World War II remains to be handed over to US; 'Hot As Hell' crew to finally go home

NEW DELHI: After being lost for 72 years in Arunachal, the crew of ‘ Hot as Hell’ - the US B-24 bomber that disappeared on a supply run from Kunming, China, to Chabua, Assam, on January 25, 1944 – is finally set to go home. With the Narendra Modi government allowing the US military to resume search missions in Arunachal Pradesh for servicemen who died in World War II, reversing a UPA policy, the first remains recovered from the crash site are being handed over next month.

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The ceremonial handing over of remains and artefact from the crash site – work for which resumed in October after a six year ban on US missions in Arunachal – is set to take place in April in the presence of senior US and Indian officials.






Family members of the lost crew say that “the remains of only 1 or 2 of the 8 airmen aboard the plane were recovered” and more work may be required at the crash site located deep inside an Arunachal jungle. “The job is clearly unfinished,” says Gary Zaetz, who Uncle Irwin Zaetz was a member of the B 24 crew.

However, the handing over ceremony marks a major step in the handing over of the remains of US servicemen who disappeared in Arunachal. Operations in the northeastern state had earlier been halted in 2009 over “concerns” raised by China. Specialised recovery teams from the US visited the crash site in September-October and recovered some remains.

Several other crash sites too have been identified that would be explored in the coming days. An estimated 416 aircrew are missing in India from the war.

Most of the missing aircraft are believed to have gone down in Arunachal over a treacherous route known as The Hump--to cross into China in support of the war against Japan.

The organization of Families and Supporters of America’s Arunachal Missing in Action, which has been pursuing the case in the US has requested that “senior officials of the Indian Government Ministries involved – Defence, External Affairs, and Internal Affairs - attend the remains turnover ceremony” that is likely to take place at the US Embassy.