Odell Seaton Woods was born on July 23, 1920, son of John Oliver and Minnie Helene (Seaton) Woods in Onawa, Monona County, Iowa. Odell attended school in Onawa, enjoyed photography, was a motorcyclist, played the trombone, was a baton twirler and drum major for the Onawa High School marching band. Odell furthered his education attending Morningside College on a music scholarship in Sioux City where his interest in aviation grew. His work with the Civil Air Patrol resulted in passing his flying Cadet examinations and subsequent enrollment in the Air Corp on March 15, 1941. On November 23, 1943, he was married to Dixie Ashburn at Durante, Oklahoma.
Much of the information that follows was taken from the December 13th, 1945, issue of the Onawa Sentinel. As time passed Odell became more and more interested in the larger type of aircraft and was sent August 1944, to Roswell Army Airfield in Roswell, New Mexico where he became a student. This time of the larger B-17 bomber. Odell took his primary flight training at Corsicana, Texas, and then went on to Randolph Field at San Antonio, Texas, where he completed his basic training in August of 1941. His advanced training was then finished at Kelly Field in San Antonio on October 31st, 1941, and he was assigned to San Angelo, Texas, for a short course in instructorship. He proved to be well suited as a teacher and was assigned to Perrin Field in Sherman, Texas, as an instructor.
As time passed Odell became more and more interested in the larger type of aircraft and was sent in August of 1944, to Roswell Army Airfield in Roswell, New Mexico, where he again became a student – this time of the larger B-17 bomber. Later after spending a short period of time at the Lincoln, Nebraska, Air Base, he was assigned to Pyote, Texas, for B-29 flight instruction and finished there on March 25th, 1945. He was at once sent to the briefing Center at Kearney, Nebraska, where he was assigned to his Superfortress and received his equipment and flew West to the war zone with his crew on April 16th, 1945. The Captain and crew only spent one day in California and then flew to Guam by way of Hawaii. During the next two months Captain Woods and crew made over 20 flights, each around 2800 miles long, from Guam to Japan and back.
The account of their last flight was told in the letter written to the family by P. C. Talley, a gunner, who is one of the two men who survived the final flight. He wrote, "We were scheduled to bomb a target in Tokyo on 10th June. The fighters and flak were pretty rough that day from the very start. We were hit pretty hard by both. Just as our bombs were away, we received a direct hit in the number two engine. It caught fire and started falling apart. It was then that I realized what a wonderful man and a good soldier "Woody" was. He never lost his head at any time and kept giving all of us encouragement."
"About 30 seconds after we were hit and caught fire, Woody gave the order to abandon ship because we could tell all there was no hope of saving the plane. Of course he and Jack (the co-pilot), were the last ones to leave because they were trying to maintain control until we could get the wounded out. It all happened too fast. Immediately after the order to abandon ship was given the plane exploded. For that reason, I don't think that Woody, Jack or Pete had much of a change. I think they went down with the ship."
In the further words of Mr. Tally, " I want you to know, Mr Woods, that I am not alone in my admiration for Woody. He was liked by all that knew him and everyone respected him for what he was – a swell honest fellow that was always thinking about the other man. He always did what he thought was best and carried out his duty to the letter. In my own mind, I like to think that Woody "went down" because he was helping the rest of the crew. He went down doing what he wanted to do most, flying and fighting for his country. He was a great* fellow and I will always feel better for knowing him and having the privilege to serve* under him on his crew."
Contributor: Michael Mayo (51067769) 1/8/2022
Early April 1945, Captain Odell Seaton Woods was assigned as Airplane Commander/Pilot to the B-29A-31-BA, tail # 42-63567 named "The City of Providence" with First Officer/Co-pilot 2nd Lt Jacob A Gisler. The B-29 Superfortress was flown from their staging area in Grand Island, NE to the 30th Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group, 314th Bombardment Wing, 21st Bomb Command of the 20th Air Force on North Field: Guam, Mariana Islands.
