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https://www.wsj.com/articles/an-extraordinary-mission-to-find-an-american-wwii-bomber-crew-at-the-bottom-of-the-pacific-e5e5693

A repatriation ceremony earlier this year following an underwater operation by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to recover remains of a U.S. aircraft crew lost over Papua New Guinea in World War II.

A repatriation ceremony earlier this year following an underwater operation by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to recover remains of a U.S. aircraft crew lost over Papua New Guinea in World War II. U.S. Marine Corps

An Extraordinary Mission to Find an American WWII Bomber Crew at the Bottom of the Pacific

The B-24 aircraft was carrying 11 men when it was shot down nearly 80 years ago. Reaching it involved the deepest excavation ever undertaken to recover war remains.

By Feliz Solomon

May 13, 2023 11:00 am ET

SINGAPORE—In the spring of 1944, Second Lt. Thomas V. Kelly Jr.’s mother received a one-page letter at her home in Livermore, Calif., informing her that her son was killed in action. His plane was hit by antiaircraft fire and disintegrated midair during a mission in New Guinea, his commander wrote.

“Unfortunately this is the only information we can furnish,” the letter read.

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