Harry V. Crawford was born in 1922 in Colorado. He was the son of Emmet Crawford and Esther A. Van Fossen Crawford. He resided in Denver County, Colorado prior to the war. He enlisted in the Army on October 14, 1942 in Pueblo, Colorado. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being Single, with dependents. Harry served as a Sergeant and Right Gunner on B-29 "Stockett's Rocket" #42-6261, 45th Bomber Squadron, 40th Bomber Group, Very Heavy, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.

B-29 #42-6261 took off, with a crew of 11 and 1 passenger, from Chakulia, India on a bombing mission over a steel works in Yawata Kyushu, Japan. After taking off from India, and prior to actually going on the mission to Japan, they were scheduled to land in Hsing-Ching, China to refuel. They never reached the base in China. The entire crew was lost for an unknown reason. He was declared "Missing in Action" on June 15, 1944 and is commemorated on the Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Taguig City, Philippines. He also has a cenotaph located in Roselawn Cemetery, Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colorado.

Harry was one of over 2000 Americans who lost their lives defending China from their Japanese invaders from 1941-1945. He is commemorated on the The Monument to the Aviation Martyrs in the War of Resistance Against Japan in Nanjing, China.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov