Cold War reconnaissance loss · Reported in Soviet custody · Never returned
The man
A Russian émigré later said he heard that “Bush and Moore” from a U.S. spy plane downed in 1952 “will forever remain in the soil of the Khabarovsk Region.” Master Sgt. David Moore was aboard Busch’s plane. (Unconfirmed by PIP.)
What is known
Major Busch had been studying to become a pharmacist after the Second World War, and was recalled to Air Force service for the Korean War.
He was commanding a U.S. Air Force RB-29 with a crew of 12 on a classified mission to gather intelligence on Soviet shipping between the Sakhalin and Kurile Islands. The aircraft was downed by Soviet fighters on 13 June 1952 off Cape Mys Ostrovnoy in the Sea of Japan.
Evidence indicated the crash was survivable. Five days later the United States sent a message to the Soviets reporting floating debris associated with the loss — oxygen bottles, life preservers; life rafts and, by some reports, the aircraft itself were seen on the water. “The presence of such items would indicate that there were survivors who may have been picked up by Soviet ships,” the State Department said, asking for Soviet help. The Kremlin said it knew nothing about the crew.
A Japanese repatriate held in Khabarovsk Camp No. 21 said he heard from guards, prisoners and laborers in the spring of 1953 that 12 or 13 Americans from a military plane shot down by the Soviets were in Khabarovsk Prison.
The U.S. State Department told Moscow it believed men from Busch’s flight, and from another, had been imprisoned, and demanded their release.
Among the U.S. airmen searching for the missing RB-29 was Air Force Sgt. William Koski. The following month Koski was himself shot down over Korea and sent to a special POW camp in China, where he was interrogated about Maj. Busch. “If he were dead at the bottom of the Sea of Japan, why all the interest?” he recalled, adding: “I am as convinced today as I was then that they had Busch . . . and maybe a few others of his crew.”
A Russian source later surfaced information claiming Major Busch and another crewman had been captured and beaten to death because they were “arrogant Americans.”
What remains unresolved
Whether Busch and his crew survived, and what happened to them, is unresolved. The reporting points in two directions: toward imprisonment in the Khabarovsk region, and toward the deaths of at least two crewmen shortly after capture.
When American investigators asked Russia during the 1990s about the reported survivors, Moscow said it had no information. Asked why Soviet officers had repeatedly interrogated a Korean War prisoner about Busch, who had disappeared far away, Moscow suggested the Soviets might have picked the name up from communications intercepts.
Why the case matters
Busch’s case is one where the United States itself, at the time, said in writing that it believed the men had been captured. The 1955 Department of Defense assessment of this and related losses concluded that “Air Force crews…are probably held by the Soviet Union,” and warned the State Department of the “undesirability of providing any information” to the families about the possible survival of their loved ones.
Decades later, the families were still asking.
Evidence and sources
- The 18 June 1952 U.S. message to the Soviet Union describing recovered debris and asking for assistance.
- The account of a returned Japanese prisoner from POW Camp 21, Khabarovsk, reporting twelve or thirteen U.S. airmen held there in spring 1953.
- U.S. State Department demands to Moscow for the release of men from the Busch crew.
- The recollection of Air Force Sgt. William Koski of being interrogated about Busch in a special POW camp in China.
- Reporting from a Russian source that Busch and another crewman were killed after capture.
- 1955 Department of Defense memorandum on the 1950, 1952 and other air losses.
- Related lead: U.S. aircrews secretly imprisoned in the Soviet Union
Request for information
Charlotte Busch Mitnik, Major Busch’s younger sister, spent decades investigating his fate. “If indeed, Major Sam Busch died in a Gulag, I would like the return of his remains,” she said. She died in January 2022, without an answer.
She was a formidable advocate, with a feisty Philadelphia manner and a sense of humor that delighted her allies and discomfited the officials who stood in her way. She had lost two brothers to war. “She dedicated her life to finding the truth about what happened to her brother Samuel,” her nephew Michael Busch wrote after her death. “She never gave up.”
Please contact us if you can help with any of the following.
- Soviet prison, camp or hospital records from the Khabarovsk and Amur regions for 1952-53 naming American airmen, including Khabarovsk Camp 21 and the prison in Svobodnyy.
