Alumni Hall of Fame
Military Service to Country (2025)

Richard “Dick” Bushong’s story began in St. Marys, Ohio, on March 21, 1923, the third son of B.H. Bushong and the only child of Clara Kellermeyer Bushong. He graduated from St. Marys Memorial High School in 1941, where he was the Senior Class President, and was sworn in as a Private in the Army Air Corps on April 23, 1942. He trained to be a pilot at Kelly Field in San Antonio and completed his training at Goodfellow Field in San Angelo, Class 43G. He received his silver pilot wings on July 29, 1943, when he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. 

Dick was assigned to B-17 Combat Crew Phase Training at Ephrata, Washington. He was transported across the Atlantic on the RMS Queen Elizabeth and arrived in Glasgow, Scotland. From there, they were transported to Royal Air Force Framlingham in England and assigned to the 390th Bomb Group (H), 13th Combat Wing, Third Air Division of the Eighth Air Force. Dick’s first combat mission was scheduled for December 16, 1943, over Bremen, Germany, in the B-17 named “Royal Flush.” Unfortunately, Dick became very sick and missed his first assigned mission. His crew went without him. When Dick arrived back at his barracks, he found the Squadron Operations Officer and was in shock when he learned that the Royal Flush had been shot down. In fact, all three B-17 crews that were staying in his barracks had been shot down while Dick was in the hospital. Dick was reassigned to the Norman Palmer B-17 crew and flew his first combat mission on the B-17 “Dolly” on December 30, 1943. Over the next seven months, he flew a total of 28 combat missions targeting enemy infrastructure and war supply structures. On one flight, he noted in his diary that it “was a thrill for me, a kid from a small town in Ohio,” to fly over Paris and see Notre Dame Cathedral. 

On his last combat mission on April 13, 1944, Dick had a narrow escape when he flew the B-17, “Belle of the Brawl.” He told The Evening Leader in an interview months later that, “I knew it was going to be a rough ride across the bomb run, but I didn’t know exactly how rough. Just before the bombs went down, I felt the concussion of several bursts near us and heard flying steel ripping through our fuselage.” (Interview, May 9, 1944) They lost three engines and were knocked out of formation. He wrote, “From then on in, the cabin of our bomber became a chapel. We all did plenty of praying … and we made it home.” The B-17 had also lost its brakes, and it was only “thanks to good old English mud” that they landed safely. Dick was promoted to 1st Lieutenant and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross after this mission. Dick was also awarded the Air Medal for outstanding service after completing his first five combat missions, along with three Oak Leaf Clusters.

Dick returned to the United States in June 1944 and was assigned to the Mid-West Procurement District in Wichita, Kansas, in November 1944. There, he was a test pilot for the B-29 plane. Over the next three decades, Dick remained in the U.S. Air Force and the Reserve Forces, rising to the rank of Colonel. He returned to active duty during the Korean War, performed air defense during the Cold War, and completed a one-year tour of duty in the Vietnam War where he flew F-4 Phantoms. He was attached to the 366th Fighter Wing in Alaska, Da Nang, Vietnam, and Japan. He retired from the Air Force in 1974 after 32 years of service, all on active duty except for five and half years in the Reserve Forces between wars. 

Dick memorialized his military career in a book, “My Wars, B-17s to F-4s, WWII to Vietnam,” which is a best seller at the 390th Memorial Museum in Tucson, Arizona, where Dick is a Senior Docent. His memories of service are also immortalized in the Library of Congress in the Richard B. Bushong Collection.

For his dedicated service flying 28 combat mission over enemy occupied Europe in World War II, for 32 years of service in the Army Air Force, Air Force Reserves, and U.S. Air Force including serving during the Korean War and completing a one-year tour in Vietnam, Colonel Richard D. Bushong is inducted into the St. Marys Memorial High School Alumni Foundation Hall of Fame for Military Service to Country.