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.

A Massachusetts World War II veteran celebrated his 101st birthday by touring the American Heritage Museum.Russell Phipps, of Hopkinton, was a sergeant in the United States Army Air Corps and worked on the Enola Gay, the plane that would drop one of the atomic bombs on Japan, which led to the end of WWII. Phipps said our forefathers put their lives on the line to draw up the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and those are the things that need to be protected."Be prepared to fight. Freedom isn't free," Phipps said. "If it comes to the point where you gotta stand up and fight, you gotta do it."Phipps, who has a son and daughter, was married for more than seven decades until his wife's death.He urges people to be prepared for "bumps" in life and to push through them.Watch the video above for the full story.

Thousands of women from all ethnic backgrounds served in World War II, with their contributions and bravery often being overlooked.

But there's a new push to give recognition 75 years later.

The Women's Army Corps (WAC) all-Black 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion members are among those women who served.

"To understand the story of the 6888th, we have to understand what was going on in the country at the time," said Army Col. Ret. Edna Cummings. "In the United States, Jim Crow segregation was the law, so the military was segregated not only by race but also by gender."

The "Six Triple Eight" was the first and only all-Black WAC unit deployed overseas during WWII. Under the Command of Maj. Charity Adams, the 850-member group, was first sent to Birmingham, England, in 1945.

Their mission was to sort years of backlogged mail stacked in warehouses — millions of letters and packages sent to U.S. soldiers and other personnel.

"The chain of command said, 'If we don't clear this backlog, the troop morale is going to remain low because that vital communication was lost to and from the United States,'" Cummings said. "The letters weren't making it to the troops, and the troops could not send letters home — so nobody at the United States knew what was going on."

As Allied forces drove across Europe, ever-changing locations hampered mail delivery to service members.

The task was a logistical nightmare, with many letters addressed to familiar names like John Smith, or simply "Junior, U.S. Army" or "Buster, U.S. Army."

Alva Moore Stevenson's mother, Lydia Esther Thornton, was a member of the Six Triple Eight. An Afro-Mexican woman, Thornton, chose to join the Black unit over a white team when given the option.

"Just having to imagine, wherever you were serving in the European Theater, and you weren't hearing from your family," she said. "I can't imagine."

Implementing a highly-effective system, the women processed about 65,000 pieces of mail per shift, amounting to 195,000 pieces per day.

"Because of the racial segregation, they were self-sustaining. So they not only had to figure out how to direct the mail and to sort the mail and to route the mail, but they also had to be self-sustaining," Cummings said. "In Europe, the Six Triple Eight had to set up their city, a mini-installation. They had to feed themselves, take care of their vehicles, drive themselves. So there was little help."

Given a six-month deadline, they finished in three, all while fighting racial and gender discrimination.

Their pioneering service paved the way for women like Cummings, leading the campaign to recognize the unit with Congressional Gold Medal. She helped create a documentary on Six Triple Eight's story.

"Regardless of gender, race, color, creed, ethnicity, the 6888th performed above and beyond. They did something that no one else could do," Cummings said. "The 6888th broke records, mail-sorting records."

A staunch advocate of the campaign, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, introduced the bill in the Senate, where it passed unanimously. He says their efforts ensured that people like his mother and father could communicate during the war.

Only six women from the 6888th are alive today.

"It's important to us because it honors our mom and what she stood for, which was the love of country, love of family," Stevenson said. "I wish she would've been here, but I know she would think it's a lot of, much to do about nothing. But I wish she would've been, been here for this."

In the House, 17 more co-sponsors are needed for legislation for a vote.

CNN —

One high school in Tacoma, Washington, recently honored a former student who wasn't able to get his diploma 78 years ago.

Ernie Reda is not only a World War II veteran, but now an alumnus of Stadium High School, which is located in Commencement Bay.

Ernie was sent to boot camp in 1943, which was supposed to be his graduating year.

From there, he fought in the Battle of the Bulge and took part in the Normandy Invasion, his son Dave Reda told CNN.

