DONALD D. ALDERN, CAPT, USN

Donald Aldern '52

Date of birth: May 5, 1930

Date of death: June 29, 1970

Age: 40

Lucky Bag

From the 1952 Lucky Bag:

Donald Deane Aldern

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

When Mr. Aldern, Sr., left Aldern, Norway, he brought with him a love for the sea which his son, Deane, naturally inherited. Living in South Dakota where the largest body of water to be found was the cattle's drinking trough, Deane's hereditary love for King Neptune's Domain overcame his environmental love for the land, and he went down to the sea via USNA. Deane's diversions while at the Naval Academy consisted of writing small bundles of greetings to his OAO, sleeping, and playing basketball, in that order. Deane has decided to join the flying arm of the Navy, and time will surely prove him to be a capable and conscientious officer.

He was also a member of the 19th Company staff (2nd set) and a recipient of an “E Award.”

Donald Deane Aldern

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

When Mr. Aldern, Sr., left Aldern, Norway, he brought with him a love for the sea which his son, Deane, naturally inherited. Living in South Dakota where the largest body of water to be found was the cattle's drinking trough, Deane's hereditary love for King Neptune's Domain overcame his environmental love for the land, and he went down to the sea via USNA. Deane's diversions while at the Naval Academy consisted of writing small bundles of greetings to his OAO, sleeping, and playing basketball, in that order. Deane has decided to join the flying arm of the Navy, and time will surely prove him to be a capable and conscientious officer.

He was also a member of the 19th Company staff (2nd set) and a recipient of an “E Award.”

Loss

From Find A Grave:

On June 29, 1970, during a night bombing run, Captain Donald Deane Aldern's plane crashed in southern Laos.
CDR D. D. Aldern, USN, 548071310, is missing in action in Southern Laos. During the first bombing run his aircraft impacted with the ground while on a night strike.
Captain Donald Deane Aldern was not observed to leave the aircraft. No ground fire was observed.
Eight years later, as no evidence had been received that Aldern was alive, he was presumptively found dead.
Donald D. Aldern was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period he was maintained as missing.

He was Commanding Officer of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 19 at the time of his loss; he was piloting an A-7A Corsair II belonging to Attack Squadron (VA) 153. His promotion to Captain was made while he was in a missing status.

Other Information

From Find A Grave:

Donald Deane Aldern was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on May 5, 1930. His parents were John and Emma (Dahl) Aldern. Deane, as his friends and family knew him, attended Washington High School in Sioux Falls and graduated from there in 1948. On June 11, 1952, Deane was married to Marjorie Louise Elmen. They had four sons: Thomas, Scott, Christopher, and Randall. After graduation from high school in 1948, Deane was accepted into the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. Shortly after his commission as an Ensign in 1952, Aldern completed flight training and took on the role of Naval Aviator in March of 1954. He first served with Utility Squadron Seven and was later transferred to Fighter Squadron Ninety-Four where he served aboard the attack carriers USS Yorktown and USS Hornet in the Pacific. Captain Aldern then returned to the Air Force Academy as an instructor in air navigation and military studies.
Captain Aldern was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross as well as numerous other air medals plus the Bronze Star Medal with Gold Star with Combat Distinguished Device, the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, the Navy Unit Commendation with Bronze Star (USS Ticonderoga) the Meritorious Unit Commendation (USS Oriskany), the Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation, the National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star, the Vietnam Service Medal with Silver Star, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

DONALD DEANE ALDERN - Navy - CAPT - O6
Age: 47
Race: Caucasian
Date of Birth May 5, 1930
From: SIOUX FALLS, SD
Religion: PROTESTANT
Marital Status: Married - On June 11, 1952, Deane was married to Marjorie Louise Elmen (Birth Date: 11 Jun 1930)lived in Cardiff, CA. They had four sons: Thomas D. Aldern, Born June 10, 1954, Scott J. Aldern, Born Oct. 14, 1955, Christopher B. Aldern, Born May 3, 1961 and Randall Lee Aldern, born March 28, 1967.
Captain Aldern is survived by two of his brothers, John, of Ft. Collins, Colorado, and Robert Aldern, of Sioux Falls, SD, as well as his widow, Marjorie, San Diego; and four sons, Thomas, Ramona, California; Scott, Leucadia, California; Christopher, Escondido, California; and Randall, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California.
Parents: Father, John Olsen Aldern, Deceased - Nov. 1974 and Mother, Emma (Dahl) Aldern.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Donald, who went by his middle name Deane in school, was a member of the football and track teams at Washington High School. He played basketball in 1944-45 on the B Squad, and he was vice president of his junior class. He graduated in 1948.
On the summer Naval Academy cruise in 1951, Donald was on USS Missouri and visited Norway, France, and Cuba. He met two of his cousins in Oslo.
He married his high school sweetheart Marjorie Louise Elmen at the Calvary Cathedral in Sioux Falls on June 11, 1952.
In April 1954, he reported for jet fighter pilot training at the U.S. Naval Auxiliary Aid Station at Kingsville, Texas.
In December 1963, Donald reported to Fighter Squadron 174 at the Cecil Field Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida. In July 1964, he reported to the staff Commander Carrier Air Wing One, aboard the attack aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt operating out of Mayport, Florida.
In July 1968, Donald was relieved as commanding officer of Fighter Squadron 191 aboard USS Ticonderoga. He was next assigned to the Air War College at Maxwell AFB in Alabama.
Donald took command of Attack Carrier Air Wing 19 in December 1969 at ceremonies aboard the Naval Air Station at Lemoore, California.
His service also included flight deck officer aboard USS Enterprise on two Mediterranean deployments. He attended the Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk and was an instructor at both the Naval and Air Force academies. He was in the Caribbean during the Cuban crisis.
Donald's brother Robert was a noted artist during high school and throughout a long career as a liturgical artist. Their brother John flew 49 missions as a rear gunner in USMC Dive Bomb Squadron VMSB31 in WWII.

Remembrances

From the Argus-Leader, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, May 28, 2001, located by Kathy Franz:

Robert Aldern will pause for a few moments this Memorial Day, as he has for the past 30 years, and think about his kid brother.
Donald Aldern, a Naval Academy graduate and jet pilot during the Vietnam War, crashed while on a mission June 29, 1970. His body was never recovered. He's one of eight South Dakotans whose names are listed as missing in action in Vietnam.
“Life goes on, and you can cope with the fact that he's never been recovered more as time passes, but it's never over,” says Aldern, a Sioux Falls artist. “You care as much, maybe in a broader way, if that makes sense. And you're always a little incomplete. It's always part of things.”
Aldern keeps a series of telegrams sent by the Department of the Army that told the family of Donald Aldern's crash and of the steps that moved the military to list him as missing in action. The telegrams came to Robert Aldern.
“He wanted that kind of notification sent to me and wanted me to break the news to our parents,” Aldern says. “I kept them just to remind me. Holidays, birthdays, you sit around and reminisce a little.”