Missing World War II B-24 bomber discovered By Project Recover In Hansa Bay off Papua New Guinea

projectrecover.org | May 22, 2017

 A B-24 D-1 bomber associated with 11 American servicemen missing in action from World War II was recently found and documented in Hansa Bay off Papua New Guinea by Project Recover—a collaborative team of marine scientists, archaeologists and volunteers who have combined efforts to locate aircraft associated with MIAs from WWII.

The crew of “Heaven Can Wait” was part of the 320th squadron of the “Jolly Rogers” 90th Bombardment Group and was on a mission to bomb Japanese anti-aircraft batteries around Hansa Bay on March 11, 1944 when their B-24 was shot down by enemy fire causing it to crash into the ocean. The crew had arrived in Papua New Guinea just four months prior to join the Pacific theater of combat against the Japanese during WWII.

Present-day Papua New Guinea was the site of military action in the Pacific from January 1942 to the end of the war in August 1945, with significant losses of aircraft and servicemen.

Project Recover set its sights on finding “Heaven Can Wait” after being presented with four years of research on circumstances of the crash, compiled by family members of one the B-24 crew members seeking closure for their lost relative. These data included historical eyewitness narratives from official military reports, mission documents, and diary entries from crew members on other aircraft in formation with the B-24 during its flight.

In October 2017, a team from Project Recover set out to perform an archaeological survey of Hansa Bay believed to be the final resting place of 5 U.S. Aircraft with 24 MIA lost during fierce combat during WWII. Based on the historical data, “Heaven Can Wait” was believed to be offshore the north end of the Bay.

After 11 days on the water, and a search that covered nearly 27 square kilometers of the sea floor involving scanning sonars, high definition imagers, advanced diving, and unmanned aerial and underwater robotic technologies, Project Recover located the debris field of the B-24 bomber in 213 feet of water. The details of the crash site have been formally communicated to the U.S. government for their review to potentially set into motion a process for recovering and identifying the remains of up to 11 crew members missing for over 70 years.

“Unique to this mission was the contact by an extended family group associated with ‘Heaven Can Wait’ while our historians were independently researching the loss of their loved one prior to our departure to Papua New Guinea,” said Eric Terrill, co-founder of Project Recover, expedition leader at Hansa Bay, and an oceanographer from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego. “The results from our efforts in Hansa Bay have stirred a mix of lasting emotions within our team and drives home the need to recognize the sacrifices that service members and their families make in protecting our freedoms.”

“This is an important step toward our ultimate goal of identifying and returning home the crew of ‘Heaven Can Wait’ who bravely served our country during the battle at Hansa Bay,” said Dan Friedkin, team member of Project Recover and chairman and CEO of The Friedkin Group. “Our search efforts for the more than 72,000 missing American service members from World War II will continue as we seek to bring closure to the families impacted by their loss.”

Project Recover’s cutting edge team of scientists, historians, archaeologists, engineers, and divers conduct research and surveys to discover new crash sites, fully document wreckage, and correlate wrecks to known MIA cases. That documentation can then be used by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) to evaluate that site for the possible recovery of remains. DPAA is tasked with recovery and repatriation efforts, including notification of the families of these MIAs.

The mission to Papua New Guinea occurred during Project Recover’s second year of formal operations and was made possible by a substantial financial commitment from Friedkin in 2016. Friedkin’s continued support is helping sustain ongoing missions, while enabling the organization to innovate its technology and broaden its search and discovery efforts to focus areas around the world.

In the last five months there have been three repatriation ceremonies for American WWII service members who were recovered and identified as a result of Project Recover’s search and discovery efforts: Albert (“Bud”) Rybarczyk, Navy Reserve Aviation Radioman 2/c and Ora H. Sharninghouse Jr., Navy Reserve Aviation Ordnanceman 2/c of the U.S. Navy, USS Intrepid, Air Group 18 whose TBM Avenger went down in the Republic of Palau, and Navy Reserve Lt. William Q. Punnell whose F6F Hellcat was shot down in the Republic of Palau.

To this day, there are still more than 72,000 U.S. service members unaccounted for from World War II, leaving families with unanswered questions about their loved ones. Project Recover intends on launching more underwater missions later this year in various locations within the Pacific and European Theaters.


