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Remember...Cletus Wellington Tusing
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Cletus Wellington Tusing was born March 23, 1944, in Fabius, West Virginia, the eldest child of Russell and Clara Orndorff Tusing. He had a brother Clifton, and the household also included two cousins Uma and Thelma Orndorff.
Cletus attended Moorefield High School, graduating with the class of 1939. He married Pauline Hedrick, and they had a daughter, Cleta Joyce. He enlisted in the Army on January 3, 1942. He took Air Corps training at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and Randolph Field, Texas, where he received his wings. He continued training at Baltimore, Millville in New Jersey, and Camp Spring in Washington, D.C. Cletus went overseas in October or November of 1943. At the time he was reported missing over Germany on February 29, 1944, Cletus Tusing, then a second lieutenant, had received the air medal and a cluster of oak leaves for twenty completed missions.
In May 1944, Lieutenant Tusing's death was confirmed when it was announced by the German Government through the American Red Cross. Lieutenant Tusing, a member of 365th Fighter Squad, 358th Fighter Group, had been participating in a combat mission with a destination of Brunswick, Germany. The plane was shot down near Lingen, Germany, at which time Lieutenant Tusing was killed.
| He is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at Magraten, Netherlands, and a memorial was erected at Asbury United Methodist Cemetery in Hardy County, West Virginia. |  Tablets of the Missing, Netherlands American Cemetery, Magraten Courtesy American Battle Monuments Commission |
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.
