United States Naval Ship hosts group of PNG students

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea: The United States Naval Ship (USNS), Safeguard, hosted a group of students from the Hohola Youth Development Centre on Friday, November 7, 2014 during the ship’s two-day visit to Port Moresby. The tenth grade students received an in-depth guided tour of the rescue and salvage vessel. U.S. Navy divers explained ship operations, demonstrated diving and rescue procedures, and helped students to experience first-hand what it means to be a rescue diver as they donned actual diving gear. The students also learned how to shout out the Navy term, “Hooyah!”

Navy divers say “Hooyah!” when everything’s okay and understood – critical for safe diving operations. “Hooyah!” also shows enthusiasm – and the students were certainly enthusiastic when presented with a U.S. Navy diver’s belt buckle for display at their school.

The USNS Safeguard visited Port Moresby before sailing to Rabaul, East New Britain Province to support a U.S. Joint POW/MIA (Prisoner of War/Missing in Action) Accounting Command (JPAC) underwater recovery mission. USNS Safeguard and JPAC are conducting investigative and recovery operations in the Rabaul area from November 11 to December 12, 2014.

The remains of some 2,000 U.S. soldiers are yet to be recovered from World War II battlefields and air crash sites throughout Papua New Guinea and the surrounding waters. JPAC conducts search, recovery, and laboratory operations to identify unaccounted-for Americans from past conflicts in order to support the U.S. Department of Defense’s personnel accounting efforts. Specifically designed and built for rescue and salvage operations, USNS Safeguard supports JPAC recovery missions.

If anyone has information that pertains to U.S. WWII remains or crash sites in PNG, please contact Mr. Joses Veleke at 0 321 1455 x2190 or mobile 7200 9414