Wichita airman missing since WWII to be laid to rest
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A Wichita pilot who went missing during World War II will finally be laid to rest in his hometown.
1st Lt. Herbert G. Tennyson was 24 years old when his B-24 bomber, Heaven Can Wait, was shot down during a mission over Papua New Guinea in 1944. He was listed as Missing in Action for 80 years until his remains were recovered in 2023 and identified in early 2024.
B-24D Liberator “Heaven Can Wait” (U. S. Air Force courtesy photo)
Tennyson will be buried with full military honors at 10 a.m. on Friday, June 27, at Old Mission Cemetery in Wichita. The service is open to the public. He will be buried next to his wife, Jean, who died in 2017.
U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Herbert G. Tennyson (U. S. Air Force courtesy photo)
His remains will arrive in Wichita on Friday, June 20, at 10:19 a.m., with a military ceremony to follow at the airport.
Tennyson is one of three crew members from Heaven Can Wait who have been identified. The wreck was found in 2017 by Project Recover, a nonprofit that helps locate missing U.S. service members. The bomber was found 213 feet underwater — the deepest recovery mission ever conducted by the U.S. government.
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