JOINT POW/MIA ACCOUNTING COMMAND (JPAC)
Public Affairs (808) 448-1935
RELEASE NO. 05-12
April 3, 2005
JPAC TEAMS DEPLOY TO PALAU
HICKAM AFB, HAWAII — A recovery team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command deployed this week from Hawaii to conduct recovery operations in the Republic of Palau in hopes of bringing home remains of Americans still missing from World War II.
Divers from Mobile Underwater Dive Salvage Unit One will join the recovery team to conduct operations at an underwater site. The site is associated with a 1944 aircraft loss between the states of Airai and Aimeliik, Babelthaup Island.
Palau is an archipelago of six groups of islands totaling more than 200 islands in the Caroline island chain.
Recovery operations are extensive and will occur at ocean depths of up to 20 meters. The wreckage is wide-spread and will entail negotiating ocean currents and a large coral head. A portion of the aircraft rests in soft silt which could hinder visibility.
Today, there is one American missing from the Gulf War, more than 1,800 from the Vietnam War, 120 from the Cold War, more than 8,100 from the Korean War, and more than 78,000 from World War II.
The U.S. Government, the Department of Defense and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command are committed to scientific excellence and the fullest possible accounting of all Americans still missing or unaccounted for in defense of this great country. JPAC continues to fulfill our nation’s promise to the POW/MIA families and those Americans still waiting to come home.
"Until they are home"
