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Submit- Full
name
PUSANSKI, Richard T - Date of
birth
13 January 1926 -
Age
18 - Place of
birth
Ohio -
Hometown
Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
15128497 -
Rank
Corporal -
Function
Tail Gunner -
Unit
777th Bombardment Squadron,
464th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
28 December 1944 - Place of
death
Weissenstein, Austria
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| G | 12 | 25 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Harry H. Thome (birth father)
Edward Pusanski (adoptive father)
Mary (Prokop) Thome (mother)
Ruth Thome (sister)
Barbara Pusanski (half-sister)
Norma Pusanski (half-sister)
Plane data
- Serial
number
44-41213 -
Data
Type: B-24J
Nickname: Big Fat Mama
Destination: Roudnice, Czechoslovakia
Mission: Bombing of the oil refinery
MACR: 10926
More information
Cpl Richard T. Pusanski was employed at James C. Heintz & Company.He joined the Air Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve in Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana on 18 March 1944.
Cpl Victor J. Dewolf:
“I saw Red G (44-41213) come up under Yellow P, the tail surface hitting near the bomb bays of yellow P. The tail surfaces cracked off and drifted away. I don’t know whether the tail turret remained a part of the plane or whether it was knocked off with the tail surfaces. Yellow P pulled up and looked to be temporarily out of control, but straightened out and left the formation. Red G went into a flat spin, losing all forward motion. The motors were still turning. I saw one chute come out of the rear of the plane, apparently the camera hatch. I followed Red G clear to the ground, where it hit and exploded near a populated clearing in the mountains.”
F/O Charles J. Ames:
“The tail was cut off so Cpl Pusanski was probably killed instantly.”
This was Cpl Pusanski's first mission.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov – WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com- Headstone and Interment Record / 1940 Census, www.fold3.com, www.findagrave.com – John Dowdy, http://aircrewremembered.com/USAAFCombatOperations/Dec.44.html
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Len