Serviceman
Elwood A Opstad
Play his story on the map built from his record
- Army serial number
- 17065793
- Rank
- Cpl (5 October 1944), CPL (28 October 1944), S/Sgt (24 December 1944), SSGT (9 April 1945), SSGT (6 May 1945)
- Hometown
- Iowa City IA
- Also written
- Elwood Opstad
- In the book
- Heroes of the 483rd, p. 205
- Sources
- 483bg-record, assoc-roster, heroes-book, morning-report · service record at 483bg.org
Crews
- Donald W. Saunders Crew · 817th
Missions placed on him
- mission 99, 4 October 1944 · Munich West · The Donald W. Saunders crew flew it, per its history in Heroes of the 483rd (p. 205)
- mission 109, 16 October 1944 · Pilsen · The Donald W. Saunders crew's history names Pilsen: one of 2 missions there in its time (p. 205)
- mission 112, 23 October 1944 · Pilsen · The Donald W. Saunders crew's history names Pilsen: one of 2 missions there in its time (p. 205)
- mission 113, 28 October 1944 · Munich West · The Donald W. Saunders crew's history names Munich West: one of 2 missions there in its time (p. 205)
- mission 130, 22 November 1944 · Munich · The Donald W. Saunders crew's history names Munich: one of 2 missions there in its time (p. 205)
- mission 139, 19 December 1944 · Blechhammer North · The Donald W. Saunders crew flew it, per its history in Heroes of the 483rd (p. 205)
- mission 188, 24 March 1945 · Berlin, Marienfelde · The Donald W. Saunders crew flew it, per its history in Heroes of the 483rd (p. 205)
A report lists him aboard, or his crew's history in Heroes of the 483rd dates the mission; the book is cited by page and not reproduced. The rest of his squadron's missions in his window are not placed on him by any document.
Awards
| Date | Award | General order | Rank then |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 October 1944 | Air Medal | 4224 | CPL |
| 9 April 1945 | Air Medal, 1st oak leaf cluster | 2218 | SSGT |
| 6 May 1945 | Air Medal, 1st oak leaf cluster | 3056 | SSGT |
From the general orders indexed by the Army Air Corps Library and Museum.
Morning reports
3 entries, first 5 October 1944, last 24 December 1944; grades seen: Cpl, S/Sgt. The clerk's sentence is quoted as the machine read it from microfilm: "fr dy to DS" is from duty to detached service, "sk in hosp" sick in hospital, "asgd & jd" assigned and joined.
- 1944-10-05 817th: Above 4 Os 7 EM asgd jd fr 5th Wg (US) 4 Oct 44 Duty & MOS same
- 1944-10-16 817th: Cpl 42 fr duty to LIA 61st Stat Hosp
- 1944-12-24 817th: Wallace Francis D 611 S/Sgt fr duty to TD Isle Capri Rest Camp 22 Dec 44
National Archives pages: roll 572487240 p. 459, roll 572487240 p. 473, roll 579002584 p. 3993
Know something about him?
If this record is wrong or missing something, a middle name, the right squadron, who is who in a photograph, what he said about a day, tell us. Nothing you send is shown without your say-so.