After 73 years of lying unknown in the waters near Palau, Navy Reserve Aviation Ordinance man 2nd Class Ora H. Sharninghouse’s remains had been identified through DNA testing, following the discovery of his remains earlier this year.
Sharninghouse was a member of the Navy Torpedo Squadron Eighteen (VT-18), USS Intrepid that was on a “bombing mission against Japanese positions on Babel[daob] Island, Palau when he went missing,” according to a report posted on www.stripes.com.
“As his aircraft reached the target area, the pilot began a dive, the crew released its 2,000-pound bomb, but while attempting to pull out of the dive, the bomb hit an ammunition dump and exploded. The blast tore the tail from the aircraft, causing it to crash off-shore,” the report stated.
Sharninghouse’s remains had been returned to his now 84-year-old sister, Joan Stough, who lives in Findlay, Ohio. Stough was reportedly 11 years old when his brother went missing in action in 1944.
A funeral awaits Sharninghouse’s remains, slated Saturday.
According to the report, Stough said that “she was stunned when the U.S. Navy told her last August that her brother’s remains were identified and would be returned to her.” (Rhealyn C. Pojas/Reporter)