World War II bomber crash left 11 dead. Four are finally coming home.
By Michael Hill, The Associated Press
May 26, 2025, 01:56 PM
Ten crew members of Heaven Can Wait, which went down in the waters of Papua New Guinea in 1944. Staff Sgt. Eugene Darrigan is top row, second from right. Bottom row, from left are 2nd Lt. Donald Sheppick, 1st Lt. Herbert Tennyson, and, far right, 2nd Lt. Tomas Kelly. (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency via AP)
As the World War II bomber Heaven Can Wait was hit by enemy fire off the Pacific island of New Guinea on March 11, 1944, the co-pilot managed a final salute to flyers in an adjacent plane before crashing into the water.
All 11 men aboard were killed. Their remains, deep below the vast sea, were designated as non-recoverable.
Yet four crew members’ remains are beginning to return to their hometowns after a remarkable investigation by family members and a recovery mission involving elite Navy divers who descended 200 feet (61 meters) in a pressurized bell to reach the sea floor.
Staff Sgt. Eugene Darrigan, the crew’s radio operator, was buried with military honors and community support on Saturday in his hometown of Wappingers Falls, New York, more than eight decades after leaving behind his wife and baby son.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2025/05/26/world-war-ii-bomber-crash-left-11-dead-four-are-finally-coming-home/
