Edward Francis Roberts was born in Fall River, MA on January 29, 1924.

He earned the Air Medal flying transport planes in the Pacific during WWII. As a member of the Massachusetts National Guard he was activated for Korea. He transferred to the RI Guard in 1956, and at the time of his death in 1966 he was Operations Officer of the 143rd Air Commando Group.

On Monday, March 7, 1966 an HU-16B Albatross aircraft took off from Hillsgrove and flew to Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. Those aboard were to participate in a conference for a readiness inspection scheduled for the following month.

Work completed, the group took off from Shaw on Wednesday morning, March 9. The flight home offered a good opportunity to practice low-level navigational training. Something went horribly wrong.
The plane, flying at an altitude of between 500 and 1000 feet, crashed about 4 1/2 miles northeast of Smithfield, Virginia. Witnesses reported the plane appeared to have engine problems; it looked as if the
pilots were trying to crash land in a small clearing in the woods.

The two pilots were killed in the crash; Colonel Robert M. Magown, Commander of the 143rd Air Commando Group and Lt Col Edward F. Roberts, Operations Staff Officer, 143rd Air Commando Group. Four others aboard— three guardsmen and an active Air Force advisor—survived with relatively minor injuries. They managed to get out of the passenger compartment just before the plane burst into flames.