Memorial

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Sidney Swanson was the youngest of four boys. Early in Sidney´s life, he took on the nickname ´Tino´. After graduation, he went ot Wayzata where he was employed.

The attack on Pearl Harbor prompted him to offer his services to his country and he volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States at Fort Snelling, Minnesota on 26 December 1941 at the age of 19.

On December 31, he was sent to Shephard Field, Texas. It was there that he took his ´boot training. Later he went to the Curtis Wright Tech School at Glendale, California for training as an aircraft mechanic. He completed training May 30, 1942. Apparently, 'fixen em' wasn´t enough, he had to 'fly em'. In September of 1942, Tino was found at the Lemoore Flying School in California as an air cadet. Here he was assigned to 14 Squadron of Class 43-B. He completed his basic flight training on Feburary 6, 1943.

Statement of 1st Lt Glenn E. Jorgensen:
"I saw Lt. Swanson's plane 41-29130 get hit by fighters. Flames could be seen in the bomb bay. He turned and left formation. I turned and left a few minutes later and saw a plane that had crashed, burning on the ground."

Five crew members survived and were taken prisoner. Five were killed and initially buried at the church cemetery of Holtrup.