| P-MAN
VII We said our quick good-byes to all. I saw the key leaders of the Palauan Historical Preservation Office, with whom we work closely: Rita Ulsudong and Vicky Kanai - they brought an elder woman who saw B-24 ‘453 get shot down. They specifically asked me to interview her when we come back next February. They were amazed, like everyone else, that Clem and I came out “just for this” and were especially surprised we were being permitted to fly back with the American remains and RT-2. We loaded onto the C-17 and Clem then worked his magic – he received permission from Major Sonkiss for us to sit in the jump seats from Palau to Guam (for which we are extremely thankful). INCREDIBLE! The copilot kindly gave me his seat and a set of head phones. Major Sonkiss requested from me a little sight-seeing of Palau so, as part of the planned departure from Palau at 1000 feet up the northeast side of Babeldaob, I acted as tour guide – although I could barely talk. Of course, Clem, being an old C-141 hand, was in hog heaven. He started using all kinds of acronyms and they must have meant something because the crew answered back as if it were perfectly natural to get such questions from a camera man – only then did he tell them what he used to do in the USAF (flight engineer, retired – although he looks too young to be retired USAF!). Best as I could tell, Clem's job has been replaced by a set of computers and glass screens.
The Major commented that Clem looked tan like he had been in the tropics but I did not — hmmmm, maybe the sun doesn't get into the Palauan jungles quite the same as while surfing in Hawaii. On takeoff, the C-17 was so huge that I did not even feel the motion until we rotated off the runway. As we banked northward, I pointed out some key features along the east coast of Babeldaob. Then we made the turn out to sea and started our trip home. The 1.5 hour flight to Anderson AFB was over in a flash. I pointed out Yap and Ulithi as we flew over them and gave some more history to the crew about the roles the USAAF (United States Army Air Force) played in these areas during WWII. To show what a small world it is, Clem and I were talking about skydiving and Major Sonkiss turned around and said she had 1500 jumps, doing mainly accuracy jumping, including competitions. Turns out she and Clem had common skydiving friends, including her former roommate! I probably drove the copilot, Lieutenant Barnes, nuts with my questions, but I figured I probably would not be back on the flight deck of a C-17 any time soon. We had a 1.5 hour layover at Anderson and then we headed toward Hickam after adding to the flight another 21 passengers, all dependent wives and children. I was getting pretty tired and after Dr. Clem prescribed half a Xanax for me, I curled up on the comfy metal floor and slept for 6 blissful, uninterrupted hours – what a great nap.
We landed at Hickam AFB at 0330 and after the US Customs folks checked out our credentials, we began offloading, dependents first. Dr. Eric Emery, as RT-2's anthropologist, had the responsibility for the chain of custody for his special cargo on board. The flag was carefully folded, the transfer container opened and the two Pelican cases were lifted out by Dr. Emery. Then, with Clem filming the moment, Captain Zukowsky and Dr. Emery carefully returned these no-longer-missing remains to American soil, with me in trail the whole way. There will be time later for formal ceremony, but THIS WAS THE MOMENT. Welcome back, and thank you.
A few last good-byes, one final interview between the good captain and me (the final item on the shot list) and everyone headed for home. Clem and I caught a taxi and headed for my hotel. After a quick Starbucks break, Clem headed for the north shore to pack in a little more surfing. I called Mr. Robert Maves, Senior Analyst at JPAC, who picked me up at 0700 and took me to JPAC, as we had planned on my way out to Palau. While
in Bob's office, I saw other familiar faces, such as Cheryl Udui (she was a member
of an earlier JPAC (then CILHI) search team we had worked with in Palau) and Rachel
Phillips, one of my first JPAC (CILHI) contacts. Bob and I had a very productive
discussion on how the BentProp Project can more effectively communicate with JPAC,
which I will incorporate into all future reports. Bob introduced me to Ms. Heather
Harris, who is in the records unit – she patiently acquainted me with their
Palau files and I reviewed their War Crimes Tribunal records regarding Palau –
something I believe will be very useful in later missions as we continue our search
for the executed American POWs, including the 3 POWs from B-24 ‘453 still
missing somewhere on Babeldaob [NOTE: we have a new lead for a possible execution
site as a result of our P-MAN VII mission that we will be pursuing on our next
mission]. Bob also was able to schedule for me a brief visit with Major General
Winfield, JPAC's CO, who shortly will be moving to another assignment involving
military recruitment efforts in the United States. We had a very nice discussion
about our respective activities. This took me to about noon and I was beginning
to crash, so Bob kindly took me back to the hotel, where I promptly fell asleep. | |
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Page last modified 11 May 2005 | ||