Louis Barnard Runyan was born on March 10, 1922, in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was the son of Otto Ethwald and Adelia (Barnard) Runyon/Runyan.

Louis served in the 361st Fighter Squadron, 356th Fighter Group, as a First Lieutenant and Pilot on the P-51 #44-15098 during World War II. 1Lt Runyan took off late and last on an operational mission of November 20, 1944. He made a normal take-off and circled to left, climbing above a low layer of broken cloud. He was last seen flying in southwest direction to join his flight apparently in no trouble. A check was made to see if any plane had crashed in the area, and air-sea rescue made a four-plane dog leg search of the briefed course 4 to 5 miles on each side of it. The sea was rough making spotting difficult. The search continued from the English coast almost to the continent. His Flight Commander tried to contact him on the radio I- Base and wing controls received no word from him.

1Lt Runyan's name is memorialized in the Tablets of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

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