Half a World Away, Students Help Recover WWII Remains, Downed Aircraft

Half a world away, some wiz kids from Michigan are helping volunteers keep their promise to bring home the pilots and servicemen who died in some of World War II’s fiercest battles in the Pacific Ocean Theater.

The Advanced Underwater Robotics Team from Stockbridge – a village of about 1,000 people located a half-hour or so away from Lansing – has been partnering with the The BentProp Project to locate downed aircraft and identify American World War II POWs and MIAs on two Western Pacific islands, The Jackson Citizen Patriot/MLive reports.

The Stockbridge High School students designed an underwater robot (ROV) the BentProp team is using to search for and film downed aircraft. The students have traveled to the island Republic of Palau, part of the Caroline Islands, three times, and have been involved in the searches for wreckage and missing American soldiers.

On Sunday, Anderson Cooper will feature the Stockbridge’s Advanced Underwater Robotics Team in a segment on the BentProp Project’s 2014 excursion to Palau on the CBS news magazine “60 Minutes.”

The national exposure – and a ton of local publicity, too – is one thing, but the magnitude of what they’re contributing isn’t lost on students, team leader and Stockbridge senior Chloe Hypes said.

“A promise was made to bring every one of them home, and we are trying to do our part,” Hypes told the Jackson newspaper.

They’ve had some success. A B-24 bomber they searched for on three previous missions remains elusive, but in 2012 they located and transmitted images of a World War II Corsair – and helped locate the pilot, who parachuted to safety, living in Florida.

Last year, the robot was used to help find three Japanese shipwrecks and a Japanese seaplane.

The self-funded team needs to raise $50,000 to make its fourth trek to Palau, located about 500 miles from the Philippines, March 26-April 12.

Donations will be accepted at a free showing at Thursday of a documentary, “Stockbridge to Salt H2O,” a project of DeWitt High School students and DeWitt Creativity Group members Geoffry Croley and Brad Grost, who traveled to Palau with the team during its 2013 expedition. The fundraiser begins at 7 p.m. at Jackson’s historic Michigan Theatre, 124 N. Mechanic St.

Robotics is a big deal in Stockbridge. More than 100 students are involved, from young elementary kids to high school seniors, WILX-TV reports.

“A promise was made to bring every one of them home, and we are trying to do our part.” – Chloe Hypes, robotics team leader

The Palau project is integrated into the robotics curriculum for third- through 12th-graders. Students at Heritage Elementary School made three ROVs for their peers in Palau to use in 2013, and the two teams planned to exchange videos for use in long-distance electronic cultural exchanges.

The BentProp Project was established in 1993 to search the waters and jungles of the Western Pacific and help bring closure to families who never knew the fate of lost airmen after Japan surrendered to the Allied Powers Aug. 14-15, 1945.

Their first mission was to locate the Japanese trawler President George H.W. Bush sunk in World War II, during which a 65-foot wing from a B-24 was found lying in the water, the engine still attached. Locals pointed volunteers to other pieces of plane wreckage that had been undisturbed for 50 years.

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Volunteer Dr. Patrick J. Scannon, who found the B-24 wing and engine, told the Viva the Matadors website the discovery of other pieces of wreckage sparked a renewed focus for The BentProp Project.

“... I began to realize that many American aircraft had been shot down over Palau, some in locations that could be searched for with scuba gear or machete,” he said. “I have also tracked down and interviewed many Marine and Army Air Corps veterans of these air campaigns, who added much more information. Finally, I have made several more trips back to Palau, speaking with elder Palauans and hiring guides to take me to even more wreck sites. The process continues to this day.”

More:

• Follow the team’s progress on Facebook | Donations may be made on the team’s page on gofundme.com.

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Photo via Stockbridge Advanced Underwater Robotics Facebook page