World War II Honoree

Harold W. Ervin

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Long Beach, Mississippi

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: First Lieutenant. He served in the United States Army Air Corps, assigned to the 17th Photographic Squadron, Fourth Reconnaissance Group, an element of the Thirteenth Army Air Forces. His unit was based at the Espiritu Santo Naval Base Location: Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides Islands, South Pacific Theater of Operations. As a passenger, he was scheduled to fly a Photo-Recon-Mission aboard a PB4Y-1 ‘Liberator’ Patrol Bomber. Sunday, February 7, 1943 he was reported missing in action, lost at sea when the Pilot took off from Espiritu Santo for the first leg of a photographic mission to Truk Island. The aircraft on take-off plunged into the sea 600 yards offshore of the airstrip. In remembrance of the brave, his name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at Honolulu Memorial Location: Honolulu, Hawaii. In his Memory and Honor, a cenotaph memorial has been placed at the Baptist Church Cemetery Crystal Springs, Mississippi. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his Heroism and ultimate sacrifice.