Since he missed out on getting his diploma, Ernie's granddaughter, Heather Anderson, had been thinking for about 2 years about how to give her grandfather that recognition.

"It had crossed my mind; it had crossed all of ours minds, but she (Heather) just stayed after it," Dave told CNN.

Then at the beginning of December, Anderson contacted the principal of Stadium High, Shannon Marshall.

She asked if the school would be interested in participating in "Operation Recognition," a program started by Veterans Affairs. It works to recognize men and women who were drafted and unable to finish high school.

Right away Marshall knew this was something she and the school wanted to be a part of, "It seemed like the most honorable thing to do," Marshall told CNN.

On December 20, the ceremony was held in the original auditorium of the school, which has been there since 1906.

"It was the greatest thing in my life," Ernie told CNN, "The best Christmas present."

Four out of five of Ernie's children were there, along with other extended family members, Dave told CNN.

Speeches were very similar to those given at a typical graduation for the school, with a few bits of rewording to fit the Veterans Affairs standards.

While the wait was decades-long, Ernie was delighted to finally get that paper.

"78 years later I got it," Ernie said. "It's about time I did!"

He was also given one of the two remaining copies of the 1943 Stadium yearbook, which the school felt was important to give to him.

When Ernie was discharged in December of 1944, he remembers disembarking the ship about a mile from Stadium High School, Dave told CNN. "It's the first thing I saw," Ernie told CNN affiliate KING5.

Marshall explained that Ernie is still a proud Stadium Tiger and when he arrived he chanted the school colors -- blue and gold.

And while this is the first veteran the school has honored through the program, Marshall says this will certainly not be the last. "It was really a rewarding day and was so special for everyone," she said.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Thousands of women from all ethnic backgrounds served in World War II, and their contributions and bravery are often overlooked. But 75 years later, their stories are getting recognition.

The Women's Army Corps (WAC) all-Black 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion members are among those women who served.

"To understand the story of the 68888th, we have to understand what was going on in the country at the time," said Army Col. Ret. Edna Cummings. "In the United States, Jim Crow segregation was the law, so the military was segregated not only by race but also by gender."

The "Six Triple Eight," was the first and only all-Black WAC unit deployed overseas during WWII. Under the Command of Maj. Charity Adams, the 850-member group was first sent to Birmingham, England, in 1945.

Their mission was to sort years of backlogged mail stacked in warehouses — millions of letters and packages sent to U.S. soldiers and other personnel.

"The chain of command said, 'If we don't clear this backlog, the troop morale is going to remain low because that vital communication was lost to and from the United States,'" Cummings said. "The letters weren't making it to the troops, and the troops could not send letters home — so nobody at the United States knew what was going on."

As Allied forces drove across Europe, ever-changing locations hampered mail delivery to servicemembers.

The task was a logistical nightmare, with many letters addressed to common names like John Smith, or simply "Junior, U.S. Army" or "Buster, U.S. Army."

Alva Moore Stevenson's mother, Lydia Esther Thornton, was a member of the Six Triple Eight. An Afro-Mexican woman, Thornton chose to join the Black unit over a white unit when given the option.

"Just having to imagine, wherever you were serving in the European Theater, and you weren't hearing from your family," she said. "I can't imagine."

Implementing a highly-effective system, the women processed about 65,000 pieces of mail per shift, amounting to 195,000 pieces per day.

"Because of the racial segregation, they were self-sustaining. So they had not only had to figure out how to direct the mail and to sort the mail and to route the mail, but they also had to be self-sustaining," Cummings said. "In Europe, the Six Triple Eight had to set up their own city, a mini-installation. They had to feed themselves, take care of their own vehicles, drive themselves. So there was little help."

Given a six-month deadline, they finished in three, all while fighting racial and gender discrimination.

Their pioneering service paved the way for women like Cummings, who's leading the campaign to recognize the unit with Congressional Gold Medal. She helped create a documentary on Six Triple Eight's story.

