Gordon Bryant Gardner was born on June 18, 1922 in Eureka, Juab County, Utah. He was the son of Ellis Freeman Gardner and Lysle N. Burson of Utah. Gordon had completed four years of high school at the time of his enlistment December 30, 1941 at Salt Lake City, Utah. When he enlisted, his residence was Twin Falls, Idaho. Gordon joined the Air Force, then known as the Army Air Corps, and wanted to be a pilot but became a radio technician instead due to a heart murmur.

On January 5, 1945, Gordon's plane, a C-109 - a modified B-24, left Kurmitola, India for a routine transport flight over "The Hump" to a destination of Chengkung, China. The aircraft belonged to the Air Transport Command, 1345th Army Air Force Base Unit at Tezgaon, India. The weather was reported clear at 500ft to 20,000ft that day. The Hump, despite the good weather that day, was known as a particularly bad area to fly because of storms and the lesser flight technology of the time. A witness statement given by 1st Lt Louis D Foglia reported to have made radio contact with the aircraft at Chabua, India (airbase there). The aircraft disappeared after this communication, with no known cause. A search conducted under the command of Capt Joseph H Chuse, Base Rescue Officer, was unsuccessful in locating the missing ship or its crew. Gordon's body was never recovered. He was declared "Missing in Action" on cc and is commemorated on the Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Taguig City, Philippines.

He was one of over 2000 Americans who lost their lives defending China from their Japanese invaders from 1941-1945. He is commemorated on the The Monument to the Aviation Martyrs in the War of Resistance Against Japan in Nanjing, China but death date is inscribed as 1945-01-05.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov