WWII Ace COL Perry Dahl dead at 101

Perry Dahl, who had a storied career flying for the US., died at the tender young age of 101. He is described as one of the last of 1297 air aces – I did not find a definitive list of survivors but did see a reference to him as one of  four left – and at least one of those four (Bud Anderson) passed last year.

After three years in high school, he enlisted in the Washington National Guard on June 17, 1940, and three months later, he entered service as a private with the 41st Infantry Division. On Sept. 26, 1942, Dahl enrolled in the Aviation Cadet Program, and on June 22, 1943, he qualified as a pilot and a second lieutenant.

After further training on the Lockheed P-38 Lighting, he was assigned to the 55th Fighter Group in Tumwater, Washington, before being reassigned to the 432nd Squadron of the 475th Fighter Group, based at north Borio Airfield, Dobodura, in Papua New Guinea, where he nicknamed his Lightning “Skidoo.”

Seems he did very well up against the Nakajima Ki-43 fighter, known as an Oscar. His first 7 victories came shooting Oscars down before he tagged a Kawasaki Ki-61 ‘Tony’  over Leyte. This mission didn’t turn out as well:

Five months later, Dahl was flying a new P-38L7 when he downed a Kawasaki Ki-61 Tony over San Pablo, Leyte, on Nov. 10. As he turned to make a second attack, however, his plane collided with his wingman, 2nd Lt. Grady Lasseter Jr., who was killed.

Dahl bailed out, only to be captured by a Japanese patrol and later rescued by Philippine Resistance fighters. He rejoined his squadron on Jan. 15, 1945, and on March 5, he shot down a Mitsubishi Ki-21 bomber down near Formosa, now Taiwan.

On March 28 ’45 he was again flying with Loisel when Loisel was shot down.

“Shortly afterwards,” Dahl’s citation recounted, “he noticed that an accompanying flight of P-38s, their pilots apparently unaware of some 20 enemy [aircraft] above, was attacking a few hostile planes at low altitude. Unable to communicate with the endangered flight, he pulled up to intercept the enemy as they dived to attack it.”

The 475th claimed a total of nine enemy aircraft in that 20-minute melee, including a Hamp, or a Mitsubishi A6M3 Model 32, credited to Dahl for his final victory. Military.com

Post war, after some Reserves time he was called up for Korea and stayed in the Air Force until 1978. He served predominantly in staff positions but commanded the 19th Tactical Air Support in 1971 and the 56th Special Operations Wing at Nakhan Phanom Royal Thai Airfield from July 1974 to April 1975. He retired as the NORAD deputy chief of plans and programs in 1978 – almost 38 years after originally enlisting.

Definitely a significant fellow in Air Force (and Army Air Corps) history. Good and unusually detailed article – read it.

Category: Air Force, We Remember, WWII