2Lt. Odne Norheim Dahl

Odne Norheim Dahl : Second Lieutenant from Illinois, World War II Casualty (honorstates.org)

Born 16 Dec 1918 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.

High School Class of 1936

Enlisted (ASN: 16028482) as a Private in the Army Air Corps on 10 October 1940 at Chanute Field near Rantoul, Illinois. He was selected for aviation cadet training and assigned to Squadron C, Drill Groups at AAFTTC Miami Beach, Florida.

On 20 July 1943, he graduated with Class 6W-16 for Maintenance Engineering at Boca Raton AAF, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant (ASN: O-867992) in the USAAF.

Per 22nd Air Base Headquarters, Special Orders #66, dated 6 March 1944, he graduated with Class #25-44 from Flight Engineer School (FES) at Lowry Field near Denver, Colorado and was attached to 17th Bombardment Operational Training Wing at Clovis Army Air Base, New Mexico. Subsequently, he underwent B-29 aircraft combat crew training and was assigned to Aircrew A-26 at Pratt Army Air Field, Kansas.

Per Special Order #236-2 shipped from Pratt AAF to Herington Field, Nebraska for pre-deployment and out-processing. In September 1944, he deployed from Mather Field, California (with re-fueling stops at Hawaii and Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands) to the central Pacific Theatre of Operations (PTO) and was assigned to 20th Air Force, XXI Bomber Command, 73rd Bomb Wing, 497th Bombardment Group (VH), 870th Bomber Squadron stationed at Isely Field on Saipan in the Mariana Islands.

MACR 10002

Flight Engineer: O-867992Odne N Dahl 2Lt IL 24-11-1944 B-29 #42-24622 A-SQ-26

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56128162/odne-n-dahl

On 24 November 1944, during the first B-29 raid against Tokyo from the Mariana Islands, he flew as the Flight Engineer aboard a Boeing B-29-40-BW (Boeing Wichita) Superfortress nicknamed “Lucky Irish” tail code A-square-26 (serial #42-24622).

A-SQ-26 was one of 111 aircraft launched in a multi-group formation to bombard the Musashino aircraft engine factory near Tokyo, Japan. After a flight of approximately six hours and some 1,200 nautical miles, his aircraft reached their check-point above Mount Fuji on the main island of Honshu, and began their bomb-run north-east towards Tokyo.

While over the target area, the group was attacked by a band of Nakajima ki-44 single-engine “Tojo” fighter planes. His B-29 aircraft was struck by one of the Tojo fighters, which was under fire from another B-29 "Haley's Comet" A-Square-22 gunners, shearing off its vertical stabilizer and left elevator.

World War II Honoree (wwiimemorial.com)

He was killed when his aircraft went into a dive and crashed into the sea approximately 153 kilometers east of Tokyo.

Lost Air Crews (exciteableitalian.com)