He was shot down in the Pacific Ocean in WWII. Almost 80 years later, his remains are finally home

Updated: 2:25 AM EDT Jul 10, 2023

Sara Smart and Zoe Sottile, CNN

Almost 80 years after Anthony Di Petta's plane was shot down by enemy fire in World War II and over 70 years after he was declared "non-recoverable," he's finally home.The remains of the sailor arrived back in the U.S. on Friday afternoon, according to an agency of the U.S. Department of Defense. Di Petta, from Nutley, New Jersey, served as a U.S. Navy Aviation Ordnanceman during World War II, according to a news release from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). The sailor, 24 at the time of his death, was born in Italy but immigrated to the U.S. around 1921, according to a nonprofit called Project Recover, which took part in the recovery effort. He had enlisted in the U.S. Navy by 1940.In September 1944, Di Petta and two other crew members were on a mission to conduct air strikes against Japanese forces in the Palau Islands, DPAA says.The aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed into the water of Malakal Harbor. Di Petta's remains were unable to be found at the time, DPAA says.Several more searches for the downed aircraft were unsuccessful and Di Petta was declared "non-recoverable" in July 1949, according to the DPAA.But from 2003 to 2018, Project Recover (originally called the Bentprop Project) and the DPAA conducted joint investigations that eventually identified the crash site. Project Recover executed a total of 14 dives up to 112 feet deep to identify the aircraft. In August 2021, the nonprofit recovered the remains of multiple missing service members from the site, including those of Di Petta.The remains were then sent for testing at the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, and identified by dental analysis as Di Petta in January, according to the DPAA. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis.Di Petta's remains arrived at LaGuardia Airport in New York on Friday afternoon. A coffin draped with an American flag was seen arriving on the tarmac as people approached, bowing their heads.Di Petta will be buried in Wrightstown, New Jersey, on July 11, according to the DPAA.

CNN —

Almost 80 years after Anthony Di Petta's plane was shot down by enemy fire in World War II and over 70 years after he was declared "non-recoverable," he's finally home.

The remains of the sailor arrived back in the U.S. on Friday afternoon, according to an agency of the U.S. Department of Defense.

Di Petta, from Nutley, New Jersey, served as a U.S. Navy Aviation Ordnanceman during World War II, according to a news release from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).

The sailor, 24 at the time of his death, was born in Italy but immigrated to the U.S. around 1921, according to a nonprofit called Project Recover, which took part in the recovery effort. He had enlisted in the U.S. Navy by 1940.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)

In September 1944, Di Petta and two other crew members were on a mission to conduct air strikes against Japanese forces in the Palau Islands, DPAA says.

The aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed into the water of Malakal Harbor. Di Petta's remains were unable to be found at the time, DPAA says.

Several more searches for the downed aircraft were unsuccessful and Di Petta was declared "non-recoverable" in July 1949, according to the DPAA.

But from 2003 to 2018, Project Recover (originally called the Bentprop Project) and the DPAA conducted joint investigations that eventually identified the crash site. Project Recover executed a total of 14 dives up to 112 feet deep to identify the aircraft. In August 2021, the nonprofit recovered the remains of multiple missing service members from the site, including those of Di Petta.

The remains were then sent for testing at the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, and identified by dental analysis as Di Petta in January, according to the DPAA. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis.

Di Petta's remains arrived at LaGuardia Airport in New York on Friday afternoon. A coffin draped with an American flag was seen arriving on the tarmac as people approached, bowing their heads.

Di Petta will be buried in Wrightstown, New Jersey, on July 11, according to the DPAA.

First Lt. Dustin Fergen had been deployed for almost 11 months overseas. He hadn't seen his family since Thanksgiving last year.

That changed Wednesday.

During an assembly at Heatherstone Elementary School in Olathe, Kansas, he surprised his two daughters. They both, fourth grader Joanna Fergen and first grader Angelica Fergen, didn’t see it coming.

"I was half expecting them to come running up to me, but it took a little coaxing. It was everything I could ask for," Fergen said.

Once the shock wore off, it was all smiles for the reunited family.

"But it all worked out and it was worth every second of the wait and the little lies we had to tell," Kim Fergen, the lieutenant's wife, said.

This was Fergen's first deployment. He serves as an intelligence officer in the 130th field artillery unit.

He’s now stationed a lot closer to home in Manhattan, Kansas.

The family says they have a lot of vacations planned to make up for lost time.