Salvadore F. Rubalcava was born on February 15, 1921 in El Paso, El Paso County, Texas. He was the son of Martin Saldana Rubalcava and Eugenia Montes Rubalcava. On January 9, 1945, a group of B-25 aircraft departed the air field at Yang-ki, China, for a bombing mission to strike Japanese targets located in French Indo-China (now Vietnam). As the formation approached the Red River valley, the ceiling suddenly lowered. Some aircraft attempted to climb above the overcast.

B-25 Mitchell #43-4361 disappeared into the clouds and was never seen to emerge. Later, French observers who had been in the area reported "that the aircraft flew into the ground." All six crew members were killed including him.

The French recovered all the bodies and buried them, using the wreckage of the aircraft as a marker. Staff Sergeant Rubalcava's body was later recovered, returned to the U.S., and buried in Fort Bliss National Cemetery. 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.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, https://www.togetherweserved.com