About Project RECOVER
Project Recover is a public-private partnership to enlist 21st century science and technology combined with in-depth archival and historical research in a quest to find the final underwater resting places of Americans missing in action since World War II.
Established in 2012 with initial support from the Office of Naval Research and formalized in 2016 with private funding, Project Recover is a partnership among researchers at the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, and The BentProp Project, Limited.

US bomber missing since World War II found in Papua New Guinea

By David A. Bryant | Herald staff writer 

Project Recover announced Tuesday the discovery of a B-24 bomber missing since World War II.

The bomber “Heaven Can Wait” was shot down during a mission to destroy Japanese anti-aircraft batteries around Hansa Bay, Papua New Guinea on March 11, 1944.

Eleven crew members were on board. Project Recover took on the mission to recover the plane after family members of one of the crew compiled four years of research on the crash, according to a Project Recover release.

The crew of “Heaven Can Wait” was part of the 320th squadron of the “Jolly Rogers” 90th Bombardment Group.

Project Recover is a collaborative team of marine scientists, archaeologists and volunteers who locate aircraft associated with missing in action troops from WWII.

In October 2017, a team from Project Recover began the archaeological survey of Hansa Bay, which is believed to be the final resting place of five U.S. aircraft and 24 MIA troops.


Project Recover used scanning sonars, high definition imagers, advanced diving and unmanned aerial and underwater robotic technologies to cover nearly 27 square kilometers of ocean over a period of 11 days to find “Heaven Can Wait.”

 The bomber was located 213 feet deep, the release said.

The crash site details have been given to the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency in order to begin the process of recovering and identifying the crew members.

“This is an important step toward our ultimate goal of identifying and returning home the crew of ‘Heaven Can Wait’ who bravely served our country during the battle at Hansa Bay,” said Dan Friedkin, team member of Project Recover and chairman and CEO of The Friedkin Group, said in the release.

 “Our search efforts for the more than 72,000 missing American service members from World War II will continue as we seek to bring closure to the families impacted by their loss.”

There are still more than 72,000 U.S. service members unaccounted for from World War II.

dbryant@kdhnews.com | 254-501-7554

Papua New Guinea Vietnam War veteran recognised

Australian High Commission

Australian High Commissioner Bruce Davis yesterday presented Papua New Guinean Vietnam War Veteran Richard Cherake with a total of four Australian Service medals.

Australian High Commissioner Bruce Davis presenting Papua New Guinean Vietnam War Veteran Richard Cherake with a total of four Australian Service medals. 

In 1968, Cherake enlisted as a midshipman in the Royal Australian Navy Strategic Reserve – PNG.

He undertook officer training at HMAS Cerberus, navigation training at HMAS Watson and sea training on HMAS ANZAC.

The four Australian Service medals.

In 1971, Cherake served on HMAS Sydney, the Royal Australian Navy’s fast troop transport, providing logistical support to the 1st Australian Task Force in Vietnam.

In recognition of Cherake’s service, a small award ceremony was held yesterday at the Australian High Commission, witnessed by Head of Australian Defence Staff PNG, Col David Buller, family and members of the Australian Defence Force.

Papua New Guinean Vietnam War Veteran Richard Cherake and family members.

Qantas drops plans to expand Air Niugini codeshare

ch-aviation.com | May 18, 2018

Australia’s International Air Services Commission (IASC) has confirmed Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) has withdrawn its application for increased capacity allocation on the Papua New Guinea route via an expanded codesharing with Air Niugini (PX, Port Moresby).

The regulator said in a statement the application was withdrawn on May 15.

Qantas had intended to continue to codeshare on Air Niugini flights to Port Moresby from Brisbane Int'l and Sydney Kingsford Smith from July 1, 2018, and to start code sharing on Air Niugini's flights to the New Guinean capital from Cairns and Townsville.

 Virgin Australia, the only other Australian operator in the Australia-PNG market, lodged an objection on the grounds that the codeshare would jeopardise the sustainability of its services to PNG.

