2LT Edward F. Barker comes home

Jon the Mechanic sends us the news that the eternally 21-year-old 2nd Lieutenant Edward F. Barker is coming home after being lost on a training mission over Papua New Guinea on September 30, 1944. Because of the rugged location of his crash, the wreckage of his P-47D Thunderbolt, tail number 42-23241, wasn’t found until 1962 and his remains weren’t recovered until 2012.

Hondo mentioned the identification of his remains in April.

The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Thursday that the remains of 2nd Lt. Edward F. Barker of Herkimer have been identified from circumstantial evidence and DNA provided by his niece and nephew.

According to the American Battlefield Monuments website, his name has been inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.

LT Barker will rest aside his mother, Marion in Herkimer, New York, according to his nephew, Mark E. Shoemaker;

Barker entered the service on Jan. 6, 1943, leaving Herkimer with a draft contingent. He was with the Headquarters Squadron, 8th Air Service Group, and had been in the South Pacific area for four months before he was killed.

A graduate of Van Hornesville High School, Barker was employed at Remington Arms Co. in Ilion before entering the service. He was well known in Herkimer, where he had several relatives, according to the news article….

If you happen to be in the area, please pay our respects;

Calling hours are scheduled for 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. on July 31 at Fenner Funeral Home, with burial in Calvary Cemetery set for noon on Aug. 1. A military service is planned.

Category: We Remember