The remains of a Derry area pilot who fought in World War II will come home soon.
The Tribune-Review reports that 1st Lt. Eugene P. Ford was flying a B-24 Liberator as part of a mission targeting oil refineries in Germany when they were attacked by German fighters. The mission was aborted and Ford crash-landed in the Adriatic Sea near present-day Croatia. Three people, including Ford, were killed in the crash.
After years of searching, a joint effort of the Department of Defense, the Croatian navy, the POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s lab in Hawaii, and underwater archaeologists found where the plane was and were able to recover Ford’s remains.
Ford will be interred in Arlington Cemetery.
