MUSKEGON COUNTY -- In the end, Muskegon County commissioners agreed that the late U.S. Navy fighter pilot Ira "Ike" Kepford was a true American hero.

But most commissioners also believe that many local military veterans deserve as much recognition as Kepford -- particularly those who returned to Muskegon after their time in the service.

That's why commissioners voted 7-2 Thursday against renaming the Muskegon County Airport after Kepford, a World War II flying ace credited with shooting down 16 Japanese fighters in the South Pacific.

"He's one of many veterans," said County Commissioner Don Aley, who called for possible establishment of a "wall of fame" at the airport to honor all local military veterans. "Other veterans are just as deserving, or in some cases maybe even more deserving.

"He left Muskegon, never to return. We had others who stayed in Muskegon."

The decision was crushing for Bill Bos, a 74-year-old North Muskegon resident who has been lobbying commissioners to rename the county airport after Kepford since last summer.

The suggested name was "Muskegon County Airport at Ike Kepford Field."

"This is very disappointing for me," said Bos, who followed Kepford's military exploits as a boy. "I think they were just trying to ignore us.

"They kept bringing up crazy things that had nothing to do with what we were talking about. It isn't like Muskegon is some kind of exclusive club, and if you leave you're not allowed back."

Kepford was a member of the elite VF-17 "Jolly Roger Squadron" during World War II.

The squadron produced more ace fighter pilots than any other during the war, and Kepford was the best of the aces, shooting down 16 Japanese planes in a four-month period in late 1943 and early 1944, according to Bos.

Kepford grew up in Muskegon, where he was a star football player at Muskegon High School before playing at Northwestern University.

After the war, he moved to Connecticut, married, raised a family and became president of the Liggett-Rexall Drug Company. He retired and moved to Harbor Springs in the 1970s and died in 1987.

Bos wasn't the first one to suggest naming the airport after Kepford. That came from the Bentwing Foundation, a Florida-based nonprofit group dedicated to aviation history.

Representatives of the group came to Muskegon, searching for information about Kepford for a TV documentary. When they found little evidence that Muskegon was aware of Kepford, the group wrote The Chronicle, offering the airport idea.

Bos then contacted the group and took up their cause. He approached the county board last July and lobbied on and off for seven months before finally getting an answer.

Bos said he was particularly annoyed because a special committee, which he said included himself, the county administrator and several county commissioners, met twice to study the issue. But the committee never returned a recommendation to the county board, he said.

County Administrator Jack Niemiec said the board simply asked him to meet with Bos, and he invited several commissioners to join them. It was never a formal committee and there was never a request for a recommendation, he said.

The issue wasn't on the agenda for a vote Thursday. It was only after Commissioner Bill Gill, chairman of the transportation committee, recognized Bos in the audience that the debate was stirred up.

"I believe these people deserve an answer," said Commissioner Marvin Engle, who offered the motion to reject the airport name change.

Niemiec said there was never an intention to delay a vote. He said a series of circumstances, like disagreements over the potential cost of a name change, pushed the issue back so many months.

Even before the vote, when it was obvious that the name change would not pass, several members of the audience reacted with anger.

"I've been gone from Muskegon for 30 years, and now I come back and find the same old Muskegon -- never looking forward to anything," said Barbara Swanson. "I've lived in several communities where their airports were named after a hero. It was always a very proud thing for the residents."