On March 11, 1944, a WWII B-24 bomber, nicknamed “Heaven,” was shot down during a mission over New Guinea, killing all 11 crew members. Their bodies were long deemed unrecoverable, but a recent investigation led by family member Scott Althaus and a naval recovery team has led to the retrieval of remains from four crew members.
Staff Sergeant Eugene Darligan was honored in his hometown, Wappingers Falls, New York, while Second Lt. Thomas Kelly was buried in California. Details about the pilot, Lt. Col. Herbert Tennyson, and navigator Second Donald Shepic, reveal their personal stories and the heartbreak of their families, some of whom never remarried or held onto memories for decades.
Althaus’s efforts, sparked by a family interest in the lost plane, culminated in finding the crash site after analyzing historical evidence. The recovery team, with advanced diving technology, successfully retrieved personal artifacts, including dog tags and rings.
Ceremonies honoring the fallen were held in their respective hometowns, marking the emotional return of these soldiers more than 80 years later. Future missions may continue to search for the other seven crew members still unaccounted for.
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