240717-N-GC639-1175 [Image 4 of 17]

Source: United States Navy (Logistics Group Western Pacific)

PORT VILA, Vanuatu (July 17, 2024) Col. Astrophile Mwele, commander of the Vanuatu Mobile Force, presents possible human remains evidence to U.S. Navy Capt. Mark Asuncion, right, the Senior U.S. Official in Vanuatu, during a ceremonial exchange attended by representatives from the Australian High Commission in Vanuatu, the U.S. State Department, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Chairman of the Vanuatu National Cultural Council, USAID, and servicemembers assigned to Pacific Partnership 24-2 at the Efate Port Vila War Memorial in Port Vila, Vanuatu. July 17, 2024. The possible human remains evidence were recovered from a U.S. Navy PBY-5 Catalina that crashed in what is now the Republic of Vanuatu during World War II. The DPAA mission is to search for, find and account for missing Defense Department personnel from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf War and other recent conflicts. More than 82,000 Americans remain missing from those conflicts, with 34,000 believed to be recoverable, according to DPAA. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ryan D. McLearnon.)