"Regardless of gender, race, color, creed, ethnicity, the 6888th performed above and beyond. They did something that no one else could do," Cummings said. "The 6888th broke records, mail-sorting records."

A staunch advocate of the campaign, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, introduced the bill in the Senate, where it passed unanimously. He says their efforts ensured that people like his mother and father could communicate during the war.

Only six women from the 6888th are alive today.

"It's important to us because it honors our mom and what she stood for, which was love of country, love of family," Stevenson said. "I wish she would've been here, but I know she would think it's a lot of, much to do about nothing. But I wish she would've been, been here for this."

In the House, 17 more co-sponsors are needed for legislation for a vote.

The University of Southern California is apologizing and plans to award honorary degrees to dozens of Japanese-American students, who were not able to complete their studies in the 1940s after being sent to internment camps during World War II.

USC President Carol Folt is planning to issue the diplomas and deliver the apology at the school's Asian Pacific Alumni Association gala next April, 80 years after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 following the attack on Pearl Harbor. The order led to some 120,000 Japanese-Americans on the West Coast being forced to relocate to camps further inland.

"This is really a point of righting a historical wrong and doing the right thing at the end of the day," Patrick Auerbach, USC Associate Senior Vice President for Alumni Relations, told CNN.

The university believes there were 121 Nisei students — a term for people born in America to parents, who came to the U.S. from Japan — at the institution on Feb. 19, 1942, when the order was issued.

When the USC students tried to resume their education after the war, the school put up major obstacles.

Some were not allowed to reenter the school, others would have to start their degree programs from scratch, and USC would not release transcripts for some students trying to finish their degrees at another school, he said.

The school has not found records of a policy discriminating against the Nisei students, but they were able to corroborate the practice over the years through interviews with the students and their families.

The Asian Pacific Alumni Association of USC has been working to get recognition for the students since 2007, Executive Director Grace Shiba told CNN.

USC awarded honorary alumni certificates in 2007 and 11 surviving students were presented honorary degrees in 2012.

The school does not award honorary degrees posthumously, so many of the students weren't honored then, Auerbach said, adding Folt has now decided to make an exception.

"This is an extraordinary circumstance, and this is an injustice, and we owe it to these families," he said. "If we want to really, you know, talk the talk with our values, our core values as an institution, then we need to walk the walk, and that's what we're doing in this case."

Shiba said her office and some volunteers are working to find any surviving students — who would be in their 90s, or older — or their family members, to make sure they get the recognition they deserve.

She said records of the day have been preserved on microfiche and they have set up a form for people to request the honorary degree.

Shiba said she's been in touch with many families since the announcement.

"They're thrilled, the reaction has been positive," Shiba said. "We waited so long, and to be quite honest, we were just thrilled that finally, the university had come to a decision to honor all Nisei students."

The Japanese American National Museum also welcomed the decision.

"This gesture by USC to grant honorary degrees posthumously recognizes the deep pain and hardship suffered by those students. It is an important step in addressing a grave injustice." museum President and CEO Ann Burroughs said in a statement. "It is a sad legacy of wartime racism that some families may still not know that their deceased relatives once attended USC, and that they are now eligible to receive this belated honor."

Auerbach said the university hopes it will provide closure for the Nisei students' families.

"We cannot go back and change what the university did, but this is the least we can do to make right by some, some injustice is that we're done by the institution," he said.

LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II has made a knight of the 100-year-old World War II veteran who captivated the British public by walking 100 laps of his garden and raising some 33 million pounds ($40 million) for the National Health Service.

The queen tapped the blade of a sword once owned by her father on the shoulders of Tom Moore on Friday to turn the hero of a nation into a knight of the realm.

Moore steadied himself against his now-famous walker and wheeled himself close enough to stand in front of Elizabeth but skipped the normal practice of taking a knee before the monarch.

Before being knighted, CNN reports that Moore said, "If I kneel down, I'll never get up again."

He revealed afterward that he and the 94-year-old queen spoke about ages.

