Twenty-three days after the mid-air collision between the Lazy Daisy and Lead Banana, a Telegram Form dated October 21, 1944 reported the fate of one more of the crew from the two planes, and provided the identification of four of the previously unidentified.   It reported “one more dead has been found:  Byron L. Atkins.”  The newly identified men were identified as:

• John Buslee (identified on the form as Jon Busslee)
• David F. Albrecht
• Lloyd Vevle (identified on the form as LLoyd Ovevle)
• Lenard Bryant (identified on the form as Lenhard J. Eyret)

Atkins and Vevle were from the Brodie crew aboard Lazy Daisy.  Buslee, Albrecht, and Bryant were from the Buslee crew aboard Lead Banana.  Atkins was probably located away from both crash sites as he was carried away with the nose of the Lazy Daisy during the initial impact of the collision.

In determination of the fate of the two crews, eighteen total men, this report updates the count to fourteen (14) recovered dead, with twelve (12) identified, and four (4) P.O.W.s.

MACR9753 does not include any more Telegram Forms or Reports of Captured Aircraft and does not provide any information on the identifications of Sebastiano Joseph Peluso aboard Lead Banana or James Joseph Brodie aboard Lazy Daisy.

Buslee Crew List:

• Pilot – John Oliver Buslee    Reported dead on October 21, 1944 Telegram Form
• Co-Pilot – David Franklin Albrecht    Reported dead on October 21, 1944 Telegram Form
• Navigator – William Alvin Henson II    Reported dead on September 30, 1944 Telegram Form
• Bombardier – Robert Sumner Stearns    Reported dead on September 30, 1944 Telegram Form
• Radio Operator/Gunner – Sebastiano Joseph Peluso
• Engineer/Top Turret Gunner – Lenard Leroy Bryant    Reported dead on October 21, 1944 Telegram Form
• Ball Turret Gunner – George Francis McMann, Jr.    Reported dead on October 1, 1944 Telegram Form
• Tail Gunner – Gerald Lee Andersen    Reported dead on October 1, 1944 Telegram Form
• Waist Gunner – George Edwin Farrar (my dad)    Reported P.O.W. on October 1, 1944 Telegram Form

Brodie Crew List:

• Pilot – James Joseph Brodie
• Co-Pilot – Lloyd Oliver Vevle     Reported dead on October 21, 1944 Telegram Form
• Navigator – George Marshall Hawkins, Jr.    Reported P.O.W. on October 6, 1944 Report on Captured Aircraft
• Togglier – Byron Laverne Atkins     Reported dead on October 21, 1944 Telegram Form
• Radio Operator/Gunner – Donald William Dooley    Reported dead on October 1, 1944 Telegram Form
• Engineer/Top Turret Gunner – Robert Doyle Crumpton    Reported dead on September 30, 1944 Telegram Form
• Ball Turret Gunner – Gordon Eugene Hetu    Reported dead on September 30, 1944 Telegram Form
• Tail Gunner – Wilfred Frank Miller    Reported P.O.W. on October 4, 1944 Telegram Form
• Waist Gunner – Harry Allen Liniger    Reported P.O.W. on October 4, 1944 Telegram Form

The October 21 Telegram Form notes also:

• Time:  0925
• From:  L L E N
• Remarks:  SSD L B K M 157     19 Oct.44   -1740-

This information can be found on pages 18 of MACR9753.  MACR stands for Missing Air Crew Report.

© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2014