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CILHI MIA Conference, Port Moresby
Extra Effort For Recovery of US Airmen in PNG
April 10-12, 2001The US military is taking extra initiative to resolve Pacific MIA cases. Bolstered by a spate of recent successes in the Pacific theater, especially the recovery of US airmen from WWII, mainly from the US Fifth Air Force, the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii (CILHI) held a conference in Port Moresby from 10 - 12 April 2001 to which they invited the who's who of Pacific wartime archaeology and history. Also included were a contingent from the Royal Australian Air Force who have proven credentials and expertise in this field.
It was clear from the conference that CILHI has a difficult and challenging task ahead of them. Their past record inspires a determination to bring home lost US soldiers and airmen however. Resolve is not a quality which CILHI lacks, and their recovery work to date has been marked by meticulous recoveries, taking considerable time and resources. CILHI will be expanding its PNG program significantly in the next few years, working closely with many of the above authorities and experts.
The conference was a remarkable success. In their vision to assemble a panel of world-wide experts, CILHI both learned and imparted invaluable information about tracing the lost airmen of WW2 in this hostile theater. Major points covered included:
CILHI Website
Learn more about the organizationPost-Courier
Papua New Guinea Newspaper article on the conference. April 10, 2001John Douglas
Report about the conference
- The paucity of certain WW2 US records for a multitude of reasons; difficulty in identifying wrecks
- The need to correlate a comprehensive wreck data base
(made difficult by the thousands of unidentified wrecks in PNG);- The irretrievable loss of evidence at wreck sites when unauthorized people
destroy them by foraging for human remains or aircraft parts;- The reality that underwater wrecks can still contain human remains as proved
by the recent retrieval of remains from a recent RAAF Beaufort wreck- Forensic techniques in identifying human remains
The conference included the following attendees (by alphabetical surname):
Archaeologist, PNG National Museum US Defence Attaché CILHI Forward Contingent Royal Australian Navy Aerothentic Publications & Research CILHI PNG Defence Force Royal Australian Air Force Resident of Port Moresby & WWII Wreck Researcher Expert in Anatomy and Histology Senior Curator, PNG National Museum Oral Medicinal & Surgical Science Technical Supervisor CILHI Chief Casualty Data Officer, CILHI US Ambassador to PNG Modern History Curator, PNG National Museum Archaeology Curator, PNG National Museum CILHI Senior Policy Analyst, US Secretary of Defense CILHI CILHI CILHI CILHI (unable to attend) Pacific Wreck Database CILHI RAAF Special Projects Return to JPAC / CILHI Main Page