Dale F. Waterson was born on 19 December 1920 in Sutherland, Iowa.  He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Watterson.  He had a brother named Bernard and a sister named Jane.  He attended Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and worked for Wilson and Company.  Along the way, he married Hattie Waterson and they lived at 610 12th Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids.  Two weeks before Dale died, Hattie gave birth to their daughter named Janice Kay.

Dale entered the USAF’s Aviation Cadet program and graduated as a bombardier.  He shipped to Europe in December of 1944, and was assigned to the 349th Bomb Squadron of the 100th Bomb Group.  In the Spring of 1945, the USAAF began replacing Bombadiers, who were responsible for aiming the bombs, with “Toggliers” who simply dropped the bombs at the command of the mission’s leader.  Consequently, Dale was shifted to become a Navigator and he was assigned to a B-17 piloted by Arthur G. Larsen. On 31 March 1945, the Larsen crew was on a mission to bomb the Parunkohle Benzin AG oil refineries near the German city of Zeitz.  Anti-aircraft fire hit the B-17 over its target, completely tearing off the #3 engine.  Larsen raidoed to the squadron that his #4 engine was going out and that he was going to try to make the Russian lines.  However, the plane filled with smoke and went into a deep glide.  The tail gunner, SSGT John E. Kaiser was able to bail out and became a Prisoner of War.  Officially, the other crew members are presumed to have been killed when the bomber crashed near Oberlungwitz.  However, civilians reported that 4 to 7 parachutes were seen jumping from the plane, and that SS troops with dogs searched the area for survivors.  There was a rumor among the local citizens that the Nazis captured and summarily executed at least some of the remaining crewmembers.  However, since the area where the B-17 crashed was deep inside of the territory that was to become communist East Germany, the US Army was never able to conduct an investigation of these allegations.  With one exception, the remains of the crew were never recovered.  The Pilot, Arthur G. Larsen, the Copilot, Thomas E. O’Neil, The Flight Engineer, Raymond R. Bazata, the Radio Operator, Joseph M. Popson, the Ball Turret Gunner, Willard P. Bostrom, and the Waist Gunner, Marvin F. Barner, are all also commemorated on the Teblets of the Missing at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery.  Charles M. Dineen, who was serving as the Togglier (acting bombardier), is buried at the Lorraine American Cemetery.

Information is drawn from MACR 13714, the Cedar Rapids Gazette of 20 October 1945 (p.1), the obituary of Bernard Watterson (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/143448065), and the 100th Bomb Group Foundation (https://100thbg.com/index.php?option=com_bombgrp&view=personnel&Itemid=3...)