Charles M. Bussey

Charles M. Bussey (April 23, 1921 – October 26, 2003) was a decorated soldier in the U.S. military who served with the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II, and with the Army Corps of Engineers in the Korean War. Bussey was awarded an Air Medal for service in World War II, the Silver Star and two Purple Hearts for service in Korea. Bussey also received the Legion of Merit for service rendered in California in 1964. and raised in Bakersfield, California. He attended Bakersfield High School and participated in the Citizens' Military Training Camp while he was a student there. Before joining the military, Bussey worked as a framebuilder at Vega Aircraft Corporation.

Military service World War II Bussey joined the U.S. Army in September 1941, training as an aviation cadet at the Tuskegee Army Flying School, with unit training at Selfridge as a member of the 302nd 'Hellions'. He graduated with class 43-E. He served as a P-47 Thunderbolt pilot He flew 115 missions before being rotated out to be an instructor at Tuskegee in the spring of 1945.

Interim After World War II, Bussey enrolled in the Los Angeles Police Academy, graduating first in his class, and then worked as a Los Angeles police officer

Korean War On July 20, 1950, then-First Lieutenant Bussey, while under mortar fire.

During the Battle of the Pusan Perimeter, on August 6, 1950, seven men from the 77th ECC were seriously wounded and left for dead when a platoon withdrew from the front lines near Haman. Two of the men were able to leave the area despite being surrounded by enemy combatants. where he remained on the front lines for 22 hours.

Bussey's tour in Korea ended in January 1951, and attached to the 30th Engineer Group, in December 1956. Bussey retired from the army as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1966. He was also the president of the San Francisco Container Corporation.

Bussey was appointed as a member of then-Governor Reagan's Task Force on Aerospace–Aviation Education, formed in 1969,

He was employed by Bechtel on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and in Jubail. Carlisle and Bussey had been gathering records that directly contradicted the U.S. Army's official characterization of the 24th Infantry Regiment before Sheehan's book was published. In 1991, Bussey wrote Firefight at Yechon: courage and racism in the Korean War to depict "the life and times of fighting men."

Personal life He had several children.

Death Bussey died from complications due to diabetes and heart disease in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 26, 2003. He was buried in Daly City, California.