Bernard R. Yglesias 1919-1945

Bernard R. Yglesias was born 1919 in New Orleans, LA.   He was also called Ben.  He married Doris Keen in Baton Rouge, LA in 1939. They had four children. He entered the US Air Force in 1944.  Afterr training, he went overseas and was a gunner on a B-29 plane.  We know from his diary of missions that he was on his 12th mission on May 29, 1945 when the plane went into the sea after being hit.  All 11 crew members were never recovered.  

Years ago in my research, I located some of the relatives of other crew members and was told that this B-29 plane may have been named "City of Atlanta".  I also spoke with Van Parker, a Captain who actually saw the plane go down and later wrote a statement for the report. His own plane and crew were nearby. Mr. Parker wrote a book "Dear Folks" of his time during WWII and several pages are dedicated to the loss of the B-29 that Ben was on.  Mr Parker knew the pilot, O'Leary well. 

Bernard (Ben) wrote many letters home, as I am sure most service men did, and the letters tell of his experieince during the year he served with the US Air Force and his desire to serve and protect his county, while fully expecting to be reunited with his family afterwards.  He was KIA May 29, 1945 and left a beautiful wife and four small children.