In Memory of
Army Captain
Dain Earl Wirt
Parker, South Dakota
Turner County
February 4, 1918 -- April 4, 1944
Killed in Action somewhere over Poland

Dain Wirt was born on February 4^th, 1918, at Parker, South Dakota, to Earl and Mildred Wirt.  Dain attended Hurley High School and then Sioux Falls College for three years.

Dain enlisted in the Army Air Corps on February 5, 1941, and took his training first at California and then Texas. On September 26, 1941, Wirt was commissioned as a first lieutenant. Lt. Wirt was first assigned to patrol duty along the Gulf of Mexico and then went to Washington for pilot training for a Flying Fortress.

Before moving West, Lt. Wirt married Helen Neuman, who went with him to his training in Washington. They later had a son on September 11, 1943, who was named after his father, who had been promoted to Captain. On December 22, 1943, Capt. Wirt was sent overseas, stationed in England, where he trained for bombing missions as assistant group operations officer and group flying leader.

Over Poland on April 4, 1944, on his fourth bombing mission, Capt. Wirt’s plane encountered motor malfunction, forcing evacuation. Later a surviving crew member told Capt. Wirt’s father that since his parachute was never activated, it was likely that Capt. Wirt had been hit by the wing as he attempted to escape the listing plane.

Although originally buried in Europe, Capt. Dain Wirt’s body was returned to America and buried in the family plot at Parker.

This entry was respectfully submitted by Billy Myers, 8^th Grade West, Spearfish Middle School, Spearfish, South Dakota, November 21, 2000. Information for this entry was provided by R. John Wirt, brother of Army Captain Dain Wirt.