On June 2, 1945; Captain Odell Seaton Woods was awarded the Air Medal for his heroic/meritorious achievement while participating in an aerial flight dated April 13/14, 1945.
On June 5, 1945; Captain Odell Seaton Woods was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation (Currently known as the Presidential Unit Citation) for meritorious service during Kobe, Japan mission.
On June 10, 1945; after completing his 10th bombing mission on the Nakajima engine plant north of Tokyo, Japan; Captain Odell Seaton Woods B-29 bomber "The City of Providence" (tail # 42-63567) was hit by Japanese fighter planes in the #2 engine and caught fire. They were 12~15 miles off south coast of Tokyo, Japan. When the fire went out of control, Airplane Commander/Pilot Captain Odell Seaton Woods ordered the 11 man crew to bail out. 6 or 7 parachutes were observed before the left wing exploded and tore off. An air-sea rescue was made and 2 crew members were rescued at sea, including Navigator 1st Lt Pickens C TALLEY from Georgia and Tail gunner Sgt Philip R NOLAN from New York. The other 9 crew members including Captain Odell Seaton Woods were not found and listed as Missing In Action (MIA).
On or about November 29, 1945; Captain Odell Seaton Woods was reclassified from Missing In Action (MIA) to Killed In Action (KIA) and awarded the Purple Heart.
The "City of Providence" B-29 tail # 42-63567 crew:
Commander WOODS, Odell S. Captain 0-429141 Iowa
First officer GISLER, Jacob A. 1st Lt 0-781281 Calif
Navigator TALLEY, Pickens C. 1st Lt 0-676169 Georgia (SURVIVOR)
Bombardier McLEAN, William T. 2nd Lt 0-743620 Illinois
Radar Operator GRIPP, Edward A. Jr. 2nd Lt 0-2074302 Calif
Flight Engineer ROBINSON, Thomas MSgt 18641423 Texas
Radio Operator SVEHLA, Charles J. Sgt 18032080 Illinois
Central Fire Control O'SULLIVAN, Eugene E. Sgt 39138621 Calif
Right gunner POIRIER, George J. Jr. Sgt 31416005 Mass
Left gunner NOWELL, Dexter D. Sgt 34875321 Mississippi
Tail gunner NOLAN, Philip R. Sgt 42120079 New York (SURVIVOR)
Much of the information that follows was taken from the December 13th, 1945, issue of the Onawa Sentinel. As time passed Odell became more and more interested in the larger type of aircraft and was sent August 1944, to Roswell Army Airfield in Roswell, New Mexico where he became a student. This time of the larger B-17 bomber. Odell took his primary flight training at Corsicana, Texas, and then went on to Randolph Field at San Antonio, Texas, where he completed his basic training in August of 1941. His advanced training was then finished at Kelly Field in San Antonio on October 31st, 1941, and he was assigned to San Angelo, Texas, for a short course in instructorship. He proved to be well suited as a teacher and was assigned to Perrin Field in Sherman, Texas, as an instructor.
As time passed Odell became more and more interested in the larger type of aircraft and was sent in August of 1944, to Roswell Army Airfield in Roswell, New Mexico, where he again became a student – this time of the larger B-17 bomber. Later after spending a short period of time at the Lincoln, Nebraska, Air Base, he was assigned to Pyote, Texas, for B-29 flight instruction and finished there on March 25th, 1945. He was at once sent to the briefing Center at Kearney, Nebraska, where he was assigned to his Superfortress and received his equipment and flew West to the war zone with his crew on April 16th, 1945. The Captain and crew only spent one day in California and then flew to Guam by way of Hawaii. During the next two months Captain Woods and crew made over 20 flights, each around 2800 miles long, from Guam to Japan and back.
The account of their last flight was told in the letter written to the family by P. C. Talley, a gunner, who is one of the two men who survived the final flight. He wrote, "We were scheduled to bomb a target in Tokyo on 10th June. The fighters and flak were pretty rough that day from the very start. We were hit pretty hard by both. Just as our bombs were away, we received a direct hit in the number two engine. It caught fire and started falling apart. It was then that I realized what a wonderful man and a good soldier "Woody" was. He never lost his head at any time and kept giving all of us encouragement."
