Harry Buch Pedersen was born on June 28, 1923, in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota. He was the son of Emanuel J. Pedersen and Christine Buch Pedersen.

Harry served in the 512th Fighter Squadron, 406th Fighter Group, as a Second Lieutenant and Pilot of the P-47 D-11-RE #42-75581 during World War II. On June 18, 1944, he took off from Station 417 in Ashford, England, for an armed reconnaissance mission to Cardonville, France. At 16:00, his aircraft was shot down by flak. He was able to evacuate but the altitude was too low for him to survive. His plane crashed into St-Jean-de-Daye - 10 km north of St-Lô.

Listed as missing in action, unrecoverable or unidentifiable, 2LT Pedersen's remains were recovered and identified in 1957. His remains are interred at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery, So. Minneapolis, MN. 2LT Pedersen's name is permanently inscribed on the tablets of the Missing at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial at Colleville-Sur-Mer/St. Laurent-sur-Mer, France. His name is also commemorated on a plaque located at Great Chart, England, but his middle initial is inscribed as H.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov, francecrashes39-45.net