MIA WWII Soldier from NYS Accounted For
WASHINGTON, DC (WENY) -- A U.S. Army soldier who went missing in action during World War II in 1944 has now been accounted for, more than 70 years later.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that Staff Sgt. Eugene Darrigan of Wappingers Falls, New York was accounted for on September 20, 2024. Darrigan was 26-years-old at the time he went missing in March of 1944.
According to the DPAA, Darrigan was serving with the 320th Bombardment Squadron, 90th Bombardment Group, 5th Air Force, and deployed in what is today known as Papua New Guinea.
Darrigan served as a radio operator on board a B-24D "Liberator" named Heaven Can Wait, that was part of a bombing mission. On March 11, 1944, the aircraft caught fire before crashing into the water. According to the DPAA, it's believed the plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire, causing un-dropped ordnance to explode.
After World War II, the American Graves Registration Service, the military unit responsible for investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the Pacific Theater, searched battle and crash sites in New Guinea. In 1950, the board concluded they were unable to locate any remains of the Heaven Can Wait crew members, and they were deemed non-recoverable.
The DPAA states that in 2017, the family of Heaven Can Wait crew member 2nd Lt. Kelly undertook search efforts to collect historical documents and eyewitness accounts of the incident. In October 2017, DPAA partner organization Project Recover located the wreckage of a B-24 aircraft in Hansa Bay, while conducting sonar scans. In 2019, a DPAA underwater investigation team conducted surveys of the wreckage, and later excavated the crash site in April of 2023. That search recovered bone evidence, as well as identification tags.
The DPAA was able to use dental and anthropological analysis, along with other evidence to identify the remains of Staff Sgt. Darrigan.
The organization says Darrigan's name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial; a rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he is now accounted for.
Darrigan will be buried in Calverton, New York in the future.
