Endel Puusepp Endel Puusepp or Pusep ( ; May 1 , 1909 – June 18 , 1996 ) was a Soviet World War II pilot who completed over 30 night - time long - range bombing missions against Nazi Germany . He was a recipient of the Hero of the Soviet Union award for flying a high - ranking delegation over the front line from Moscow to Washington , D . C . and back to negotiate the opening of the Western Front . Early life . Endel Puusepp was born into a family of Estonian peasants living in Yeniseysk Governorate , Siberia . His parents moved there , drawn by an offer of the Russian government to be given as much land as they could manage to cultivate . Thus , thousands of Estonians settled in Siberia and built farms , where they preserved their language and culture . Ever since early childhood , Puusepp dreamed of becoming a pilot . His parents , however , envisaged a different career for him : either a teacher or an agronomist . Having completed 7 grades of school , Puusepp moved to Leningrad to study at the Estonian - Finnish Teachers ' College . Aviation career . After completing one year of studies at the teacher ' s college , Puusepp transferred to a pilot ' s school , first in Volsk and later in Orenburg . He stayed at the latter as a flight instructor , having graduated . He was later transferred to a newly formed squadron specializing in blind flying ( using only the airplane ' s instruments due to limited visibility ) . Polar aviation . By 1938 , Puusepp was an established pilot , proficient in blind flying . Even earlier , he participated in the operation to locate the plane of Sigizmund Levanevsky , which disappeared in the Arctic . The North captivated Puusepp so much that he decided to stay and work there . He flew to the ice station North Pole - 1 on several occasions and visited other Soviet Arctic stations . He was also involved in creating optimal routes for ships and in observing the movements of ice . While on one of these missions over the Kara Sea , Puusepp learned about the onset of the Operation Barbarossa . Having landed , Puusepp requested a transfer to the front line . World War II . On August 8 , 1941 , under the command of Mikhail Vodopianov , Puusepp participated in his first bombing mission . After successfully dropping bombs on Berlin and while returning to the home base , his airplane was heavily damaged by anti - aircraft artillery , resulting in an emergency landing in Estonia , then occupied by the Nazis . Upon exiting the plane , the crew encountered a frightened shepherd boy . Puusepp , who did not forget his native Estonian was able to find out the location of the Nazi troops from him and avoid being captured , safely returning to Soviet - controlled territory . By April 1942 , Puusepp completed 30 nighttime long - range bombing missions against Berlin , Danzig , and Königsberg . By that time , the Soviet Union was involved in negotiations with the Allies concerning the opening of the Western front . It was decided to send a Soviet delegation headed by the Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov , first to Great Britain and then to the United States . Puusepp was chosen to be the pilot for this unprecedented and highly risky operation , involving flying over the front line and enemy - controlled territories . On May 29 , 1942 , after stopping in Tealing , Prestwick , Reykjavík , and Goose Bay , the Petlyakov Pe - 8 plane with the Soviet delegation on board landed in Washington . Returning home was even more perilous . Puusepp feared the Nazis were aware of the completed negotiations , and would intend to intercept the delegation on its way back . A ruse was employed involving reports published by the Soviet press , announcing the successful return of the Soviet delegation . It was only after this act of disinformation that the airplane set course for Moscow . For successful completion of the mission , Puusepp was given the Hero of the Soviet Union award . Upon receiving it , he remarked , surprised , that he didn ' t do anything extraordinary . He continued bombing missions against the enemy troops in Stalingrad , Kursk , Oryol , and Belgorod . During one of the missions , Puusepp sustained a shrapnel injury of his spine and had to undergo 5 surgeries . He never fully recovered and retired from the Soviet Air Force in 1946 at the rank of colonel . Later years . After the war , Puusepp moved to Tallinn , where he was appointed head of the Central Board of Road Transport of the Estonian SSR . In 1950 , he was elected Vice Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR and later worked as Minister of Social Insurance of the republic . Endel Puusepp died on June 18 , 1996 . He is buried at the Metsakalmistu cemetery in Tallinn .