American MIA Group and Filipino Muslim Government Unite to Bring Home World War II Servicemen

For several generations, the rain-soaked soils of Mindanao Island have slowly swallowed the remains of scores of American and Filipino soldiers who vanished in the chaos and brutality of World War II.

Now, however, a flicker of deliverance has emerged: a groundbreaking partnership between a Virginia-based nonprofit organization and officials of the autonomous Muslim government that administers five provinces of the Philippines’ second-largest island. The hope is that the newfound cooperation will result in at least some of the long-lost soldiers receiving the military honors and formal burials they were denied.

“This is the first time since World War II that local authority, historical knowledge, and access to MIA burial sites are all aligned in these areas of Mindanao,” said Mike Henshaw, founder of the all-volunteer Asymmetric MIA Accounting Group. “It’s not a guarantee that the soldiers’ remains will be recovered, but it’s the first genuine opportunity in more than eight decades to find answers where none were previously possible.”

https://thewarhorse.org/world-war-ii-soldiers-search-philippines/