Missing Livermore WWII Airman's Remains Found After 80 Years: Military

LIVERMORE, CA — A Livermore man will finally get a proper burial over 80 years after he was killed in World War II. Lt. Thomas V. Kelly, Jr., who died in 1944 at age 21, was never found until September, thanks to dedicated work from his family, Project Recover, and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA.)

In March 1944, Kelly was a bombardier deployed on a plane called "Heaven Can Wait" stationed on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea, according to a news release from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA.) On March 11, the plane exploded and crashed, likely due to anti-aircraft fire. Aircraft searched for survivors, but none were found. After the war, the American Graves Registration Service conducted exhaustive searches of the area, but in 1950, officials said that they could not find any remains of Kelly or the other crew members.

Between 2013 and 2017, the Kelly Family undertook a dedicated archival research effort to collect historical documents and eyewitness accounts of the "Heaven Can Wait" crew, according to the DPAA. In October 2017, Project Recover, a DPAA partner organization, located the wreckage of B-24 aircraft in Hansa Bay while making sonar scans. In 2019, a DPAA underwater investigation team conducted several surveys of the wreckage.

In March and April of 2023, an underwater recovery team excavated the crash site, where they recovered osseous materials and material evidence, including life support equipment and identification tags. Scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, and scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome DNA analysis.

After 80 years, a rosette will be placed next to Kelly's name at the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, showing that he's accounted for.

He will be buried on May 26, 2025 in Livermore. For more information, call the Army Casualty Office at 800-892-2490.

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