CAMBODIA: US COMBAT TROOPS MIA SINCE 1975 SEARCH

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• published: 21 Jul 2015
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Khmer/Natsound Efforts are underway to find and bring home the remains of the last U-S combat troops to die in the Indochina War. Eighteen marines were killed trying to rescue the crew of the "Mayaguez", an American merchant ship seized by the Khmer Rouge in 1975. Former Khmer Rouge veterans are now helping to recover the dead U-S soldiers' remains. Over two thousand American service men are still missing-in-action from the U-S wars in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Now, for the families of men involved in the Mayaguez incident in Cambodia, there's new hope that their loved ones' remains may be returned to them. The island of Koh Tang is peaceful now, little sign of the violence for which it's remembered. But that's what drew a team of American investigators to this lonely spot on Friday. The Missing in Action (M-I-A) mission's aim is to gather data on a possible grave site of a marine who fell in three days of fighting, 25 years ago. If the information is positive, excavation work can begin at a later date and eventually the remains of the dead soldiers returned to their loved ones in the United States Helping in the search are former enemies; two men who, as Khmer Rouge soldiers, battled the Americans here in May 1975. One recalled the fierceness of the action. SOUNDBITE: (Khmer) "The Americans used planes to bomb the island during the daytime. It was very heavy. Six of my comrades were killed on the shore and many others in the water. I don't know exactly how many." SUPER CAPTION: Mao Run, Former Khmer Rouge Soldier The Mayaguez merchant ship was captured after it strayed into Cambodian waters. The Americans sent 200 marines to free the crew whom they thought were on Koh Tang. But they were wrong, and the island's Khmer Rouge defenders made them pay heavily for their mistake. 18 U-S marines died. The crew was eventually released following intense bombing of coastal targets. For Mao Run, now, there is no bitterness. SOUNDBITE: (Khmer) "This is to do with their soldiers and it's their business. I can only help them and show them what I know. I know the grave site and I took them there. That's all I can do." SUPER CAPTION: Mao Run, Former Khmer Rouge Soldier Koh Tang isn't the only investigation site in Cambodia. Excavation's underway in Kratie province, near the Vietnamese border. The work looks very like an archaeological dig on an ancient city. The soil is carefully sifted in trays for any trace of military equipment or human remains. A total of 2031 U-S personnel are still unaccounted for in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. In this case, they're searching for the pilot of a helicopter that was shot down in 1971. The M-I-A team has found what appears to be clothing and bones in a crater. The bones will go to a laboratory in Hawaii for D-N-A analysis. A battered water bottle, and old bullet casings have also been unearthed, strengthening the chances that the search team has what it has been looking for. This year almost one (m) million U-S dollars will be spent on M-I-A recovery work in Cambodia. That's just a fraction of the 150 (m) million U-S dollars spent annually. Investigators believe it's a small price to pay for ending so many years of uncertainty for the families of missing service personnel. The remains that are found will be carefully removed and flown to a government laboratory in Hawaii for D-N-A analysis. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/6f06ac5ba7915db71b14f2a324e5e906 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork