With Undersea Robots, an Air Force Navigator Lost Since 1967 Is Found (nytimes.com) 15
A recovery mission off Vietnam's coast showed how advances in technology have given new reach to the Pentagon's search for American war dead. From a report: On a July morning in 1967, two American B-52 bombers collided over the South China Sea as they approached a target in what was then South Vietnam. Seven crew members escaped, but rescue units from the Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard were unable to find six other men, including a navigator from New York, Maj. Paul A. Avolese. It wasn't until last year that scientists scanning the seafloor found one of the B-52s and recovered Major Avolese's remains. "It was very humbling to be diving a site that turned out as hallowed ground, and realizing that maybe we were in a position to help bring closure back to families that had been missing this lost aviator," said Eric J. Terrill, one of two divers who descended to the wreck. Scientists say the recovery highlights a shift in the Pentagon's ability to search for personnel still missing from the Vietnam War.
For decades, such efforts have mainly focused on land in former conflict zones. But in this case, American investigators looked at an underwater site near Vietnam's long coastline, using high-tech robots. Their use of that technology is part of a larger trend. Robotic underwater and surface vehicles are "rapidly becoming indispensable tools for ocean science and exploration," said Rear Adm. Nancy Hann, who manages a fleet of nine aircraft and 16 research and survey vessels for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "They have proven to be a force multiplier when it comes to mapping the seafloor, locating and surveying wrecks and other sunken objects, and collecting data in places not easily accessed by ships and other vehicles," Admiral Hann said.
One reason for the new focus on Vietnam's undersea crash sites is that many land-based leads have been exhausted, said Andrew Pietruszka, the lead archaeologist for Project Recover, a nonprofit organization. The group worked on the recent recovery mission with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, or D.P.A.A., the arm of the Pentagon tasked with finding and returning fallen military personnel. "Over time, a lot of the really good land cases and sites they've already done, they've already processed them," said Mr. Pietruszka, a former forensic archaeologist for D.P.A.A. who now works for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. "Now the majority of sites that haven't been looked at are falling in that underwater realm," he added.
For decades, such efforts have mainly focused on land in former conflict zones. But in this case, American investigators looked at an underwater site near Vietnam's long coastline, using high-tech robots. Their use of that technology is part of a larger trend. Robotic underwater and surface vehicles are "rapidly becoming indispensable tools for ocean science and exploration," said Rear Adm. Nancy Hann, who manages a fleet of nine aircraft and 16 research and survey vessels for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "They have proven to be a force multiplier when it comes to mapping the seafloor, locating and surveying wrecks and other sunken objects, and collecting data in places not easily accessed by ships and other vehicles," Admiral Hann said.
One reason for the new focus on Vietnam's undersea crash sites is that many land-based leads have been exhausted, said Andrew Pietruszka, the lead archaeologist for Project Recover, a nonprofit organization. The group worked on the recent recovery mission with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, or D.P.A.A., the arm of the Pentagon tasked with finding and returning fallen military personnel. "Over time, a lot of the really good land cases and sites they've already done, they've already processed them," said Mr. Pietruszka, a former forensic archaeologist for D.P.A.A. who now works for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. "Now the majority of sites that haven't been looked at are falling in that underwater realm," he added.
Finally! (Score:2)
And the hide-and-seek winner of 1967 is Major Paul A. Avolese! ;)
The Never Ending Cost of War (Score:2, Interesting)
When people think of the cost of war, they only think of immediate costs - material and supplies, grieving families of those who die in battle.
But then trialing after that there are long term costs like this that are not thought about, decades of searches for the missing... further adding to the tally.
Hopefully going forward more and more people realize that all around the cost of war is too high in all regards... but I hold out little hope.
Re: (Score:2)
Buy what you need, not on a whim (Score:1, Interesting)
Have you ever considered the cost of war is the price of freedom?
I agree with that statement but there are cases where we reach for war too readily, all of which is enabled by infinite money.
War should be a serious choice, but I feel a lot of uses of wars in the last decade or two have been almost frivolous - especially Libya.
Libya bought us nothing, no freedom gained - not for us, nor the people who Libya who suffers terribly now compared to the Libya that was opening up to the west before it was destroyed
Expedition Unknown (Score:2)
Irony (Score:2)
The group worked on the recent recovery mission with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, or D.P.A.A., the arm of the Pentagon tasked with finding and returning fallen military personnel.
Best use of Pentagon resources, which wouldn't exist/be needed if not for the rest of the Pentagon.
Re: (Score:2)
It's training for rescuing living seamen trapped in submarines and shit, or finding accidentally dropped nuclear ordinance.
Good news (Score:2)
Is he okay?
Here's a radical idea. (Score:2)
How about if we stop sending people to fight in foreign countries against people that are no threat to this country? Just a thought.
Remains? (Score:3)
They recovered his remains . . . what remains?
Ocean wildlife would have cleaned any flesh off the skeleton in short order and the ocean is under saturated in calcium, so even the bones will quickly dissolve. In old ship wrecks usually all they find of human bodies are old shoes.
Re: (Score:2)
They recovered his remains . . . what remains?
Ocean wildlife would have cleaned any flesh off the skeleton in short order and the ocean is under saturated in calcium, so even the bones will quickly dissolve. In old ship wrecks usually all they find of human bodies are old shoes.
It all depends on conditions. In low temperature/low oxygen environments, bodies can last a long time. It may also depend on what they were wearing. If multiple layers of (relatively) tight clothes, that prevents encroachment by ocean wildlife.
It's possible all that was found were bones and they identified him by the name tag on the clothes.
Re: (Score:2)
Teeth.
Why not use it for a more pressing topic (Score:1)