Update on CILHI Team Search and Recovery Mission

For immediate release
July 24, 2002

The CILHI team reported on Tuesday evening (July 23rd) that they had reached the site of the crash that was indicated to them by a witness they had interviewed late last week. In order to reach the site, the team had crossed a stream that had hindered their progress over the weekend due to heavy rainfall and an impassable bridge. The team crossed the stream using a one-rope bridge and pulley system. The witness, a male in his late 70’s, could not manage the hike and stream crossing required to get to the site. Local authorities led the team to the area where the witness indicated that the plane had crashed.

The team has cleared a 50x50 meter area and has begun a metal detector sweep, as well as a pedestrian sweep. The team excavated test pits following two transects in the area identified by the witness. In the next 2-3 days, the team will continue to investigate the area identified by the witness.

Late last week, the eight-member CILHI team traveled to a local village near the crash site in Jilin province. The team interviewed the witness, and after the interview, the team attempted to visit the crash site on Saturday, July 20th. However, the team was unable to cross a bridge over the stream, which was unusable due to severe weather conditions.

Background information

With the assistance of the Chinese government, the CILHI team is conducting a humanitarian mission with the hope of recovering the remains of Captains Robert C. Snoddy and Norman A. Schwartz. Both men died on November 29, 1952, when their C-47 aircraft crashed in northeast China while flying a night mission. The team will survey the site and speak with witnesses in an attempt to locate the remains of the pilots.

The C-47 aircraft crash site is located in Jilin Province, in the northern foothills of the Changbai Mountains, approximately 270 kilometers southwest of Yanji in northeastern China.

The U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii, was established in Honolulu in May 1976. The mission of CILHI is to search for, recover, and identify the remains of American military personnel and certain American civilian personnel unaccounted for from World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War. The U.S. Government has made a concerted effort to recover and properly inter American service members since the 1840s.

The U.S. Government is pleased that the Chinese Government has allowed the CILHI team to search for the remains of Robert Snoddy and Norman Schwartz. Cooperation in the search for and recovery of the remains of missing American personnel is an important bilateral issue. The U.S. Government is hopeful that this search will yield results that bring comfort and closure to the families of these two brave Americans.