"About 30 seconds after we were hit and caught fire, Woody gave the order to abandon ship because we could tell all there was no hope of saving the plane. Of course he and Jack (the co-pilot), were the last ones to leave because they were trying to maintain control until we could get the wounded out. It all happened too fast. Immediately after the order to abandon ship was given the plane exploded. For that reason, I don't think that Woody, Jack or Pete had much of a change. I think they went down with the ship."
In the further words of Mr. Tally, " I want you to know, Mr Woods, that I am not alone in my admiration for Woody. He was liked by all that knew him and everyone respected him for what he was – a swell honest fellow that was always thinking about the other man. He always did what he thought was best and carried out his duty to the letter. In my own mind, I like to think that Woody "went down" because he was helping the rest of the crew. He went down doing what he wanted to do most, flying and fighting for his country. He was a great* fellow and I will always feel better for knowing him and having the privilege to serve* under him on his crew."
Contributor: Michael Mayo (51067769) 1/8/2022
Early April 1945, Captain Odell Seaton Woods was assigned as Airplane Commander/Pilot to the B-29A-31-BA, tail # 42-63567 named "The City of Providence" with First Officer/Co-pilot 2nd Lt Jacob A Gisler. The B-29 Superfortress was flown from their staging area in Grand Island, NE to the 30th Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group, 314th Bombardment Wing, 21st Bomb Command of the 20th Air Force on North Field: Guam, Mariana Islands.
On June 2, 1945; Captain Odell Seaton Woods was awarded the Air Medal for his heroic/meritorious achievement while participating in an aerial flight dated April 13/14, 1945.
On June 5, 1945; Captain Odell Seaton Woods was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation (Currently known as the Presidential Unit Citation) for meritorious service during Kobe, Japan mission.
On June 10, 1945; after completing his 10th bombing mission on the Nakajima engine plant north of Tokyo, Japan; Captain Odell Seaton Woods B-29 bomber "The City of Providence" (tail # 42-63567) was hit by Japanese fighter planes in the #2 engine and caught fire. They were 12~15 miles off south coast of Tokyo, Japan. When the fire went out of control, Airplane Commander/Pilot Captain Odell Seaton Woods ordered the 11 man crew to bail out. 6 or 7 parachutes were observed before the left wing exploded and tore off. An air-sea rescue was made and 2 crew members were rescued at sea, including Navigator 1st Lt Pickens C TALLEY from Georgia and Tail gunner Sgt Philip R NOLAN from New York. The other 9 crew members including Captain Odell Seaton Woods were not found and listed as Missing In Action (MIA).
On or about November 29, 1945; Captain Odell Seaton Woods was reclassified from Missing In Action (MIA) to Killed In Action (KIA) and awarded the Purple Heart.
The "City of Providence" B-29 tail # 42-63567 crew:
Commander WOODS, Odell S. Captain 0-429141 Iowa
First officer GISLER, Jacob A. 1st Lt 0-781281 Calif
Navigator TALLEY, Pickens C. 1st Lt 0-676169 Georgia (SURVIVOR)
Bombardier McLEAN, William T. 2nd Lt 0-743620 Illinois
Radar Operator GRIPP, Edward A. Jr. 2nd Lt 0-2074302 Calif
Flight Engineer ROBINSON, Thomas MSgt 18641423 Texas
Radio Operator SVEHLA, Charles J. Sgt 18032080 Illinois
Central Fire Control O'SULLIVAN, Eugene E. Sgt 39138621 Calif
Right gunner POIRIER, George J. Jr. Sgt 31416005 Mass
Left gunner NOWELL, Dexter D. Sgt 34875321 Mississippi
Tail gunner NOLAN, Philip R. Sgt 42120079 New York (SURVIVOR)
Odell Seaton Woods was born on July 23, 1920, son of John Oliver and Minnie Helene (Seaton) Woods in Onawa, Monona County, Iowa. Odell attended school in Onawa, enjoyed photography, was a motorcyclist, played the trombone, was a baton twirler and drum major for the Onawa High School marching band. Odell furthered his education attending Morningside College on a music scholarship in Sioux City where his interest in aviation grew. His work with the Civil Air Patrol resulted in passing his flying Cadet examinations and subsequent enrollment in the Air Corp on March 15, 1941. On November 23, 1943, he was married to Dixie Ashburn at Durante, Oklahoma.
