Museum displaying remnants of the US aircraft used during the WW-II opened in Arunachal Pradesh

Guwahati: A museum displaying the remnants of the US aircrafts, which had disappeared over the skies of Arunachal Pradesh during the WW-II was opened on Wednesday at Pasighat, a small town in the frontier state.

Arunachal Pradesh shares a border with China.

The museum named "The Hump WWII Museum" was inaugurated by Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu and US Ambassador to India, Eric Gartcetti.

The artifacts on display in the museum include 80-year-old rusting wreckage and machine guns of the 590 planes of the Allied Forces, mainly the US forces which disappeared into the hills and jungles in Arunachal Pradesh. The treacherous region over the Himalayan skies in the Northeast, particularly Arunachal Pradesh, was described by the US forces as the Hump.

Over 400 Americans had reportedly disappeared over the region since the main air re-supply route from airfields in Assam in India to China during the WW-II was over the Himalayas.

Calling the museum a tribute to the fallen heroes of WWII, Khandu said, "From 1942 to 1945, military aircraft transported nearly 6,50,000 tonnes of supplies like fuel, food and ammunition. The Defence Prisoners of War (DPAA) had deployed a team for 30 days in search of remains of unaccounted-for US airmen. There are approximately 400 US airmen missing in India, most of whose remains are believed to be located in the Himalayan mountains in the North East, particularly in Arunachal Pradesh."

In December 2015, the DPAA personnel found first human remains of the missing US soldier in thick jungles in Arunachal Pradesh, which were subsequently taken to the US for last rites. The search operations, however, remained stalled for several reasons. Khandu said at least 30 locations have been identified, where remnants of WWII aircrafts are still believed to exist. Khandu urged the US Ambassador to facilitate exploration to these locations to retrieve the remnants and assured full support of the state government.

Garcetti said, "We come here today not just to mark history but to make history. To see the ways with which each one of us is called not just to witness the past but to do something to change the future.” “This isn’t a gift only to Arunachal Pradesh or to the families whose lives will be affected when they come here but it is a gift to India and to the world,” he further said.

Recognise the border:

Garcetti said the US will always remain grateful to the people of Arunachal Pradesh for saving lives and helping the US pilots and soldiers during the WWII while flying over the Hump. "Such human values bind the two countries together in friendship. Today how can we not but step up to be a great friend to India, to recognize her borders, all of them, and to respect them and to call on the world to do the same,” he said.

Khandu said that history should not be allowed to fade away with time and expressed optimism that this museum will remind the younger generation of the daredevilry of the Allied forces who flew over the ‘Hump’ to fight against the threat to democracy and freedom.