- Accounts from former guards, prisoners or interrogators of the 12 or 13 Americans reported in Khabarovsk Prison in 1953, or of the eight survivors reported in solitary confinement at Svobodnyy.
- The burial places of American airmen in the Khabarovsk region, including Busch and Master Sgt. David Moore.
The State Department told Moscow it believed the crew had been imprisoned. A Japanese repatriate heard of a dozen American airmen in Khabarovsk Prison, and Soviet officers questioned a Korean War prisoner about Busch by name. Were some of the crew beaten to death as “arrogant Americans”? Were others kept in solitary at Svobodnyy? Where are they buried?
Українська
Майор Семюел Н. Буш, ВПС США — зник безвісти, Японське море, 13 червня 1952 року
Після Другої світової війни майор Буш навчався на фармацевта, але був покликаний на службу до ВПС під час Корейської війни.
Буш командував літаком ВПС США RB-29 (на прізвисько «Самотній і безстрашний») з 12 членами екіпажу під час таємної місії зі збору розвідувальних даних про радянські перевезення між Сахаліном і Курильськими островами. 13 червня 1952 року літак був збитий радянськими винищувачами біля мису Островной у Японському морі.
Наявні дані свідчать, що екіпаж міг вижити. Японський в’язень, який повернувся з табору для військовополонених № 21 у Хабаровську, пізніше повідомив, що навесні 1953 року в тюрмі перебували дванадцять або тринадцять американських льотчиків. Охоронці сказали йому, що це екіпаж американського літака, збитого радянськими силами. Державний департамент США повідомив Москві, що вважає членів екіпажу Буша ув’язненими, і зажадав їх звільнення.
Пізніше російське джерело повідомило, що майор Буш і ще один член екіпажу були захоплені й забиті до смерті.
Ми шукаємо: тюремні, табірні та госпітальні записи Хабаровського й Магаданського регіонів за 1952–1953 роки; спогади тих, хто служив у таборі № 21 у Хабаровську або в тюрмі міста Свободний; записи про поховання американських льотчиків; імена радянських офіцерів, які вели допити.
«Якщо майор Сем Буш справді помер у ГУЛАГу, я хотіла б повернути його останки», — говорила його сестра Шарлотта Буш Мітнік (померла 2022 року).
Напишіть нам: contact@powinvestigativeproject.org
Русский
Майор Сэмюэл Н. Буш, ВВС США — пропал без вести, Японское море, 13 июня 1952 года
После Второй мировой войны Сэмюэл Буш учился на фармацевта, но во время Корейской войны был вновь призван в ВВС.
Буш командовал самолётом ВВС США RB-29 с бортовым названием «Одинокий и бесстрашный» и экипажем из 12 человек, выполнявшим секретное задание по сбору разведданных о советском судоходстве между Сахалином и Курильскими островами. 13 июня 1952 года самолёт был сбит советскими истребителями у мыса Островной в Японском море.
Имевшиеся данные указывали на то, что экипаж мог выжить. Японский военнопленный, вернувшийся из лагеря № 21 в Хабаровске, позднее сообщил, что весной 1953 года там находились двенадцать или тринадцать американских лётчиков; охранники говорили ему, что это экипаж американского самолёта, сбитого советскими истребителями. Государственный департамент США сообщил Москве, что считает заключёнными членов экипажа Буша и ещё одного самолёта, и потребовал их освободить.
Позднее российский источник сообщил, что майор Буш и ещё один член экипажа были взяты в плен и забиты до смерти как «заносчивые американцы».
Мы ищем: тюремные, лагерные и госпитальные записи Хабаровского и Магаданского регионов за 1952–1953 годы; воспоминания служивших в лагере № 21 в Хабаровске или в тюрьме города Свободный; записи о захоронениях американских лётчиков; имена советских офицеров, проводивших допросы.
«Если майор Сэм Буш действительно умер в ГУЛАГе, я хотела бы, чтобы его останки вернули», — говорила его сестра Шарлотта Буш-Митник (умерла в 2022 году).
Напишите нам: contact@powinvestigativeproject.org