Remains Of Lieutenant William Q. Punnell Located After 73 Years

Next Wednesday, May 2nd at 9am, Lieutenant William Q. Punnell will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery to honor his ultimate sacrifice on July 25, 1944 while serving his country during World War II. Punnell was the acting commanding officer of the VF-14 Fighter Squadron and was an MIA for 73 years, one of among nearly 73,000 estimated veterans of WWII still listed as missing.

This is the third MIA repatriation ceremony that Project Recover has been involved with since December.  Since its inception in 2012, Project Recover has documented 13 US aircraft associated with over 50 American service members still missing in action.

In late March 2014, Project Recover located the underwater wreck of an F6F Hellcat associated with missing World War II pilot, Navy Reserve Lt. William Q. Punnell of Flandreau, SD. Members of Project Recover, a public-private partnership partially funded by Dan Friedkin, chairman of The Friedkin Group, enlisted 21st century science, research and technology to find Punnell 300 feet from the northern seaplane base off the coast of The Republic of Palau. Punnell’s aircraft had encountered intense antiaircraft fire when the tail of his Hellcat was seen taking a direct hit.

Shortly after the discovery, all findings were turned over to the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), which is tasked with recovery and repatriation efforts. On June 30, 2017, the DPAA was able to make the formal identification of Navy Reserve Lt. William Q. Punnell and contact his family so that plans could be made to bring him home.

Since then, William’s surviving nephew Dennis Kelvie and son William (named for his late great-uncle) have made plans to celebrate his life and service to his country at Arlington. Navy Casualty Officers and members of Project Recover, including Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Patrick Scannon who was part of the team that located the Hellcat, will be there to support the family and present them with the American Flag that was used during the ceremony at the recovery site.

(Images provided with Project Recover news release)

FMI: projectrecover.org