What happened
Military officials from China and the United States met in Chengdu, China, for a ceremony returning the remains of American airmen killed during World War II supply missions over the Himalayas. The flights, known as flying “The Hump,” carried cargo from India to southwestern China after Japanese forces cut off land routes through Burma in 1942.
The route was among the most dangerous of the war. Pilots climbed from near sea level to 18,000 feet over the mountains before descending into China, often battling blizzards, high winds, and poor radio reception. The Curtiss C-46 Commando carried much of the cargo, though mechanical problems and weather contributed to hundreds of crashes.
Recovery efforts spanned decades and were sometimes disrupted by political tensions and the pandemic. A November 2023 summit between the two governments helped resume the work. In January 2024, the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency conducted its first on-site recovery missions since the pandemic with assistance from the Chinese military.
A Chinese property tycoon who financed high-altitude searches and museums in Chengdu spoke at the ceremony, saying he hoped the wartime friendship between the two nations would endure. The Chinese Defense Ministry said it remains willing to continue working with American teams to locate additional wartime remains.
The U.S. government still lists 690 American personnel from the era as missing and unaccounted for.
