Memorial

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James E. Dixon attended college and was a miner before he enlisted in Huntington, West Virginia on 6 October 1942.

Statement by 2nd Lt Howard R. Yates:
"I was pilot on B-17G A/C 42-40017 on the mission to Dessau, 30 May 1944. We were flying in No. 3 position of the lead squadron, high group. As we were on the bomb run the enemy fighters attacked us. At approximately the same time I lost my No.2 engine from a flak hit in the oil cooler.
We straggled back in formation and the fighters came in to attack our lone ship. I then started doing violent evasive action which lasted from fifteen (15) to twenty (20) minutes, just after turning off of the target. The Co-pilot and Engineer both bailed out of the ship during the evasive action but the formation ahead of our plane reported the two parachutes opening".

The airplane managed to get back to base with seven men on board. Of the two men that bailed out, only Sgt Dixon was killed. The co-pilot, Lt Klutho, was taken prisoner.

According to a witness statement, Sgt Dixon could have bailed out in the vicinity of Burg, Germany.