Bruce Charles Pelto
First Lieutenant Bruce C. Pelto was a Marine pilot assigned to VMSB-131 during the Solomon Islands campaign.
His aircraft failed to return from a strike against Japanese shipping on 2 December 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number O-8048
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
December 14, 1918
at Detroit, MI
Parents
Bjornar Peter Pelto
Maria (Keränen) Pelto
Education
Baltimore City College
Texas Tech (ex-1942)
Occupation
College Student
Service Life
Entered Service
June 7, 1941
at Anacostia, D. C.
Home Of Record
910 East 36th Street
Baltimore, MD
Next Of Kin
Father, Mr. Peter B. Pelto
Specialty
Pilot
Primary Unit
VMSB-131
Campaigns Served
Solomon Islands
Individual Decorations
Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
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Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
First Lieutenant Bruce C. Pelto was a pilot assigned to VMSB-131, flying TBF Avenger bombers out of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal.
On 3 December 1942, the crew of TBF-1 BuNo 00558 – Lieutenant Pelto, Corporal Vernon L. Goodwin, and PFC Kenneth C. Gros – participated in a strike against Japanese shipping about 160 miles northwest of Guadalcanal. The return flight was made after dark and in very poor weather. Lieutenant Pelto’s plane was last heard from about twenty miles from Guadalcanal; it never returned to the field.
All three Marines were declared dead on 4 December 1943.
Burial Information or Disposition
Not recovered; believed lost with aircraft.
Capt Bruce C. Pelto was my maternal aunt’s oldest son. It seems like every year I am able to find out more and more about his story. There are only a few of us cousins that are still alive and grew up hearing about him and his bravery. I hope someday something belonging to him or his plane can be found and identified.