Firefighters honor fallen World War II airman

The remains of a World War II airman were returned home some 82 years after his bomber crashed in France.

Staff Sgt. Robert L. Ferris Jr., 20, was a ball turret gunner on a B-17 bomber when it was shot down on Dec. 20, 1942, by an enemy fighter plane near the village of Bernieres-sur-Seine, France.

Ferris was transported from Raleigh-Durham International Airport to New Bern on Thursday, a journey that took him through Wilson County.

The N.C. State Highway Patrol and 18 motorcycles from the Patriot Guard Riders organization escorted the Cotten Funeral Home hearse containing Ferris’ remains.

The route took Ferris through Wilson along U.S. 264.

Firefighters from Wilson Fire Rescue Services’ Engine 5, Battalion 3 were stationed on the Raleigh Road Parkway overpass to salute the procession, which passed under an oversize American flag hung from a fire ladder.

“We take great honor to honor our veterans lost and to honor his family that they are able to have closure,” said Deputy Chief James Campbell of Wilson Fire/Rescue Services.

Throughout the route, personnel from volunteer and paid departments were positioned at overpasses to pay their respects to the fallen airman.

“Any time we are able to be a part of something like this and honor our veterans, we are proud to be a part of it,” said Scott Matthews, chief of the Contentnea Volunteer Fire Department.

The department had a truck and crew at N.C. 42 as the processional came through.

“Any time that we can show support to our veterans or any fallen member of any service, law enforcement, fire, EMS or whatever, we try to show our support and be there for them,” Matthews said. “I am glad that they are finally able to get some closure and know where he will be forever in a place they can now go and visit.”

SHOT DOWN

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified Ferris’ remains on Sept. 22, 2023.

Ferris served in the 401st Bombardment Squadron, 91st Bombardment Group. The B-17, nicknamed “Danellen,” took off from Cambridgeshire, England, for a bombing mission in Romilly-sur-Seine, France.

After being shot down by the enemy fighter plane, the lumbering bomber was seen spiraling toward the ground, smoke billowing from its engines.

A crew member who managed to bail out and parachute safely to the ground reported that the other eight crew members died when the aircraft went down, according to an account provided by the Defense MOP/MIA Accounting Agency.

In 2011, one of the crew’s family members contacted the Department of Defense after visiting the crash site and interviewing a witness who had artifacts belonging to ‘Danellen,’” the account states.

That same year, historians reanalyzed unknown remains associated with the crew. One set belonged to Staff Sgt. Ferris.

‘UNDERNEATH THE BELLY’

James Marshall Boswell, a 105-year-old World War II veteran born and raised in Wilson, flew 51 missions as a captain of a B-17 bomber all over Europe.

Boswell said B-17 crews shared a sense of camaraderie.

“Oh yes. That is true among most all fliers,” Boswell said. “You feel like you are part of the same outfit or something. We were close together back then.”

Boswell said he appreciated the fact that the return of Ferris’s remains will allow the family some closure.

“I think it is a wonderful that happened, I surely do. I think it will bring back some bad memories but also they feel like he has come home finally after all these years,” Boswell said. “That’s the way I would feel about if it was my son.”

Boswell said that as a  turret gunner, Ferris had a position on the bottom of the bomber.

“It was a big round ball that hung underneath the belly of the plane back behind the wings,” Boswell said. “It could be raised up into the floor inside the fuselage. He could crawl into that thing and hang there underneath of the plane and he could fire his guns from that ball turret, we called it. He could curl up inside of there and shoot out of both sides of the plane from underneath.”

Boswell said that although the B-17 was loaded with guns, the crews went on dangerous missions.

“It could very well be. A lot of them didn’t come back,” Boswell said. “It was one of the best built planes we ever had over there we thought, the bombers did. We thought it was the best plane in the world. We had an average of 13 50-calibre machine guns on that B-17. A Flying Fortress is what it has always been called.”

WAITING A LONG TIME

Jimmy Shackleford, sergeant at arms for Robert B. Anderson American Legion Post 13 in Wilson and a ride captain for the Patriot Guard Riders, said the purpose of escorting the returning remains is to show respect for the veteran’s service to his community and his country.

Shackleford also serves as a vice commander for American Legion Division 1, District 4.

“I know the family has been waiting a long time to hear this,” Shackleford said. “He served his country, and his family has been without him all these years for him to be returned to them. And now they can put his remains to rest and have a peace of mind that he is now home with them forever.”

Post 13 Commander Ed Costello said the return of the airman’s remains hit close to home.

“My Uncle Edmund died in World War II,” Costello said. “His remains were not found until 1956. He was killed on Guam.”

Costello said an empty chair is placed at all official American Legion meetings — state, district and post — as a physical symbol of the thousands of American prisoners of war and veterans missing in action.

“This is a reminder for all of us who spare no effort to secure the release of any American prisoner from captivity, repatriation of the remains of those who died bravely in defense of liberty and a full accounting for those missing,” Costello said. “Let us rededicate ourselves to this vital endeavor.”

A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at Cotten Funeral Home. Ferris will be laid to rest in New Bern National Cemetery with full military honors.

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