Honoring Robert Faurot

For just the second time in the short life of Harris Field, the World War II Army Air Forces flight training facility that is now Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, the gates of the base were thrown open to the public in February 1944. The first open house was on June 27, 1943, roughly six months after training began at the field. Around 2,000 people toured the base.

The second open house came on Feb. 5, 1944, 12 days after word was received here that Harris Field would be closed. But it wasn't knowledge of the closing that drew 1,000 visitors to the base that cold day. It was to honor a fallen hero and his family.

On that day Frederick W. and Charlotte Burrows Faurot, residents of Cape Girardeau, received four decorations that had been awarded to their son, Maj. Robert L. Faurot, who was then missing in action. Maj. Faurot never lived in Cape Girardeau, but he chose to list this city as his home town on his military papers, as it was home to his parents.

The Southeast Missourian printed a front page story about the event on Feb. 7, 1944.

The above photos show a part of the military ceremonies which took place Saturday afternoon at Harris Field as four decorations awarded Maj. Robert L. Faurot, missing Pacific flier, were formally presented to his father, F.W. Faurot of Cape Rock Drive, by Col. Roy T. Wright, commanding officer of the Malden Army Air Base. The top photo shows, at the left, Col. Wright presenting the medal to9 Mr. Faurot. To the right are Mrs. Faurot and Capt. Clarke Simonds, commanding officer at the field. In the center photo are shown white-gloved cadets during the formal retreat parade and in the lower photo is shown a broader view of the quadrangle with the reviewing stand in the center background. At the extreme right the Malden field's band is moving across toward the stand. (G.D. Fronabarger ~ Southeast Missourian archive)

FAUROT MEDALS GIVEN PARENTS

Impressive Ceremony at Harris Field.

Before an open house crowd of about 1,000 visitors and several hundred others of field personnel, four decorations awarded Maj. Robert L. Faurot of the Army Air Forces, who has been missing since his fighter plane crashed into the Bismarck Sea last March 4, were formally presented his father, F.W. Faurot of Cape Rock
Drive, Saturday afternoon during military ceremonies at Harris Field.

Col. Roy T. Wright, commanding officer of the Malden Army Air Base, presented the decorations -- the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Silver Star and one Oak Leaf cluster, and the Air Medal, saying, as he handed the decorations to the lost flier's father, "It is men like your son who will make victory possible. The Army Air Forces is honored to have had him as one of us."

The medals were contained in cases and were handed to Mr. Faurot.

Cadets Parade

The ceremonies opened with the cadets parading in honor of the visiting ranking officer, Col. Wright, the formal retreat parade being led by the band from the Malden field. At the conclusion of the parade the columns of white-gloved cadets drew up in the quadrangle before the reviewing stand on which were seated officers of the post, Col. Wright and members of the Faurot family.

Lieut. Peter J. McGovern was master of ceremonies and the citations to the Pacific hero were read by Lieut. Robert L. Francis, post adjutant.

During the presentation of the medals, Mr. and Mrs. Faurot stood with Col. Wright and Capt. Clarke Simonds, commanding officer at Harris Field. The second part of the parade, this honoring the missing flier's family, concluded the ceremonies.

Accompanying Mr. and Mrs. Faurot to the ceremonies were their daughters, Mrs. Ed Fuerst and son, Jay, of Clarinda, Iowa, and Miss Treva Fuerst, a granddaughter of the couple, from Mountain Grove, Missouri, the former home of the Faurot family. Other daughters unable to attend, were Mrs. A.Q. Fuerst...; Mrs. S.A. Burk of Falls Church, Virginia, and Mrs. H.H. Bunker of Jersey City, New Jersey. Three brothers of Maj. Faurot also were unable to attend. They are Lieut. Don Faurot, former University of Missouri football coach, now stationed at Monmouth College, Monmouth, Illinois; Navy Lieut. Fred W. Faurot of Pensacola, Florida, and Lieut. Jay Lyle Faurot, serving with the Marine Corps in the Southwest Pacific.

Maj. Faurot, a former University of Missouri athlete, enlisted in the Army Air Forces in 1939 and was called in December, 1940 for cadet training. He had been in the Pacific from the time the U.S. forces began taking up the cudgel against Japan.

The citations for each of the decorations, issued from Fifth Air Force Headquarters and signed by Lieut. Gen. George C. Kenney, commanding, were as follows:

Silver Star -- "For gallantry in action over Kokoda, New Guinea, on June 28, 1942. This officer led a flight of P-40 type fighters against an enemy formation of 18 bombers, escorted by pursuit planes near Kokoda. In the first attack Lieut. Faurot could get only one .30 caliber gun to function. Despite this, he continued running attacks and due to his skillful leadership, no losses were sustained by our aircraft."

Second Award

Oak Leaf Cluster to the Silver Star, indicating a second award of the Silver Star -- "For gallantry in action over Lae airdrome, New Guinea, on Nov. 25, 19423. Capt. Faurot led a flight of P-38 type aircraft on a bombing mission against the strongly defended airdrome at Lae. As the formation approached the target, several enemy Zero fighters took off to meet the attack. Capt. Faurot released two 500-pound bombs over the airdrome, from an altitude of 4,000 feet, so that they fell beyond the south end of the runway in the ocean. Fragments from the exploding bombs hit an enemy plane which had just taken off and was only a few feet above the water. The enemy aircraft was so badly damaged by the bomb fragments that it was unable to continue its flight and crashed into the ocean."

The Distinguished Flying Cross -- "For extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flights in the Southwest Pacific area from July 18, 1942 to Jan. 19, 1943. During this period Capt. Faurot participated in more than 50 operational flight missions during which hostile contact was probable and expected. These flights included patrol and interception missions against enemy fighter and bombing planes in the New Guinea and Guadalcanal areas. Throughout these operations Capt. Faurot demonstrated outstanding flying ability."

The Air Medal -- "For meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight in the Southwest Pacific area during July, 1942. During this period Capt. Faurot participated in more than 25 operational flight missions during which hostile contact was probable and expected. These missions included patrol and interception missions against enemy fighter and bombing planes in the New Guinea area."

Word that Capt. Robert Faurot was missing in action was received here on March 12, 1943, with the Missourian publishing an Associated Press article. It gave a little more background on Faurot.

CAPT. FAUROT IS MISSING

Twice Decorated flier son of Cape Couple.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- Capt. Robert L. Faurot of Cape Girardeau, former Missouri University football star, has been reported missing in action in the southwest Pacific, where he has been a fighter pilot.

Capt. Faurot, a brother of Coach Don Faurot of the University of Missouri, was blocking back on the M.U. teams of 1937, 1938 and 1939 and played with the Big Six championship team in the Orange Bowl game Jan. 1, 1940. He is a son of Mr. and Mrs. F.W. Faurot of Cape Girardeau.

Ordered to the west coast the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked, he left almost immediately for Australia. For his combat work, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Silver Star. He has been in the air force three years.

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In the fighting zone more than a year, Capt. Faurot, whose parents reside on Cape Rock Drive, made an unusual record. His father and mother learned in January that he had been presented the Silver Star of gallantry. The Distinguished Flying Cross was awarded him on another occasion.

He and Lieut. Hoyt Eason of Alabama, also missing, are credited with shooting down at least 11 Japanese planes which their unit got. They also were listed as having probably shot many others out of the sky.

Capt. Faurot trained at Randolph Field, Texas, and elsewhere, and for a time was on observation duty in England.

The flier's remains were never recovered, but he has memorials at Maple Hills Cemetery at Kirksville, Missouri, and at Manila American Cemetery. Along with the decorations mentioned above, Faurot was also awarded the Purple Heart.