Second Lieutenant Robert J. Nystrom was born January 3, 1921. His next of kin were Charles and Mary Nystrom. He was from Sturtevant, Wisconsin.



On June 27, 1944, he was the Navigator aboard B-24 tail #41-29004 of the 448th Bomb Group, 714th Bomb Squadron, when it went down over the English Channel.

His remains were never recovered.



The night before his final mission, Bob mailed this letter to his parents:



'England 26 June, 1944'



'Dear Mama & Dad'



'It looks as if I’ve been neglecting you for the last few days but it hasn’t been intentional. We’ve been busy with various things, our business in particular. I guess I can tell you that we’ve been over enemy territory. I’ll save the whole story until I get home.'



'When we get back from a mission everybody is very nice to us. We’re questioned by an intelligence officer, very gentle & helpful, and somebody even offered to turn my equipment in for me. The Red Cross serves coffee and doughnuts and sandwiches and no matter what time it is the mess hall opens up to serve a meal.'



'There’s one ground force boy, a KP, who looks after “his” boys. He’s present every time the planes come back from a mission and “sweats it out” for the fellows in certain barracks which he has taken under his wing. He collects pictures of the combat crews, runs errands for them and does the “sweating out” at the end of each mission. So his nickname is “Sweat ‘em out.” They say he used to be a cook but he’d let the boys in anytime and let them help themselves to anything so he was removed.'



'The Chaplin is present at every briefing and before we leave we may receive Holy Communion without fasting or going to Confession. I guess that’s a special privilege given to men going into battle.'



'We haven’t gotten any mail at this field yet so that means I haven’t heard from you for over a month. I hope the mail from here isn’t delayed too much.'



'We’ve been having quite a few practice missions and getting a good look at England from the air. By the way, I didn’t get a bit scared on our little trip over Europe.'



'I’m writing this letter from the Officers’ Club which is quite nice. They have American radio programs, comfortable chairs and big pictures of the B-24’s in action. We can also hear German programs which also have good American music and bad German propaganda. One of the fellows said that last Christmas they wished the 448th Bomb Group a Merry Christmas and said they hoped to see the Group soon.'



'I haven’t heard from Gordon yet. Gee, I hope I can see him. You know, we get a 6 or 7 day pass after we’ve completed a certain number of missions and then I could go meet him.'



'Remember to send me some candy soon. We get plenty of gum by the way.'



'That seems all for now. Love Bob'