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Contact Info
Home Town Walker, Minnesota
Date of Passing Jan 09, 1997
Location of Interment Willamette National Cemetery (VA) - Portland, Oregon
He was the bombardier in crew #9 on the Doolittle Raid. After the raid, he completed flight training and gained a commission. He then served as a B-25 pilot in the Pacific and left the service Jul 21, 1945.
His DFC citation: Awarded for actions during World War II
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Sergeant Wayne Max Bissell (ASN: 6579237), United States Army Air Forces, for extraordinary achievement as Bombardier of a B-25 Bomber of the 1st Special Aviation Project (Doolittle Raider Force), while participating in a highly destructive raid on the Japanese mainland on 18 April 1942. Sergeant Bissell with 79 other officers and enlisted men volunteered for this mission knowing full well that the chances of survival were extremely remote, and executed his part in it with great skill and daring. This achievement reflects high credit on himself and the military service. Action Date: April 18, 1942
Division: Doolittle Tokyo Raider Force Crew #9 (Plane #40-2203, "Whirling Dervish", target Tokyo), 34th Bomb Sq. L-R:Lt. Thomas C. Griffin, navigator; Lt. Harold F. Watson, pilot; TSgt. Eldred V. Scott, flight engineer/gunner; Lt. James M. Parker Jr., copilot; Sgt. Wayne M. Bissell, bombardier. (U.S. Air Force photo)
WWII - Pacific Theater of Operations/Bismarck Archipelago Campaign (1943-44)
From Month/Year
December / 1943
To Month/Year
November / 1944
Description (Bismarck Archipelago Campaign 15 December 1943 to 27 November 1944) To isolate and neutralize Rabaul on New Britain and the Japanese base at Kavieng on New Ireland, American forces landed at Arawe and Cape Gloucester in December 1943, on Green and Los Negros Islands in February 1944, and at Talasea on New Britain and on Manus Island in March. Some other enemy forces in the Bismarck Archipelago were bypassed.