Body of WW II Airman Found in Sierra Nevada is Identified

[The Straight Story]

Body of WW II Airman Found in Sierra Nevada is Identified
Written for the web by Bob Montgomery, Internet News Producer


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According to relatives, the body of a World War II airman found encased in the ice of a Sierra Nevada glacier after being missing for more than half a century has been identified.

The remains, which were discovered last October by climbers on 13,710-foot Mount Mendel in the Kings Canyon National Park, have been determined to be those of 22-year-old Leo Mustonen of Brainerd, Minnesota.

Mustonen was one of four crew members aboard a twin-engine Beechcraft AT-7 navigation training aircraft that departed on November 18, 1942, on a flight to Corning in Tehama County. The aircraft had five hours of fuel on board. The weather was rainy and windy. It is unclear how the plane wound up in the central Sierra Nevada, which is in the opposite direction of the planned course.

The four men on that flight were the 23-year-old pilot, Lt. William Gamber, and cadets Mustonen; John Mortenson, 25; and Ernest Munn, 23.

http://www.kxtv.com/storyfull2.aspx?storyid=15753

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Just, wow. So young.. lost so long. I hope he is at peace.

[kutblok]

2. I hope he is at peace.

I am sure he is.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. Welcome to DU *wave*

[newyawker99]

7. HI kutblok!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[renate]

4. So sad that his family had to wonder for all those years

I'm confused, though.

The wreckage was found in 1947, but this particular guy wasn't found till last October?
I guess if he was ejected, or if he ejected himself, from the plane, that would make sense--then if the other guys were found and identified in 1947, there must have been records that Leo Mustonen was on that plane. So on further consideration I guess his family must at least have known how and where he died... although still they would have wondered why his body wasn't with the others.

What a mystery this must have been to the family; I wonder how long they held out hope that he hadn't actually been on that flight. Oh, lord, even a just war is so heartbreakingly sad.

[petronius]

5. A lot of the wreckage (and bodies) was buried in ice

over the following winters. The wreckage was also scattered over a large area. I think this guy's body has finally moved to the bottom of the ice sheet and been exposed by melt - the other crewmen are probably still up there...

On edit: the other bodies were removed in 1948. More info here.

Another edit: only body parts (small and unidentifiable) were recovered in 1948.

[GetTheRightVote]

6. So the familys has closure and can buried their love one, I hope the

other families in the future are able to do so as well.

:kick: