2nd Lt. Rudolph Henry Bisterfeldt was born on November 24, 1919, in Bellwood, Illinois, to Johan Conrad Biesterfeldt & Dorothea “Dorothy” Lenk-Bisterfeldt. He had two sisters and two brothers. With his sisters and brothers, he resided at 111 South Harlem Avenue, Forest Park, Illinois. He attended St. John Lutheran School and then Proviso Township High School as a member of the Class of 1938. At some point his parents divorced and his mother remarried. After high school, he worked at the Jefferson Electric Company as a paper cutter. On July 1, 1941, he registered with Selective Service and gave his address as 300 Marengo Avenue, Forest Park. He also named his mother, Mrs. Edmund Galloway, as his contact person.
He was inducted into the US Army on October 18, 1941, and issued the SN 36, 302, 852, He was transferred to the Army Air Corps and became an air cadet. He trained at Orange County Army Airfield, Santa Ana, California, Santa Maria Army Airfield, Santa Maria, California, and at Lemoore Naval Air Station, Lemoore, California, where he received his wings and commissioned a second lieutenant. His new serial number was O, 740, 349. He was sent for additional training at Luke Army Airfield, Arizona.
Rudolph was assigned to the 362nd Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group, which was stationed at Tonopah Army Airfield, Nevada. He was assigned a P39-D. On April 6, 1943, his formation had been up to 18,000 feet and were letting down in trail formation. At approximately 15,000 feet, the formation had to fly around a small cumulus cloud which was about 300 yards in width. This cloud was described as being similar to a fair-weather cumulus cloud. The last time Rudolph was seen was when he flew into this cloud which the rest of the formation had gone around. What happened in the cloud is not known, but the force of the plane hitting the ground shook houses in a mining camp about a mile from the scene of the accident. When his plane was found, the four-wing guns were imbedded in the ground where the plane hit at about a 70-degree angle. The plane and engine were completely disintegrated. The pilot’s safety belt latch was found locked. The crash took place at the Tonopah Bombing and Gunnery Range about 45 miles southeast of Tonopah. A cause for the crash was never determined. His mother received a telegram that he had been killed in an plane accident the same day.
MRS ROBERT LENGERT
300 MARENGO AVENUE
FOREST PARK ILLINOIS
I DEEPLY REGET TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR SON 2ND LT RUDOLPH H BISTERFELDT WAS KILLED IN AN AIRPLANE ACCIDENT THIS AFTERNOON APRIL 6 AT TONOPAH BOMBING AND GUNNERY RANGE TONOPAH NEVEDA CAUSE OF ACCIDENT UNKNOWN AT PRESENTRUDOPLH WAS ONE OF THE MOST PROMISING PILOTS AND HIS PASSING LEAVES ALL OF US WITH A DEVOUT FEELING OF LOSS THE ENTIRE COMMAND JOINS ME IN THE EXPRESSING MY MOST HEARTFELT SYMPATHY
MAJOR HUBERT EGENE
362 FIGHTER SQUADRON
COMMANDING
2nd Lt. Rudolph Bisterfeldt’s casket was returned to Forest Park, Illinois, for burial and buried in Concordia Cemetery, in Forest Park
