Lloyd Olson

10Dec1922 – 21Apr1945

Edison Days

Lloyd graduated with the Class of January 1941. He was involved with Hi-Y and Choral Club.

Following graduation, Lloyd worked for the Bureau of Engraving, Inc. in downtown Minneapolis. In May 1943, he married Jean Johnson – Edison Class of January 1942.

Military Service

Rank: 2nd Lieutenant

Branch: United States Army Air Force

Unit: 332nd Bomb Squadron – 94th Bomb Group (Heavy)

Lloyd enlisted in the Army 0n 20Aug1943. The locations where he took basic training and advanced training are unknown at this time.

By April 1945 Lloyd was a Navigator-Bombardier on a B-17G bomber flying out of RAF Rougham Northeast of London. His plane was nicknamed “Struggle Buggy”.

Lloyd’s last mission was a bombing run to Ingolstadt, Germany. After successfully attacking the target, the formation was returning to base. As the formation entered a large formation of cumulous clouds, the Struggle Buggy was observed to go out of control and flip upside down. Other planes in the formation noticed rough air and prop wash at this time. The pilot and co-pilot struggled to regain control of the plane but their efforts proved to be unsuccessful. The pilot ordered the crew to bail out of the stricken craft.

The pilot was the only crew member to successfully bail out of the plane. Lloyd and the other 6 men died when the plane crashed near Sulzbach, Germany.

This was Lloyd’s 2nd mission as a crewman on the Struggle Buggy, and it was the last mission that the 94th Bomb Group would conduct in the war.

In 1949 Lloyd’s remains were returned to Minnesota for reburial.

Lloyd is buried at Hillside Cemetery in Minneapolis, MN.