Washington County World War II veteran identified 81 years after disappearance

CBS News

26-05-2025

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has announced that a Washington County World War II veteran has been positively identified 81 years after his disappearance.
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lieutenant Donald W. Sheppick, 26, of Roscoe, Pennsylvania, was killed during World War II after the aircraft he was on crashed into the water off the coast of present-day Papua New Guinea.
Sheppick was accounted for on Sept. 20, 2024. His family recently received their full briefing on his identification, which has prompted the release of additional details.
In March 1944, Sheppick was assigned to the 320th Bombardment Squadron, 90th Bombardment Group, 5th Air Force and deployed in present-day Papua New Guinea.
On the morning of March 11, Sheppick was onboard a B-24D Liberator bomber called "Heaven Can Wait" that departed Papua New Guinea as part of a bombing mission against enemy forces at Boram Airfield and Awar Point, Hansa Bay, located along the northern coast of New Guinea.
With the bomber in the air, observers soon saw flames erupt from a bomb bay, likely caused by anti-aircraft fire that ignited undropped ordnance.
The aircraft pitched up, eventually crashing into the sea. Despite several aircraft circling the crash site, no survivors were found.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service continued to search battle areas and crash sites in New Guinea, concluding their search in late 1948. By 1950, officials concluded they could not locate any remains of Sheppick or the rest of the crew, and the crew members were declared non-recoverable.
From 2013 to 2017, the family of Heaven Can Wait bombardier 2nd Lt. Thomas V. Kelly, with Dr. Scott Althaus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, continued to research the incident, gathering historical documents and eyewitness accounts of the incident.
In 2017, Project Recover located B-24 wreckage in Hansa Bay while making sonar scans as part of a surveying effort, and by 2019, a DPAA underwater investigation team conducted several wreckage surveys.
The crash site was successfully excavated in 2023, with teams sending the recovered materials away for review and analysis.
Scientists from the DPAA and Armed Forces Medical Examiner System later identified Sheppick using dental, anthropological, and DNA analysis.
Sheppick's name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, along with others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
He will be buried in Belle Vernon, Fayette County.