The return of Eugene Darrigan to his hometown of Wappingers Falls has been a long time coming. 81 years to be exact.

In a post-Pearl Harbor world, fighting between the United States and other nations involved in the conflict of World War II continued.

In 1944, Darrigan, a U.S. Army Armed Forces Staff Sergeant and radio operator, was flying with 10 other members of the squadron known as Heaven Can Wait when the plane was taken down by Japanese enemy fire into the waters of the Pacific Ocean over New Guinea. All souls on board were killed. Eugene Darrigan (pictured below in the top row second from the right) was just 26-year-old and left behind a wife and young son he'd never live to see grow up.

(Photo courtesy midhudsonnews.com via DPAA)

According to Mid Hudson News, the wreckage of the plane was discovered eight years ago off the coast of Hanson Bay in New Guinea. However, it took forensic scientists another seven years to positively identify Eugene Darrigan's remains.

On Thursday, Darrigan finally came home to The Hudson Valley in a flag-draped casket, midhudsonnews.com reports, to a large presence of veterans, law enforcement, and other First Responders.

Eugene Darrigan will be laid to rest in the cemetery at St. Mary's Church in Wappinger's Falls following services and a funeral procession from Delehanty Funeral Home on E. Main Street.

Darrigan's story is just another reminder this Memorial Day Weekend of the sacrifices made by our service men and women and the fact that so many who fought for our freedoms may never come home.

Thank you to everyone who served or is currently serving in our armed forces.