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World War II Veteran Recovered
The remains of a missing World War II veteran have been recovered and identified at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. The expedition—213 feet below the surface—is the US government’s deepest underwater recovery operation to date.
On March 11, 1944, a B-24 bomber known as “Heaven Can Wait” was shot down over Papua New Guinea. The aircraft—carrying 11 US service members—was en route to bomb Japanese anti-aircraft weapons on the island’s northeast coast. Early last year, Navy divers recovered the dog tags and remains of 2nd Lt. Thomas V. Kelly Jr.—a 21-year-old aviator from California. The remains of two other veterans—radio operator Eugene J. Darrigan, 26, and navigator 2nd Lt. Donald W. Sheppick, 26—were identified earlier this year.
The mission came about after Kelly’s family members conducted an extensive research project from 2013 to 2017, gathering historical documents and eyewitness accounts to narrow the wreckage search.
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https://www.yahoo.com/news/wwii-airman-remains-positively-identified-153302737.html
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It’s important that every effort be made to find and bring out vets home.
One thing that is drilled into our military is “Never leave a comrade behind”. I learned it when I was in training and I hope it’s still taught.
I watch for these stories as a fulfillment of that ethic. Unfortunately, the politicians and bureaucrats, some who are “perfumed princes” in the Pentagon, fail in this duty.
In the movies, it was best expressed by “We Were Soldiers” Hero, Hal Moore.
“I can’t promise you that I will bring you all home alive. But this I swear, before you and before Almighty God, that when we go into battle, I will be the first to set foot on the field, and I will be the last to step off, and I will leave no one behind. Dead or alive, we will all come home together. So help me, God.” — Mel Gibson playing Lt. Col. Hal Moore in “We Were Soldiers”.
I know the Conspiracy Theories that we left living POWs in WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam. I hope that they are not true. And, I hope we are busting heads to confirm or deny.
The way we, the USA, treat our veterans is a national disgrace.
Shame on us.
“Some had families waiting. For others, their only family would be the men they bled beside. There were no bands, no flags, no Honor Guards to welcome them home. They went to war because their country ordered them to. But in the end, they fought not for their country or their flag, they fought for each other.” — Barry Pepper as Joe Galloway in “We Were Soldiers”
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Reinke Faces Life 