Lloyd Buresh
| Date and Place of Birth: | April 18, 1933 Karlin, MO |
| Date and Place of Death: | August 26, 1955 near Cushing, TX |
| Baseball Experience: | Amateur |
| Position: | Third Base |
| Rank: | Airman First Class |
| Military Unit: | 3530th Air Base Group Squadron, USAF |
| Area Served: | United States |
Lloyd D. Buresh, the son of Walter and Genevieve "Ted" Buresh, was born on April
18, 1933 in Karlin (about 4 miles south of Bolivar), Missouri.
Buresh, grew up in Benton Township, Polk County, Missouri, and served as an Airman First Class with the
3530th Air Base Group Squadron, USAF, stationed at Bryan
Air Force Base, Texas. A third baseman, Buresh played for the Bryan AFB
Bulldogs who played two games a week in the Bryan City League in 1955.
On August 26, 1955, as a member of the Bryan AFB
baseball team, 22-year-old Buresh was traveling on the team bus to take
part in a tournament at Barksdale AFB in Shreveport, Louisiana. About
three miles from Cushing, Texas, their bus blew a tire and plunged over
a 30-foot embankment into a dry creek.
The injured managed to crawl out the windows or were helped out by
rescuers. Trapped in the wreckage and fatally injured were Lloyd Buresh
and the driver of the bus, A/1c James C. Kirkpatrick of Buff City,
Tennessee. Both died at a Nacogdoches hospital shortly afterwards.
The thirteen others were all injured, four of them critically.
Lloyd Buresh is buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Burns,
Missouri.
The other players involved in the bus crash were:
M/Sgt. William C. Littlejohn, Jr. (2B)
A/1c George E. Smith (C)
S/Sgt. Frederick A. LeClaire (pitched for the Goldsboro Cardinals in
1950)
T/Sgt. Robert T. Moore (Mgr/P)
A/2c Eugene C. Chigounis of Passaic, NJ (2B)
A/2c Robert C. Zittlow of Wisconsin (OF)
A/2c Lewis Robinson of Medford, MA
A/1c Lionel J. "Skippy" Noreau, Jr. of Massachussetts (SS)
1/Lt. Pasquale P. "Pat" Pavone of Massachussetts (1B)
A/2c Bobby E. Jackson of Austin, TX
A/2c John H. Shaver of Wyoming, PA
A/2c Edward E. Heymen of Miami, FL
A/lc James Creager
Sources:
Bryan Eagle May 26, 1955
Albuquerque Journal August 27, 1955
Frederick Post August 27, 1955
Hutchinson News-Herald August 27, 1955
Joplin Globe August 27, 1955
Waco News Tribune August 27, 1955
Big Spring Daily Herald August 28, 1955
Galveston News August 28, 1955
Kerrville Daily Times August 28, 1955
Pacific Stars and Stripes August 28, 1955
Certificate of Death 46101
Date Added February 25, 2013 Updated April 14, 2020
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