Much of the information that follows was taken from the December 13th, 1945, issue of the Onawa Sentinel. As time passed Odell became more and more interested in the larger type of aircraft and was sent August 1944, to Roswell Army Airfield in Roswell, New Mexico where he became a student. This time of the larger B-17 bomber. Odell took his primary flight training at Corsicana, Texas, and then went on to Randolph Field at San Antonio, Texas, where he completed his basic training in August of 1941. His advanced training was then finished at Kelly Field in San Antonio on October 31st, 1941, and he was assigned to San Angelo, Texas, for a short course in instructorship. He proved to be well suited as a teacher and was assigned to Perrin Field in Sherman, Texas, as an instructor.
As time passed Odell became more and more interested in the larger type of aircraft and was sent in August of 1944, to Roswell Army Airfield in Roswell, New Mexico, where he again became a student – this time of the larger B-17 bomber. Later after spending a short period of time at the Lincoln, Nebraska, Air Base, he was assigned to Pyote, Texas, for B-29 flight instruction and finished there on March 25th, 1945. He was at once sent to the briefing Center at Kearney, Nebraska, where he was assigned to his Superfortress and received his equipment and flew West to the war zone with his crew on April 16th, 1945. The Captain and crew only spent one day in California and then flew to Guam by way of Hawaii. During the next two months Captain Woods and crew made over 20 flights, each around 2800 miles long, from Guam to Japan and back.
The account of their last flight was told in the letter written to the family by P. C. Talley, a gunner, who is one of the two men who survived the final flight. He wrote, "We were scheduled to bomb a target in Tokyo on 10th June. The fighters and flak were pretty rough that day from the very start. We were hit pretty hard by both. Just as our bombs were away, we received a direct hit in the number two engine. It caught fire and started falling apart. It was then that I realized what a wonderful man and a good soldier "Woody" was. He never lost his head at any time and kept giving all of us encouragement."
"About 30 seconds after we were hit and caught fire, Woody gave the order to abandon ship because we could tell all there was no hope of saving the plane. Of course he and Jack (the co-pilot), were the last ones to leave because they were trying to maintain control until we could get the wounded out. It all happened too fast. Immediately after the order to abandon ship was given the plane exploded. For that reason, I don't think that Woody, Jack or Pete had much of a change. I think they went down with the ship."
In the further words of Mr. Tally, " I want you to know, Mr Woods, that I am not alone in my admiration for Woody. He was liked by all that knew him and everyone respected him for what he was – a swell honest fellow that was always thinking about the other man. He always did what he thought was best and carried out his duty to the letter. In my own mind, I like to think that Woody "went down" because he was helping the rest of the crew. He went down doing what he wanted to do most, flying and fighting for his country. He was a great* fellow and I will always feel better for knowing him and having the privilege to serve* under him on his crew."
Contributor: Michael Mayo (51067769) 1/8/2022
Early April 1945, Captain Odell Seaton Woods was assigned as Airplane Commander/Pilot to the B-29A-31-BA, tail # 42-63567 named "The City of Providence" with First Officer/Co-pilot 2nd Lt Jacob A Gisler. The B-29 Superfortress was flown from their staging area in Grand Island, NE to the 30th Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group, 314th Bombardment Wing, 21st Bomb Command of the 20th Air Force on North Field: Guam, Mariana Islands.
On June 2, 1945; Captain Odell Seaton Woods was awarded the Air Medal for his heroic/meritorious achievement while participating in an aerial flight dated April 13/14, 1945.
