history

Remains of area WWII veteran recovered and returned home

Remains of area WWII veteran recovered and returned home

Staff Sgt. Eugene J. Darrigan

Photo Provided

WAPPINGERS FALLS — True to a promise to bring every hero home, the nation’s Defense Department’s Prisoner of war/Missing in action Accounting Agency announced on Tuesday, Jan. 21, that the remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Eugene J. Darrigan of Wappingers Falls, New York, would be returning home. Lost in a plane shot down over water in 1944, the bomber’s wreckage was discovered in 2023 bearing the remains that were identified in 2024, 80 years after the WWII hero was killed in action.

Defense Department scientists used dental records, DNA analysis and other evidence bits including identification tags to identify the bomber crew’s remains that were unearthed from the crash site during a month of underwater excavation and recovery between March and April 2023.

In March of 1944, Darrigan had been assigned to the 320th Bombardment Squadron and deployed to New Guinea in the Pacific, serving as a radio operator aboard a bomber. On March 11, his crew undertook a bombing mission along the northern coast of New Guinea and were fired upon by the enemy’s anti-aircraft weapons, causing an on-board bomb to burst into flame and the plane to fall into the sea.

The search for the crash site continued for four years until 1948 and in 1950 the military unit conducting the search declared that Darrigan and his fellow crew members were non-recoverable and, therefore, lost.

In a four-year period beginning in 2013, however, the family of 2nd Lt. Kelly — the bombardier on the lost plane — undertook to reopen the search, working with a researcher from the University of Illinois—Champaign-Urbana. Experts at “Project Recover,” partnered with the Defense Department’s Accounting Agency, located the plane’s wreckage using modern sonar technology.

Darrigan’s name is listed on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, along with other WWII heroes whose names remain among the missing. To signify that Darrigan’s remains have been located, a symbol will be added next to his name.

Staff Sgt. Darrigan will be buried in Calverton, New York. The burial date has not yet been determined.

history

Latest News

Millerton Police Dept. rebuilds after fire; new cruisers on the way

Millerton Police Dept. rebuilds after fire; new cruisers on the way

The borrowed Pine Plains cruiser parked on Main Street in front of the Millerton Inn during the Millerton Street Fair on Saturday, June 28.

Photo by Aly Morrissy

MILLERTON — After receiving substantial state grant funding in July 2024 and beginning to roll out new equipment that fall, the Millerton Police Department suffered a setback when the February fire at the Village Water and Highway Department building destroyed much of its newly acquired gear — including patrol vehicles outfitted with cutting-edge technology.

Thanks to full-value insurance coverage and swift support from the Town of Pine Plains — which loaned the department a vehicle — Millerton officers were able to remain active in the community. Millerton Police Chief Joseph Olenik said two custom-built, four-wheel-drive Ford Interceptor cruisers are now in production and are expected to arrive by the end of the summer.

Keep ReadingShow less

Uncertainty looms over Millerton community pool timeline

Uncertainty looms over Millerton community pool timeline

Groundbreaking of the new pool planned for Eddie Collins Park has been delayed after the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation intervened to determine the status of wetlands in the proposed building site.

Archive photo

MILLERTON — The long-awaited groundbreaking for a new community pool at Eddie Collins Memorial Park — once expected this past April — now faces significant delays with no definitive timeline in sight, Mayor Jenn Najdek said.

The primary setback stems from a still-pending permitting process, as the village awaits final approvals from the Dutchess County Board of Health and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation regarding septic placement and wetland buffers. A patch of wetlands on the site — roughly five feet by five feet, Najdek said — requires a protective buffer, which could range anywhere from 5 to 100 feet. That determination will dictate whether the current pool design needs to be altered or moved altogether.

Keep ReadingShow less

North East town records brought into the digital age

North East town records brought into the digital age

Chris Virtuoso reorganized parcel records in the North East Town Hall basement by parcel number during the process of scanning and digitizing the documents.

Photo by Grace DeMarco

MILLERTON — Within the walls of the two-story Victorian housing the North East Town Hall lies a room-full of town records dating back to the late 19th century. Stored in labeled cardboard boxes and protected by dehumidifiers, the records are in the process of being dated, organized, and scanned into categorized online programs.

As the Town Hall works to relocate to 5603 Route 22 at the former Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witness, the consolidation and digitalization of records, as well as the disposal of those unneeded, is a time-sensitive project. Marcy Wheatley, the Deputy Town Clerk, emphasized their current heavy focus on organizing and scanning. “Now, when we move, we can get rid of a lot,” Wheatley stated.

Keep ReadingShow less

Fun, food and facts bring crowds to downtown Millerton

Fun, food and facts bring crowds to downtown Millerton

Nora Garcia, 6, of Millerton, bottom right, gets a face painting treatment from Maddy Rowe, a Webutuck High School senior. Nora’s sister, Juliana, 8, top right, is decorated by Giana Kall, a Webutuck senior. The program was sponsored by the Webutuck PTA.

Photo by John Coston

Locals and visitors packed into downtown Millerton Saturday, June 28, for the first ever Millerton Street Fair hosted by the Millerton News, the Millerton Business Alliance and Townscape. Representatives from local nonprofits, businesses along Main Street, Bee Bee the Clown and face painters from Webutuck High School drew in crowds all afternoon.

Festivities officially opened at 10 a.m., and a steady stream of visitors soon followed. Volunteer firefighters hosted a bouncy castle, a duck pool, a “put out the fire” ring toss game, and the “touch a truck” event at the fire department’s garage.

Keep ReadingShow less