WWII bomber crash left 11 dead and 'non-recoverable.' 4 are finally coming home

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MICHAEL HILL
Updated 3:02 AM CDT, May 26, 2025

WAPPINGERS FALLS, N.Y. (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 radio operator was buried 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.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/american-bomber-wwii-remains-divers-212ba07efdab40941f09026c79fdb5c0

---

[MarineCombatEngineer]

1. RIP Brave Army Airmen.

You are finally home.
A very fitting story for Memorial Day.

[Kid Berwyn]

2. "The co-pilot managed a final salute..."

The United States of America is free, thanks to him and so many like him.

[niyad]

3. Tears.

[paleotn]

4. Duty and sacrifice.

They are what made America great.

[benfranklin1776]

5. The finest exemplars of the Greatest Generation.

To whom we are profoundly grateful and pledge with our sacred honor to vindicate their ultimate sacrifice by carrying on their fight against tyranny. ✊🏼

[Wounded Bear]

6. K&R...

[republianmushroom]

7. RIP, you are home now,

in a grateful nation.