This Military Service Page was created/owned by
SSgt Robert Bruce McClelland, Jr.
to remember
Hedlund, Earl Clifford, Lt Gen USAF(Ret).
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Contact Info
Home Town Chappell, Nebraska
Date of Passing Jul 21, 2002
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
He flew P-38 combat missions in the Aleutians and in Europe and was credited with 1 shared aerial victory plus the destruction of 15 enemy aircraft on the ground.
He was shot down and made a POW Apr 18, 1945 but escaped Apr 29 and made it back to allied lines.
He retired from the AF Oct 1, 1973.
(Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: Major (Air Corps) Earl Clifford Hedlund (ASN: 0-362396), United States Army Air Forces, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Pilot of a P-38 Fighter Airplane in the 79th Fighter Squadron, 20th Fighter Group, EIGHTH Air Force, in aerial combat against enemy forces on 23 August 1944. Major Hedlund's unquestionable valor in aerial combat is in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, the 8th Air Force, and the United States Army Air Forces.
General Orders: Headquarters, U.S. Strategic Forces in Europe, General Orders No. 13 (1945)
WWII - Pacific Theater of Operations/Aleutian Islands Campaign (1942-43)
From Month/Year
June / 1942
To Month/Year
August / 1943
Description (Aleutian Islands Campaign 3 Jun 1942 to 24 Aug 1943) On 3-4 June 1942, at the time of the Battle of Midway, a Japanese force attacked Dutch Harbor and inflicted considerable damage before it was driven off. The Japanese then occupied Attu and Kiska. For the rest of 1942 and into 1943, Eleventh Air Force struck enemy bases and installations whenever weather over the Aleutians permitted. The United States troops that landed on Attu on 11 May 1943 had possession of the island by the end of the month. The capture of Attu isolated Kiska, which was bombed repeatedly by American aircraft. The troops that invaded Kiska on 15 August 1943 discovered that the Japanese, under the cover of fog, had secretly evacuated their garrison.
