Finding history, healing families

When University of Delaware senior and Wilmington native Stephen Maister was asked if he would do a study abroad trip during his time as a Blue Hen, his response was always a definite "no chance." He hates to fly long distances and likes being near his family and hometown.

So the communication major never dreamed he would travel for more than two days and 7,100 miles to spend four weeks analyzing photographs of the floor of a lagoon in Chuuk, Micronesia, looking for the wreckage of downed World War II planes and missing American servicemen.

The work was part of a UD-sponsored interdisciplinary internship with Project Recover, a nonprofit organization that uses modern technology to locate and bring home Americans listed as Missing In Action (MIA) since World War II.

"It had nothing to do with my major, it had nothing to do with what I'm doing after college, but this opportunity to go do what they're doing was once in a lifetime," Maister said.

A personal mission

Co-founded by Mark Moline, Maxwell P. and Mildred H. Harrington Professor of Marine Studies in UD's School of Marine Science and Policy, Project Recover includes scientists across the country, along with military experts, historians and many others. Colin Colbourn, UD adjunct professor of history, serves as the lead historian.

Since 2018, Project Recover has identified more than more than 80 U.S. planes, most from World War II, and brought home the remains of more than 30 servicemen, giving families closure many decades later.