R. L. Edwards was born 17 Jul 1924 in Barber, Logan Co., Ar. to Duran & Lora Zue Nelson Edwards. For many years Duran was a farmer in the White Oak & Washburn Twsps., in Sebastian County, Ar. R. L. enlisted in the Army Air Corps on 27 Apr 1943 in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was a resident of Sebastian Co., Ar and finished 4 years of high school. TSGT R. L. Edwards was Radio Operator on his aircraft. He was Killed in Action (KIA) near Wesel, Kreis Wesel, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany in B-24 #42-51245 on 24 Mar 1945. 20 years old. "On March 24, 1945, B-24 #42-51245 of the 445th Bomb Group, 701st Bomb Squadron, went down over Kamanshof, Germany. All of the crew were Killed in Action. Final mission was a cargo drop in support of Operation Varsity, 24 March 1945." Find A Grave - NEWS ARTICLE/OBITUARY - SOUTHWEST AMERICAN, FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS - MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1948, PAGE 7 Funeral of R.L. Edwards Slated Tuesday Funeral Service for Technical Sergeant R.L. Edwards, who died in action in Germany during the last war, will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Fentress Mortuary Chapel with burial rites to be conducted with full military honors at the National Cemetery. Rev. L.H. Davis, pastor of the Calvary Baptist church, will officiate at the funeral service. The soldier, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Duran Edwards of Fort Smith, was killed March 24, 1945, while supporting the First Paratroop Division in the crossing of the Rhine. A plane in which he was en route to the battle area was struck by anti-aircraft fire. The plane crashed in a forest near Wessel, Germany. The body is being returned from the United States Cemetery at Margraten, Holland, where the flier was buried following the crash. He was a member of the 445th Bomb Group in England and had completed 27 missions over enemy territory. Mr. Edwards was born at Barber, Arkansas, July 27, 1924, and was 20 years old at the time of the crash. He was graduated from the Van Buren High School (Arkansas) in 1943. He entered service in May 1943 and was sent overseas in September 1944. Survivors besides his parents include his brother, Neyron D. Edwards, University of Arkansas student. note: (Operation Varsity (24 March 1945) was a successful airborne forces operation launched by Allied troops that took place toward the end of World War II. Involving more than 16,000 paratroopers and several thousand aircraft, it was the largest airborne operation in history to be conducted on a single day and in one location.)