The Rotary Club of Enfield is honoring Enfield’s veterans by sponsoring military tribute banners that will be displayed in Higgins Park, the Town Green, Freshwater Walkway, North Main Street and Hazardville between Memorial Day and Veterans Day in 2026 and 2027. The Enfield Public Library partnered with Enfield Rotary to preserve digital versions of these banners as well as biographical information about each veteran.
kenneth R. Nelson
United States air force 1962-1966
vietnam War
airman
Ken joined the United States Air Force in 1962, enlisting out of Springfield, Massachusetts. He was sent immediately to Andrews Air Force Base in Camp Springs, Maryland, where he began his training. After completing basic training, he was assigned to the military police, and it was while on patrol that he first met the woman who would become his wife, Rose, in 1965. Over the course of his service, Ken was cross-trained in several areas, serving as an aircraft mechanic, communications, maintenance, and cooking for his fellow servicemen.
He was deployed to fight in the Vietnam War, a chapter of his life he rarely spoke of lightly. He credited the letters from Rose as a lifeline — without them, he was not sure he would have made it home. Upon returning in 1966, his four-year tour complete, he came home with his life and the woman he loved waiting for him. They both left Maryland for Connecticut and landed in Enfield. They went on to have three children, all of whom were born at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, CT. Dena, Ken Jr. & Sherry, all of whom attended Enfield schools.
Gaining his CDL, he became a long-haul truck driver to support the three children he had with Rose. However, the days away from the family were just too much, and he opted out of over-the-road. Sadly, they divorced in 1971.
He was blessed with another love in his life and they welcomed twins, Kimberly & Shannon, and a son, Timothy. They both went through the Enfield school systems as well. Sadly, we lost Kimberley due to low birth weight. He then became a driver for Citgo Oil and Gas Company, serving CT & MA . After a serious accident in New Haven, CT, he retired from the trucking industry.
After that, he enrolled in school at the Porter and Chester Institute in Enfield for his architecture degree.
On May 11th, 1985, what should have been a wonderful time at Riverside Park in Agawam, MA, with Shannon and Tim, upon returning home, a drunk driver slammed into his car at Post Office Rd & Rt 5. Because of his heroic act, making sure his two youngest children got out of the car, he saved their lives but tragically during the process, he was later pronounced dead on Mother's Day, May 12, 1985.
