Edward G Dana joined the USAAF in 1944. As with many, he went in with the promise of becoming a pilot, only to be sent to gunnery school instead. He trained in Aurora, Co, where he also earned the Golden Gloves for boxing. He began his service to the 401st in October of 1944 and saw his first combat mission on 21 Nov, 1944, and his last on 21 March, 1945. He flew 36 missions in all and suffered no injuries, even after one of the aircraft he served on, the Hard Seventeen, crashed near Grimbergen, Belgium. After he finished his last combat mission, he stayed on as a flak gunner until the end of the War in Europe.
|