The bust of airman captain Mircea T. Bădulescu

THE BUST OF AIRMAN CAPTAIN MIRCEA T. BĂDULESCU Airman Captain Mircea T. Bădulescu, hero of the Second World War, is considered an ace of the Romanian dive bombers. He was born on 1st November 1917, in Buzău. He attended the Primary School for Boys No. 2 of Buzău, today „Airman Captain Mircea T. Bădulescu” Secondary School No. 1. and „Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu” High School. In 1939 he was admitted to the School of Aviation Officers of Bucharest. After Romania’s entry into the Second World War, he carried out several reconnaissance and bombing missions on the Eastern Front. Patented in 1943 on the German Junker 87 D-3 Stukas he carried out dozens of combat missions on the Eastern Front, and from September 1944 on the Western Front. On 13th January 1945 he bombed the main bridges over the Danube in Budapest, Chain Bridge and Elizabeth Bridge, which until then the Allied air forces – American, British and Soviet – had failed to disable. He was awarded the Order of Michael the Brave for his heroism on the battlefield in the execution of 230 dive-bombing missions with exceptional results. In 1951 he was transferred to the reserve with the rank of captain. He worked for a period as economic director at Prahova County Agricultural Directorate. He died in 1967 following a car accident when crossing a railway passage. His bust, the work of the artist Valentin Tănase, director of the Army’s Fine Arts Studio, was unveiled in front of the secondary school that has borne his name since 2002.