WWII Vet's Remains Recovered, ID'd After Decades Are Laid To Rest

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — A Wappingers Falls 26-year-old who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country has finally been laid to rest back home in the Hudson Valley.

Just in time for the Memorial Day holiday, New York State Police troopers, alongside the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office, took part in the homecoming of U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sergeant Eugene J. Darrigan.

The Wappingers Falls native, Staff Sergeant Darrigan, was killed in action during World War II. More than 80 years later, his remains have been identified and returned to his hometown, with a special reverence.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that the U.S. Army Air Forces Staff sergeant, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Sept. 20. Darrigan's family members were the first to receive a full briefing on his identification, and additional details on his identification were shared publicly more recently.

In March of 1944, Darrigan was assigned to the 320th Bombardment Squadron, 90th Bombardment Group, 5th Air Force and deployed in what is present day Papua New Guinea.

On the morning of March 11, Darrigan, the radio operator onboard a B-24D "Liberator"Heaven Can Wait departed on a bombing mission against enemy positions at Boram Airfield, and Awar Point, Hansa Bay, located along the northern coast of New Guinea. Flight crews on other aircraft in the formation reported seeing flames erupting from the bomb bay, spreading to the tail quickly. Heaven Can Wait was seen pitching up violently before banking left and crashing down into the water. It is believed anti-aircraft fire hit the plane, causing undropped ordnance to explode.

Aircraft circled the crash site in hopes of locating any possible survivors, but none could be seen.

After the war, the American Graves Registration Service, the military unit responsible for investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the Pacific Theater, conducted searches of battle areas and crash sites in New Guinea, concluding their search in late 1948.

In March of 1950, officials concluded they were unable to locate any remains of Darrigan and the other Heaven Can Wait crew members. They were designated as "non-recoverable."

In the years since, the family of one of Darrigan's crew mates launched an ambitious search for answers and closure.

Between 2013 and 2017, the family of 2nd Lt. Thomas Kelly, Heaven Can Wait bombardier, undertook an effort to collect historical documents and eyewitness accounts of the loss of the crew. The family worked with Dr. Scott Althaus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to complete the effort and provided documentation.

In October of 2017, Project Recover, a DPAA partner organization, found the wreckage of a B-24 aircraft in Hansa Bay while making sonar scans as part of a unilateral remote sensing survey effort.

In 2019, a DPAA underwater team conducted several surveys of the wreckage, performing visual inspections and clearing the site of any unexploded ordnance.

From March 9 through April 13, 2023, an underwater team excavated the crash site, where they recovered possible osseous materials and various material evidence, including life support equipment and identification tags. The recovered evidence was then sent to the DPAA Laboratory for review and analysis.

To identify Darrigan's remains, DPAA scientists used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as material and circumstantial evidence. In addition, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA, Y-chromosome DNA, and autosomal DNA analysis.

Darrigan's name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, along with others still missing from WWII.

A rosette will now be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

The efforts also led to the identification and return of three of Darrigan's fellow crew members, including Kelly, as well as pilot, 1st Lt. Herbert Tennyson and navigator, 2nd Lt. Donald Sheppick.

DPAA expressed its gratitude to the American Battle Monuments Commission for their partnership in the powerful mission. DPAA also thanked the U.S. Navy Experimental Diving Unit and partner organizations Project Recover, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving their country, visit the DPAA's website, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, or X.