Joseph J. Musial was born on May 22, 1918, in Plymouth, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Jacob Musial and Margaret Magdalene "Maggie" Klimczak Musial. He was the husband of Eleanore C. Curran Musial.

He served in the 369th Bomber Squadron, 306th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Technical Sergeant and left waist gunner of B17G " Susan Ruth" #42-31499 during World War II. On a mission to Frankfurt, Musial's plane was attacked and shot down by two Luftwaffe Focke-Wulf 190 fighters and crashed near Macquenoise, Belgium, on February 8, 1944. A 20mm shell blew his leg off when ME's caught up with the plane over France. He was taken as a POW at Stalag Luft 4 Gross-Tychow (formerly Heydekrug) Pomerania, Prussia (moved to Wobbelin Bei Ludwigslust) (To Usedom Bei Savenmunde) 54-16. Before the ETO, he was with the 13th AF in the South Pacific, where he flew 72 missions in a B-17 and volunteered for another combat tour. TSgt Musial died on March 15, 1991, and is now buried in the Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA. He was awarded the Purple Heart, Air Medal Distinguished Flying Cross, Prisoner of War Medal and Presidential Citation.

Source of information: www.americanairmuseum.com