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Saturday, March 11, 2006
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Mustonen to be buried at Evergreen Service set for March 24 Senior Reporter Leo Mustonen is finally coming home.
The 22-year-old World War II airman, who died more than 60 years ago and was entombed in snow and ice in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, will be buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Brainerd.
A service is planned at 1 p.m., March 24, at First Lutheran Church in Brainerd. And a visitation is scheduled between 5-8 p.m., March 23, at Nelson-Doran Funeral Home in Brainerd.
The mystery of Mustonen's story grabbed national headlines and international attention.
Mustonen, Brainerd, was one of three aviation cadets and a pilot, all in their 20s, on a routine flight in a navigational training plane that left Sacramento on Nov. 18, 1942, and disappeared.
The plane crashed far off course in the remote back country of Kings Canyon National Park. Parts of the wreckage was discovered five years after the crash, but the difficult and dangerous terrain deterred additional searches for the missing crew.
In October 2005, climbers found an airman's head and arm jutting out of solid ice in the Mendel glacier. Forensic experts and military body recovery specialists worked to melt a 400-pound block of ice and granite that encased the body. The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Honolulu worked to determine a positive identification. The announcement confirming the airman as Mustonen came in early February.
Mustonen was the son of Finnish immigrants Anna and Arvid Mustonen. The family, including another son, Arvo, lived on Maple Street in Brainerd. Mustonen graduated from Brainerd High School in 1938.
His survivors include two nieces and a sister-in-law who live in Florida. The mountain discovery and subsequent journey brought the family closer to a missing piece of its past.
Leo's nieces - Leane Mustonen Ross and Ona Lea Mustonen - rediscovered an uncle. In an earlier interview, Ross said there was no question about a final resting place. The family made plans to bring Leo back to his hometown and the parents, particularly his mother, who were left to wonder what had happened and mourn without answers for decades until a receding glacier gave up its secrets.
RENEE RICHARDSON can be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.
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