The remains of a fallen World War II soldier will be interred Oct. 24 in Philip.
2nd Lt. Earl Ferguson was killed in action Aug 1, 1943. The B-24 he was co-piloting crashed after being hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation Tidal Wave.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency recovered his remains from a cemetery in Belgium in 2017 and identified them as Ferguson’s in 2019.
The Past Conflict Repatriations Branch (PCRB), under the Army Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Operations Division at the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Fort Knox, Kentucky, plays a key role in the process of locating Family members of missing Soldiers from World War II, the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
The process begins with locating the family member most closely related to the missing soldier, known as the primary next of kin, followed by a request for family reference samples or DNA, which are used as a main source in identifying remains.
Once the Armed Forces Medical Examiner identifies a soldier, the PCRB notifies and briefs the family about the results of historical, forensic and DNA reports, benefits and the mortuary process including burial with full military honors.
Ferguson’s interment takes place in Philip—his hometown—at the Masonic Philip Cemetery.