BOLOGNA, Italy —

For more than seven decades, Martin Adler treasured a back-and-white photo of himself as a young American soldier with a broad smile with three impeccably dressed Italian children he is credited with saving as the Nazis retreated northward in 1944.

On Monday, the 97-year-old World War II veteran met the three siblings — now octogenarians themselves — in person for the first time since the war.

Adler held out his hand to grasp those of Bruno, Mafalda and Giuliana Naldi for the joyful reunion at Bologna's airport after a 20-hour journey from Boca Raton, Florida. Then, just as he did as a 20-year-old soldier in their village of Monterenzio, he handed out bars of American chocolate.

"Look at my smile," Adler said of the long-awaited in-person reunion, made possible by the reach of social media.

It was a happy ending to a story that could easily have been a tragedy.

The very first time the soldier and the children saw each other, in 1944, the three faces peeked out of a huge wicker basket where their mother had hidden them as soldiers approached. Adler thought the house was empty, so he trained his machine gun on the basket when he heard a sound, thinking a German soldier was hiding inside.

"The mother, Mamma, came out and stood right in front of my gun to stop me (from) shooting," Adler recalled. "She put her stomach right against my gun, yelling, 'Bambinis! Bambinis! Bambinis!' pounding my chest," Adler recalled.

"That was a real hero, the mother, not me. The mother was a real hero. Can you imagine you standing yourself in front of a gun and screaming 'Children! No!'" he said.

Adler still trembles when he remembers that he was only seconds away from opening fire on the basket. And after all these decades, he still suffers nightmares from the war, said his daughter, Rachelle Donley.

The children, aged 3 to 6 when they met, were a happy memory. His company stayed on in the village for a while and he would come by and play with them.

Giuliana Naldi, the youngest, is the only one of the three with any recollection of the event. She recalls climbing out of the basket and seeing Adler and another U.S. soldier, who has since died.

"They were laughing," Naldi, now 80, remembers. "They were happy they didn't shoot."

She, on the other hand, didn't quite comprehend the close call.

"We weren't afraid for anything," she said.

She also remembers the soldier's chocolate, which came in a blue and white wrapper.

"We ate so much of that chocolate,'' she laughed.

Donley decided during the COVID-19 lockdown to use social media to try to track down the children in the old black-and-white photo, starting with veterans' groups in North America.

Eventually the photo was spotted by an Italian journalist who had written a book on World War II. He was able to track down Adler's regiment and where it had been stationed from a small detail in another photograph. The smiling photo was then published in a local newspaper, leading to the discovery of the identities of the three children, who by then were grandparents themselves.

They shared a video reunion in December, and waited until the easing of pandemic travel rules made the trans-Atlantic trip possible.

"I am so happy and so proud of him. Because things could have been so different in just a second. Because he hesitated, there have been generations of people," Donley said.

The serendipity isn't lost on Giuliana Naldi's 30-year-old granddaughter, Roberta Fontana, one of six children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren who descended from the three children hidden in the wicker basket.

"Knowing that Martin could have shot and that none of my family would exist is something very big," Fontana said. "It is very emotional."

During his stay in Italy, Adler will spend some time in the village where he was stationed, before traveling on to Florence, Naples and Rome, where he hopes to meet Pope Francis.

"My dad really wants to meet the pope," Donley said. "He wants to share his message of peace and love. My dad is all about peace."

Seventy-nine years after Louis Tushla's sacrifice at Pearl Harbor, his family finally has some closure.

Louis Tushla enlisted in the U.S. Navy when he was 23 years old in 1939.

"The pictures show he was very proud of the fact he was a Navy Seaman," James E. Gilg said.

Two years later, he was aboard the USS Oklahoma when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. His remains were buried without being identified.

"There was always that sense of wondering that sense of not bringing it all together not any closure," Gilg said.

Gilg grew up learning about his second cousin's sacrifice. The family waited for decades and then, out of the blue, they got the call in 2020, from the USS Oklahoma Project at Offutt Air Force Base.

"Sometimes people think because we're so many decades past that it's not as important but it is important," USS Oklahoma Project lead and anthropologist Carrie LeGarde said.

