Roscoe man killed in World War II accounted for
A Roscoe man killed during World War II has been accounted for, and family members are grateful for the opportunity to bury his remains in a local cemetery.
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Donald W. Sheppick, 26, was killed March 11, 1944, during a bombing mission. He was the navigator onboard the B-24D Liberator bomber “Heaven Can Wait” that departed from Papua New Guinea for enemy positions at Boram Airfield and Awar Point, Hansa Bay.
Sheppick was accounted for Sept. 20, and his identification was shared after his family had been briefed.
Deborah Wineland of Roscoe, Sheppick’s niece, said no immediate family members remain. She said her father, Warren Sheppick, was just 11 years old when his brother was killed. Warren Sheppick died in 2008 at the age of 75.
“It’s an honor that he deserves,” Wineland said of her uncle receiving a proper burial. “I’m sorry my father is not around to see it. We thought bringing him back where his parents are would be the appropriate place to rest and to honor him for his service. I was presented with all of the medals that he was entitled to. We have his dog tag, and it’s in perfect condition.”
Wineland, who lives in the house where Sheppick grew up, said a date for the burial has not been determined, but it will take place at Howe Cemetery in Coal Center.
She said neither her father nor grandparents spoke about Donald Sheppick.
“Back then, you really didn’t talk about it,” she said. “My grandparents never, ever mentioned it.”
She said she hasn’t seen many photos of her uncle. “Back then, they didn’t have many pictures,” Wineland said.
According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), observers from other aircraft in the formation reported seeing flames erupt from the bomb bay that fateful day, quickly spreading to the tail. Heaven Can Wait was seen pitching up violently before banking left and crashing into the water. It is believed anti-aircraft fire hit the plane, causing undropped ordnance to explode.
Several aircraft circled the crash site in hopes of locating survivors, but none could be seen.
Exhaustive searches by the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) were unable to locate the remains of Sheppick and the other Heaven Can Wait crew members. They were designated as non-recoverable.
Between 2013 and 2017, the family of 2nd Lt. Thomas V. Kelly, Heaven Can Wait’s bombardier, undertook an archival research effort to collect historical documents and eyewitness accounts of the loss of the plane’s crew.
In October 2017, Project Recover, a DPAA partner organization, located the wreckage of a B-24 aircraft in Hansa Bay while making sonar scans as part of a unilateral remote sensing survey effort. In 2019, a DPAA underwater investigation team conducted several surveys of the wreckage, performing visual inspections and clearing the site of any unexploded ordnance.
From March 9 through April 13, 2023, an underwater recovery team excavated the crash site, where they recovered possible osseous materials and material evidence, to include life support equipment and identification tags. To identify Sheppick’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as material and circumstantial evidence.
Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used Y-chromosome DNA analysis.
Sheppick’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Sheppick’s wife, Mary, was pregnant at the time of her husband’s death with his son, also named Donald, who died from cancer as a high school student. Wineland said a scholarship is awarded in young Donald Sheppick’s name as part of California Area High School’s annual May Day celebration.
“After all of those years, it’s amazing,” Wineland said. “I’m just so impressed with the work and the effort and all of the technology that went into identifying four out of the 11 crew members. I’m impressed with everything the Army has done and the way they’ve treated everything with such respect.”