After almost 80 years, a World War II sailor’s remains once declared “non-recoverable” were returned to his New Jersey home. Anthony Di Petta, a Nutley, N.J., resident who served as a US Navy aviation ordnanceman during World War II, was brought home on Friday, the Department of Defense said. The 24-year-old’s plane was shot down by enemy fire in September 1944 while he was on a mission in the Western Pacific.

The plane was conducting air strikes against enemy targets in Malakal Naval District, Palau Islands, when it crashed into the Pacific Ocean. The Grumman TBM-1c Avenger was last seen spinning violently at 5,000 feet. De Petta was initially declared missing in action.