The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that, in partnership with Project Recover and other experts in the field, they accounted for LT Jay R. Manown, Jr. LT Manown was a TBM-1c Avenger pilot who, until this announcement, was Missing in Action. Project Recover located the downed Avenger in Palauan waters in 2015.
The Avenger took off from the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier on September 10, 1944. The crew was part of Torpedo Squadron 20 (VT-20), which was on a bombing mission targeting antiaircraft positions and transport ships on and near Malakal Harbor in Palau.
The USS Enterprise and 15 other aircraft carriers were in the area. They were all part of Task Force 38. Together, they were conducting strikes on Palau in preparation for the invasion of Peleliu.
LT Manown’s plane was last seen spinning violently at 5,000 feet and then crashing into the water of Malakal Harbor.
LT Manown was a graduate of West Virginia University and was an Aviation Candidate at Naval Air Station in Pensacola, FL, in 1940.
The Discovery
Project Recover located the Grumman TBM-1c Avenger in the waters of Palau in 2015 during the third year in partnership with Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) at the University of California, San Diego, and the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, University of Delaware.
Initially, poor visibility and short bottom time led the team to misidentify the aircraft as a Helldiver. Upon closer investigation, including 14 dives to 112 ft, Project Recover attained the proof needed to confirm it was the Avenger flown by LT Manown.
MIA Recovery Mission
Multiple underwater recovery missions were executed on this crash site. The first was in 2019 by Ships of Discovery, and the next in 2021 by Project Recover in partnership with Legion Undersea Services. These efforts resulted in the recovery and identification of Anthony Di Petta and Wilbur Mitts. Both of these Sailors were repatriated back to their families and memorialized in ceremonies in New Jersey and California in 2023. However, Jay Manown remained missing.
In 2023, DPAA asked Project Recover to return to the crash site again to conduct recovery efforts with the hope of finding Manown. Despite challenges throughout the mission, including weather delays, illness, equipment failure, lost luggage, and more, the Project Recover and Legion Undersea Services team successfully executed the mission and recovered possible human remains.
At the same time as this mission, the memorial for Anthony Di Petta was taking place in New Jersey. Since many of the team members were in the field and could not attend the New Jersey memorial, they held their own ceremony acknowledging Di Petta and Mitts and the continued search for Manown. This ceremony was attended by several esteemed guests, including the President of Palau. A division of United State Air Force F-35s and French Rafales conducted a flyover at the conclusion of the ceremony, recreating the final flight path of the Avenger on September 10th, 1944.
Flag Ceremony
In accordance with Project Recover protocols, a flag ceremony was held over the crash site upon its discovery in 2015. Dr. Patrick Scannon began by describing what was happening in Palau late in the summer of 1944. The events he described contrasted sharply with the day’s serene water and clear blue sky. Pat read the names of the MIAs. Then, he recited the poem For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon.
The team folded one flag for each MIA associated with the crash site. CAPT Mickaila Johnston was selected to hold the flags until each MIA was recovered, identified, and next of kin had been notified.
Soon the final flag from this site will be delivered to LT Manown’s family in humble recognition of his service and sacrifice and the enduring cost to his family. Welcome home, LT Manown.
