Blackford, William Charles Jr.
Navy Lieutenant

William Charles Jr. Blackford from Eureka, California, Humboldt county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Sunday, July 26, 1953
Death details: Lieutenant William Charles Blackford Jr., who joined the U.S. Navy from California, served with Fighter Squadron 152 aboard the USS Princeton (CVA 37). On July 26, 1952, he was the pilot of a single-seat F-4U Corsair (bureau number 81834) when it launched from the Princeton on an armed reconnaissance flight over North Korea. As the flight attacked a target south of the town of Pukchong, LT Blackford’s Corsair was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed not far from the target. Other pilots on the flight saw no indication that LT Blackford had bailed out before his Corsair went down and reported that the crash did not appear to be survivable. A search and rescue unit conducted an aerial reconnaissance over the crash site and saw no sign of LT Blackford. He was never reported to be a prisoner of war, and his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the war. Today, Lieutenant Blackford is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency