United States mission in PNG to recover fallen soldiers

From Washington in United States of America to the remote Kovu village along the Lakekamu River of Gulf Province a senior US Department of Defence personnel Patrick Murphy delights with the locals.

Patrick Murphy delights with the locals of Kovu for a photo

He is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Easter Asia Pacific Affairs based in Washington.

He visits the little known village because a group of US soldiers have spent a month there working to recover missing personnel who are listed as prisoners of war (POW) or missing in action (MIA) from past wars and conflicts the US was engaged in.

They are currently carrying out a recovery mission at Kovu village, Gulf Province.

“In the United Sates we have a very important mission and that is to account for our missing personnel from past conflicts,” Mr Murphy said.

“Where ever and whenever that might have taken place.”

And at Kovu village and less than 30 metres from the bank of the Lakekamu River is a wreckage of a plane buried less than 20 metres.

Patrick Murphy takes a photo with the US soldiers in their make shift
common area

Excavation work which involves US military personnel in collaboration with PNG Defence Force personnel, police and locals is being carried out.

“It’s very important to the American people and especially to the families that went missing,” he said.

“I was fully happy to see the contributions and hopefully we get good results,” he added.

Murphy described the meet with the remote villagers at Kovu as heartwarming and he praised the partnership  they are forging with the locals as they share food and moments of watching the Game of Thrones and other American movies on evenings.

His visit on the weekend to the excavation site was also meaningful and timely.

This week was also  had a  Memorial Day on Monday across the United States where they remember the fallen who defended freedom for America and it was significant for him visiting the site at Kovu.

Mr Murphy said the recovery actions is an ongoing process where they have historians and archeologists among other professions who do their work in laboratories to gather information and conclude findings.

Some of the wars the Americans took part were the Korean war, the Vietnam war and the World War II.