Two US military officials have begun a three-week mission in southern Sicily to locate the remains of about 40 American soldiers who went missing in action there in World War II.
The soldiers were aboard 19 aircraft which crashed on the island during the Allied invasion of Sicily in the summer of 1943. Their bodies were never recovered.
Thanks to military records and research carried out in the US, the investigation led by Lieutenant Frank Huffman has a fairly good idea of where the 19 planes crashed.
"Now, with the help of mayors, historians and the local population we hope to pinpoint those crash sites and any graves dug for the servicemen by local people," Lt Huffman told ANSA.
Along the way, the investigators will also look into any other reports they hear concerning graves or remains of US servicemen involved in the Sicily campaign.
Lt Huffman is part of the US military's JPAC office which looks for the remains of servicemen all over the world so that they can be recovered and given to the dead soldier's relatives in the US.
Another such investigation was carried out in eastern Sicily in February. It located the sites of four plane crashes, which will now be dug up in the hope of finding the remains of the aircrafts' passengers and crew.
The February mission also found the grave of an American pilot, whose fate had been a mystery. It was in a town whose name is being kept secret until the remains can be disinterred.
"We always get outstanding help from local communities and this was a case in point," said Lt Huffman.
"We interviewed three old men who were young boys at the time and they all told the same story. They had all seen a plane crash and taken it in turns to guard the pilot's body until a policemen arrived two days later".
The pilot was buried in a spot which the three witnesses were able to show the US team 64 years later.
The invasion of Sicily, which was conquered in 38 days, was the first crucial step in the campaign which eventually gave Allied forces control of almost all the Italian peninsula. Gaining control of the island cost the lives of at least 2,237 Americans, 2,721 Britons and 562 Canadians.
In coming days Lt Huffman is to begin looking for eye witnesses of crashes believed to have happened near the town of Comiso, near Ragusa.
