Bill > K00715

This resolution honors Staff Sergeant Eugene J. Darrigan, a United States Army Air Forces serviceman who was killed in action during World War II on March 11, 1944, while serving as a radio operator on a B-24 bomber named "Heaven Can Wait" that was shot down near New Guinea. After 81 years of being considered lost, his remains were recovered in 2023 through the collaborative efforts of Project Recover (a nonprofit organization), the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), and researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who located the aircraft wreckage and conducted an underwater recovery mission over 200 feet deep. On May 24, 2025, Darrigan was laid to rest in his hometown of Wappingers Falls, New York, with full military honors, attended by over 200 community members, and survived by his grandchildren and extended family. The resolution formally recognizes Darrigan's selfless service and sacrifice, expresses gratitude from the people of New York State, and commits to transmitting an officially engrossed copy of the resolution to his family as a symbol of enduring respect and remembrance.

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/K715