John Stewart Ferguson was born on January 9th 1915 in Battle Ground, Indiana. To his father Oda Sanford and mother Iva Pearl Perry. He had 5 other Siblings.

He completed high school in 1933. He worked as a Mechanic and repairmen.

He had enlisted in the Army Air Forces on October 7th 1940 at Fort Benjamin Harrison. Served during World War II. He had the rank of Staff Sergeant. Occupation or specialty was Engineer. Service number was 15059657. Served with 11th Air Force, 28th Bombardment Group, 21st Bombardment Squadron.

On June 11, 1942 he was on the crew of the B-24D Liberator #41-1088 when they took off from Cold Bay Airfield in Alaska and landed at Umnak Airfield to load bombs. They then took off on a bombing mission against Japanese shipping in Kiska Harbor. Over the target, they were shot down by anti-aircraft fire and exploded. The entire crew was officially declared dead the day of the mission.

We identified 9 casualties in our archive that might be related to the #41-1088 incident on June 11, 1942.

◼Virgil C Alleman :: Co-Pilot ◼Harold Denson :: Gunner ◼Stanley A Douglas Jr :: Radio Operator ◼Roy Ellis :: Radio Operator ◼John S Ferguson :: Engineer ◼Henry F Hubbard :: Navigator ◼Charles Jimick :: Gunner ◼Robert R Rieman :: Bombardier ◼Jack F Todd :: Pilot

John Stewart Ferguson is buried or memorialized at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, Fort Leavenworth, Leavenworth County, Kansas. This is a National American Cemetery administered through the Department of Veteran's Affairs. As well as, being memorialized at Columbian Park in Lafayette, Indiana.

He was Awarded:

★ Air Medal

★ Purple Heart

★ World War II Victory Medal

★ American Campaign Medal

★ Army Presidential Unit Citation

★ Army Good Conduct Medal

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project(www.storiesbehindthestars.org.) This is a national effort of volunteers to write the all of the 400,000+ US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Soon, there will be a smart phone app that will allow their stories to be read or scanned at any memorial or cemetery.

Resources:

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 9 December 2020), memorial page for John Stewart Ferguson (1915–11 Jun 1942), Find a Grave Memorial no. 3654712, citing Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, Fort Leavenworth, Leavenworth County, Kansas, USA ; Maintained by familyroots04 (contributor 46832660) .

Journal and Courier; Publication Date: 27 Oct 1948; Publication Place: Lafayette, Indiana, USA; URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/262086930/?article=3c8bfa91-6afe-450e-9f72-f4b4a36d996b&focus=0.034131,0.041920297,0.15312856,0.21949042&xid=3355

National Cemetery Administration. U.S., Veterans' Gravesites, ca.1775-2019 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.

WWII Indiana Fallen: S SGT John Stewart Ferguson