As such, in its draft determination issued earlier this month, the IASC tentatively ruled against granting the application on the grounds that it was not in the public interest.

“The Commission’s finding is that Qantas’s proposed free-sale codeshare arrangement with Air Niugini would reduce competition by increasing barriers to entry on the city pairs served only by Air Niugini (Cairns-Port Moresby, Sydney-Port Moresby, Townsville-Port Moresby) and by risking the withdrawal of Virgin Australia from the Brisbane-Port Moresby sector, where both Qantas and Air Niugini offer parallel services.”

Police farewell late Jim Namora

POLICE MEDIA

The senior hierarchy of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) including Commissioner Gari Baki and Minister Jelta Wong paid their last respects in a moving funeral ceremony for the late Director of the Special Services Division Chief Superintendent Jim Namora.

The body of Jim Namora at the funeral service last Friday.

The constabulary has lost a talented officer in Namora, Baki said during the funeral service at Sioni Kami Memorial Church at 5-Mile in Port Moresby last Friday.
“I  have lost a good man and a talented police officer who commanded a lot of respect," he said.
"I have lost an officer who had the potential to go even further.
"We mourn his loss with his family.
“Late Namora had a very colourful history.
"When he was posted in the Western Highlands Province  in 1982, I was squad commander in Wabag, in the Enga Province.
"That was my last posting before I was posted to Lae, Morobe Province,  as a Mobile Squad commander.
“The Special Services Division would always be in my heart because that was where we grew up.
"That was the division that brought me as commissioner and to be a man.
"Jim is also one of the officers who has been groomed by the SSD."
Baki said he decided to take Namora out of West New Britain as the provincial police commander to be Director Special Services, because he was the best officer for the position at that time.
He said Namora accepted his appointments without any complaints at all.
Baki said Namora had left behind a legacy that was hard to fill "and we would be struggling to try as much as possible from where he has left for the RPNGC".
Wong said he wantedf all new recruits to have similar attitudes and character to policing as Namora.
He thanked family members of Namora for allowing him to serve the country.
Assistant commissioner Sylvester Kalaut, head of the police human resources division, joined the police force in 1996.
He said in his squad,  Namora was a serving member who came in from Mt Hagen where he has served as a sergeant in charge of a Mt Hagen-based mobile squad.
Kalaut said Namora was a mentor to other squad members and provided encouragement when needed.
“We will miss him for his encouragement and corporation,” Kalaut said.
Namora’s daughter Whinonh Namora paid an emotional tribute to her father whom she said loved his job as a policeman.
She said to her father, policing was a calling from God and not just a job.
Whinonh said while her father dedicated his life to the police force, he never gave up caring for his family no matter where he lived or where his duties took him.
  “He was always helpful and always tried to satisfy people with whatever little he has," she said.
"He was our guide, protector and provider and will be surely missed."
Namora’s body was take over the weekend to be laid to rest at his village in the Transgogol area of Madang Province.