The revelation came as a big surprise to Tushla's cousin, Barbara Huntley.

"I called Monsignor (Gilg) immediately and I said, 'Did you hear they've identified Louis!' and he said he saw it in the paper," Huntley said.

Family from all over came to Offutt Thursday for the moment they've waited so long for. Huntley said it's important to bring Tushla home to Atkinson, Nebraska.

"So, he will be buried next to his mom and dad," Huntley said.

Tushla's brother Harrold is still missing. He made the ultimate sacrifice in that same war during a battle in Italy.

"We've never had hope that we'd get Harold back because we just know the plane was shot down over the ocean or the Mediterranean Sea," Huntley said.

Both Harrold's and Louis' tombstones read 'Lost at Sea.'

"Now we're changing Louis' stone and now underneath where it says, 'Lost at sea,' it will say, 'Repatriated June 17th, 2021,'" Huntley said.

Finally, they have at least some closure.

"Isn't that just it's so awesome for all of us. We're just so...it's a beautiful end to such a sad, sad day in American history," Huntley said.

Tushla will be laid to rest Saturday morning in Atkinson.

The USS Oklahoma Project has now identified 344 Marines and soldiers who died on the ship at Pearl Harbor. The mission is far from over because 50 other families are still waiting for their loved ones to come home.

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — One of the 11 members of the Middletown Platoon of Marines has died, the Journal-News reports.

Denzil Howard, who enlisted in 1942 and was sworn in at the Middletown YMCA the day before the 11 Marines left for Parris Island, died April 6 at Bickford of Middletown. The World War II veteran was 96.

After the war, Howard was called back to serve as part of a Special Guard for President Franklin Roosevelt whenever he stayed at what was called the “Little White House” in Warm Springs, Georgia. Howard served that role until the president suffered a stroke on April 12, 1945, and died.

MORE: He joined the Marines with the Middletown Platoon. Nearly 75 years later, ‘I’d do it again for my country.’

On returning home, Howard worked for Armco Steel for 39 years as a pickler leader, retiring in 1986.

Last year, Howard was honored at a Veterans Appreciation Luncheon at Crosspointe Church of Christ. Before the luncheon, Howard, accompanied by his wife and two adopted sons, talked about the war, and the day a fellow Marine was shot and killed in a foxhole they shared.

Tears streamed down his weathered cheeks.

“Sometimes,” Howard said, “I get emotional when I talk about it.”

Greg Howard said his father wouldn’t talk about the war when they were growing up, but he shared stories later in life.

“It was pretty tough on him,” his son said.

Nothing tougher than the day on Bougainville Island when his fellow Marine was shot and killed. A few seconds later, a bullet ricocheted off Howard’s helmet. The Howard family history could have been rewritten that day.

“Things I saw you can’t print, I don’t think,” Denzil Howard said last year. “The things they did to our men. I saw a lot of my brothers killed.”

When Denzil Howard entered the Marines, he was given a Bible from his brother, the Rev. Henry Howard, a former pastor at Towne Boulevard Church of God. Denzil Howard was told by his brother that if he carried the Bible, he’d survive the war.

“I had some mighty close calls I don’t like to talk about,” he said.

Denzil Howard was asked about being a World War II veteran. This time there were no tears in his eyes.

He sat up in his chair, looked forward and said, “I’d do it again for my country.”

Denzil Howard is survived by his wife of 72 years, Dolores Howard; sons, Gregory (Jean Ann) Howard of Heath, Ohio, and Geoffrey (Rebecca) Howard of Middletown; grandsons, David (Bhuvvi) and Nicholas (Lisa) Howard; great-grandchildren, Oliva, Henry and Ellora; and several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his eight brothers and three sisters.

A memorial service will be held later due to the coronavirus. Entombment will take place at Woodside Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Towne Boulevard Church of God, 3722 Towne Blvd., Middletown, Ohio 45005.

The Journal-News is a media partner of WCPO 9 News.