Over the past few days, Kingwood VFD was honored to participate in welcoming home Naval Aviator Lt. Jay Manown.

In May, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that the U.S. Navy Reserve Lt. Jay R. Manown Jr. who was killed during World War II, was accounted for as of May 23rd, thanks to the efforts of the BentProp Project (now known as Project Recover), with members from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of Delaware, and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).

Lt. Manown's TBM-1C Avenger was located in 2015. After approximately 14 dives to a depth of 112 feet, funding and execution of the recovery mission began. The first was in 2019 by Ships of Discovery and again in 2021 by Project Recover in partnership with Legion Undersea Services. These two recovery missions recovered and identified Anthony Di Petta and Wilbur Mitts, the two crew members abord the Avenger piloted by Lt. Manown. Aviation Ordnanceman First Class Di Petta was accounted for in January of 2023, welcomed home on July 7th, 2023 and laid to rest July 11th in Wrightstown NJ; Aviation Radioman First Class Wilbur Archie Mitts was accounted for February 2023, and laid to rest September 11th, 2023 in Seaside, California.

In 2023, the DPAA asked Project Recover to return to the TBM-1C with hopes of recovering Lt. Manown. In May of 2024, it was official that Lt. Jay Manown Jr. was recovered and accounted for.

On Friday, October 25th 2024, Lt. Manown was escorted back into Kingwood from Pittsburgh International Airport, thanks to several local, state and federal entities spanning through the two states.

Today, 29 October 2024, Lt. Manown was laid to rest at the Maplewood Cemetary in Kingwood with full military honors.

As the US Navy did a fly over with jets, we were set up on High St. today allowing the pass through of the American Flag. We thank all the time, money and effort spent by all the agencies involved in bringing home a World War II serviceman who gave the ultimate sacrifice, and is finally laid to rest after 80 years, since his last flight on September 10, 1944 when he piloted a TBM-1 Avenger, as a part of Navy Torpedo Squadron 20, off the deck of the USS Enterprise before the plane went down near Malakal Island (Palau) where they were preparing for and supporting the Battle of Peleliu, after being struck by anti-aircraft fire. Lt. Manown was the last of his crew to have been identified and accounted for.