The Stunning Search for Fallen WWII Airmen

In the fall of 1944, Japanese fighters opened fire on a wave of U.S. planes near Palau, including a bomber carrying pilot Jay Ross Manown Jr., gunner Anthony Di Petta and navigator Wilbur Mitts. Their aircraft crashed into the sea, and the three men were “presumed dead.” Decades later, a group known as Project Recover worked to track down the wreckage and exhume the bones whose DNA could be tested. They ultimately identified the remains of all three crewmembers, allowing them to be laid to rest. Host Ari Daniel speaks with Stephen Mihm, who wrote about this effort for Smithsonian magazine, and with Rebecca Sheets, Manown’s niece, about what her uncle’s recovery meant for her and her family.