Robert L Ferris Jr.

United States Army Air Force Staff Sergeant Robert L Ferris Jr., 20, killed in action in World War II on Sunday, December 20, 1942 near Bernières-sur-Seine, France, is returning to North Carolina for burial at New Bern National Cemetery in New Bern, NC.

He is the son of the late Robert and Jane Ferris. He is survived by his nieces, Barbara Weiss of New Bern NC, Jane Moore of Ellerbe, NC (Raymond); nephew, John Booth of Greer, SC (Donna); great nephews, Joseph Inerra of Beverly Hills, FL, Jamie Inserra (Denise) of NV, Thomas Holmes of Tampa, FL, Michael Holmes of Ronkonkoma, NY, Jason Palmer of Holiday, FL, Ricky Palmer of Ellerbe, NC, Cory Booth of Newport, NY, Bryan Booth of Newport, NY; great niece, Tara Hicks (Joe) of Holtsville, NY and Shannon Booth of Newport, NY, along with 15 great, great nieces and nephews.

The procession carrying Staff Sergeant Robert L Ferris Jr. will be welcomed with an "Avenue of Flags" as he is brought into New Bern the afternoon of Thursday, May 16. Flags will be distributed at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 16 at Cotten Funeral Home and participants will line both sides of Neuse Boulevard in the section from Cotten Funeral Home to McDonald’s (near the hospital). Please bring a lawn chair to use as we wait for the procession to arrive and an umbrella in case of inclement weather. Parking is available at Cotten Funeral Home and at The Flame Catering and Banquet Center.

Visitation for Staff Sergeant Ferris will be held at Cotten Funeral Home on Sunday, May 19, 2024 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. which will be preceded by a brief ceremony at 5:30 p.m. where he will be awarded the Purple Heart as well as other awards.

On Monday, May 20, 2024, a funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m. at Cotten Funeral Home to honor his life and service to our great nation. He will then be laid to rest at New Bern National Cemetery with full military honors.

An “Avenue of Flags” is also being organized to welcome the procession for Staff Sgt. Ferris to New Bern National Cemetery and volunteers are needed to hold flags along the procession route on National Avenue. Anyone wishing to participate in the “Avenue of Flags” event are asked to meet and park no later than 10 a.m. at Ruth’s Chapel FWB Church, 2709 Oaks Road, New Bern, due to limited parking at the cemetery. Shuttle service will be provided from the church to the cemetery and back once the ceremony at the cemetery has concluded. Staff members will be on hand to provide flags and complimentary bottles of water. Special thanks to Askew's Ace Hardware for donating the flags to be used for this occasion.

Staff Sergeant Robert L. Ferris, Jr., served with the 401st Bombardment Squadron, 91st Bombardment Group, in the European Theater during World War II. Historians at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) report that on December 20, 1942, Staff Sergeant Ferris was killed along with seven of his crewmates when his B-17 Flying Fortress, nicknamed Danellen, was lost near Bernières-sur-Seine, France, after encountering resistance from enemy fighter aircraft. The B-17 was last seen losing altitude in a spin with damage to one wing and possibly two engines. One of the crew survived the incident and was taken prisoner by German forces. This crewmember reported that he had parachuted to safety before the B-17 crashed near Bernières-sur-Seine. A local Frenchwoman wrote to the International Committee of the Red Cross on 23 January 1943, to report that she witnessed the crash near the village of Tosny and that only this one crewmember had survived. The remains of Staff Sergeant FERRIS were not accounted-for following the war. This incident is associated with Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) 5381.

In 1946, in correspondence with the brother of the Danellen pilot, the mayor of Evreux confirmed that the B-17 crashed near Berniéres-sur-Seine, and that the Germans recovered four boxes of remains which were buried in graves 196 through 199 in the city cemetery. He mentioned that the Germans removed all personal effects from the remains. The mayor also confirmed that the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) disinterred these remains and brought them to the U.S. Military Cemetery at St. Andre-de-l’Eure, France. The AGRC redesignated the four remains removed from graves 196 through 199 at Evreux as Unknowns X-83, X-84, X-85, and X-86 St. Andre. The AGRC identified X-84 as the Danellen’s top turret gunner by associated identification media, dental comparison, and biological profile. While the AGRC believed X-83, X-85, and X-86 to be associated with MACR 5381, the remains unfortunately could not be identified and were ultimately interred in the Normandy American Cemetery.

In 2011, a family member of one of the Danellen crew contacted the Department of Defense regarding MACR 5381. He reported visiting the crash site near Bernières-sur-Seine and interviewed an eyewitness to the crash. The witness operates a World War II museum in Tosny and had artifacts from the Danellen, including an engine data plate with a serial number that matches one found in MACR 5381. Investigators from what is now the DPAA subsequently traveled to the crash site, but determined the area was not amenable to excavation.

In March 2019, the Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission exhumed Unknown Remains X-83, X-85, and X-86 from Normandy American Cemetery, in France, for forensic analysis and comparison with those lost in MACR 5381. Based on their research, the DPAA Europe-Mediterranean Directorate concludes that an association between the remains accessioned as CIL 2019-170-I-03 from this disinterment and Staff Sergeant Ferris is historically supportable.

Today, more than 81,000 Americans still remain missing from WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf Wars and other conflicts. Staff Sergeant Ferris’ name is memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Cambridge, England, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Cotten Funeral Home and Crematory is honored to serve the family of Staff Sergeant Robert L. Ferris, Jr.