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Contact Info
Home Town Brooklyn, NYC, NY
Last Address near Bishop, California
Date of Passing Dec 12, 1941
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
He was a pioneer military aviator and one of the first ten recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1886. His last known residence was in Morristown. United States Military Academy, Class of 1911. On Dec. 16, 1914, he participated in the first military communication by radio while in flight. In 1916, while piloting a Curtiss JN-2 known as a "Jenny", he set a flight distance record on a long-range reconnaissance mission of 415 miles with only two stops. In 1926 he aided in drafting the legislation that became the Air Corps Act, which led to the establishment of the United States Army Air Corps. During World War II, he was asked to investigate the lack of preparedness for the Pearl Harbor attack. On his way to Hawaii, Maj. General Dauge was killed when his B-18 plane crashed near the Sierra Nevada Mountains on December 12, 1941. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Section 7.
.Major General Herbert Arthur Dargue, United States Army Air Forces, Service Number: O-003084
Early Life
Herbert Arthur Dargue was born on 17 November 1886 in Brooklyn, New York. His nickname was "Bert". His father, Arthur Percy Dargue, born 12 March 1858 in New York, New York County (Manhattan), New York, died 31 March 1941 in Midland Park, Bergen County, New Jersey was a Textile Mill Executive. His mother, Madeline "Maddie" Newins was born on 1 April 1856 in Patchogue, Suffolk County, New York, and died on 21 November 1935 in Midland Park, Bergen County, New Jersey. She had been previously married in 1878 to Robert Eugene Miller (1857-1880) and they had a daughter. Herbert"s parents were married 18 June 1882 in Islip, New York. Herbert was the eldest of four children in the family; he had two younger brothers and a younger sister.
An excellent biographical article pertaining to his life can be found at:
On 17 November 1915, he married Marie Virginia Salmon, born November 1884 in New Jersey, died 20 September 1943. They had a son who became a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Air Forces who is buried with both parents at Arlington National Cemetery.
Military
Herbert Arthur Dargue entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1907 and graduated in 1911. He was one of the early pioneers of Army aviation and earned his wings in 1913. He was friend and contemporary of both Billy Mitchell and Hap Arnold. He served a wide variety of aviation assignments up until the time of his death including tours of tour during the Mexican Punitive Expedition, World War I and as the Commander of numerous squadrons and bases. He was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame
Death and Burial
Herbert Arthur Dargue died in the crash of a B-18 Bolo Bomber (#36-306) on 12 December 1941 in the Sierra Nevada mountains, fifteen miles south of Bishop, Inyo County, California. This plane was on its way to discuss the recent Pearl Harbor attack. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, Section: 7, Site: 10088 on 21 June 1943.
From Find-A-Grave.com:
Major General Dargue was one of eight men killed when his U.S. Army Air Corps B-18 Bolo Bomber (#36-306) struck a mountainside, in the Sierra Nevada mountains, fifteen miles south of Bishop, California. The bomber was transporting him and other high ranking Army officers to Hawaii to investigate, at the direction of Secretary of War, Henry Stimson, why the United States was unprepared for the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Those killed in the crash were:
Capt. James G Leavitt, pilot Col. Charles W. Bundy Maj. Gen. Herbert A Dargue Col. George W Ricker Lt. Col. Hugh F McCaffery 1st Lt. Homer C Burns S/Sgt. Stephen W Hoffman PFC Samuel J Van Hamm, Jr
This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.
If you noticed anything missing in this profile, you may contact the author by clicking on this link: (Mulvanny, Robert (Red) (SBTS Historian), CDR) at redandbon@outlook.com
Image
American Defense Service Medal (1939-1941) - 2003
Name of Award American Defense Service Medal (1939-1941)
Devices
none
Year Awarded 2003
Last Updated: Oct 12, 2009
This ribbon does not rate any devices for subsequent awards