On June 5, 1945; Captain Odell Seaton Woods was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation (Currently known as the Presidential Unit Citation) for meritorious service during Kobe, Japan mission.
On June 10, 1945; after completing his 10th bombing mission on the Nakajima engine plant north of Tokyo, Japan; Captain Odell Seaton Woods B-29 bomber "The City of Providence" (tail # 42-63567) was hit by Japanese fighter planes in the #2 engine and caught fire. They were 12~15 miles off south coast of Tokyo, Japan. When the fire went out of control, Airplane Commander/Pilot Captain Odell Seaton Woods ordered the 11 man crew to bail out. 6 or 7 parachutes were observed before the left wing exploded and tore off. An air-sea rescue was made and 2 crew members were rescued at sea, including Navigator 1st Lt Pickens C TALLEY from Georgia and Tail gunner Sgt Philip R NOLAN from New York. The other 9 crew members including Captain Odell Seaton Woods were not found and listed as Missing In Action (MIA).
On or about November 29, 1945; Captain Odell Seaton Woods was reclassified from Missing In Action (MIA) to Killed In Action (KIA) and awarded the Purple Heart.
The "City of Providence" B-29 tail # 42-63567 crew:
Commander WOODS, Odell S. Captain 0-429141 Iowa
First officer GISLER, Jacob A. 1st Lt 0-781281 Calif
Navigator TALLEY, Pickens C. 1st Lt 0-676169 Georgia (SURVIVOR)
Bombardier McLEAN, William T. 2nd Lt 0-743620 Illinois
Radar Operator GRIPP, Edward A. Jr. 2nd Lt 0-2074302 Calif
Flight Engineer ROBINSON, Thomas MSgt 18641423 Texas
Radio Operator SVEHLA, Charles J. Sgt 18032080 Illinois
Central Fire Control O'SULLIVAN, Eugene E. Sgt 39138621 Calif
Right gunner POIRIER, George J. Jr. Sgt 31416005 Mass
Left gunner NOWELL, Dexter D. Sgt 34875321 Mississippi
Tail gunner NOLAN, Philip R. Sgt 42120079 New York (SURVIVOR)
Much of the information that follows was taken from the December 13th, 1945, issue of the Onawa Sentinel. As time passed Odell became more and more interested in the larger type of aircraft and was sent August 1944, to Roswell Army Airfield in Roswell, New Mexico where he became a student. This time of the larger B-17 bomber. Odell took his primary flight training at Corsicana, Texas, and then went on to Randolph Field at San Antonio, Texas, where he completed his basic training in August of 1941. His advanced training was then finished at Kelly Field in San Antonio on October 31st, 1941, and he was assigned to San Angelo, Texas, for a short course in instructorship. He proved to be well suited as a teacher and was assigned to Perrin Field in Sherman, Texas, as an instructor.
As time passed Odell became more and more interested in the larger type of aircraft and was sent in August of 1944, to Roswell Army Airfield in Roswell, New Mexico, where he again became a student – this time of the larger B-17 bomber. Later after spending a short period of time at the Lincoln, Nebraska, Air Base, he was assigned to Pyote, Texas, for B-29 flight instruction and finished there on March 25th, 1945. He was at once sent to the briefing Center at Kearney, Nebraska, where he was assigned to his Superfortress and received his equipment and flew West to the war zone with his crew on April 16th, 1945. The Captain and crew only spent one day in California and then flew to Guam by way of Hawaii. During the next two months Captain Woods and crew made over 20 flights, each around 2800 miles long, from Guam to Japan and back.
The account of their last flight was told in the letter written to the family by P. C. Talley, a gunner, who is one of the two men who survived the final flight. He wrote, "We were scheduled to bomb a target in Tokyo on 10th June. The fighters and flak were pretty rough that day from the very start. We were hit pretty hard by both. Just as our bombs were away, we received a direct hit in the number two engine. It caught fire and started falling apart. It was then that I realized what a wonderful man and a good soldier "Woody" was. He never lost his head at any time and kept giving all of us encouragement."
