Technician Fifth Grade Dean Donalds
99th Field Artillery Battalion
Dean A. Donalds was born in 1928 and enlisted in to the US Army on September 24th, 1946. He arrived in Japan in late 1946 - early 1947 and was assigned to the 99th Field Artillery Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division. Occupation duty for the artillery was primarily spent practicing combat skills and remaining in garrison. However, T/5 Donalds was tasked with a unique mission. He was a member of one of the 1st Cavalry Division’s 71 six-man teams tasked with locating and recovering American airmen who were missing in action. In a quote given to The Mesa Tribune, Donalds said “I never saw another American for five months.”
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In the same article, he mentioned seeing General Douglas MacArthur during a parade. This was likely the 1947 Armed Forces Day Parade or the VJ Parade. He was ordered to drive his truck during the parade and keep his eyes on the road, but he recounted to the Mesa Tribune “No way am I going to drive by General MacArthur and not look.”T/5 Donalds returned to Minnesota after his time in the army and eventually moved to Mesa, Arizona to be with his son.
He suffered from Dementia during his final years, though partook in an Honor Flight with his son to Washington D.C just months before his death on December 6th, 2023.