Remains found at 1944 crash site in Russia
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
The Army's Central Identification Laboratory team in Hawai'i has returned from its first mission to the wind-blown tundra of Russia's far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula to recover World War II remains of American service members.
"Not long ago, this area was closed," identification laboratory anthropologist Ann Bunch said of the formerly restricted border region. "There's no way we could have done this mission in the '80s."
Changing politics made it possible for lab workers to go in and recover remains from a Navy bomber that crashed after flying out of Attu Island in Alaska March 25, 1944 en route to Japan's Kuril island chain.
The route was known as the "Empire Express," and the men who flew the nighttime missions were known as "bats." Accounts of the missions describe the fog, wind and rain in the region as "another enemy" that crews faced. The PV-1 Ventura bomber is believed to have been hit by Japanese anti-aircraft fire.
On Sunday, the 11-person identification team returned to Hickam Air Force Base from the monthlong recovery mission. U.S. experts, working with 25 Russian counterparts, believe they found the remains of at least two Americans from the seven-member crew.
The wreckage was found by a Russian geologist in 1962, but the remote crash site in a volcanic region wasn't reported to the U.S. government until 1999.
Bunch said wreckage was strewn across a hillside. The Soviet military in the 1970s blew up ordnance from the bomber where they were found, possibly scattering the pieces, but leaving a 42-foot section of mangled fuselage that the recovery team had to saw open with power tools.
In addition to bone fragments, the lab team collected coins, a wallet, parachute pieces, bits of boot, and a pocket knife.
Five planes took off on the March 25, 1944 bombing run. One crashed soon after takeoff. The remaining aircraft became separated in bad weather, and only one was able to complete its mission.
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
