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NAME Robert Stephen Edwards |
NICKNAME — |
SERVICE NUMBER 413293 |
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| UNIT VMD-154 Gunner |
HOME OF RECORD Gowrie, IA |
NEXT OF KIN Mother, Mrs. Viola Blanche Edwards |
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| DATE OF BIRTH April 14, 1922 |
ENTERED SERVICE July 20, 1942 |
DATE OF LOSS February 7, 1943 |
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| REGION Vanuatu (New Hebrides) |
CAMPAIGN / AREA Espiritu Santo |
CASUALTY TYPE Killed In Action |
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| CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSS Private Robert S. Edwards was an aerial gunner assigned to VMD-154, a Marine reconnaissance squadron based in the New Hebrides Islands. Just after 0400 hours on 7 February 1943, Edwards’ plane – PB4Y-1 BuNo 31958 – took off from Espiritu Santo for the first leg of a planned photographic mission to Truk. The aircraft barely cleared the coastline before it plunged into the sea 600 yards offshore of the airstrip, sinking into 94 fathoms of water. The entire crew was killed in the incident. None of their remains could be recovered. |
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| INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS Purple Heart |
LAST KNOWN RANK Private |
STATUS OF REMAINS Not recovered |
MEMORIALS National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific |
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