A recently identified World War II airman from Kingwood will be honored at a funeral Tuesday

KINGWOOD, W.Va. — After 80 years, a World War II aviator considered missing/unrecoverable will be buried in his hometown.

Funeral Mass for TBM-Avenger Pilot Lt. Jay Ross Manown will be held at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at Kingwood Funeral Home.

Manown and the crew of Anthony Di Petta and Wilbur Mitts took off from the USS Enterprise on September 10, 1944, to conduct air attacks on enemy targets in the Palau Islands in the South Pacific. The plane fell due to anti-aircraft fire and spun to the ground without open parachutes.

The search was suspended in the summer of 1947, and in 1949 it was determined that all three men could not be recovered. Aviation Radio Operator First Class Wilbur A. Mitts, of Seaside, California, was billed in May 2023, and Radio Operator First Class Anthony Di Petta, of Nutley, New Jersey, was billed in January 2023.

Last May, 80 years after the mission, Manown became the last crew member to be recovered.

Manown’s niece, Becky Sheets, who was born in Morgantown and now lives in Virginia, learned that her uncle had been found from an article published in an issue of Smithsonian magazine.

“My first thought was that I couldn’t believe this was even possible after 80 years lost at sea and deemed impossible to recover,” Sheets said. “The impossible became possible and I had no idea anyone was looking for the plane.”

According to Sheets, Manown was born in Kingwood and graduated from Preston High School. Manown was a student at West Virginia University and was interested in woodworking and music.

“I chose Kingwood as my burial site over others because he will be buried next to his parents; he was born in Kingwood and went to Kingwood High School, so I wanted to take him home,” Sheets said.

Growing up, she learned about her uncle through family conversations and gatherings and found that she felt a bond with him. But she said there were never any lengthy discussions about his service.

“His photographs were prominently displayed along with other family photographs,” Sheets said. “His name was often brought up and talked about as if he had just left the room.”

Manown’s mother told Sheets that the TBM-Avenger he flew was named after his mother. He chose the nickname “Dutchwoman” because of her desire for perfection and added “Christian” to it because of her involvement in the Church.

“He nicknamed his plane after her and called it ‘Dutchess,'” Sheets said. “But she was also very involved in her church, so he named the plane after her, ‘Christian Dutch.’

Sheets has rekindled family relationships in West Virginia and formed a strong bond with Di Petta and Mitts, who attend Tuesday’s service. The owner of the house where Manown grew up will also open it to the family for a reception after the service.

“They come in – one from California, one from New Jersey,” Sheets said. “We will celebrate the so-called “uniting the family because we have created a kind of sisterhood; they are very lovely ladies.