Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for
POW/Missing Personnel Affairs Jerry D.
Jennings is visiting Papua New Guinea this
week to reaffirm the government’s
commitment to recover the remains of those
lost in World War II.
The purpose of his delegation’s
visit is to thank the Papua New Guinean
government for their continued strong support
of the mission. Jennings will also meet with
U.S. Ambassador Susan Jacobs and her staff,
officials from the Papua New Guinean
government and the National Museum to discuss
WWII recovery operations in PNG. His talks
will include discussions with the High
Commissioners of Great Britain, Australia and
New Zealand to brief them on the status of
the U.S. worldwide accounting mission.
Jennings will also visit Lae City and
personally recognize the residents of the
Bumbu Settlement for their heroic rescue of
the pilot and passengers of a recovery
helicopter which crashed in the Huon Gulf on
May 9, 2003.
Residents of the Bumbu Settlement were
among the first on the scene of the crashed
near Lae city. The U.S. chartered helicopter
carried three members of the U.S. Army
Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii,
one representative from the National Museum
of Papua New Guinea, and the pilot. The
Australian pilot was pronounced dead at the
hospital. The other passengers suffered no
serious injuries.
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