WWII Repatriation-----2nd Lt. Thomas Kelly, US Army Air Forces (KIA/MIA)

U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Thomas V. Kelly Jr., 21, of Livermore, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Sept. 25, 2024.

In March 1944, Kelly was assigned to the 320th Bombardment Squadron, 90th Bombardment Group, 5th Air Force, and deployed in present day Papua New Guinea. On the morning of March 11, Kelly, the bombardier onboard a B-24D “Liberator” Heaven Can Wait departed Nadzab Strip #1, Papua New Guinea, as part of a bombing mission against enemy positions at Boram Airfield, and Awar Point, Hansa Bay, located along the northern coast of New Guinea. Observers from other aircraft in the formation reported seeing flames erupting from the bomb bay, spreading to the tail quickly. Heaven Can Wait was seen pitching up violently before banking left and crashing down into the water. It is believed anti-aircraft fire hit the plane, causing un-dropped ordnance to explode. Several aircraft circled the crash site in hopes of locating any possible survivors, but none could be seen.

Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS), the military unit responsible for investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the Pacific Theater, conducted exhaustive searches of battle areas and crash sites in New Guinea, concluding their search in late 1948. In March 1950, a board of AGRS officials concluded they were unable to locate any remains of Kelly and the other Heaven Can Wait crew members. They were designated as non-recoverable.

Between 2013 and 2017, the Kelly family undertook a dedicated archival research effort to collect historical documents and eyewitness accounts of the loss of the Heaven Can Waitcrew. The family worked with Dr. Scott Althaus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to complete this effort and provided this documentation. In October 2017, Project Recover, a DPAA partner organization, located the wreckage of a B-24 aircraft in Hansa Bay while making sonar scans as part of a unilateral remote sensing survey effort. In 2019, a DPAA underwater investigation team (UIT) conducted several surveys of the wreckage, performing visual inspections and clearing the site of any unexploded ordnance.

From March 9 through April 13, 2023, an underwater recovery team (RT-U) excavated the crash site, where they recovered possible osseous materials and various material evidence, to include life support equipment and identification tags. The recovered evidence was sent to the DPAA Laboratory for review and analysis.

To identify Kelly’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as material and circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome (Y-STR) DNA analysis.

Kelly’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.