William E. Dyess
William Edwin Dyess | |
|---|---|
1943 | |
| Nickname(s) | Ed |
| Born | August 9, 1916 Albany, Texas, US |
| Died | December 22, 1943 (aged 27) Burbank, California, US |
| Buried | Albany Cemetery Albany, Texas |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | U.S. Army Air Corps U.S. Army Air Forces |
| Years of service | 1937–1943 |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Unit | 24th Pursuit Group 329th Fighter Group |
| Commands | 21st Pursuit Squadron |
| Battles / wars | World War II • Battle of Bataan |
| Awards | |
William Edwin Dyess (August 9, 1916 – December 22, 1943) was an officer of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He was captured after the Allied loss at the Battle of Bataan and endured the subsequent Bataan Death March. After a year in captivity, Dyess escaped and spent three months on the run before being evacuated from the Philippines by a U.S. submarine. Once back in the U.S., he recounted the story of his capture and imprisonment, providing the first widely published eye-witness account of the brutality of the death march. He returned to duty in the Army Air Forces, but was killed in a training accident months later.