Edward Kenneth Cornelius never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

He was born on December 16, 1919 in New Jersey. His parents Theodore and Jennie were also both born in New Jersey. His father worked as a machine shop machinist. Edward had one older brother (Theodore) and one younger brother. His mother died in 1925. His father remarried but later divorced. He attended the University of Pennsylvania. At some point he married Catherine Foody.

Edward Kenneth Cornelius



He enlisted in the army in December 1942. He volunteered for the Army Air Forces and was accepted to flight school where he was trained as a navigator. He ended up with the rank of second lieutenant in the 64th Bombardment Squadron, 43rd Bombardment Group, 5th Air Force, which was equipped with B-24 Liberators. The 43rd BG was sent to Australia in March 1942. By September it was conducting mostly anti-shipping duty in the New Guinea area. Lt. Cornelius joined as a replacement in late 1943 when the 43rd BG was based out of Los Negros Island.



Around this same time Edward’s brother Theodore was serving as a chief motor machinist’s mate on the submarine USS Scorpion. Scorpion was sent on a mission in the Yellow Sea. After January 5, 1944, it was never heard from again. There are no Japanese claims of sinking a sub that could have been Scorpion. There were mine fields in the area, so that may be the cause of her loss.

Air Force 43rd Bombardment Group



Lt. Cornelius had flown about ten missions when he flew his final mission on June 13, 1944. He was navigating B24D #42-72881 which went by the nick name Uncle Sam. It took off on a night bombing mission to Yap and never returned. An airman in a follow-up squadron noticed a B-24 on fire in the water that night. A further air search found nothing and the entire crew was listed as missing and later classified as killed, not in combat.

B24 liberator



The Cornelius brothers have cenotaph graves at Beverly National Cemetery in Beverly, New Jersey. Their younger brother also served and returned home. Edward’s widow remarried and died in 2004.

Thank you Edward and Theodore for your sacrifice. Let’s Earn It for the Cornelius brothers.

Last year on this date I profiled Iwo Jima fallen and Navy Cross hero Paul Balducci, 5th Marine Division. You can read about Paul here.

On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!

I created this video to explain why I started this project:

Aricle is shared by : Don Milne

You can check his blog HERE



My passion for the Second World War started when my grandmother told me about life at war, told by my great-grandfather. Their camaraderie and the way they shared their food, shelter and ammunition. That sense of fear, hope and desire to come home alive and unharmed, to see his family made him go through the war, with only one bullet wound. Since then, I began a search for stories of those who participated in the war. Unfortunately, not many veterans are alive. So the mission of transmitting the stories further, remains to us.

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