https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/14/361/Dibble_Text0219.pdf 1b50268e72b9f935a8e993125004509c PDF Text Text FEBRUARY 15, 1991 SKYWRIGHTER 21 Museum visit spurs DFC award Famiiy history finds © hero By BRIAN BARR SKYWRIGHTER STAFF A photograph at the Air Force Museum started the process that finally got a young fighter pilot his Distinguished Flying Cross, 47 years after leading a flight of P-38s in an hour-long battle with the Luftwaffe over Italy. Some letters recovered from Lieutenant Dibble’s wife, who later remarried, made mention of the fact that he’d been recom mended for the Distinguished Flying Cross, but didn’t give any details of the mission in volved. Mr. Dibble contacted the Air Force con cerning his uncle’s case, and was told that the service would need historical evidence to verify the recommendation before the medal could be awarded. It took three years of research and tracking down former squadron pilots to reconstruct the events that first led to the Distinguished Flying Cross citation. The Distinguished Flying Cross was awarded posthumously to the family of 1st Lt. James Dibble during a Dec. 14 ceremony at Wright-Patterson. The lieutenant was originally recommended for the award after leading three squadrons of the First Fighter “The hard part was establishing ’which Group on a bomber escort mission from mission brought about the citation, ini iterms North Africa over Aversa, Italy, on Aug. 30, of chronology and exactly what happened at 1943. the time,” Mr. Dibble noted. He was killed only nine days later, his unit eventually transferred to another com mand, and the recommendation is thought to have been “lost” in the interim. A nephew, James Dibble, the lieutenant’s namesake, took an interest in his uncle’s part in the war after visiting the Air Force ' Museum here in 1985. “I saw a picture there of the North Africa area, and it spurred the whole thing,” Mr. Dibble, now 40, recalled. “Very little was known by the family up until that point.” What Mr. Dibble uncovered was the mis sion the 94th Fighter Squadron flew on Aug. 30, 1943. As group commander that day, Lieu tenant Dibble led the 94th and two other squadrons of the First Fighter Group — a total of 44 P-38 fighters — as they escorted two bomber groups against the marshalling yards at Aversa. The group was attacked by 75 German fighters as they neared the target. Lieute nant Dibble formed his fighters in close to WM TWO NOTES Tn NOTE the bombers, then fought a defensive air battle that lasted close to an hour. Thirteen American fighters were downed, but not a single bomber was lost in the raid. A little more than a week later, while strafing a German convoy in Italy, his plane was shot down and Lieutenant Dibble was reported missing in action. A year later his status was revised to killed in action and, in October 1946, his family was informed that the lieutenant’s grave had been located near Naples. The Distinguished Flying Cross citation was again submitted to the Air Force in May 1990, bearing the signature of Lieutenant Dibble’s former commanding officer. “It was very emotional for me,” said William Dibble, Lieutenant Dibble’s brother, who accepted the posthumous award at Wright-Patterson. “I remembered all of the pain my mother and father felt during the time he was listed as missing?in action. A lot of that came welling up in m But this is a source of pride, and gratititude. He was a brave young man.” The award was presented in front of a P-38 Lightning, similar to the plane flown by Lieutenant Dibble, at the Air Force Museum. “This sort of presentation is certainly rare,” explained Myra Miller, chief of the Personal Affairs section at the Wright- We are your ONE STOP printing place. Quality printing at discount prices 8”x11” Flyers $24.95 per 1000 Business Cards &14.95 oer 1000 Every Day Copies 1st Lt. James Dibble stands in front of his P-38 Lightning in North Africa. Patterson Consolidated Base Personnel Of fice, the office responsible for arranging the award ceremony. “It’s very gratifying to be involved in something like this,” she added. “It means so much to these families.” 5C Jiffy Print 135 No. Broad St. Fairborn. OH 45324 th jzli Hmie" � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: The Search for Answers Description An account of the resource Learn about the 30+ years James' nephews Jim and Ted spent investigating his death to unearth what actually happened. Using private investigators, government contacts and tenacious research, see how they learned what really happened the day James died, how they found his crash site, including witnesses, and made new friends in Italy along the way. Included are photos and documents about James' posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross, photos of the crash site and finding plane wreckage, plus documents and letters amassed during their search for answers. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> <ul><li> <ul><li><a href="http://omeka/collections/show/15"></a></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Newspaper article about James Dibble and the Distinguished Flying Cross Subject The topic of the resource James Dibble. Medals and Citations. Description An account of the resource Newspaper article about James Dibble and the Distinguished Flying Cross. This appeared in Skywrighter, the base newspaper for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio on February 15, 1991. Read more recent editions of the paper at https://www.skywrighter.com/. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Newspaper Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Brian Barr Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2/15/1991 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Cox Media Group Ohio, Dayton, OH Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022