P-MAN XIII Update #15 - Revisit a jungle crash site and meet with the Reklai

19 March

Today was a great warm-up day for land operations. Joe, Derek, Casey, and Warren headed up to a Corsair crash site that we located last year. Joe led us into the jungle and all the way to the site but not without having a few not so close encounters with some non venomous snakes (more sightings than normal for some reason). We re-located some interesting points to the site and confirmed nothing had been disturbed since last year.

Casey at the Corsair crash site. Still needs some counseling about that smile.

We gathered more information and conducted some basic analysis regarding the next step for the site. After getting fully reacquainted with the area and some personal battles fought with towering elephant grass and a very deep hole (cleverly concealed by brush) we consumed some Oreos per BentProp tradition, shared final thoughts, and started the trek out of the jungle following Joe of course.

Once we arrived at the van, we piled in and headed towards Melekeok to meet with Paramount Chief Reklai. After having not seen the Chief since the ‘453 service in Arlington, it was a wonderful way to start the mission this year. He greeted us warmly and discussed many topics such as current events in the world, his time as a US Marine SgtMaj, and the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. After our visit with Paramount Chief Reklai, we made some stops in Koror to track down some key Palauans who may be instrumental to upcoming searches. All in all, a good day to get back in the jungle and revisit an important crash site as well as spend some time with an extraordinary individual and fan of BentProp.

Casey, Derek, the Reklai, and Warren.
Counseling must be working: Casey has pretty much almost started to smile!

- Warren Bruce
 

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