News-Info-Alerts

Re: WW II Remains to be Recovered

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: January 11, 2003

"Jan. 3, 2003 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Release #03-001

CILHI TEAM LEAVES FOR PAPUA NEW GUINEA TO RECOVER WW II SERVICE MEMBERS

HICKAM AFB, Hawaii — A search and recovery team from the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii will deploy the week of Jan. 6 to Papua New Guinea to excavate a crash site of a World War II B-24D aircraft that went down with nine service members.

CILHI located the crash site in the mountains of Bugiau Village in the upper Mumeng District in Lae Morobe Province during an investigation in November 2002. A Papua New Guinea local came across the site while hunting. The local later reported it to the officials who contacted the American Embassy. The information was passed to CILHI and an investigation element was deployed.

The investigative element surveyed the site and discovered human remains and personal affects from what is believed to be a B-24 bomber and a crew that belonged to the 360th Service Group. The aircraft had left Nadzab, New Guinea on a training mission in 1944 when it went missing. A pilot, co-pilot, navigator, bombardier, aerial engineer, radio operator and three gunners were aboard when the aircraft crashed.

The nine-person CILHI team heading to Papua New Guinea consists of a team leader, team sergeant, medic, a forensic anthropologist, an explosive ordnance disposal technician, a photographer and several mortuary affairs specialists. The two-month deployment will be challenging as the team base camps near the site that is located at an elevation of approximately 1,250 meters in a rain forest. The team will be required to have safety ropes and nets while working on the site, which slopes upwards of 60 degrees. The site is in a damp area and all soil excavated will be pushed through quarter inch wire screens by water from a nearby stream so even the smallest remains and personal affects will be located.

Upon completion, the remains and artifacts will be returned to the Central Identification Laboratory where the world’s largest team of forensic anthropologists and dentists will analyze the remains for identification potential. While the recovery and identification process may take years, the staff is dedicated to achieving the fullest possible accounting for all servicemen and civilians still unaccounted for from our nation’s wars. Since 1973, the laboratory has identified more than 1,089 service members. For more information please contact the CILHI Public Affairs Officer Ginger Couden at (808) 448-8903 ext. 109.


U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii
310 Worchester Ave, Hickam AFB, Hawaii 96853"