Drunk soldiers attack innocent doctor in Port Moresby

Drunk PNG Defence Force soldiers attacked an innocent doctor in Port Moresby last Saturday.
This is the latest episode of an army which makes war against its own people, and in a year in which the country is hosting APEC
Port Moresby General Hospital Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) Training Registrar Dr Dean Wahembari, was attacked by a group of soldiers, one of which he has identified as Desmond Dusava.
National Doctors' Association president Dr James Naipao has written to NCD Police Metropolitan Superintendent Perou N'Dranou complaining about the brutality.
The letter has also been sent to PNGDF Commander Gilbert  Toropo, Police Commissioner Gari Baki, Health Secretary Pascoe Kase, Port Moresby General Hospital CEO Dr Umesh Gupta, and doctors throughout the country.
Naipao, who is also Chief ENT Surgeon of Department of Health, wants the soldiers responsible to be arrested and charged.
Naipao said last Saturday Wahembari, after attending to inpatients at Port Moresby General Hospital,  drove to North Waigani after picking his wife to pick up their son at a friend’s house.
"By 6.30pm, Dr Wahembari drove and parked his car next to his colleague’s house gate," Naipao said.
"He could hear noise and people talking from the neighboring house.
"After five minutes, a group of people numbering six or so that were in that neighboring house, walked up to the doctor’s front gate where Dr Wahembari was standing to pick up his son.
"All started throwing punches at him.
"At Dr Wahembari’s surprise, he knew one of the person that attacked him.
"His name is Desmond Dusava, who is a private soldier in the Defence Force.
" Dr Wahembari asked Desmond why he was punching him, however, this group who were intoxicated from alcohol kept throwing punches and dragged him to the main road, punched him down and started kicking him with solid boots.
"The last he could remember is a bottle being smashed into his head.
"He become unconscious only to awoken with continuous slapping with sandals and boots to his face.
"Dr Wahembari’s wife tried her best telling this group to stop but the kicking and the punching continued.
"Whilst continuing the attack, Dr Wahembari overheard Desmond mentioning something about his late father - Otto Dusava -  who was managed by ENT Team at Port Moresby General Hospital.
"Dr Wahembari got to his feet bleeding from his face and with the help of his colleague’s father, he was taken inside his colleague’s residence.
" For a while, he was imprisoned there unable to go to the hospital and seek police help because of continuous threats and use of obscene languages by Desmond and his mob.
"At around 8.30pm, a police dog unit arrived at the scene but the policemen in that vehicle knew the mob so did nothing. "Dr Wahembari later called a policeman who arrived in an unmarked operational police vehicle and helped him to his vehicle.
"He took Desmond to Waigani Police Station around 9.30pm.
"While at the police station, Desmond kept threatening Dr Wahembari and his wife.
"He (Desmond) thinks that his late father was mismanaged by the ENT Team at Port Moresby General Hospital.
"Dr Wahembari from Waigani Police Station was rushed to Port Moresby General Hospital that night, and he is currently admitted at the hospital with trauma to his right eye with loss of vision, has fracture of the nose, and has global headache.
"The names of the mob are known by Dr  Wahembari, and these names have been given to police.
"The five are soldiers who were in civilian clothes when they attacked Dr Wahembari. "The sixth person is at large.
"Desmond was, however, released that night.
"Why did police did that?
"NCD Metropolitan Superintendent-Perou N’Dranou, the attack on the doctor seems premeditated and it was about to happen anytime, and it did.
"The complainant Dr Wahembari has laid the complaint with police, witnesses have written their statements and the suspects names have been identified except for one. "These suspects needed to be rounded up, charged and brought before the courts. "They do not deserve to serve the PNG Defence Force.
"If Desmond was not satisfied with how his late father’s case was managed by the ENT Team at Port Moresby General Hospital, then there are proper ways to handle this case than how he and his mob went about attacking the doctor.
"Dr Wahembari is my Training Registrar and the final decision on how his late father Otto Dusava’s case was managed rests on the lead team head which was me.
"His father presented with stage 4 cancer of the tongue, which was extensive and inoperable.
"Even chemoradiation treatment wouldn’t have cured it.
"He was palliatively managed.
"He went to Philippines for palliative chemoradiation.
"He returned and got admitted to the intermediate ward at Port Moresby General Hospital and was still managed palliatively until he passed on.
"Should Desmond blame the ENT Team for his father’s late presentation?
"That is not ENT’s fault.
"Period.
"Desmond’s rage and attack on the innocent doctor is uncalled for.
" Police must apprehend this mob and let them tell the court why they did what they did.
"The ENT Staff at Port Moresby General Hospital is also wary that this uncanny thug Desmond may be on the lookout for them too.
"Dr Dean Wahembari is a member of the National Doctors Association."
The demand of the National Doctors Association is:

• Desmond Dusava and the five be arrested and brought to court. This must be done within 10 days starting May 22;
•  PNG Defence Force to assist apprehend the five soldiers and hand over them to police.

Failure to arrest Desmond and the five would result in the following:

• Stopwork by Port Moresby General Hospital ENT staff; 
• Stopwork by Port Moresby General Hospital staff; and
• Stopwork by National Doctors' Association membership nationwide

Naipao said their demands would stand "until this mob is dealt with by the force of the law".

