find work at that time and he considered the enlistment as a stepping stone. Then in 1942 when he was 21, his big chance came when he joined the U. S. Air Force and on April 22, 1943, was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant and married Olivia Krezdorn of Eagle Pass, Texas on the same day.
After a tour of duty at Randolph Field, Texas, Batsel was transferred to Eagle Pass to serve as a flight instructor, training young Air Force pilots.
Later he was accepted into the B-29 bomber program and was sent to Amarillo, Texas to learn to fly the big planes. After graduating there, he trained others to fly B 29's at Lowrey Field, Denver and at Roswell and Clovis, New Mexico.
In the late 40's, Lee was ordered to Fairbanks, Alaska to fly aerial surveillance out of that base.
Later he served briefly at Castle Air Force Base, Merced, California and then was ordered to the Phillipines in 1950. He was able to take along his family.
After that he served one year in Korea and flew 100 missions in that war. Lee was hit by gunfire and carried some of the metal as a "souvenir."
Lee, now an Air Force Captain, graduated from the University of Chicago with a Masters Degree in Business. He earned a Phi Beta Kappa Key with the degree.
Next, he was transferred to Bittburg, Germany where he spent four years. That was followed by four years at the Pentagon in Washington, D. C.
In 1966, Lee was ordered to Japan and in 1968 he swore in his youngest son, Lee H. Batsel, Jr. into the U. S. Air Force.
Lee returned to the States for F4C Phantom training and joined his oldest son, Michael Louis Batsel and they flew together.
Later, he and Mike flew together as a father and son team in the Vietnam War. It marked the first time the Air Force had allowed a father to co-pilot wih his son during wartime.
Lee retired from the service as a Colonel on August 1, 1969. After retirement, he was employed in Texas as a financial consultant for many years.
Colonel Batsel died on February 24, 1988 in San Antonio, where he lived with his wife. He was buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery with full military honors. His dream came true and he served with distinction during three years.
© Leader News, Greenville, Muhlenburg, Kentucky, 8 June 1988 (article found in Section C, pp 1, 10)
