PERRY, Utah — Funeral arrangements have been announced for the U.S Air Force fighter pilot killed while flying in England.
First Lt. Kenneth “Kage” Allen will return home to Utah on Friday where a procession is planned from the airport to the mortuary in Farmington.
Allen’s family plans on holding a viewing, open to the public on July third.
The family said Kage has always wanted to celebrate the fourth of July with his wife—that’s the day they hope to lay him to rest.
One of Hannah Allen’s favorite memories of her husband of nearly four months is her and Kage’s first kiss.
Hannah had flown to Oregon to meet Allen after months of talking over FaceTime.
The couple went on a motorcycle ride when Hannah said Allen pulled over and asked if she would like to see a magic trick.
Hesitant, Hannah said she played along.
“He pulls out this crisp one dollar bill and said, I bet you this dollar that I can kiss you without even touching you,” said Hannah. “I started laughing.”
Eventually, Hannah said she would take the dollar and they shared their first kiss.
“I never doubted that Kage loved me,” said Hannah.
Allen proposed to Hannah in January of 2020.
When the couple learned they would need to go through special military paperwork for Hannah to get clearance to join Allen with the Air Force in England, they decided to get married.
Three days after their February wedding, Allen went of to the Royal Air Force base in Suffolk England.
Allen served as a fighter pilot with the 48th Fighter Wing, 493rd Fighter Squadron.
Hannah said the morning after Allen’s 27th birthday, she received a text from her husband letting her know his fighter pilot training routine for the day had been changed.
“Fighter pilots are constantly pushing the envelope,” said Hannah. “Nothing Kage ever did was the same.”
The next thing Hannah heard—Allen was missing in action.
“My heart already dropped and I kind of assumed the worst,” said Hannah.
The First Lieutenant had wanted to be a fighter pilot since he was four years old and worked his whole life to fill the requirements.
Following in his father’s, grandfathers and two brothers footsteps in serving his country.
Charles, Allen’s father, said his sons were talking with each other when Allen—the seventh of eight kids—told his brother what he thinks about every time he gets into the cockpit.
“I ask myself is this my last flight? Or could this be my last flight? But you know I found Hannah, so things are going to be okay,” said Charles.
Just one week after Hannah received her paperwork to join Allen in England, Allen died.
“If they had to take my Kage, I’m so grateful he brought us Hannah,” said Deborah, Allen’s mom.
Hannah said she hopes to live up to her husband’s legacy.
“I hope that my life is never the same and I just go about doing good because that’s who he was,” said Hannah.
The U.S. Air Force is still investigating what caused Allen’s plane to go down near the coast into the North Sea.
