Hometown: Lamar, CO
Branch: U.S. Navy
Unit: Patrol Squadron (VP) 22
Military Honors: Purple Heart
Date of Sacrifice: January 18, 1953 - KIA in the Formosa Strait, off Swatow (Shantou), China
Age: 24
Conflict: Korean War, 1950-1953

Dwight Clark Angell was born on August 17, 1928, and grew up in central Colorado along with his twin brother Otis Jr., and sister Barbara Ann. He graduated from South Denver High School, then studied civil engineering at Colorado A&M College (renamed Colorado State University in 1957). He was a member of the A&M Athletic Club and joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity before completing his degree in 1950.

In August of that year, Angell enlisted in the United States Navy and went through air cadet training, earning his wings and his commission at Pensacola Naval Air Station on Florida’s Gulf Coast in April 1952.

A month later, Angell eloped with Miss Gerry Brittingham, whom he’d met at Colorado A&M, and the couple moved to Hawaii, where Dwight was assigned. His next assignment was in Japan. Gerry was diagnosed with polio and returned to stay with her family in Denver.

On January 20, 1953, Gerry received a telegram from the U.S. Navy…one that all military families dread: her husband had been missing for two days.

Ensign Angell was with Patrol Squadron 22 and was one of 13 crew members aboard a P2V Neptune patrol bomber (BuNo 127744) based in Okinawa, Japan. The plane took off from Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, on a shipping surveillance mission in the China Sea.

Flying near the China coast in the Formosa (later, Taiwan) Straits, their P2V was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire. The plane was struck behind the cockpit on the port beam. Its port engine and wing were on fire, forcing an emergency water landing.

The aircraft slammed into the sea fifteen minutes after being hit. Despite 15-foot swells and 30-knot winds, all 13 crew members managed to escape the sinking plane and an SOS was sent. With one burned and partially inflatable life raft, the crewmembers clung to the side in the frigid waters, hoping their distress signal had been received.

After five hours, help arrived in the form of Lt. John Vukic flying a USCG PBM-5G Mariner. The Coast Guard Air Detachment at U.S. Naval Station Sangley Point, (Manila, the Philippines) received word that a Navy aircraft had gone down, and scrambled for a rescue mission. With night falling and sea swells increasing, officials at Sangly Point left the go/no-go decision to Lt. Vukic. Putting himself and his crew at enormous risk, Vukic chose to land the plane.

Skillfully setting the aircraft down on rough seas, Lt. Vukic maneuvered close enough to pick up the Neptune’s survivors. With conditions worsening, the rescue plane attempted to take off when the starboard engine suddenly quit. Its right wing was caught by an ocean swell—which flooded into the aircraft, turned the plane vertically, and caused it to cartwheel. Five of the Coast Guard rescuers and four of the rescued sailors died in the crash.

Survivors huddled in two life rafts, and rescue ships—including destroyer USS Halsey Powell (DD-686) were dispatched. After a long ordeal in enemy waters, ten survivors were pulled to safety aboard the Halsey Powell. Seven of them had survived two plane crashes on the same day.

Ensign Dwight C. Angell was not among the survivors and was declared Missing in Action, Lost at Sea on January 18, 1953. He was listed as presumed dead a year later, on January 19, 1954.

Some newspaper accounts in 1955—including the Asheville Citizen-Times—insist that Ens. Angell survived the crash and was taken prisoner in China: “According to the State Department’s Report to Rep. McCormack, the Americans definitely known to be in the Communists’ hands…include the following: Navy—Ensign Dwight C. Angell…”

Whether Lt. Dwight Angell survived the second plane crash off the coast of China may never be known. After being declared “presumed dead,” Lt. Angell has been added to the list of Heroes lost in what is often referred to as “The Forgotten War” (Korean War, 1950-1953).

Gerry Angell eventually remarried and had two daughters.

Sources
American Battle Monuments Commission: Dwight Clark Angell
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency: ENS DWIGHT C ANGELL
Naval History and Heritage Command: United States Naval Aviation 1910-1095, Cold War Incidents Involving U.S. Navy Aircraft
Fort Collins Coloradoan, January 22, 1953: A&M Grad in Lost Plane
Asheville Citizen-Times, July 30, 1955: Red China Holds Four Groups of Prisoners
Texas Monthly: The Korean War Memorial’s New Wall of Remembrance Appears to Forget Hundreds of U.S. Casualties
Korean War Project: ENS Dwight Clark Angell
Together We Served: Angell, Dwight Clark, ENS
P2VNeptune Historical Research: 50th Anniversary
Burial Site: Find a Grave