US report warns about China's 'debt book diplomacy'

aninews.in | May 20, 2018

Washington D.C. [United States of America], May 20 (ANI): The U.S. State Department, has in a secret report commissioned by it recently, warned that China is offering a hundred billion dollars worth of loans to Australia's smaller regional neighbours in a bid to gain economic leverage and strategic and military prowess in the Asia Pacific region.

According to an article published by the Australian Financial Review (AFR), at least 16 states, including Vanuatu, The Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Tonga and Micronesia and Papua New Guinea are falling for China's so-called "debt book diplomacy".
For example, the AFR article cites the case of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Historically, it has been in Australia's orbit, and now, news is in circulation that it has accepted Chinese loans that it possibly cannot afford to repay.
What concerns both Washington and Canberra is the fact that PNG is strategically located in the Asia-Pacific region and has significant liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other resource reserves which Beijing could have access to in the long term.
The AFR quotes co-author and Harvard researcher Sam Parker, as saying, "China is giving hundreds of billions to countries that cannot afford to repay it, and it's going to want something in return for that money."
He adds, "China's public-private economic model makes it possible to transform economic debt into strategic influence and wealth."
According to the State Department commissioned secret report, China is spreading its wings in the Asia-Pacific region and is well on its way to ousting the United States as a power to be reckoned with in the region.
Taking advantage of President Donald Trump's lack of economic commitment to the region, Beijing has been providing infrastructure financing to countries through the one trillion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), using institutions like the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank.
The State Department commissioned report warns that this "debt book diplomacy is likely to play a key role in China's multi-faceted campaign to erode strategic benefits" from America and its allies and shift the balance of power in Asia.
Vanuatu is already "deep in debt" to China and now the latter "is positioning itself to capitalise on the impending fiscal plight of the Pacific Island states," the document states.
Last month, Fairfax Media reported that China held tentative talks with Vanuatu over the construction of a military base for naval vessels in the South Pacific Ocean less than 2,000 kilometers from Australia.
China and Vanuatu both denied that any plans were in progress, but Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his National Security and Defense Spokesman Richard Marles have taken this claim seriously.
Turnbull has warned Beijing that Australia will strongly object to a Chinese military base coming up in the South Pacific over fears that it could endanger regional peace.
Last month, he is reported to have sought reassurance from Vanuatu's Prime Minister Charlot Salwai that a China-funded port would never be used as a military base in his country.
American and Australian security experts fear that China's economic influence on Pacific nations could allow the Chinese military access to strategic defense infrastructure such as ports and airstrips near international waterways patrolled presently by the US Navy.
Andrew Shearer, a former National Security Advisor to Australian Prime Ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott, believes that the threat from China is real and risky, and must not be ignored.
He cites the example of the Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka and how Beijing has been able to secure a 99-year-long lease to manage the port's operations because of Colombo's inability to pay off a USD 8 billion loan that it took from China-controlled companies.
"The establishment of a military base in one of the key islands near our northern approaches would be a major problem for Australia," said Shearer, now a Senior Advisor for Asia-Pacific Security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
"Australia remains an influential country in the region and an important source of support, but should step up its engagement and co-ordinate its efforts with other partners such as New Zealand, Japan and the United States."
China has poured money into Pakistan's Gwadar Port. It has invested in 760 projects in Laos. There are many examples of China using its overpowering economic muscle in countries like South Korea and The Philiippines in the year gone by.
Beijing, according to the AFR article, is posing a challenge to traditional Western financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
It quotes David Lampton, Director of China Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, as saying that "China is financing a mix of "good and bad" belt and road infrastructure projects."
At the same time, he also says, "In fact, many Chinese are worried that China is throwing money into hopeless projects."
China's debt has ballooned from 141 percent in 2008 to more than 250 percent of GDP.
"I believe China is taking a 30-year perspective. The Chinese are likely to write off much, but at a strategic level, they believe that once this infrastructure is created, it will be theirs to reorienting production chains as labor costs rise and the flow of assets towards China," Lampton adds.
The State Department report recommends that Australia, India, Japan, and the United States engage in a joint dialogue I which New Delhi's role as a regional leader is strengthened to ensure rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific.
It also suggests that Washington extend support to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a bargaining chip to make China a more responsible lender.

(ANI with inputs)