Daniel A Sipe was born on March 26, 1920, in Pennsylvania. He had two older brothers and one older sister. His father was Daniel A Sipe Sr and His mother was Caroline Fulton Wain. Both his parents were born in Pennsylvania. His father worked for a railroad in 1910 and 1930, in 1920 he was a foreman for a Coal Company and in 1940 he had a job that included trucks. In 1940, Daniel was a Senior in High School and was unemployed.

Daniel was a junior at The University of Pittsburgh before he enlisted into the Army Air Force in 1942.

Daniel was assigned to the 378th Fighter Squadron, 36nd Fighter Group, 9th Air Force.

When he became a 1st Lieutenant, his Serial Number became 0-678961. He flew a P-47D Thunderbolt with the Serial Number of 42-75619.

The following information was taken from a Missing Air Crew Report written by 2nd Lt. Kevin Gough. On May 13, 1944, while on a fighter sweep heading to Dummer Lake in Germany from Kent, Daniel reported to the Flight Leader that his oil pressure was down to forty pounds. When he asked what he should do, he got no answer. When they neared the dutch coast Daniel reported that his oil pressure was down to 30 pounds. Once they were west of Den Helder, Daniel reported that he may have to bail out as his plane was emitting black smoke. He stalled his airplane so he could jump and hit the water at an altitude of 100 feet. He managed to get in his life raft and was about 3/4th of a mile away from a channel buoy. Kevin, who saw the whole incident, tried to gather information about his whereabouts, staying in the area for two hours, trying to radio for a search and rescue before bad weather forced him to return to base. Once he returned he contacted Air- Sea-Rescue and gave them the report of what happened, which is where the report ends.

According to the Statement of Extent of Search Report, the RAF Air-Sea Rescue searched for Daniel for 48 hours after the report of the downed pilot reached them. The next day, planes from the Eighth and Ninth Air Force joined the search and an SOS was sent out when the search failed.

A memorial was held for him and a funeral for his brother Clinton, who had died from his wounds, on March 5, 1949.

There are two Cenotaphs for Daniel A Sipe. One is in Allegheny County Memorial Park, Pennsylvania. The other is in South Fork Cemetery in Pennsylvania.

Daniel received two air medals for his service including the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Danial’s Brothers

Danial’s Brothers, Clinton, and Harry served in WW2 in Bombers and both were Lieutenants. Clinton was a Bombardier in a B-24 Liberator in the 93rd Bomb Group and Harry was a Navigator on a B-17 Flying Fortress. The two Brothers received three Oak Leaf Clusters before Clinton's death from wounds in 1943, while serving in the Middle East. Harry was held prisoner by the Germans after his plane was shot down for two years. After his release, Harry got married to Carolyn Thompson in June 1945.

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Thank you 1st Lieutenant Daniel A Sipe for your service and your sacrifice, you will not be forgotten.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

STARSProject/Pennsylvania