--- title: "The WWII bombardier whose family spent 12 years bringing him home from the ocean floor" description: "World War II airman Thomas Kelly Jr. was MIA for more than 70 years after his bomber was shot down during World War II." date: "2026-03-06" modified: "2026-03-06" authors: - name: "Stephen Ruiz" job_title: "Editor, Writer" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/stephen/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/history/the-wwii-bombardier-whose-family-spent-12-years-bringing-him-home-from-the-ocean-floor/" categories: - "Air Force" - "History" - "Military Branches" - "Military News" - "Wars" - "World War II" tags: - "Air Force" - "America250" - "Bombers" - "Military History" --- # The WWII bombardier whose family spent 12 years bringing him home from the ocean floor ![World War II squadron]() *Second Lt. Thomas Kelly Jr. (kneeling, far right) was part of the 320th Bombardment Squadron, 90th Bombardment Group, 5th Air Force during World War II. (Photo courtesy of the Kelly family/Project Recover)* On March 11, 1944, anti-aircraft fire struck a B-24D Liberator bomber, causing to crash off Papua New Guinea. Eleven airmen, including [2nd Lt. Thomas Kelly Jr.](), were on board the Heaven Can Wait. After an extensive search couldn’t locate their remains, the [American Graves Registration Service]() deemed them unrecoverable in 1950. **Related:** [**This is how the ‘missing man formation’ honors fallen pilots**]() It is likely they would have remained so, if not for the dogged persistence of Kelly’s family. On Memorial Day 2013, Scott Althaus became intrigued with learning more about his relatives who served in the U.S. military. That curiosity led him to focus on Kelly, and eventually a small army of other relatives joined Althaus in solving the mystery. It required 12 long years for their determination to be rewarded. ### Starting with Very Little ![Heaven Can Wait]() *The remains of the 'Heaven Can Wait' B-24 bomber, which crashed off Papua New Guinea in 1944 after being shot down by enemy fire. (Project Recover)* Althaus, a political science professor at the University of Illinois, is also the director of the school’s Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. Because of his day job, he is familiar with the intricacies of navigating his way around a database. That skill proved especially useful in his hunt for more details about Kelly, because at the start, he knew very little. He [wasn’t aware of Kelly’s name](), much less other information such as the bomber’s name, crash details, or where the Heaven Can Wait went down, according to [Project Recover](), a nonprofit organization that locates and recovers U.S. service members missing in action. His family’s assistance and support were godsends. After poring through World War II records, the family acquired [Individual Deceased Personnel Files]() for Kelly and the pilot, [1st Lt. Herbert Tennyson](). From those documents, the family located eyewitness reports, along with maps and the official [Missing Air Crew Report](). More database searches followed, but Althaus, et al., still lacked a key piece of information. They had no clue from what direction the attack occurred. Without that, they couldn’t pinpoint a location. The next step required going to Memphis, Tennessee. ### A Fruitful Road Trip ![Missing World War II airman family]() *Judy Brame works on research about the death of her first cousin, Second Lt. Thomas Kelly Jr. (in right photo with Judy, then 3), whose plane was shot down over Papua New Guinea in 1944. (Photo courtesy of the Kelly family/Project Recover)* Kelly was assigned to the 320th Bombardment Squadron, 90th Bombardment Group, 5th Air Force when he died. It was to his family’s everlasting good fortune that military veteran Wiley Woods had compiled [an extensive history of the 90th Bombardment Group](), known as the Jolly Rogers. That included a searchable database. Woods’ works were located at the University of Memphis, so four of Kelly’s relatives traveled there to learn more, according to Project Recover. Over a couple of days, they [clicked 800 photos]() that showed what they hoped would be pertinent clues. It was time well-spent as the Kelly family felt they had whittled down the actual crash site to three possible locations. Now three years into the search, Althaus participated in a video call with the BentProp Project, an organization that helps find World War II wrecks in the Palau Islands. (BentProp later [became part of Project Recover]().) Althaus handed over what the family had discovered. The timing was perfect. ### 4 Sets of Remains Recovered ![World War II airman memorial service]() *A U.S. flag is presented to World War II airman Thomas Kelly Jr.'s family during a Memorial Day gathering in 2018. (Photo courtesy of the Kelly family/Project Recover)* Kelly was never forgotten despite being MIA since World War II. In October 2017, Project Recover found the wreckage of a B-24 aircraft 200 feet below the surface in Hansa Bay. Two years later, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency divers removed any unexploded ordnance from the area. Over a five-week period in 2023, a recovery team recovered human remains and sent them on to the DPAA laboratory. The lab came back in September 2024 with positive identifications for [Kelly](). It also identified the remains of three other crew members: [Tennyson](), [Staff Sgt. Eugene Darrigan](), and [2nd Lt. Donald Sheppick](). “The phone call… from the Project Recover crew just awoke the range of emotions in me from exhilaration to profound grieving,” Althaus [told Project Recover](). “The exhilaration made sense, the grieving not so much.” ### Family Receives Sense of Closure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF2SdsrtY84 His parents were intent on keeping the memory of their son alive. His father even [erected a flagpole]() in their front yard. Every day for years, the flag that the U.S. military had bestowed upon the family was put up in the morning and taken down at night. After Kelly’s father died and the house was no longer in the family, the flag went missing. The deeply appreciative family finally recovered it on Memorial Day Weekend 2025, when the home’s current owner returned it. Kelly was buried [next to his family and sisters]() in a cemetery plot near San Francisco on Memorial Day last year. It had been 12 years since Althaus first wondered about a service member he never knew. He finally felt a sense of closure. “I’m just so grateful,” Althaus said. “It’s been an impossible journey, just should never have been able to get to this day. And here we are, 81 years later.” ### Don’t Miss the Best of We Are The Mighty ##### **• [A World War II POW who defied Nazis to protect Jewish soldiers will receive the Medal of Honor]()** ##### **• [7 POWs who were total badasses after being taken captive]()** ##### **• [This Marine survived the Bataan Death March, a ship sinking, and an atomic bomb]()** ## Author Stephen Ruiz is an editor and writer at We Are The Mighty. His writing revolves mostly around military history and sports stories, but it can branch into other areas. Stephen has more than 35 years of journalism experience. His career began with stints at The Ledger newspaper in Lakeland, Florida, and The Kansas City Star in Missouri, but most of his time was spent on the copy desk at the Orlando Sentinel. After accepting a buyout from the Sentinel in 2020, Stephen worked at Military.com for 4½ years as a content editor and writer. He joined the We Are The Mighty staff in December 2025. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()