Date of Death: January 15, 1943 in the performance of law enforcement duty.
Cause of Death: On January 15, 1943, Assistant Director Percy E. Foxworth of the New York Office and Special Agent Harold Dennis Haberfeld were killed in a military airplane accident near Paramaribo, Surinam. In connection with the war effort, they were taking a roundabout route to North Africa at the specific request of General Dwight D. Eisenhower to perform a secret mission of critical importance. The cause of the crash of the airplane was never ascertained. Although 35 people were on board the aircraft, search teams were only able to locate sufficient remains to be placed in a single casket, which was returned to the United States five years later and buried in a grave at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri cemetery. Following Assistant Director Foxworth's death, a liberty ship named the S.S. P.E. Foxworth was launched in February 1943.
Percy E. Foxworth was born on 29 November 1906 in Purvis, Mississippi. He received his early education in the grade and high schools of Poplarville and Derby, Mississippi. He attended the Pearl River Junior College for two years and then began his accounting studies at the Walton School of Commerce and the LaSalle Extension University. In 1926 he entered the employ of the Edward Hines Western Pine Company at Poplarville, Mississippi, and later was transferred to the company's offices at Burne, Oregon where he allegedly picked up the nickname "Sam".
Foxworth applied to enter the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on 21 March 1932. After completing his initial training, he was assigned to FBI field offices located at Jacksonville, FL, Oklahoma City, OK, New York City and Washington, D.C. He served as an Administrative Assistant to J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI from 8 April 1935 until June 1939, when he was made Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the FBI. From June 1940 until 9 April 1941 Foxworth was assigned at the Washington headquarters of the FBI as an Assistant Director in charge of the FBI's New York City Field Office. Foxworth was killed in the line of duty on 15 January 1943 when his plane crashed in Surinam, Dutch Guiana. The FBI Medal of Honor was given posthumously to Foxworth in 1991.
Burial Location: Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Lemay (St. Louis), Missouri
Section 81, Site 305 Mass Gravesite