Olaf Arneson

17Jan1921 – 22Mar1945

Edison Days

Olaf graduated with the Class of June 1938. He was active in school and even participated in a debate that was aired on KSTP radio. He attended Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD.

Military Service

Rank: 1st Lieutenant

Branch: United States Army Air Force

Unit: 9th Bomber Squadron – 7th Bomber Group (Heavy) – 10th Air Force

Olaf enlisted in the Air Corps in May of 1942. After training as a Bombardier, he received his commission on 26Feb1944. He went overseas in June 1944.

His bomber group operated in the China-Burma-India theater. Operations were directed primarily against the Japanese in Burma, with attacks on airfields, fuel and supply dumps, locomotive works, railways, bridges, docks, warehouses, shipping, and other targets. Also bombed oil refineries and railways in Thailand, hit power plants in China, attacked enemy shipping in the Andaman Sea, and ferried gasoline over the Hump to China. Received a second Distinguished Unit Citation for damaging the enemy’s line of supply in southeast Asia with an attack against rail lines and bridges in Thailand on 19Mar1945.

Olaf had already flown his required number of missions when he flew his last one on 22Mar1945. Flying as part of a group of B-24J bombers to attack targets on Great Coco Island in the Indian Ocean. After a low-level bombing run destroyed a radio installation, Olaf’s plan was hit by moderate anti-aircraft fire. The plane burst into flames as it left the island at about 300 feet above the water. The flames spread rapidly as the plane gained altitude. The plane winged over to the right and went almost vertically into the ocean. All 11 crewmen were killed. Olaf’s body was never recovered.

A memorial headstone is located at Hillside Cemetery in Minneapolis.

Olaf’s name is also inscribed on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetary in the Philippines.

This poem appeared in the Minneapolis Journal in 1930. Olaf would have been 9 years old! While impossible to attribute to him with 100% certainty, his participation on the debate team in high school would suggest that it could be him.