Donald E. "Digger" Odell

Digger Odell enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on September 6, 1952, and served as an aircraft armament specialist before entering the Aviation Cadet Program of the Air Force on April 24, 1954. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and awarded his pilot wings on August 1, 1955. Lieutenant Odell next completed pilot instructor training before serving as an instructor pilot from October 1955 to August 1958, followed by F-86 Sabre Combat Crew Training and Advanced Interceptor Training from August 1958 to February 1959. His next assignment was as an F-86 and then F-102 Delta Dagger pilot with the 525th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Bitburg AB, West Germany, from April 1959 to May 1962, and then as an F-106 Delta Dart pilot with the 94th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Selfridge AFB, Michigan, from June 1962 to February 1967. Major Odell then completed F-105 Thunderchief Combat Crew Training before deploying to Southeast Asia where he served as an F-105 pilot with the 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Korat Royal Thai AFB, Thailand, from August 1967 until he was forced to eject over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on October 17, 1967.