Born in Champaign, Illinois, Dahl graduated from flying school at Kelly Field on 28 February 1933 and joined the U.S. Army Air Corps as a Second Lieutenant.

Frank Glasgow Tinker said that this made it very hard for a pilot to coordinate his place in the group during the fighting.

His alleged first wife Edith Rogers, a known singer of impressive beauty, sent Francisco Franco a signed picture of herself to plead for his life.

He accepted another job, this time with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and served during World War II.

It was here that he met his wife Eleanor Bone, the daughter of the mayor of Belleville..[2] After the war, he was accused of stealing decommissioned equipment from the RCAF.