P-MAN III - 7             

Ngatpang/Execution/POWs (continued)

1.  Summary Report, 4-16 October 2000, by Professor Donald R. Shuster, University of Guam:

Summary Report
The U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii
Preliminary Search Efforts
Republic of Palau
October 4-16, 2000

The U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (CILHI), dispatched a 5-person team to the Republic of Palau in response to information sent to CILHI by Professor Donald Shuster regarding a WWII burial site in Ngatpang State, Babeldaob, Republic of Palau. War crimes tribunal records concerning the case of General Inoue Sadae, and the case of Yamamoto Kazuharu, et. al., indicated the existence of a group burial site containing the remains of six Jesuit missionaries, four members of the Hondonero/Untalan family and two or three U.S. B-24 airmen (unidentified in the trial records). These individuals were executed by members of the Japanese army in September 1944.

The CILHI team consisted of:

After preliminary discussions between the CILHI and Dr. Shuster, the team visited Allen Nugent, Charge d' Affairs, U.S. Embassy to inform him of their work and evacuation plans, should any member of the team be seriously injured. The team then met with Gilbert U. Demei, Executive Officer for the Ngatpang State Government, and secured permission to search in Ngatpang (known as Gaspan (also Gasupan) by the Japanese).

On Saturday, 7 October, the CILHI team met Fr. Felix Yaoch, S.J., and two Palauan elders who agreed to be interviewed: Ramona Baiei and Techitong. Rick Huston interviewed both of these elders with Fr. Felix serving as translator. Romana had worked for former IJA Colonel Aritsune Miyasaki, head of the Japanese military police (Kempeitai), and Techitong was very familiar with the Ngatpang area. Katalina Katosang, another elder, joined the CILHI team in the field but was not interviewed.

From Monday October 9 to Thursday October 12, 2000, the CILHI team examined five sites on Gaspan hill in Ngatpang State. These were chosen on the basis of sketch maps from trial records, particularly Exhibit 18 of Ichimaya Masao and Exhibit 10 of Sugimoto Takeji (Yamamoto Case). With the expert assistance of Mr. Gilbert Demei, some 15-20 young men from Ngatpang were hired by the Army to assist in clearing/burning the vegetation on these sites. After the clearings, the ground was carefully examined for depressions, consistent with the existence of a burial spot. Suspected spots were then cored for a sample of soil. From these samples, Mr. Fox could determine if the soil had been removed and later returned. All such corings made during the four days were negative.

Since some trial records indicated that the execution and burial site were in the jungle, the CILHI team searched at the very end of a road that ran the length of Gaspan hill, entering the jungle for about 100 meters. This fifth site had numerous piles of military gear that included batteries, communications wire, hooks for stringing that wire in the jungle, and some ordnance. No corings were made in this area. However, a sixth area, in the open near where the road entered the jungle was identified by Dr. Fox as a possible area to be searched in the future.

On the last day of the search, Dr. Minoru Ueki joined in the search. He brought with him a former schoolmate of his, Mr. Kokubu Satoshi. Kokubu had been drafted by the Japanese Army as a teenage middle school student. In discussions, he noted that the CILHI team had misidentified the school that is a key landmark on the Sugimoto sketch map (Exhibit 10). He then walked into the bush on the face of Gaspan hill as you drive/walk up from the main road and showed Dr. Fox, Mr. Huston and Don Shuster the foundation of the small middle school building which he had attended before the war came to Palau.

On Saturday, October 14, 2000, the CILHI team met with Dr. Patrick Scannon regarding the separate case of wreckage of an American TBM-1C Avenger in the mangrove swamp of Peleliu. Dr. Scannon provided some color slides for CILHI's study and details about how to find the wreckage.

Conclusion: After four rigorous days of search effort, no potential burial sites of the Jesuits, Hondoneros, and US airmen (POWs) were identified on Gaspan Hill, Ngatpang by CILHI. However, it was felt that should additional information of merit be uncovered, a follow-up search could be organized by CILHI.

Postscript: On the hunch that the Palauan elders had additional information regarding the burial site in Ngatpang, Professor Shuster interviewed Ramona Baiei on October 26, 2001 and Katalina Katosang on October 27, 2001. This hunch had merit. The interview material was sent to CILHI and to Dr. Scannon and a second search was carried out in November 2001. [NOTE from PS: see also www.bentprop.org P-MANII report).

Donald R. Shuster
Professor of Education and Micronesian Studies
Micronesian Area Research Center, University of Guam
December 11, 2001

You can view the other sections of this report by clicking the navigation arrows at the top or bottom of the page, or click the following links to view specific other sections of the report:

  1. Summary Report, 4-16 October 2000, by Professor Donald R. Shuster, University of Guam (see above)
  2. Summary Report, 13-15 November 2001, By Dr. Patrick J. Scannon, Bent Prop Project
  3. Preliminary report concerning Palau Execution and Burial Sites, by Mr. M. Emerson Wiles, CILHI
  4. Interim Overall Summary and Conclusions