The funeral service will be of the three out of the eight crewmembers who went down with the B-24 ‘453 aircraft on September 1944 in the waters of Palau.
Toribiong said in an interview that he will pay his respects to the soldiers. He will be accompanied by Paramount Chief Raphael Ngirmang to the U.S.
Ngirmang is a retired U.S. soldier.
The Joint Prisoners of War, Missing in Action Accounting Command (JPAC) of the Pacific Command of the United States Armed Force, during their recovery missions in Palau in 2005, 2006 and 2008 recovered the remains of the eight soldiers.
The crewmembers were identified and that there will be a group service for the three who will be buried together at Arlington National Cemetery.
The Bentprop Team who are composed of individuals who volunteered to gather information that may lead to the recovery of the remains of the missing U.S. servicemen, located and identified in January 2004 the aircraft’s underwater crash site after a 10-year search.
The names of the soldiers have not been disclosed.
There are at least 15 believed to be prisoner of wars (POW) in Palau and at least 70 Missing in Action (MIA).
The Bentprop team conducts recovery mission in Palau every year.
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