May 25, 2016–An American aircraft, a TBM-1C Avenger,missing since July 1944 was recently located in the waters surrounding the Pacific Island nation of Palau by Project RECOVER — a collaborative effort to combine the most advanced oceanographic technology with advanced archival research methods to locate aircraft and associated Americans missing in action (MIA) since World War II. Scattered among the lagoon waters and coral reefs surrounding Palau’s island chain, and concealed within its dense mangrove forests, are several dozen U.S. aircraft and the remains of as many as 80 U.S. airmen. This U.S. Navy TBM-1C adds to the growing list of wrecks discovered by Project RECOVER. “The importance of our mission is reinforced with each new discovery of a missing …