Lost Airman No Longer ‘On a Mountain Alone’

A World War II airman whose body was chipped out of a California glacier last fall was buried in his hometown Friday, more than six decades after the young man disappeared during a training flight.

The two nieces of Leo A. Mustonen, an Army Air Corps cadet, were among about 100 people who gathered at First Lutheran Church to say goodbye. A full military funeral followed at a cemetery overlooking the Mississippi River.

“This is one of the most unique and special days that any of us will ever be a part of,” the pastor, Andy Smith, said.

“Today we are burying a small-town boy from Brainerd, Minn., who dreamed of flying.”

Mustonen was 22 when a training flight from Sacramento crashed on remote Mt. Mendel in Kings Canyon National Park. An engine, scattered remains and clothing were found over the following years.

All four airmen aboard were killed in the crash.

Mustonen’s remains were not discovered until last year, when two mountain climbers spotted an arm jutting out of the ice.

Forensic scientists at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii analyzed bones, DNA samples and the airman’s teeth before declaring last month that the body was Mustonen’s.

At the cemetery, Mustonen was honored with a three-volley salute and a bugler sounding taps. The military paid for the funeral, as it would for any soldier who died on active duty.

His nieces, Mary Ruth Mustonen and Leane Ross, did not speak at the funeral, but at an earlier news conference, they said they had been overwhelmed by the stories they had heard about their uncle over the last few weeks.

They learned that he was an ace student who excelled in science, who played sports and played in the school band, and who wanted to work in aviation even as a boy.

Mary Ruth Mustonen was 11 months old when her uncle died; Ross had not been born.

“It’s been pretty incredible,” Ross said before the service. “He’s become really a person. He really feels like he is ours now, and we’ve grown to love him.”

Leo Mustonen was buried alongside his mother, Anna, who grieved for years for her son.

“He’s no longer out there on a mountain alone,” Ross said.