Home » Posts tagged 'Lenard Leroy Bryant'
Tag Archives: Lenard Leroy Bryant
The Boys
On September 28, 1944, the Lead Banana, manned by the Buslee crew, and the Lazy Daisy, manned by the Brodie crew collided after coming off the target at Magdeburg, Germany. Neither crew of the 384th Bomb Group was the original crew as assigned.
That day, the Buslee crew was made up of five original crew members and four fill-ins. The Brodie crew was made up of seven original members and two fill-ins.
These are the two crews as they were that day:
The Buslee crew aboard Lead Banana, 544th Bomb Squad
PILOT John Oliver Buslee, original Buslee crew member, KIA 9/28/1944
CO-PILOT David Franklin Albrecht, original Buslee crew member, KIA 9/28/1944
NAVIGATOR William Alvin Henson II, Gerald Sammons crew, KIA 9/28/1944
BOMBARDIER Robert Sumner Stearns, Larkin Durden crew, KIA 9/28/1944
RADIO OPERATOR Sebastiano Joseph Peluso, original Buslee crew member, KIA 9/28/1944
ENGINEER/TOP TURRET GUNNER Lenard Leroy Bryant, original Buslee crew member, KIA 9/28/1944
BALL TURRET GUNNER George Francis McMann, Jr., Stanley Gilbert crew, KIA 9/28/1944
TAIL GUNNER Gerald Lee Andersen, Joe Ross Carnes crew, KIA 9/28/1944
FLEXIBLE GUNNER George Edwin Farrar, original Buslee crew member, POW Stalag Luft IV
The Brodie crew aboard Lazy Daisy, 545th Bomb Squad
PILOT James Joseph Brodie, original Brodie crew member, KIA 9/28/1944
CO-PILOT Lloyd Oliver Vevle, original Brodie crew member, KIA 9/28/1944
NAVIGATOR George Marshall Hawkins, Jr., original Brodie crew member, POW Obermassfeld Hospital #1249 (served Stalag 9-C)
No photo available
TOGGLIER Byron Leverne Atkins, James Chadwick crew, KIA 9/28/1944
No photo available
RADIO OPERATOR Donald William Dooley, from Group Headquarters, KIA 9/28/1944
ENGINEER/TOP TURRET GUNNER Robert Doyle Crumpton, original Brodie crew member, KIA 9/28/1944
BALL TURRET GUNNER Gordon Eugene Hetu, original Brodie crew member, KIA 9/28/1944
TAIL GUNNER Wilfred Frank Miller, original Brodie crew member, POW Stalag Luft IV
No photo available
FLEXIBLE GUNNER Harry Allen Liniger, original Brodie crew member, POW Stalag Luft IV
Fourteen out of the eighteen boys aboard the two B-17’s were lost that day. Not only did they leave behind grieving parents and siblings, but they also left behind at least five wives and three children.
I have connected with many children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews of these boys. If I have not connected with you yet, and you are related to any of them, please comment or e-mail me. If anyone can provide pictures of those I don’t have yet, that would be greatly appreciated. They all deserve to be honored for their service and their fight for our freedom.
Sortie reports provided by the 384th Bomb Group.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2017
I’m Not All Here
Lenard Leroy Bryant’s wife, Maudene, wrote to Mrs. Farrar a couple weeks later. It was hard to keep things straight in her mind when her mind was so filled with thoughts of her husband. Lenard had been the top turret gunner on Lead Banana on September 28, 1944. Maudene had received news that Lenard had been killed that day, and if she were to believe the news, had to plan for a life without him.
June 25, 1945
Lubbock, TexasDear Mrs. Farrar,
Just a note to let you know I am so glad George has been liberated & will be so glad when he gets home. Sometimes I think I’m not all here. I can’t remember if I answered your last letter or not. Ha.
I don’t know what folks will do here. We haven’t had a rain this year.
Three more months I will be out of school then I will have a good job.
I wish it were possible for George to make a trip out here.
I am sending a picture of Lenard.
Write soon.
As Ever,
Maudene Bryant
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2014
Life Goes On
Lenard Leroy Bryant’s wife, Ruby Maudene, may not have completely given up hope of her husband returning from war, but she decided that it was time to move forward in life again. She explained her plans in a letter to my grandmother very near the end of the war in Europe.
April 29, 1945
Lubbock, TexasDear Mrs. Farrar,
May I once again write you a few lines, I didn’t intend to let so much time past but it has.
