I found a WWII Col Clarence E. "Bud" Anderson BUT there's a photo that he signed "Andy." You might want to check it out. It's as close as I could come to it. The photo he signed is down several paragraphs in the article.

https://warhawkairmuseum.org/blog/col-clarence-e-bud-anderson-wwii-triple-ace-and-2019-warbird-roundup-guest-speaker/

I will go see if it could be him.

The Bud Anderson in the warhawkairmuseum.org article is a famous fighter ace who served in the European Campaign, and I don't think he was ever in the China-Burma-India theater.

I found this on ancestry -

Name: Maybelle Hostetter
[Maybelle Pace]
Gender: Female
Birth Place: Estancla, N. M
Marriage Date: 29 Dec 1940
Residence Place: Colorado Springs
Death Date: 28 Sep 1944
Death Place: India Crash
Obituary Date: 5 Oct 1944
Obituary Place: Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States of America
Father: Whiter Pace

Spouse: John Hostetter

That's our Maybelle, and this confirms she did indeed die in the crash!

Thanks very much!

Blondie's B-25 crashed. LeMay helped move an engine off Saunders' crushed ankle. He spent the next 2 1/2 years in the hospital and was retired in 1947.

https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/105711/brigadier-general-laverne-g-saunders/

Given that this was an "administrative flight"... one could assume that both Anderson and Hostetter died in the crash. Not conclusive but very likely Anderson and Hostetter likely were staff to General Saunders and accompanied him on this "administrative flight".

and for the info too. I will try to find the names of Saunders' staff and see if that might take me somewhere.

I believe a B25 crew was normally 5-6 men depending on variant. Your main question seems to be could a commanding general smuggle his girlfriend onboard and I'm guessing yes. To know more I would ask how many were onboard at the time of the crash and where was the aircraft headed. I betting that A. it was less than a full crew and B. the destination would avoid any hostile contact. I think he brought his girlfriend onboard for a milk run with unfortunate results and have no reason to think he also died in the crash since in a crash an unsecured passenger is the person most at risk.

Maybelle is/was married.

My dad was on a B25 (Mitchell) in the Pacific. I'm trying to remember a picture of the crew, I think it was 5 but possibly 6.

George Wallace's running mate in 1968. He was a jerk. Actually now that I think about it Pompeo reminds me of him.

There are no innocent civilians, so it doesn't bother me so much to be killing innocent bystanders.
Curtis LeMay

If we maintain our faith in God, love of freedom, and superior global air power, the future looks good.
Curtis LeMay

I think there are many times when it would be most efficient to use nuclear weapons. However, the public opinion in this country and throughout the world throw up their hands in horror when you mention nuclear weapons, just because of the propaganda that's been fed to them.
Curtis LeMay

I suppose if I had lost the war, I would have been tried as a war criminal.... Every soldier thinks something of the moral aspects of what he is doing. But all war is immoral and if you let that bother you, you're not a good soldier.
Curtis LeMay

Not a guy I admire...

because everything else in the box appears to have been hers, but now I think the handwriting is my dad's - and not just because he's in the hospital staff photo. His handwriting was small, like on the photo back, whereas my step-mom's was larger and more slanted to the right.

Using a magnifying glass, I just noticed that in the photo, Col. Anderson is cupping a hand over Lt. Hostetter's breast.