"About 30 seconds after we were hit and caught fire, Woody gave the order to abandon ship because we could tell all there was no hope of saving the plane. Of course he and Jack (the co-pilot), were the last ones to leave because they were trying to maintain control until we could get the wounded out. It all happened too fast. Immediately after the order to abandon ship was given the plane exploded. For that reason, I don't think that Woody, Jack or Pete had much of a change. I think they went down with the ship."
In the further words of Mr. Tally, " I want you to know, Mr Woods, that I am not alone in my admiration for Woody. He was liked by all that knew him and everyone respected him for what he was – a swell honest fellow that was always thinking about the other man. He always did what he thought was best and carried out his duty to the letter. In my own mind, I like to think that Woody "went down" because he was helping the rest of the crew. He went down doing what he wanted to do most, flying and fighting for his country. He was a great* fellow and I will always feel better for knowing him and having the privilege to serve* under him on his crew."
Contributor: Michael Mayo (51067769) 1/8/2022
Early April 1945, Captain Odell Seaton Woods was assigned as Airplane Commander/Pilot to the B-29A-31-BA, tail # 42-63567 named "The City of Providence" with First Officer/Co-pilot 2nd Lt Jacob A Gisler. The B-29 Superfortress was flown from their staging area in Grand Island, NE to the 30th Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group, 314th Bombardment Wing, 21st Bomb Command of the 20th Air Force on North Field: Guam, Mariana Islands.
On June 2, 1945; Captain Odell Seaton Woods was awarded the Air Medal for his heroic/meritorious achievement while participating in an aerial flight dated April 13/14, 1945.
On June 5, 1945; Captain Odell Seaton Woods was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation (Currently known as the Presidential Unit Citation) for meritorious service during Kobe, Japan mission.
On June 10, 1945; after completing his 10th bombing mission on the Nakajima engine plant north of Tokyo, Japan; Captain Odell Seaton Woods B-29 bomber "The City of Providence" (tail # 42-63567) was hit by Japanese fighter planes in the #2 engine and caught fire. They were 12~15 miles off south coast of Tokyo, Japan. When the fire went out of control, Airplane Commander/Pilot Captain Odell Seaton Woods ordered the 11 man crew to bail out. 6 or 7 parachutes were observed before the left wing exploded and tore off. An air-sea rescue was made and 2 crew members were rescued at sea, including Navigator 1st Lt Pickens C TALLEY from Georgia and Tail gunner Sgt Philip R NOLAN from New York. The other 9 crew members including Captain Odell Seaton Woods were not found and listed as Missing In Action (MIA).
On or about November 29, 1945; Captain Odell Seaton Woods was reclassified from Missing In Action (MIA) to Killed In Action (KIA) and awarded the Purple Heart.
The "City of Providence" B-29 tail # 42-63567 crew:
Commander WOODS, Odell S. Captain 0-429141 Iowa
First officer GISLER, Jacob A. 1st Lt 0-781281 Calif
Navigator TALLEY, Pickens C. 1st Lt 0-676169 Georgia (SURVIVOR)
Bombardier McLEAN, William T. 2nd Lt 0-743620 Illinois
Radar Operator GRIPP, Edward A. Jr. 2nd Lt 0-2074302 Calif
Flight Engineer ROBINSON, Thomas MSgt 18641423 Texas
Radio Operator SVEHLA, Charles J. Sgt 18032080 Illinois
Central Fire Control O'SULLIVAN, Eugene E. Sgt 39138621 Calif
Right gunner POIRIER, George J. Jr. Sgt 31416005 Mass
Left gunner NOWELL, Dexter D. Sgt 34875321 Mississippi
Tail gunner NOLAN, Philip R. Sgt 42120079 New York (SURVIVOR)
Inscription
Woods Odell S
CAPT - 30 BOMB SQ 19 BOMB GP (VH) - IOWA
Gravesite Details
Entered the service from Onawa, Monona County, Iowa.
