Heaven Can Wait Family Reunion - Project Recover is committed to bringing the MIA home. Photos by Harry Parker Photography.com

Relatives of WWII B-24 Crew Gather For Heaven Can Wait ‘Family Reunion’

Lauren Trecosta Families, MIAs 10 Comments

Heaven Can Wait Family Reunion On March 11, 1944, a World War II B-24 bomber called Heaven Can Wait came under anti-aircraft fire and crashed in the waters off Papua, New Guinea, killing all 11 crew members onboard. Seventy-four years later, on October 13th, 2018, relatives of the crew members gathered for a “family reunion” in Victoria, Minnesota. Using side-scanning sonars, high definition images, and underwater robotic technologies, Project Recover located the B-24 in 2017 under 213 feet of water. The family of  Bombardier 2nd Lt. Thomas V. Kelly, Jr, provided extensive research helping Project Recover to locate the aircraft within two weeks on the water. Scott Althaus, lead Kelly family researcher and first cousin once removed to the Bombardier, …

This WWII photo shows B-24 Liberators flying over Porto Santo Stefano, Italy - Project Recover Mission, Italy. Looking for WWII Bombers on the Western Coast of Italy - Project Recover is committed to bringing MIAs home.

Project Recover Searches For WWII Aircraft, MIAs in Italy

Lauren Trecosta MIA Searches, Mission - Europe 25 Comments

Porto Santo Stefano, Italy16 September – 5 October 2018 Under contract with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), Project Recover headed to Porto Santo Stefano in the Grosseto province of Italy to search for World War II aircraft and MIAs in September 2018. Our primary goal was to locate and positively identify an A-20, a B-24, B-25, and B-26, all associated with MIAs. The WWII aircraft were lost along the coastlines of Marina di Grosseto, Porto Ercole, and Porto Santo Stefano.   Project Recover conducts all its missions in cooperation with local governments. We received approval from the Italian federal, provincial, and local governments in Grosseto region of Italy. We also held an information session for the local public. Italian colleagues, …