Remains of 13 U.S. Servicemen Flown to Lab From Laos
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BANGKOK, Thailand — The remains of 13 American servicemen missing in action in Indochina since 1972 were flown out of Laos today to be examined and identified at a military laboratory in Hawaii.
Human teeth, bone fragments and personal effects were discovered during a joint U.S.-Lao excavation of the crash site of an American AC-130 warplane that was shot down over southern Laos during the Vietnam War.
The 12-member U.S. search team arrived in Bangkok early today with the remains, which then were to be sent later in the day to Clark Air Base in the Philippines en route to the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii.
Officials familiar with the examination and identification work at the Hawaii laboratory said the process should take about one month.
The excavation, which began Feb. 11 and ended Thursday, was the first time American military experts had been allowed to search for MIAs in communist Indochina.
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