Dean Garland Crowell – Captain,United States Air Force

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Dean Garland Crowell
North Bend, Oregon
Born April 30, 1921
Captain, U.S. Air Force
Service Number 15969A
Killed in Action
Died October 1, 1950 in Korea

United States Military Academy, Class of 1944, Captain Crowell was the pilot of a F-51D Mustang night fighter with the 6146th Air Base Unit, U.S. Air Force and an advisor to the Korean Air Force.

On October 1, 1950, while on a combat mission near Pyongyang, North Korea, his aircraft received a direct hit by anti-aircraft fire, crashed and burst into flames. Captain Crowell was awarded the Air Medal, the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.

dgcrowell-usaf-photo-01

US Air Force Photo

Dean Crowell

A 1939 graduate of North Bend High School, North Bend, Oregon, he played football for four years, and was a first-team all-county selection his senior year. He played in the state basketball tournaments in 1937 and 1939 and was named to the all-district team as a senior, when the Bulldogs finished sixth at state. In high school he also was active in several school organizations and was a class officer.

After graduation, he attended two prep schools in the East and then the University of Oregon, playing one year for the freshman football team.

He accepted an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point and started two years as an end for Army, while also participating in numerous intramural sports. After graduation, he married and went into training in the Air Corps.

As a Captain, he flew combat missions during the Korean War and taught South Koreans how to fly. He was shot down on October 1, 1950. His body never was recovered, but he has a cemetery marker at Arlington National Cemetery near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Since 1959, the U.S. Air Force Academy has given an outstanding intramural athlete award in his name.

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