I do so hope you are still hearing from George and maybe he has been freed by now. The news sounds good now doesn’t it?
I am now going to a cosmetology school so have been busy – at least it has kept my mind busy & that’s what I need. I still can’t believe all the boys are gone. I’ll be so glad when it’s over so all the boys can come home & we all know the truth.
Mrs. Farrar, let me hear from you often & please don’t wait on me – I so slow at writing.
As Ever,
Maudene BryantP.S. I am going to school in Lubbock.
Ruby Maudene Bryant wrote the letter on a Sunday – April 29, 1945. She probably mailed it on Monday, April 30. Two days later – Wednesday, May 2, 1945 – George Edwin Farrar and the other P.O.W.s he was marching with were liberated. Since being forced to march out of Stalag Luft IV on February 6, they had been marching for eighty-six days. I don’t know what day my grandmother received Mrs. Bryant’s letter, but by the time she received it Maudene’s wish for him to be freed had come true.
Lenard Leroy Bryant was the top turret gunner for the Buslee crew aboard Lead Banana on September 28, 1944 when Lazy Daisy collided with it coming off the target at Magdeburg. Bryant had been reported killed in action in the collision.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2014
Sad News for Mrs. Bryant

Four of the John Buslee Crew, left to right, George Edwin Farrar (waist gunner), Lenard Leroy Bryant (engineer/top turret gunner), Erwin V. Foster (ball turret gunner), and Sebastiano Joseph Peluso (radio operator/gunner)
Lenard Bryant’s wife, Maudene, probably received the sad news about the same time as the Buslees. She wrote to Raleigh Mae Farrar on February 2, 1945 to share the news.
February 2, 1945
Littlefield, TexasDear Mrs. Farrar,
I have at last heard from the War Department.
Thru the Inter. Red Cross my husband has been reported killed in action on the 28th of Sept.
I just can’t believe it and won’t until the last minute. I am so glad you have heard from George and if he ever gets back I hope he can tell what did happen.
But I can’t feel that my husband is gone.
I hope and pray that the others will hear as you did.
I hope to hear from you soon.
As Ever,
Mrs. Ruby M. Bryant
Like the others receiving the news that their loved ones were killed in the mid-air collision between the Lead Banana and Lazy Daisy on September 28, 1944, Maudene Bryant could not believe that it was true.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2014
Letter from Mrs. Bryant
On January 5, 1945, Lenard Leroy Bryant’s wife, Maudene, wrote to George Edwin Farrar’s mother, Raleigh Mae. Maudene was writing in response to a letter she had just received from Mrs. Farrar. Lenard and George (Ed) had both been on Lead Banana on September 28, 1944 when it collided with Lazy Daisy over Magdeburg, Germany. Raleigh Mae Farrar had received news just six days earlier that her son was a prisoner of war. Maudene Bryant had still not heard any news about her husband except that he was missing in action.
Photo: Lenard Bryant on the left, location may be Grafton Underwood
January 5, 1945
Littlefield, TexasDear Mrs. Farrar,
Received your letter this noon. Am so glad for you that George is a prisoner.
I had the pleasure of meeting your son in Ardmore, Okla. and it seems as tho they were all brothers, the boys were so close to one another.
Only five of our old crew went down, the others are in England.
I haven’t as yet heard from the War Dept. – but when I do I pray for the best – and I for one hold out for the best. I think I would have known if Lenard (my husband) was dead.
I just wonder now how close to Magdeburg the boys will be kept. Mrs. Henson has my deepest sympathy.
I am in hopes of hearing from you again.
As Ever
Maudene Bryant
Littlefield, Texas
Rt. 2
Maudene had apparently heard that William Alvin Henson II, the crew’s navigator, had been declared killed in action. Not hearing anything about her husband, Lenard, gave her hope that he was still alive. She must have known the names of all of the boys on the original Buslee crew and realized, after reviewing the next-of-kin list, that only five of them were on the Lead Banana when it went down.
The five original members were:
- John Oliver Buslee, pilot
- David Franklin Albrecht, co-pilot
- Sebastian Joseph Peluso, radio operator/gunner
- Lenard Leroy Bryant, engineer/top turret gunner (Maudene’s husband)
- George Edwin Farrar, waist/flexible gunner (my dad)
As she states that the other members of the crew were in England, Maudene may not have been aware that original bombardier, Marvin Fryden, had lost his life on August 5, 1944 on the Buslee crew’s second mission.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2014
Next of Kin List Released
The day after Christmas 1944, at ninety days missing in action, the US Army Air Forces wrote to the Buslee crew’s next of kin and enclosed a list of the names of the crew members on the Lead Banana on September 28 and also included the names and addresses of next of kin in case the families wanted to communicate with each other.
