antarmike Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 (edited) Lt. Col. William Edwin Dyess (1916-1943) is killed when the P-38 is his undergoing retraining in catches fire in flight near Burbank, California. He refuses to bail out over a populated area and dies when his Lightning impacts in a vacant lot. Dyess had been captured on Bataan in April 1942 by the Japanese, but escaped in April 1943 and fought with guerilla forces on Mindanao until evacuated by submarine in July 1943. Abilene Air Force Base, Texas, is renamed after him on 1 December 1956. His final selfless act is credited with saving hundreds of lives. Edited December 28, 2008 by antarmike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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