60-day research ended, remains repatriated

TWO caskets containing the remains of United States soldiers who died during World War Two have been repatriated back home after a ceremony in Port Moresby on Friday.
The ceremony was also held to mark the end of a 60-day long research, investigation and collection of remains of a 80-year-old US fighter plane which had crashed in a swamp in Wom, East Sepik during the war.
Lieutenant-Colonel Brian Bosse said the relationship between PNG and the US continued to “solidify” through such work.
“I want to thank the people of East Sepik, particularly the people of Wom, for helping the team of US divers locate and dive through the mud to recover remains of our fallen heroes,” he said.
It took about 60 days for divers from the US and PNG historians, archeologist and the people to collect the remains.
Charge d’ Affairs of the US Embassy in Port Moresby, Joseph Zadrozny acknowledged the work put in by the locals and the US divers to honor “those who gave the ultimate sacrifice”.
“I can only imagine what it must be like for those pilots,” he said.
“What they must experience in their last moments of their lives, and how terrible it must have been for their mothers and fathers back home in America to have no information about what happened to their sons”.
Meanwhile, interim director of the National Museum and Arts Gallery Alois Kuaso was proud of the involvement of PNG historians and archeologists in the project.
The caskets were airlifted by an America Air Force C-17 aircraft on Friday to the US Naval Base in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The remains of the crews will be tested in a laboratory in Hawaii before their information can be released to their immediate families.