The importance of family was evident at the funeral of Lt. William Q. Punnell, MIA WWII pilot. Punnell’s surviving nephew and grand-nephew attended.
MIA Lt. William Q. Punnell located by Project Recover to be buried May 2
April 27, 2018 – MIA Lt. William Q. Punnell located by Project Recover will be buried May 2nd On May 2, 2018 Navy Reserve Lt. William Q. Punnell, 27, of Flandreau, South Dakota will be buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery. On July 25, 1944 four divisions (16 aircraft) of F6F-3 Hellcat fighters led by Lt. Punnell, took off from the USS Wasp aircraft carrier on a fighter sweep against targets throughout the islands of the Republic of Palau. According to eyewitnesses, the tail of Lt. Punnell’s aircraft was shot off during a strafing run against the north Japanese seaplane base on Arakabesan Island. His plane, continuing to dive, crashed into the waters offshore and sunk without …
F6F Hellcat Discovery Leads to DPAA Accounting For Pilot Lt. William Punnell
In March 2014, Project Recover discovers wreck of an F6F Hellcat and the eventual repatriation of MIA WWII Pilot, Lt. Punnell. More info on the mission here
Project Recover Locates WWII Aircraft in Partnership with SCRIPPS and UDel
Nov. 7, 2014 — Project Recover locates its first WWII Aircraft in partnership with SCRIPPS Institution of Oceanography and University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment and is the subject of a film by camera maker GoPro and the CBS news magazine “60 Minutes.” Supported by a grant from the Office of Naval Research, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, oceanographer Eric Terrill and Mark Moline from the University of Delaware have teamed up with the nonprofit group BentProp Project in a public-private partnership to bring closure to families that have waited for several generations for final word on the fate of their loved ones. At the same time, the project provides a test bed for …
PMAN XVI – Project Recover Locates Hellcat and Avenger in Palau
F6F 3 Hellcat found in Palau on Mission 16. BentProp and Team Project Recover end with the win. Now the wait begins for recovery and identification.
