Memorial

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Gerald Mc Cord's parents immigrated from Ireland to Canada and entered the United States in 1924.

He graduated from Fresno High School and he became an apprentice in The Bee pressroom.

He joined the Air Corps of the Regular Army in Presidio of San Francisco, California on 1 November 1941.

He was stationed in Libya for some time and was transferred to England in September 1943.

The airplane was hit by flak over the target. Just after bombing the target, the airplane began to lag in the rear of the formation. It also began to lose altitude.
When the pilot realized that he would never be able to reach England, he gave the bail-out order. When four airmen jumped, it was observed that the B-24 was over water, so it was decided to ditch. The landing failed, and five men drowned.

It crash-landed in the IJsselmeer at a location that is now Flevoland. At the time of the crash, this island didn't exist and was still open water.

In total, just one of the ten crew members survived the crash.

In 1975, while draining this part of the IJsselmeer, the wreckage was found, still containing the remains of five crew members: F/O Kent F. Miller, 2nd Lt Frank A. Passavant, T/Sgt James C. Childers, S/Sgt Stanley Pilch Jr. and 1st Lt Donald E. Shaffer.

The remains of four other crew members were washed ashore or picked up from open sea at various times during the six months following the crash.

S/Sgt Mc Cord's remains washed ashore in the vicinity of Volendam on 31 July 1944. He was initially buried at the Oosterbegraafplaats of Amsterdam.