USAAF
5th AF
312th BG
389th BS
Richard Leahy 1983
Previous Assignments
3rd BG
Pilot 2nd Lt. Carl
Hansen, O-803612
Gunner Sgt. Earnest
Bustamante
Crashed March 13, 1944
MACR 5675
Crew History
Bustamante was lost on his first combat mission.
Aircraft History
This aircraft carried no nose art.
Mission History
A group of A-20's were lost
after a mission to Alexishafen.
The planes were low on fuel and were following Ken Hedges in bad
weather, looking for the only passage in the mountains to get back
to their base at Gusap.
In the afternoon, this aircraft and two other A-20s slammed into a
mountainside in the Finisterre
Range. Col. Strauss (312th CO)
in 1985 Strauss reefer to the loss of those six boys "a damned
waste",
he always felt responsible. Also lost were A-20G
42-54082 and A-20G 42-54085.
Wreckage
The
wreck, along with two others, lies at nearly 8,000 feet altitude. Discovered and investigated as an MIA
site by US
Army CILHI in 1983.
Relatives
Michael Bustamante (nephew of Earnest Bustamante)
A-20
MIA
