They Scour the Ocean to Recover MIA Service Members from World War II

Onlookers could see the Avenger torpedo bomber spiraling, starting at 5,000 feet, then plummeting toward the ocean below. Onboard were three Navy men: Lt. Jay Manown Jr., aviation ordnanceman first class Anthony Di Petta and radioman first class Wilbur Mitts. The men were classified as missing in action after the crash, leaving their families without closure.

The crash occurred Sept. 10, 1944, while U.S. forces fought to gain control of the western Pacific islands of Palau during World War II. The men were among more than 81,000 American service members still classified as MIA from that war and other conflicts since, which left their relatives wondering: Where is my loved one?

However, advanced technology, coupled with historical research, has made it possible to locate and retrieve MIA service members, sometimes many decades later. Manown and his crew were lost for more than 70 years until their crash site was discovered by Project Recover in 2015.

Mission-Driven Research and Recovery 

Project Recover is a citizen-led nonprofit founded in 1993 that focuses on finding and repatriating MIA service members. “We feel that we represent the American collective in putting forth the resilient efforts to keep the solemn promise America makes to those who swear an oath to our Constitution that we will do everything we can to return them home should they fall in service to our nation,” says Derek Abbey, president and CEO of Project Recover.

In more than three decades, Project Recover has identified and documented sites associated with over 300 MIA service members. It works with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the Defense Department agency that officially identifies remains for repatriation.

Project Recover specializes in finding sites through years of research, but it sometimes needs outside help, especially for missions that require modern commercial diving methods. For that, it partners with Legion Undersea Services, a diving company headquartered in Honolulu.

Photos Courtesy: Chris Perez, Legion Undersea Services

Former Navy Divers Making a Difference   

Legion Undersea Services was founded by two retired Navy divers, Nick Zaborski and John Marsack. The men became close friends during their Navy careers, with Marsack eventually serving as best man in Zaborski’s wedding.

They retired from the military around the same time and stayed in touch, but both initially found working in the civilian world unrewarding. “We didn’t have enough sense of purpose,” Zaborski explains. “We needed something bigger than ourselves to work toward.”

They decided to start their own diving company, thinking they would focus on disaster relief. Not long after they began operating, Zaborski got a call from an old colleague that he’d worked with on a recovery mission in 2008 while still on active duty. During that mission, he was part of a team that recovered the remains of service members who had been missing since Sept. 1, 1944.

Recovering the “Babes in Arms”    

Zaborski was part of Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit One at Hickam Air Force Base in 2008. When he got assigned to go to Palau, he thought it would be a fun getaway. His attitude shifted after seeing an image of the crew he would attempt to recover from the B-24 dubbed “Babes in Arms.” The bomber had crashed nine days before Manown’s and both crash sites were identified by Project Recover.

“I remember feeling like, wow, those guys, they’re in the prime of their life, and it was cut short and they’re down there,” Zaborski recalls. “If things were different, it could be them looking for us.” That experience set the mood for the mission.

Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit One successfully recovered the remains of the “Babes in Arms” crew. For Zaborski, who knows from his own family how devastating it can be to have a loved one remain MIA, it was a transformative experience.

“I have an uncle from WWII who didn’t come back and I could always feel that loss, even when I was a little kid. I remember feeling it in the family,” Zaborski says.

Photos Courtesy: Chris Perez, Legion Undersea Services

A Final Resting Place   

Project Recover, in conjunction with groups like Legion Undersea Services, aims to give families closure.

In 2021, Legion Undersea Services partnered with Project Recover to retrieve Manown and his crew. On that first trip, the team was able to recover Di Petta and Mitts, but were unable to locate Manown. The remains of the two enlisted men were transferred to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency where they were formally identified, then released to their families.

Zaborski attended Mitts’ funeral and was moved upon meeting his family. “It’s a good thing to see old wounds getting healed and people getting this generational sense of absence finally closed,” he says.

Roughly two years later, Marsack and Zaborski returned to Palau to continue their search for Manown. Eventually, they found his flight seat and control stick and soon after recovered his remains.

Like his brothers-in-arms, Manown’s remains went to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency for identification before being released to family members.

In October 2024, more than 80 years after the crash, Manown was laid to rest in his hometown of Kingwood, West Virginia. Relatives of each crew member attended the service.

Christopher Perez, another former Navy diver and the media specialist for Legion Undersea Services, was also there. “I was asked by many, ‘Why do you guys risk your life for these missions?’ and my response was because all of us divers wore the same uniform these guys did, and if any of us were to go missing, I’d hope my brothers would come looking for me, no matter how long it took,” he says.

“At the end of the day, that’s all we’re doing, looking for our lost brothers who deserve to come back home with dignity.”