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Capt James B. Aageberg graduated from Hammond High School.

He volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States in Chicago, Illinois on 7 November 1942.

Statement from Donald J. Ross, 2nd Lt:
"On 21 January 1945, mission Y21-1. We were working with "we-trag" on a concentration of German vehicles which were on a road leading East out of St. Vith. We were in a four ship flight and Lt Aageberg was leading; I was the element leader. He went down and checked first and then gave the order to attack individually. We all made about 3 passes and received no flak. On my 4th and 5th passes I ran into flak and was hit on each one; I called the pass Lt Aageberg called in that he was hit and was heading West. He said his engine was cutting out and he would bail out very soon. I finished my pass and headed West also. I caught up with him just above the 3500 foot overcast in the area just West of St. Vith. He called in again about his dying engine and then dipped down through the overcast. I presumed that the engine had quit but he did not say so. He called Sweepstakes on "B" channel for a fix and then bailed out at approximately 2500 feet. He pulled up in the prescribed manner and left the ship just before it stalled. I saw him leave the ship and it did not appear that he hit any part of it. The chute opened but streamed all the way down never blossoming out to break the fall. He landed in a small wood just to the East of Vielsalm and the ship crashed about two miles West of him. I circled the spot a number of times and gave Sweepstakes a call so that they could take a fix on the spot. I failed to see him on the ground so after about 10 minutes I assembled the flight and took it back to the base. He bailed out at 1610. The ship did not appear to have any damage other than the bad engine and it was not on fire as far as I could see. Lt Aageberg was very calm throughout the trouble and seemed very much in complete control of the situation."