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by Sylvia A. Bruner (Author)
Bomber Mountain's Namesake Tragedy
June 1943 saw forty-one heavy bombers lost within the continental United States, including a B-17 that went missing over Wyoming late during the night of June 28. That aircraft had ten young men on board destined for World War II. They had been ordered overseas to participate in the intense and constant bombing raids being conducted in Europe, but they never made it out of America. Two years later, area cowboys discovered the wreckage strewn across an otherwise picturesque landscape. U.S. Air Corps Captain Kenneth G. Hamm noted in his personal diary, "The plane was so completely demolished that we were almost on top of it before we saw it." Author Sylvia A. Bruner shares the stories of the men who lost their lives deep in the Bighorn Mountains and recounts the events of the crash, search and U.S. Air Corps accident investigation.
Author Biography
Sylvia A. Bruner has worked in the museum field since 2000. As the executive director of the Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum, she has guided the museum through reaccreditation by the American Alliance of Museums and was there when the museum received the Institute for Museum and Library Services' National Medal. The museum is the repository of artifacts related to Bomber Mountain and has a permanent exhibit on the topic. For Bruner, the museum serves as a constant reminder to research and compile this story.
