Nutley New Jersey

Dinan, David Thomas III
Air Force 1st lieutenant

David Thomas III Dinan, age 25, from Nutley, New Jersey.

Date of death: Monday, March 17, 1969
Death details: Accounted for August 7, 2017. On March 17, 1969, Dinan was a member of the 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 388th Tactical Fighter Wing, 7th Air Force, and was the pilot of the number two aircraft in a flight of two F-105s on a strike mission over northern Laos. During the second strafing pass over the target, Dinan transmitted a distress message. The Forward Air Controller then observed Dinan’s parachute enter the jungle, as well as an aircraft crash. Search and rescue aircraft conducted an aerial search and located a parachute and confirmed the death of the pilot, however, due to enemy fire in the area and the hazardous location, his body could not be recovered. The U.S. Air Force subsequently reported Dinan as killed in action.
In March 2014, a joint U.S./Lao People’s Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.) team investigated a site near Ban Khap, Xiangkoang Province, associated with Dinan’s loss, recovering personal effects associated with Dinan.
In June 2016, a joint U.S./L.P.D.R. team excavated the same site near Ban Khap, recovering osseous remains and material evidence. The remains were sent to DPAA for analysis.
To identify Dinan’s remains, DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA), as well as dental and anthropological analysis, and circumstantial evidence.

Cemetery: Arlington National

Sources: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Rego, Arthur
Marines Corporal

Arthur Rego, age 21, from Essex County Nutley, New Jersey .

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Wednesday, January 26, 1966
Death details: Hostile, died of wounds in South Vietnam

Source: National Archives, UPI (1966)

Robison, Pervis
Navy Seaman

Pervis Robison, age 21, from Essex County Nutley, New Jersey .

Parents: Pervis Robison

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Wednesday, April 10, 1963
Death details: Killed aboard the atomic submarine Thresher when the ship went missing 220 miles East of Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Source: ussthresher.com, Associated Press (1963), oneternalpatrol.com

DiPetta, Anthony
Navy Aviation ordnanceman 1st class

Anthony DiPetta, age 24, from Nutley, New Jersey, Essex county.

Parents: Sisto DiPetta

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Sunday, September 10, 1944
Death details: On January 3, 2023, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Aviation Ordnanceman First Class Anthony Di Petta, missing from World War II. Aviation Ordnanceman First Class Di Petta entered the U.S. Navy from New Jersey and served in Torpedo Squadron 20. On September 10, 1944, he was one of three crew members on a TBM-1 Avenger (Bureau Number 17018) that took off from the USS Enterprise for a strike mission against Japanese forces in the Palau Islands. The plane was last seen spinning violently before crashing into the water near Malakal Island. Starting in 2003, the BentProp Project, an independent third-party organization, investigated the loss of this aircraft. A total of four BentProp Project investigations and two Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) investigations resulted in the location of a site about 200 meters from the shore of Malakal Island. The site was excavated in 2019 and 2021, yielding possible human remains and material evidence. The materials recovered were accessioned into the DPAA Central Identification Laboratory for further study. The laboratory analysis and the totality of the circumstantial evidence available established an association between the remains recovered from the site and AOM1c Di Petta.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

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