Nearly 80 years after he was thought to be forever lost, a fallen World War II Navy sailor has finally returned home.
On Tuesday, July 11, Nutley Township community members gathered at the World War II Memorial to pay homage to fallen Nutley resident US Navy Ordnancemen First Class Anthony DiPetta, whose remains were recovered decades after he was killed in a WWII air strike.
Following a private service, DiPetta’s funeral procession made its way past the World War II Memorial as supporters honored DiPetta and his family.
“We welcomed home one of our Nutley sons who has been gone for over 79 years,” Mayor Joseph Scarpelli said. “The community was there to console his family and we thank Anthony DiPetta for his service and for making the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedoms.”
“The whole town came together to welcome a hero home and send him to his final resting place, the correct way,” Commissioner John V. Kelly III said. “I think of the quote from George S. Patton: ‘It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.’ I think that is true here. We are all honored that he called Nutley home and that he laid down his life for friends, family and his country. We are honored he was a part of Nutley. Even though it’s almost 80 years later, we hope that his return home can bring some comfort to his family.”
On Sept. 10, 1944, 24-year-old DiPetta, along with two other crew members, boarded an Avenger bomber jet, taking off from the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier to conduct air strikes against enemy targets. Their aircraft was struck by enemy fire and crashed into the waters of the Pacific near Malakal Island, about 800 miles southwest of Guam.
Recovery efforts were halted nearly three years later, in the summer of 1947, and on July 16, 1949, DiPetta and crew were declared non-recoverable.
But the crash site was ultimately found in 2015 after several years of Project Recover search missions.
In partnership with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), the project recovered MIAs from the Avenger during their first MIA Recovery Mission in 2021. Scientists from DPAA used dental analysis to identify DiPetta’s remains, while scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Di Petta’s personnel profile may be viewed at dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000001nzYvcEAE.
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