A file photo of DPAA members hiking up to explore the suspected area of a B-20J airplane crash on October 2, 2015. They were on a mission to begin search and recovery efforts to retrieve remains of eight US Army Air Corps members that went down with the aircraft in 1944 in the Northeast India. (DoD photo by SSgt Erik Cardenas/U.S. Air Force)
DIMAPUR, NOVEMBER 8 (MExN): Investigators from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), United States Department of Defense returned to India this week to continue the search for remains of US personnel missing since World War II.
Last year, the DPAA deployed a team to North East India for 30 days in search of remains for unaccounted-for US airmen, and this is their fifth mission to India since 2013.
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Members from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), conducting excavation work in Northeast India on October 10, 2015, during the search and recovery efforts retrieve remains of eight US Army Air Corps members that went down with the aircraft in 1944 in the Northeast India. The DPAA mission is to provide fullest possible accounting for the missing personnel to their families and the nation. (DoD photo by SSgt Erik Cardenas/U.S. Air Force)[/caption]
There are approximately 400 US airmen missing in India, most of whose remains are believed to be located in the Himalayan Mountains in the NE region.
During World War II, the United States provided supplies to the Chinese Army by flying over the Himalayas, a route known as “The Hump.” Many of these aircraft went missing and were never found in the mountainous terrain.
During DPAA’s missions in 2015 and 2016, remains were recovered and are in the process of being identified through DNA testing. One set of remains from the 2015 recovery mission was positively identified as US Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Robert E. Oxford. In 2016, a local villager turned over additional remains thought to be associated with another US crash site.
A press note from the US Consulate Kolkata informed that this year, the team will conduct a similar mission in the North East, surveying several different sites from those visited during the 2016 investigation effort.
Mary Kay Carlson, the Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in New Delhi said, “The United States works with governments around the world to provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing personnel to their families and the nation. This is the fifth DPAA mission to India since 2013, demonstrating successful cooperation between the governments of India and the United States. This positive relationship underscores the dedication each nation brings to this humanitarian mission.”
