Missing WWII pilot's remains returning to Philip
Earl F. Ferguson of Philip is finally coming home, 81 years after he was deployed to fight in World War II.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Oct. 15 that U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Earl F. Ferguson, 26, of Philip, S.D., was accounted for Sept. 30, 2019.
Ferguson's remains are being returned to his hometown of Philip this month. Funeral services will take place at 10 a.m. Mountain Time on Thursday, Oct. 24, at Masonic Cemetery in Philip. Rush Funeral Home of Wall will conduct graveside services before the interment.
Ferguson was killed in action on Aug. 1, 1943. He was a pilot assigned to the 329th Bombardment Squadron, 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force. Ferguson and eight other crew members died when the B-24 aircraft Ferguson was co-piloting crashed after being hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation Tidal Wave. Operation Tidal Wave was the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania.
Ferguson's remains were not identified after World War II. Soldiers' remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery (Bolvani) in Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
Ferguson's remains were exhumed 74 years later, on Aug. 28, 2017, from the American Military Cemetery at Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, for laboratory analysis and identification. After World War II, the American Graves Registration Command, the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, disinterred all American remains from the Bolovani Cemetery for identification. One set that could not be identified was designated Unknown X-5300 Neuville. Those remains were reinterred into the American Military Cemetery at Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium.
In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated with unaccounted for airmen from Operation Tidal Wave losses. On Aug. 28, 2017, Unknown X-5300 Neuville was disinterred and sent to the laboratory for analysis. To identify Ferguson's remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis to identify Ferguson.
Ferguson's niece, Valerie Mitchell of Rapid City, said she's grateful her uncle is coming home. Mitchell said Ferguson's death always troubled her father, Tom Ferguson, who was Earl's brother.
Mitchell never knew her Uncle Earl but recalls hearing some stories about him while she was growing up.
"My family didn't talk a lot about it (his death), and now everybody's gone," Mitchell said. "I know it bothered my family. It haunted my dad. I wish he were still alive to see this. I know he'd be very happy to know Earl is home."
According to Ferguson's obituary , he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in January 1942. He was admitted to aviation cadet training in March 1942 and trained at bases in California, Arizona and Texas. He graduated from Marfa, Texas, in class 43-C as a pilot. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant. He trained further at bases in New Mexico and Texas and then, in May 1943, Ferguson was sent overseas. He was assigned to the 93rd Bomb Group as a B-24 pilot and flew seven missions. He was posthumously awarded the Air Medal, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross.
Ferguson's name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Impruneta, Italy, along with others who are still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to Ferguson's name to indicate he has been accounted for.
"We're really grateful to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency for their tireless efforts to identify his remains," Mitchell said. "They kept pursuing these guys who are missing until they're finding them, which is really meaningful to the families."
Mitchell said Capt. Phillip Thompson of the South Dakota National Guard, who is assigned to be the casualty assistance officer for Ferguson, has provided invaluable assistance in ensuring Ferguson's remains were returned and interred.
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