Paul Kermit Donhowe

  • Ensign
  • US Navy
  • World War II
  • West Wall (by Entrance Door)
  • 1941

Story City, Iowa

Nov 14, 1917

Nov 05, 1943

Biography

Year at ISU: 1941

Paul Kermit Donhowe was born in Story City, Iowa on November 14, 1917 to Peter Christian Donhowe and Olive Luella Marvick Donhowe. He was one of 7 children. 

The War Diary from this period from the US. Naval Air Station:
F6F-3 Bureau No. 40177, Pilot Lt.(jg) P. K. Donhowe, collided in midair with an RCAF plane believed to have been a P-40 (Warhawk) at 1447. The F6F-3 as division leader was engaged in division tactics. Several Canadian fighters made runs on the division using an altitude advantage of 3000 or 4000 ft. While the FF-3 was in a steep climbing turn, one of the attacking fighters collided with it, the port wing striking just aft of the cockpit. Pilots of the two planes bailed out but were lost. The scene of the crash was approximately five miles northwest of Smith Island. No trace of wreckage of either plane was found.