REMAINS OF KINGS COUNTY AIRMAN POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED 82 YEARS AFTER FINAL MISSION

January 14, 2026 – The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) has announced that they have positively identified the remains of Staff Sergeant Nicholas J. Governale, who had been Missing In Action since 1943. Staff Sgt. Governale was a member of the 69th Bombardment Squadron, 42d Bombardment Group. The initial survey and the recovery efforts leading up to these identifications were completed in partnership with Project Recover and other experts in the field.

The B-25 took off from Carney Field in Guadalcanal on the morning of July 10th, 1943. Because of poor visibility, the aircraft hit a tree, crashed into the sea just under 2 miles north of Koli Point, and sank to the bottom of the Iron Sound.

In spring 2017, following a successful exploratory mission, Project Recover deployed a team made up of scientists and professionals from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of Delaware to Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, to search for World War II-era aircraft associated with missing U.S. service members. Despite challenging dive conditions, they located and identified two aircraft, including a B-25 bomber missing since 1943 and linked to four MIAs. Project Recover completed a detailed site survey and submitted its findings to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).

Derek Abbey Ph.D., Project Recover President and CEO, shares, “This homecoming is more than the return of one soul—it is the closing of a chapter long marked by anguish and unanswered questions. It is the fulfillment of a sacred promise: that no one who serves this country will ever be forgotten. It is with incredible gratitude for Staff Sergeant Governale and his family that we welcome him home to a grateful nation.” 

The Project Recover team is incredibly grateful to have been part of the effort to bring home Staff Sergeant Governale. 

About Project Recover

Project Recover is a nonprofit, public-private partnership involving the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego to enlist 21st century science and technology combined with in-depth archival and historical research in a quest to find the final resting places of Americans missing in action since World War II. 

Project Recover is the only non-governmental organization that is fully integrated across all phases in the MIA recovery space. The organization conducts proactive research, search and documentation missions, as well as recovery operations in both underwater and terrestrial environments. Project Recover also fills gaps not addressed by the Department of Defense. This includes searching for service members lost during training accidents, as well as providing educational programs and community outreach that inspire and inform the next generation.

Project Recover’s cutting-edge team of scientists, historians, archaeologists, engineers, and divers conducts research and surveys to discover new crash sites, fully document wreckage, and correlate wrecks to known MIA cases. That documentation can then be used by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) to evaluate that site for the possible recovery of remains. DPAA is tasked with recovery and repatriation efforts, including notification of the families of these MIAs. 

Project Recover has completed over 100 missions in 25 countries, discovered and documented more than 75 aircraft associated with MIAs, developed a growing database of more than 700 cases associated with more than 3,000 MIAs, accounted for over 90 missing-in-action service members, repatriated 28 American heroes, and anticipates additional identifications before the end of 2026.

https://www.projectrecover.org/