Sabu Dastagir was born on March 15, 1924, in Karapura, Mysore, India. He began acting in India at age 13 in 1937, and immigrated to the United States in January 1940, where he continued his acting career. During his early career, he appeared in 7 films. Dastagir enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces on July 20, 1943, and completed basic training in August 1943. PFC Dastagir was assigned to the 39th Special Service Company at Fort Meade, Maryland, from August to September 1943, and then to Pre-Aviation Cadet Training at Fort Meade from September 1943 to February 1944. During this time he became an American Citizen on January 4, 1944. He transferred to the Army Air Forces Eastern Technical Training Command at Greensboro, North Carolina, in February 1944, but was disqualified from Pre-Aviation Cadet Training in March 1944. PFC Dastagir next attended Flexible Gunnery Training and B-24 Liberator aircrew training at Harlingen Army Air Field, Texas, from March 1944 until he deployed to the Pacific Theater in September 1944. SSgt Dastagir served as a B-24 gunner and assistant radio operator with the 370th Bomb Squadron of the 307th Bomb Group at Noemfoor in Dutch New Guinea from September to November 1944, and then at Morotai in the Netherlands East Indies from November 1944 until he returned to the United States in June 1945. He was assigned to the Separation Center at Fort MacArthur, California, from July 1945 until he was honorably discharged from the Army Air Forces on August 18, 1945. After leaving active duty, Dastagir returned to his acting career, appearing in 16 more films before his death on December 2, 1963. Sabu Dastagir was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, California.

His Distinguished Flying Cross Citation reads:

For extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight near Simadel Island, Borneo, on 30 November 1944. These officers and enlisted men were crew members of a B-24 on a lone shipping search along the northwest and northeast coast of Borneo. During the course of the flight five enemy ships were attacked, the first, an 800-ton vessel being strafed and set afire near Ambong Bay. A 250-pound bomb was then dropped, causing the ship to explode and break up. The second vessel attacked was a 500 to 1000-ton ship near Point Jembengan, a near miss being scored. As it appeared to be stuck on a reef, the B-24 then proceeded to make a bombing run on a 1200-ton freighter-transport in the same area. On the second attack, which was made in the face of anti-aircraft fire, a direct hit was scored amidships, after which the vessel broke in two and sank. A smaller vessel was strafed and badly damaged, and the fifth ship was attacked near Hogpoint, northeast of Darvel Bay, one bomb scoring a near miss. As this was the last bomb carried by the airplane, and the fuel supply was running low, no further attacks were made by this crew. The outstanding courage and devotion to duty displayed by each of the crew members are worthy of the highest commendation.