Wayne Bolefahr was born on February 7, 1920, in Eureka, Kansas. He entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on July 1, 1938, and was commissioned a 2d Lt of Infantry on May 29, 1942. Lt Bolefahr immediately transferred to the U.S. Army Air Forces, completing his flight training and earning his pilot wings at Foster Field, Texas, on December 13, 1942. After completing advanced fighter training he joined the 368th Fighter Squadron of the 359th Fighter Group in March 1943, and flew P-47 Thunderbolts until deploying to England with his unit in October 1943. Capt Bolefahr served as a P-47 and then P-51 Mustang pilot with the 368th Fighter Squadron in England from October 1943 until he was killed in action during a combat mission over Belgium on June 10, 1944. During this time he was credited with the destruction of 2 enemy aircraft in aerial combat. Wayne Bolefahr is buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial in Liege, Belgium.

His Distinguished Service Cross Citation reads:

For extraordinary heroism in action against the enemy on 10 June 1944. Leading a P-51 fighter section in support of four PRU airplanes, Captain Bolefahr was briefed to stay clear of the intense ground flak which had prevented, with casualties, other attempts to get low altitude pictures in the area. Discovering the enemy fire to be so intense that the PRU airplanes were repeatedly driven off their target, after 20 minutes flight in the area at tree top level, Captain Bolefahr voluntarily pulled up to 100 feet and strafed the defending gun positions, thereby flying straight into their line of fire in his determination to wipe out enough positions to permit the pictures to be taken. Warned at briefing that any such fighter intervention probably would be fatal, on the basis of previous PRU losses there, he made his strafing run with impeccable cool skill, neutralizing several guns. As a result of the action planes were able to come in and obtain the ordered pictures. Captain Bolefahr's airplane flamed under many direct flak hits, crashed through trees, and disintegrated on the ground. His initiative in the face of overwhelming odds and his sacrificial resolution made a success of a hazardous mission. This action, an inspiration to his fellow flyers, reflects highest credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of the United States.