FOLKS GET WORD OF MISSING SON
Iowa Soldier's Plane Collides in Midair
Manly -- A communication has been received by Mr. and Mrs. N.M. Brunsvold from headquarters of the army air forces, dated Jan. 31, with further details concerning their son, T/Sgt. Donald D. Brunsvold, who was reported missing in action as of Nov. 8, 1944.
The letter, in part, read as follows: "Sgt. Brunsvold one of the crew on a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber on Nov. 8, 1944, at Messeburg, Germany, was out on mission and it was during this march of planes at about 11:40 a.m., over the English channel west of the Netherlands, that this bomber collided in midair with another aircraft, and subsequently fell in the water." Any other information concerning this aircraft is not known except that there were 8 others with Sgt. Brunsvold.
The letter gave the address of the others so Mr. and Mrs. Brunsvold might communicate with relatives if they cared to do so. All addresses were furnished with next of kin.
Mr. and Mrs. Brunsvold have 3 other sons in the service, one in France, one in California and the other in Oklahoma.
Source: The Mason City Globe-Gazette, February 7, 1945 (photo included)
MANLY AIR HERO DECLARED DEAD
S.Sgt Brunsvold Had Been Listed Missing
Manly -- Official notice has been received at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Nels Brunsvold of Manly that their son, S/Sgt. Donald Brunsvold, who had been reported missing more than a year, has been listed as officially dead.
Donald, a machine gunner with the 8th air force, was flying on his next to final mission over enemy territory Nov. 9, 1944, when, returning to England another plane in the formation collided with the one he was in. There was a heavy fog about 10 miles off the coast of Holland, according to official report.
The pilot of Donald's ship, who was not flying that day, witnessed the accident, and saw the plane break in two, then go down. This word came direct from the pilot who got in touch with the parents. Hope by the family had been held that he had been picked up and that he was either a German prisoner or hospitalized.
Source: Mason City Globe-Gazette, November 21, 1945
Donald Dennis Brunsvold was born Ma. 15, 1922 to Nels Melvin and Josephine Otilda Roslien Brunsvold. He died Nov. 9, 1945 and is buried in Elk Creek Lutheran Cemetery, Kensett, IA and memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing, Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands.
Sgt. Brunsvold served in World War II with the 749th Bomber Squadron, 457th Bomber Group, Heavy and was MIA on a mission to Germany. He was awarded the Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters.
Source: ancestry.com; abmc.gov
