Ed Ward was a self-assured, handsome guy with light-colored eyes and a lopsided grin. He stood 5" 11" in his bare feet and weighed 144 lbs. The 23-year-old 2nd Lieutenant in the US ARMY Air Force lost his life in the skies over Germany.

Edwin Maurice Ward was born in Washington, the District of Columbia, on September 14, 1920, to Edward Edwin Maurice Ward and his wife Nellie Etta Lowe. The Wards had four children, two sons, and two daughters. Their first child was a daughter, Elizabeth, four years older than her brother Edwin. Another son, Albert, was born four years after Edwin's birth. Three years after Albert's birth, the Wards celebrated the birth of their youngest daughter, Marjorie. The Wards owned their own home, and Edwin's father was an electrical contractor who later went to work for the US Government as an electrician in the government printing office.

At Jefferson High School, Edwin Jr. was quite the athlete as a varsity player for three years as a member of the high school's baseball and basketball teams. He lettered twice in both sports and was a member of the Commerce Club for three years. After High School graduation in the spring of 1939, Edwin Jr. worked as an Usher at the local movie theater.

On July 1, 1940, Edwin enlisted with the rank of private in the US Army Air Corps (in 1941, the Army Air Corps was changed to the US Army Air Force or the USAAF). He was sent to Hickam Field Air Force Base, adjacent to the U.S. Naval Base, Pearl Harbor, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The Japanese attack on the U.S. Fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, turned a quiet Sunday morning into an inferno. With 2,403 US service personnel, including 68 civilians killed and 19 US Naval ships, including eight battleships, destroyed or damaged, this 'Day of Infamy' left the Pacific Fleet in ruins. Hickam Field was heavily bombed and strafed. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt asked Congress for a Declaration of War, and Congress complied, voting 82–0 in the Senate and 388–1 in the House.

In April of 1942, Edwin returned to the States for his air cadet training. He could have trained at any base, Florida, Louisiana, or maybe Arizona. On April 12, 1943, Edwin and his fiancé Eulene M. Smothers were married at Luke Field, Arizona, by the base Chaplain honeymooning in Arizona. Eulene also attended Jefferson High School and was two years younger than Edwin. She was a senior at George Washington University and worked for the War Department.

Now a Second Lieutenant, Edwin was assigned to the 8th Air Force, 68th Bomb Squadron, 44th Bomb Group, known as the Flying Eight Balls, based in Shipham, England. Edwin was assigned the plane as co-pilot, B24J, # 42-109822, a four-engine bomber nicknamed "Townsend's Terrible Ten," piloted by 1st Lieutenant Raymond H. J. Townsend. The B-24 nickname was justly earned as the so-called "flying coffin" by the crews who flew it. Many crews and planes were lost during takeoff and landing practice. The B24 became dangerous below 160 mph, and its design placed limits on its ability to perform emergency landings safely, but it could take a beating.

For 'Townsend's Terrible Ten,' the target on April 8, 1944, was the aerodrome at Langenhagen, a town just north of Hanover, Germany. The mission started without incident, and visibility was good over Germany when they took off. According to the MACR, Ward's plane was observed to fall back at 14:07 hours, west of Hanover, 52. When it was hit by flak, it was 45" N, 09. 30" E, and one engine began to smoke. 1st Lt. Paul A. Jones, the Navigator, wrote in his account, "We were hit by fighters three times. We lost one engine the first time, which caused us to drop out of formation. One shell entered the little window in the nose compartment and entered the electrical box, which knocked out power to the nose turret. I called Lt. Townsend and asked if he would jettison the bombs, and he said 'No.' He thought he could get us back into formation with them and continue to the target. We were almost back into formation when we were again hit by the fighters, losing two more engines. We could no longer remain airborne, so Townsend gave orders to bail out. I jumped. But just before I went out, I looked up towards the cockpit to see that Townsend and Ward's legs were hanging down off the controls – unconscious or dead? It was around 14:15 after the B24J was seen to explode. Anyone still left on that plane would not make it back."

Five men could parachute out of the crew of ten and spent the rest of the war in a German POW camp. The remaining crewmen, including the pilot Lt. Townsend and 2nd Lt. Ward, were listed as MIA. According to Luftwaffe reports, the plane was found crashed and 99% burnt in a forest. By April 19, 1944, all the listed MIAs were changed to KIAs after the Germans sent word through the International Red Cross.

The 5 POWs were repatriated in 1945 after the German surrender. Edwin Ward Jr's remains were moved from Germany to Neuville-En Condrez-Liege, Belgium, the Ardennes American Cemetery. Subsequently, Edwin's widow later became engaged to another soldier and married him the September after the war ended.

On January 16, 1952, a little more than eight years after he died, 2nd Lt. Edwin M Ward Jr.'s remains were laid to rest in Section 8, Grave 5179-B, at Arlington National Cemetery. The good-looking kid with the lopsided grin, who lettered in two sports in high school, was finally home.

SBTProject: Washington D.C.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49333485/edwin-m-ward

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Ward's citation for the Air Medal reads as follows:

Flight Officer Edwin M. Ward, Jr. was presented with the Air Medal for meritorious achievements on combat missions over Nazi Europe. He has participated in attacks on Kiel and Pas de Calais.

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TOWNSEND’S TERRIBLE TEN Crew:

1st/Lt. Raymond H. J. Townsend MIA/KIA Pilot

2nd/Lt. Edwin M. Ward Jr. Co Pilot KIA

1st/Lt. Paul A, Jones Navigator POW

T/Sgt. Walter K. Nealon Bombardier POW

T/Sgt. Archie D. Clemons Engineer KIA

T/Sgt. John M. Lyon Radio Op. POW

Douglas E. Churchill Gunner KIA

S/Sgt. John A. Nosal Gunner POW

S/Sgt. Robert S. Bray Gunner POW

S/Sgt. Raymond G. Wenke Gunner KIA

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This story was written by Thomas La Padula, part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see http://www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? These stories will be accessible via smartphone app at any war memorial or cemetery.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional

information to contribute to it, please contact me at thomaslapadula@gmail.com

Ward, Edwin Maurice Jr, 2LT, US Army, 0-2045032