Each team member has his or her own reason for supporting BentProp’s efforts, but in Scannon’s case the reason is clear. “It’s not what we say, it’s what we do,” he remarks. “The United States has incredible values, and people have died for them. This is our way of recognizing that sacrifice.”

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Scannon is a man of many accomplishments, though his slight frame and calm demeanor belie his many interests. A skydiver, scuba diver and spelunker as well as a medical doctor with a Ph.D. in chemistry, Scannon had also undertaken 10 hours of pilot training before deciding he didn’t have the time to commit to flying and still support BentProp. As a result, he made the decision to spend his spare time giving back to those families who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Once on Palau, BentProp’s search and recovery team uses a variety of technology and resources to locate missing aircraft. These include both American and Japanese maps from WWII as well as current U.S. Geological Survey maps. This sometimes causes problems, since some period maps use a different coordinate system than maps today and have to be “translated.” BentProp’s mission specialists also use a hand-held GPS device to identify precise locations, though their GPS systems often lose reception in the jungle because the overhead canopy is so thick.

Interestingly, BentProp relies on Google Earth to reconnoiter specific areas of Palau, since they’ve found it more reliable than other satellite imagery they’ve used. BentProp has also used magnetometers as well as sidescan sonar surveys to help locate missing aircraft, though with mixed results. BentProp teams carry a metal detector in the field to identify buried airplane remnants. But according to Scannon, the technology BentProp uses the most on Palau is the machete and word of mouth, which proves the best approach is sometimes the simplest.

With so many aircraft wrecks scattered throughout the South Pacific, some might question why BentProp concentrates on the islands of Palau. Why not New Guinea, Yap or any of the other islands that experienced significant air campaigns during the war? The short answer: strategic value and time.

Palau may seem to be in the middle of nowhere today, but during WWII it was a vital component of the Allies’ island-hopping strategy. Until 1944, there were 40,000 Japanese army and naval forces stationed on Palau, along with three airfields and several hundred aircraft. Palau also had a deep-water harbor well suited to naval operations, and it lies between the Philippines and Guam. As a result, securing Palau’s airfields was important to protecting General Douglas MacArthur’s return to the Philippines as well as supporting an Allied supply route in preparation for the bombing and invasion of Japan.

The United States began a relentless six-month bombing campaign against the Japanese military on Palau’s islands starting in March 1944 up through the land invasion, which began on September 15, 1944. One little-known fact is that the Japanese built out Palau’s extensive cave system (which still contains some remains of Japanese soldiers) for defensive purposes rather than meeting the enemy on the beach. This was five months before the Battle of Iwo Jima, demonstrating that Lt. Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi was by no means the first Japanese general to employ that tactic.

The second reason BentProp concentrates its efforts in and around the islands of Palau is because team members have already invested so much time and attention getting to know the inhabitants and their local surroundings. “The reason we’ve been effective is we’ve taken the time necessary to build relationships,” says Scannon. “It takes a long time to build trust and knowledge, and it would be wrong to throw that all away.”

The Republic of Palau did not become independent until 1980. Today the majority of its 20,000 inhabitants live on Koror, the former capital, though the republic itself is composed of a chain of 200 or so smaller islands. Palau’s population is generally Westernized, but the country’s economy remains modest, relying mostly on fishing, agriculture and tourism to generate income.

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