As a child, Myron “Buz” Buswell kept busy making solid-wood model airplanes. As a teenager in 1938, he obtained his pilot’s license, built his first aircraft and made a solo flight. During the Second World War, Buswell left Oregon to pilot a B-24J Liberator in the Army Air Corps.
Besides being co-pilot of one of the longest raids in history lasting 16 hours round-trip, he flew 42 combat missions. Discharged from the service as a captain in 1945, the third generation Oregonian was awarded the Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters.
After the war, Buswell married Jean Briscoe and they eventually moved to Lakeview, Ore., east of Klamath Falls, where they managed the local airport for 32 years. During that time, Buswell became a certified master mechanic, an instructor and received the FAA Charles Taylor award.
He was an active member of the Experimental Aircraft Association and a director of the Oregon Airmen’s Association. Buswell joined the Oregon Aviation Hall of Fame in 2004.
Buswell once said that the total hours he had flown added up to about five years.
Sources: Skinner, Carol. "Myron "Buz" Buswell." OAHS Newsletter (2005): 6. Web. 17 Dec. 2015. https://oregonaviation.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/2005_12.pdf; Huit, Katherine. "Oregon Aviation Hall of Honor." Flightlines Summer (2007): 3. Web. 17 Dec. 2015.
