The remains of a 21-year-old Californian bombardier who went Missing in Action (MIA) during World War II have been positively identified nearly 80 years after his B-24 bomber was shot down.
The announcement of 2nd Lt. Thomas V. Kelly Jr.'s recovery, made by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), follows a landmark underwater recovery operation in Papua New Guinea.
Kelly, a member of the "Jolly Rogers" 90th Bombardment Group, was aboard the B-24 bomber Heaven Can Wait on March 11, 1944, when it was shot down by Japanese anti-aircraft fire during a bombing mission over Hansa Bay. The aircraft and its 11-member crew disappeared beneath the waves, leaving families without answers for decades.
A breakthrough came in 2017 when Project Recover, a nonprofit organization dedicated to locating missing WWII service members, discovered the wreckage of Heaven Can Wait at a depth of 213 feet. The group used cutting-edge sonar, high-definition imaging, and robotic technologies to locate the debris field after an extensive search of nearly 27 square kilometers of ocean floor.
"Project Recover's mission is to bring recognition to the service member, closure for their families, and to help a grateful nation keep its sacred promise to bring our MIAs home," the nonprofit said in a statement.
To date, Project Recover has helped document more than 75 aircraft associated with MIAs and assisted in the recovery and identification of over 80 service members.
After nearly 80 years, Kelly will be buried in his hometown in May of 2025.
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