Cpl Barker, a gas truck driver, was killed on 22 Sept 1943. William A. Braddock, radio operator on the Edwards crew, recalled, “The ground crew was taxiing the airplane; the gas crew had parked their truck and were ‘ambling along’ on their way across the field. The ground crew didn’t realize how close he was to the walkers, and Barker was hit by a propeller. It was getting dusk at the time, probably contributing to the incident.”
Capt Donald B. Clark, 392nd BG chaplain, escorted Cpl Barker's body to Brookwood American Military Cemetery, where he was buried on 25 September 1943. After the war, his remains were returned to his home town of Turkey, Texas, for burial in Dreamland Cemetery.
