- The remains of four crew members from the WWII bomber "Heaven Can Wait," which crashed off the coast of New Guinea in 1944, are being returned home after a decades-long search.
- The plane, a B-24, was shot down by enemy fire on March 11, 1944, resulting in the death of all 11 crew members; the wreckage was initially deemed non-recoverable.
- A relentless investigation by family members led to the discovery of the crash site and a recovery mission by Navy divers, who retrieved remains from 200 feet below the surface.
- Staff Sgt. Eugene Darrigan was buried in Wappingers Falls, New York, on Saturday, and 2nd Lt. Thomas Kelly was buried in Livermore, California, on Monday; 1st Lt. Herbert Tennyson and 2nd Lt. Donald Sheppick will be interred in the coming months.
- The recovery and repatriation were made possible through the efforts of Project Recover and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), with a possible future mission to account for the remaining seven crew members still missing.
IN FULL
Eleven men died in a mystery WWII bomber crash. Their families have finally found the bodies
