Bringing Them Home: Documenting the Manown Memorial

In October 2024, Chris and I stood together in a quiet cemetery in Kingwood, West Virginia. We were there not as visitors, but as storytellers—contracted by Project Recover to document something extraordinary: the final homecoming of Lt. J. Ross Manown, nearly 80 years after his plane went down in the Pacific during World War II.

This moment didn’t happen in isolation. It was the culmination of a decades-long mission, and the full-circle continuation of the story he'd helped tell in Smithsonian Magazine—a story that began when Chris and his team with Project Recover located the remains of three young men who had perished in an Avenger aircraft off the coast of Palau.

Chris was there for every dive. He was there when the remains were found. He was the one behind the lens, capturing the raw underwater images that later graced the pages—and cover—of Smithsonian. And it was that very article that allowed Manown’s niece to discover the recovery efforts and come forward as his next of kin.

This documentary—“In Their Shoes”—was my first professional hire as a documentary filmmaker. It marked the first time Chris and I were both officially contracted to capture a story together, side by side. And it was one of the most powerful experiences of our career as co-creaters with Media Evolve.

In just one whirlwind weekend, we traveled to Morgantown and then to Kingwood, WV where the memorial was held. We interviewed three of the nieces—family members of the men who had once flown together. These women, strangers to one another until recently, were now brought together through loss, legacy, and love. Their reunion felt like a metaphor: three souls reunited through their living memory.

Chris and I actually helped coordinate their meeting in advance so we could document it fully. They arrived at the same time, walked in together, and we captured every moment. It was, without question, the most moving part of the entire event.

Lt. Manown was finally laid to rest in the space where his headstone had stood for nearly 80 years—marking a grave that had, until now, remained empty.

And as I sat down to edit the footage, I instinctively went back—not to the memorial first, but to Chris’s GoPro footage from Palau. Watching it again brought the whole story full circle. It reminded me that this work—Project Recover’s work—is not just about recovery. It’s about reunion. It’s about closure. It’s about honoring lives that were never forgotten, even when they were lost.

The final film, In Their Shoes, is something I’m deeply proud of—not just because of what it means professionally, but because of what it represents emotionally. It’s a tribute to those three brave men. It’s a love letter to their families. And it’s a small part of a much larger mission that we’re so honored to be part of.

You can watch the full documentary here.

This is why we do what we do.