December 26, 1944
Headquarters, Army Air Forces
WashingtonAttention: AFPPA-8
(9753) Farrar, George E.
14119873Mrs. Raleigh Mae Farrar,
79 EastLake Terrace Northeast,
Atlanta, Georgia.Dear Mrs. Farrar:
For reasons of military security it has been necessary to withhold the names of the air crew members who were serving with your son at the time he was reported missing.
Since it is now permissible to release this information, we are inclosing a complete list of names of the crew members.
The names and addresses of the next of kin of the men are also given in the belief that you may desire to correspond with them.
Sincerely,
Clyde V. Finter
Colonel, Air Corps
Chief, Personal Affairs Division
Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Personnel1 Incl
List of crew members & names
& addresses of next of kin
5-2032, AF
1st. Lt. John O. Buslee
Mr. John Buslee, (Father)
411 North Wisner Avenue,
Park Ridge, Illinois.
1st. Lt. William A. Henson, II
Mrs. Harriet W. Henson, (Wife)
Summerville, Georgia.
1st. Lt. Robert S. Stearns
Mr. Carey S. Stearns, (Father)
Post Office Box 113,
Lapine, Oregon.
2nd. Lt. David F. Albrecht
Reverand Louis M. Albrecht, (Father)
Scribner, Nebraska.
S/Sgt. Sebastiano J. Peluso
Mrs. Antonetta Peluso, (Mother)
2963 West 24th Street,
Brooklyn, New York.
S/Sgt. Lenard L. Bryant
Mrs. Ruby M. Bryant, (Wife)
Route Number Two,
Littlefield, Texas.
S/Sgt. Gerald L. Andersen
Mrs. Esther E. Coolen Andersen, (Wife)
Box Number 282,
Stromburg, Nebraska.
S/Sgt. George E. Farrar
Mrs. Raleigh Mae Farrar, (Mother)
79 East Lake Terrace Northeast,
Atlanta, Georgia.
Sgt. George F. McMann
Mr. George F. McMann, (Father)
354 West Avenue,
Bridgeport, Connecticut.
The above list is also a part of MACR (Missing Air Crew Report) 9753. For a diagram and list of each man’s position on the Lead Banana on September 28, 1944, click here.
The Brodie crew’s next of kin must have gotten the same letter and a list of those on the Lazy Daisy. The following list is attached to MACR9366. For a diagram and list of each man’s position on the Lazy Daisy on September 28, 1944, click here.
1st Lt. James J. Brodie
Mrs. Mary E. Brodie, (Wife)
4436 North Kostner Avenue
Chicago, Illinois.
2nd Lt. Lloyd O. Vevle
Mr. Oliver E. Vevle, (Father)
240 Sixth Avenue, North
Fort Dodge, Iowa.
2nd Lt. George M. Hawkins, Jr.
Mr. George M. Hawkins, Sr., (Father)
52 Marchard Street
Fords, New Jersey
T/Sgt. Donald W. Dooley
Mr. Guy T. Dooley, (Father)
711 South Rogers Street
Bloomington, Indiana.
S/Sgt. Byron L. Atkins
Mr. Verne Atkins, (Father)
Route Number Two
Lebanon, Indiana.
Sgt. Robert D. Crumpton
Mrs. Stella M. Parks, (Mother)
Route Number One
Ennis, Texas
Sgt. Gordon E. Hetu
Mr. Raymond J. Hetu, (Father)
3821 Webb Street
Detroit, Michigan.
S/Sgt. Wilfred F. Miller
Mrs. Mary Miller, (Mother)
Rural Free Delivery Number One
Newton, Wisconsin.
S/Sgt. Harry A. Liniger
Mrs. Estelle P. Liniger, (Mother)
Box Number 251
Gatesville, North Carolina
If the US Army Air Forces had told the families of the two crews what actually happened to their sons’ aircraft and provided the lists of both crews to the families, the families of the two pilots, Buslee and Brodie, would have discovered that they lived only seven and a half miles apart in Chicago, Illinois. These families would most likely have been very interested in communicating if they had been made aware of each other.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2014