textbullingtonrudolphlee1942.html

North High School Wall of Honor
Rudolph Lee Bullington
Class of August, 1942

Research done by Rick Nehrling, class of 1963 and Claradell Shedd, class of 1953.

Rudolph Lee Bullington

Rudolph was a member of North High's class of August, 1942. His service number was 0-2066969 in the US Army Air Corps. His next of kin is shown as Edward L. Bullington, 1644 30th Street, Des Moines, IA.

He died in September 3, 1944 in an airplane crash. At the time of his death, his rank was 2nd Lieutenant. His death was reported as DNB, died; nonbattle..

Rudolph Lee Bullington

Year		Rank/Rating		Status

1940	x		x	1940 Census indicates living at 1644 30th Street in Des Moines, IA
August, 1942	x	x	x	Graduated from North High, Des Moines, IA
six months		Education		College in Lansing, Michigan
January 23, 1942	x	US Army Air Corps/	x	Enlisted at Fort Des Moines, IA as a pilot. After his death, 1949 Military paperwork filed indicates prior to entering the armed service, he lived at 1644 30th Street, Des Moines, IA
date	x	US Army Air Corps	x	Basic training. Where and when?
Mar 4, 1944	x	Family	x	Married Georgene Ruth Watts in Sikeston, MO
September 3, 1944	x	US Army Air Corps/ 2nd Lt.	x	Died in airplane crash at *Aloe Field, Victoria, TX
aft Sep 3, 1944	x	Buried	x	Interred at Resthaven Cemetery, West Des Moines, IA
December 9, 1944	x	Family	x	Georgene Ruth Watts Bullington gave birth to a son, Rudolph Lee Bullington, Jr. The son served in the US Navy in Vietnam and died December 25, 1988.

*Aloe Army Air Base, Victoria, TX
Aloe AAF was established by the United States Army Air Forces as an advanced flying school, first known as Victoria Field #2 on 28 July 1942. It was redesignated as Aloe Army Airfield on 27 October 1942. Its mission was an advanced single-engine training field for fighter pilots. Aloe also became the new home of the Lake Charles Army Flying School, which relocated from Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Its training unit was the 347th Aviation Squadron, which used the North American AT-6 Texan, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and lastly Republic P-47 Thunderbolts. Cadets were schooled in flying & in ground & aerial gunnery. During its use as a training airfield, Aloe had a total of 4 satellite fields:

Aloe Aux #7 (7.6 miles northwest of Victoria), of which no trace remains,
Aloe Aux #8 (4.2 miles south of Goliad), of which no trace remains,
Aloe Aux #9 (15 miles southwest of Victoria), of which no trace remains,
Fannin Aux #10 (7.2 miles ENE of Goliad).
Aloe AAF was inactivated on 31 October 1945, and the government made plans to reassign the field as a subpost of Foster Army Air Field near Victoria, but both Aloe & Foster were closed. Aloe AAF was declared surplus by the War Department in 1946 and was turned over to the War Assets Administration for disposal.

Aloe Field, with its 304 buildings, was transferred to Victoria County in 1948, after which the site became Victoria County Airport.

Glendale Cemetery, Des Moines, IA

References

The above information was obtained from the following:
(1) The World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel were created by the War Department, the Adjutant General's Office, Administrative Services Division, Strength Accounting Branch. The original records are held at the Modern Military records LICON, Textural Services Division (NWCTM), National Archives at College Park, Maryland. The records are available online at http://www.archives.gov/.
The documents contain the latest and most complete information available of all Army and Army Air Force personnel who were killed or died, or became and remained missing between the President's declaration of unlimited national emergency on May 27, 1941, and the cut-off date of this report, January 31, 1946. This document includes both battle and nonbattle dead and missing.

The type of casualty is indicated by the following:

* KIA - Killed in Action. This is an individual who was killed in action at the front, by enemy action in the rear, or if a prisoner of war.

* DOW - Died of Wounds. This is an individual was who wounded and later died.

* DOI - This is an individual who suffered fatal battle injuries and died in a line of duty status.

*DNB - Died Nonbattle. This is an individual who died in a line of duty death, such as from sickness, homicide, suicide, or accidents outside of combat areas (training).

*M - Missing. This is an individual who is reported as missing and later was determined to be dead.

*FOD - Finding of Death. Findings of death fall within Public Law 490 and its amendments and are made when there is either conclusive proof that the person is dead or equally overwhelming evidence that under the circumstances the person could not have remained alive.

This document contains the names of those individuals who died in the line of duty status. Those individuals who were not in the line of duty at the time of their death are not listed in this document.

(2) The comprehensive list of names from North High's 1893-2018 graduation classes are from Claradell Shedd's North Des Moines High School website. The names of North High School graduates can be found online at: http://www.ndmhs.com. Rudolph Lee Bullington's 1942 class page is: http://www.ndmhs.com/pages/yearclass1942(1987.45).html.

Died September 3, 1944.

Music: "Windmills of My Mind"