Procession, funeral planned for returning colonel
By From staff reports
Published in News on April 4, 2018 5:50 AM
Air Force Col. Edgar Felton Davis, at long last, is coming home.
Davis' remains, recovered nearly 50 years after he was shot down in the skies over Laos during the Vietnam War, will return to Goldsboro Thursday.
Davis' remains will return to his home state first at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport around 12:30 p.m. Thursday.
According to Seymour Funeral Home, the hearse will arrive at the American Airlines cargo area in Raleigh at 11:15 a.m. where it will wait until the plane carrying the remains of Davis arrives.
From there, the Patriot Guard and state highway patrol will travel to Seymour Funeral Home, where they are expected to arrive between 3:15 to 3:45 p.m.
The local route will take the procession from I-795 to the U.S. 70 Bypass to Wayne Memorial Drive and continue on Wayne Memorial Drive to the funeral home.
Members of the community are asked to line the roads and stand in a moment of silence as the hearse passes by to honor Davis' sacrifice.
Law enforcement agencies from Raleigh to Goldsboro will participate in the transfer process.
Police at RDU, the Wake County Sheriff's Office, state highway patrol, Knightdale Police Department, Zebulon Police Department, Nash County Sheriff's Office, Wilson County Sheriff's Office, Wayne County Sheriff's Office and Goldsboro Police Department will all assist in the transfer.
On Friday, the funeral service will be at noon at Providence United Methodist Church. The service is open to the public, said Brian Taylor, Seymour Funeral Home director.
At 1:15 p.m., the procession will leave for the Eastern State Veterans Cemetery where a graveside service will be held with full military honors.
Davis will be buried alongside his wife, Sue.
The return of Davis' remains has been a long time coming.
He was an Air Force navigator with the 11th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron and was reported missing in action after his RF-4C Phantom fighter-bomber jet was shot down Sept. 17, 1968, during a mission 15 miles south of the city of Sepone in the Savannakhet province, Laos.
Davis was later declared deceased after search and rescue teams could not locate him or the fallen aircraft.
His remains were recovered in the Boulapha District, Khammouan province, Laos, in 2015.
It took until December 2017 to identify the remains because of the wide range of tests of evidence necessary to the investigation.
Davis' name is listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., on panel 43W, line 13.