The remains of suspected US airmen killed in Myanmar during World War II were repatriated on Thursday, as American officials continue searching for 500 unaccounted servicemen in the country.
Myanmar was a key battleground between the Allies and Japan during the war.
The remains are thought to be those of some of the seven servicemen in a B-25G aircraft downed in February 1944 in northern Salingyi.
Although the wreckage was located two years later, it was not until 2019 that the US Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) found possible remains in the same region and returned this year to continue the search.
On Thursday, a ceremony was held in honour of the lost servicemen at Mandalay airport as white-gloved US guards carried the coffins draped in the American flag into a C-17 military plane.
The remains will be taken for further analysis at a Hawaii laboratory.
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"Brave Americans gave their lives on a river bank in Sagaing, fighting for peace, justice and freedom far from home," said Deputy Chief of Mission George Sibley in a statement.
"Today we recommit to those noble values as we repatriate the possible remains." There are still 505 US service members unaccounted for in Myanmar from WWII.
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