The remains of Wappingers Falls native Eugene Darrigan, an Army Air Force staff sergeant killed in action during World War II, will be laid to rest this Memorial Day weekend.
Darrigan died in a bombing mission on March 11, 1944 at the age of 26, but his remains were not officially accounted for until Sept. 20, 2024, after they were found in Papua, New Guinea, according to the the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
A service will be held for Darrigan at 11 a.m. Saturday in St. Mary's Catholic Church, 11 Clinton Street in Wappingers Falls. He will be buried with military honors in a cemetery located behind the church following the service.
Assigned to the 320th Bombardment Squadron, 90th Bombardment Group, 5th Air Force, Darrigan was serving as a radio operator aboard a B-24D Liberator when the “Heaven Can Wait” crashed during a bombing mission along the northern coast of New Guinea, according to the agency.
Darrigan and crew members were designated as non-recoverable in 1950. But an underwater recovery team excavated the crash site in 2023, and recovered materials and various material evidence, which was sent to a laboratory for review and analysis.
The Dutchess County Office of Veterans Affairs assisted the family in securing Darrigan’s remains for burial in Dutchess County.