Burton Rubens was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1911. He enlisted at Philadelphia on February 28, 1942. He had completed 3 years of high school, was single with no dependents, and had been employed as a sales person. Sometime later, he married Riska Lisker.

After basic training, he received training to be a basic flight engineer. He also was taught the rudiments of aerial gunnery. Then, he was assigned to the newly-activated 388th Bomb Group at Gowen Field, Idaho for training on combat crew techniques in the B-17. He was assigned to the crew headed by Lt. Felece, and deployed with the Bomb Group to England in July 1943.

On October 2, 1943, the crew was part of a raid on the Hispano Aero Engine Works at Emden, Germany. Bombing through the clouds, all bombs were released with unknown results. Shortly after the last bomb was dropped, the B-17 was struck by a flak shell, causing damage to both # 1 and # 2 engine. The aircraft dropped from the formation, went into a spiral dive, and crashed just north of Emden, along the Danish border. All 10 airmen bailed out, but all landed in the North Sea and were killed.

TSgt Rubens' body washed ashore on November 27, 1943, north of Kamden. He was buried in the Westerland Cemetery on Sylt Island, Germany, but later moved to the Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium. He was one of the many brave Americans of the 388th Bomber Group who lost their lives in aerial operations against the German forces from June 1943 - August 1945.

Source of information: www.abmc.gov, airforce.togetherweserved.com