Albert W. Dillon Second World War papers, photographs and correspondence

Lieutenant Colonel Albert "Al" Wesley "Pat" Dillon, United States Army Air Force (12/15/1905 - 05/21/1980) was born in Bison, Oklahoma and was educated in a one-room school before living with another family in Enid, Oklahoma to attend four years of high school from 1918-1922. Dillon then went on to attend Oklahoma A and M, where he began going by "Pat" and participated in the ROTC program, and soon after became a teacher. He later attended the University of Oklahoma and married Anna May McPhail of Walsenburg, Colorado where he taught for a short time. They had four children.

Dillon joined the Army Air Force in 1942 and was stationed at Big Spring, Texas where he qualified as a bombardier. He was later grounded and became an instructor at Big Spring where he and his wife bought a home. In early 1945 he was asked to deploy to Iran to train bombardiers overseas, and in October was asked again to deploy to train new bombardiers, this time in Guam. He returned home in February 1946 and was almost immediately discharged with the rank of Captain, soon after earning the rank of Major. He worked with the Veterans Administration and held several other jobs in Texas and was reactivated for a short time in 1958, during which time he suffered a heart attack. From 1946 until 1966, he served as a liaison officer for the US Air Force Academy and finally retired from the reserves as a Lieutenant Colonel. He retired from civilian jobs in 1969 and died in Irving, Texas in 1980 at the age of 74. More complete information, including family information pertaining to his sons and daughter were provided by the donor and arranged with the military records.