Robert Leroy Dahlgren, 74, a retired manufacturer’s representative whose military service in Europe included being shot down over Yugoslavia a year after the end of World War II, died Sunday, Jan. 21, in his Glen Ellyn home. Mr. Dahlgren was a flight mechanic with the Army Air Forces, flying passengers throughout Europe before regular air service could be established, when his transport plane was shot down in August 1946 by Communist troops. “His was one of two planes shot down within two weeks,” said his wife, Norma Lois. “There were no survivors on the second plane that went down.” Mr. Dahlgren’s plane had followed the wrong river and had become lost in fog, prompting groundfire, his wife said. Mr. Dahlgren suffered a knee injury and was held prisoner for two weeks, his release prompted by a stern warning from President Harry S. Truman. “Truman sent them an ultimatum to release the survivors or American troops would be sent in to bring them back home,” his wife said. “I had the pleasure of meeting some of the troops who were ready to go in.” Mr. Dahlgren grew up in Cicero, where he attended Morton Junior College. Later he studied for three years at the American Television Institute in Chicago. He worked as a laboratory technician at several firms before hooking up with Solid State Electronics Inc., in Elmwood Park, where he grew with the company and retired as a sales engineer. Mr. Dahlgren was fond of music and fishing. “He was a proud father and a proud grandfather,” his wife said. Other survivors include three daughters, Renee Puleo, Roberta Sievers and Cheryl Kranz; a son, Robert M.; 14 grandchildren; and a sister, Viola Carrell. Services will be held at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday in Williams-Kampp Funeral Home, 430 E. Roosevelt Rd., Wheaton, with mass at 10:30 a.m. in St. James the Apostle Catholic Church, 480 S. Park Blvd., Glen Ellyn.
