“When I heard that a plane had been discovered in the area, I knew exactly whose plane it was.”-Horst Weber, Bitburg Area Historical Club
On 24FEB2010, the wreckage of a U.S. Army 9th Air Force, 353rd Fighter Squadron (FS)-354th Fighter Group (FG) Republic P-47D Thunderbolt, shot down on 14FEB1945, was found in Bitburg, Germany.
Photo dated January 1945. The official 9th Army Air Force info that came with the photo is insulting to armorers as is states “Capt. Kenneth Dahlberg….supervises the loading of the machine guns on his Republic P-47 Thunderbolt…”.
The P-47D was flown by a Captain Kenneth Harry Dahlberg. He was leading his squadron of eight P-47Ds back to their home base in France, from a bombing run on Pruem, Germany. Anti-aircraft gunners in the town of Metterich shot down Dahlberg, he survived the crash, which was his third and final crash because he became a Prisoner of War (PoW) 45 minutes later (Gathering of Eagles website says it was after “several days”).
In 2010, the town of Bitburg wanted to build some new residential units, but local law says before any construction can start an inspection of the ground must be done: “All spots in Bitburg are inspected for bombs and chemicals from World War Two prior to construction because Bitburg was heavily bombed….”-Rudolf Rinnen, Volksbank Bitburg
Investigators looked at books used by model kit builders, to identify the aircraft by the markings that were still visible. USAF photo by Senior Airman Nathanael Callon, 24MAR2010.
“We knew that in this area an American fighter ace was shot down by German anti-aircraft fire and we know through German documentation and reports that the aircraft had landed in this area.”-Horst Weber, Bitburg Area Historical Club
Horst Weber, of the Bitburg Area Historical Club, points out the markings on the engine cowling of Dahlberg’s P-47D. USAF photo by Senior Airman Nathanael Callon, 24MAR2010
The discovery of Dahlberg’s P-47D was not revealed until 24MAR2010.
Public revelation of P-47D discovery, USAF photo by Senior Airman Nathanael Callon, 24MAR2010.
This piece has red paint on it, I doubt if Dahlberg’s P-47D had red paint. USAF photo by Senior Airman Nathanael Callon, 24MAR2010.
A pallet of scrap, USAF photo by Senior Airman Nathanael Callon, 24MAR2010.
Wreckage of U.S. vehicles found in Germany are still property of the United States, however, U.S. officials gave the P-47D parts to the land owner; Volksbank Bitburg. It was hoped some of the parts could somehow be used in a local museum display.
Photo dated December 1944. Captain Dahlberg in the middle, during a 9th Air Force donation of 61,820 francs to the War Orphans Fund.
Ken Dahlberg also flew North American P-51 Mustangs.
(See the latest on the restoration of P-51 Shillelaugh, which was flown by many pilots)
Ken Dahlberg survived the war and continued to serve in the Air National Guard while creating a new hearing aid company (which decades later was accused of false advertising, by the U.S. government), then in the early 1970s unwittingly became the ‘key’ (a cashier’s check with his name on it) in revealing the Watergate Burglaries tied to then President Richard Nixon. In 1995, Dahlberg started a venture capital firm (which helped create the Buffalo Wild Wings chain restaurant). At the age of 94 he died, in October 2011.
8th Air Force Historical Society of Minnesota: Ken Dahlberg
Veterans Tributes: Kenneth H. Dahlberg
Midwest Flyer: More about Kenneth H. Dahlberg
Idaho Air National Guard’s direct connection to the 9th Army Air Force’s P-47D Thunderbolts: 
IDAHO’S HERITAGE A-10C ‘8N’
