The US embassy in Cambodia held a March 27 ceremony to mark the repatriation of osseous material recovered from the crash site of a US aircraft which was lost over Ratanakiri province 55 years ago.

US Embassy charge d’affaires Bridgette Walker and Sieng Lapresse, vice-chair of Cambodia’s POW/MIA Committee, presided over the ceremony.

The US’ Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) which conducted the excavation – with the support of Ohio Valley Archaeology, Inc. and Golden West – expressed their hopes that the recovered bones will lead to the positive identification of two missing service members and ultimately provide answers to their families.

According to the US embassy, this was the first repatriation ceremony in the Kingdom since 2015.

“It marked a milestone in the research and investigation into the circumstances of the lost aircraft and whereabouts of the service members. If a positive identification is made based on the evidence recovered, the service members’ families will be notified,” it said, in a March 27 statement.

“The recovered material will be transported back to the DPAA Laboratory in Honolulu for further analysis at DPAA’s state-of-the-art facility,” it added.

According to the DPAA, 48 US personnel still remain unaccounted for in Cambodia. They are just some of the more than 82,000 servicemen and women who remain missing form conflicts dating back to World War Two.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cambodia and the US.