Rustand — Your Site Title

Hanford James Rustand was born on 18 March 1922 in the small town of Otter Tail, Minnesota, and was tagged with the nickname "Rusty" for the red in his hair. He was first born to his parents, Iver and Ella Rustand, who later gave him two brothers and two sisters. "Rusty" graduated from Pelican High School in Pelican Rapids, Minnesota on 31 May 1940, and worked as a Crop Duster. He came from a close family that pulled together in everyday life.

From San Francisco, California, "Rusty" entered the military on 13 June 1941. While on leave he met Mary Frances Rieman, at the Ford Theater in Hollywood, California. Two years later, on 1 June 1943 they were married in Douglas, Arizona. "Rusty" had already gone through training at the Air Force Advanced Flying School in Stockton, California; and completed his training at the AAF Advanced Flying School in Douglas, Arizona on 22 June 1943. His first child, James Ford Rustand was born 24 April 1944, and his daughter, Marilynn Christine Rustand was born on 18 April 1945, almost five months after "Rusty" was KIA.

"Rusty" finished training at Langley Field, Virginia. The best of the best graduated and became combat pilots. After shipping out, he landed at the Bassingbourn American Military Base in Cambridge, England. He was part of the 8th Army Air Force, 91st Bomb Group, 323rd Squadron, and flew his first combat mission on 25 September 1944.

On 2 November 1944 the mission was Merseburg, a major target and more heavily guarded than Berlin. The actual target was the Leuna Oil Refinery, making a synthetic oil out of coal. We had tested the opposition on several earlier missions, and the Germans had held back waiting for a major attack. Six hundred and fifty B-17's were sent up that day, in tight formation on two levels. "Rusty" was flying a B-17 named PARD, and on this mission he was in last position of the formation -- the worst place to be. The 91st dropped their bomb loads and started home. The top level of the formation was dealing with a faster air current, and drifted off some twenty miles from the lower level. When our fighter escorts learned the top level was under attack, they went to the rescue. I'm told the famed yellow nose boys (German elite pilots) were there, and what followed is described by some as a massacre. With no visible fighter support, approximately five hundred enemy fighters, (German FW 190s and ME 109s) came in at the six o'clock position for the attack.

There were Dog Fights all over the sky. Flak was everywhere, and evasive action couldn't be taken to miss it. The sky was black, and the sun did not cut through it. PARD was hit and all electrical power was broken, causing the interphone system and turrets to fail. A bomber on the left had smoke coming from the engines, and both the pilot and co-pilot waved good-bye, as they peeled off from the formation. Bodies were seen falling from the aircraft, as it went down in a nose dive. Everywhere you looked ships were going down. Forts and Fighters alike were going down in groups of three and four at a time, exploding in all directions. It was hard to believe a man in a parachute could make it to the ground in one piece. This was one of the worst air battles of WWII.

In an attempt to protect another aircraft, "Rusty" was seen sliding PARD under HI-HO SILVER (another B-17), and the enemy zeroed in. The bomb bay and oxygen tanks were on fire, leaving only moments to get out. "Rusty" gave the order to abandon ship, and stayed at the controls while seven of the crew bailed. Co-Pilot, 2LT Wyndham "Wyn" Peck, was standing in the front hatch door with Pilot, 1LT Hanford Rustand, standing a few feet away while continuing to control the aircraft. The controls were shot away and the aircraft was in a nose dive heading straight for the ground. According to "Wyn's" daughter, Elaine, Rusty stepped away from the controls as the plane was exploding, and shoved his best friend, "Wyn" out the hatch door. "Wyn" was one of only three of the crew to survive and become POWs before returning to the USA.

The German prisons were full, and the three surviving crew were put in freight cars without food or water, and shipped to an Eastern Prussia prison in the north of Germany. The freight cars were so crowded that the men slept standing up. Wyndham Peck and Henry Schwarz went to a prisoner of war camp in Frankfurt, Germany until the war ended, and Gilbert Crotte was sent someplace else. Three months past, and "Gil" began hearing cannons and machine gun fire, and was told the Russians were coming. The Germans decided to leave the camp and take their prisoners with them. They walked all over Germany for three months, from 2 February to 30 May 1945. "Gil" said, they must have walked over a thousand miles. This walk was later known as the "Death Walk," because so many men died from starvation and the cold weather, much like Canada.

Referred to as the Greatest Generation, these men showed a bravery surpassed by what we would think could come from young men in their twenties and even their teens. Lives were lost to preserve our freedom, and the quality of life for the future. At twenty-two years of age, with a young wife, baby son, and a daughter on the way, "Rusty" was only one of thousands, who had their whole lives ahead of them, and yet they gave all they had to give for you, for me, for all peoples in all countries. He like so many -- too many, gave his life to protect and save us all.

"Rusty" was loved by family, friends, and his crew, who often wrote home about him. I've missed my dad all my life, and still miss him. I miss never sitting on his lap or having eye contact, and all the things a girl would share with her dad. This tribute is to you, dad, and to those you served with. It's an effort to take your memory out of silence, and allow us to be your Ticker-Tape-Parade. 1st LT Hanford Rustand flew fourteen missions serving his country and protecting all he held dear. He is credited with the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal and One Oak-Leaf Cluster, and the Purple Heart. To all the HEROES, I salute you!

– Marilynn Rustand Lieurance –