[ Sankei Shimbun January 22, 2004

Return the soldiers to their homeland January 22,2004
Mr. Justin Taylan, Pacific War researcher of New York, USA, visited Japan. He searches for aircraft wrecks, other war-related items and remains in the jungles of the South pacific and would like to see them returned to Japan. He met with the president of the Zero polit association, Mr. Kunio Iwashita and Vice President Mr. Naoki Kohdachi this month in Tokyo.

He explained to them his ongoing research and also talkrd about a recently discovered Zero wreck. Mr. Iwashita stated that he thanks Mr. taylan for bringing home the remains of a pilot and thanked him from the bootom of his heart for his part in the dicovery of that wreck.

Mr. Taylan's grandfather was a US Army cameraman in WW2 and went to New Guinea and the Philippines. Justin Taylan grew up listening to his grandfather's stories and developed a keen interest in the history of this conflict. He first visited New Guinea with his grandfather in 1993 and has returned countless times since. He works in New York as a computer specialist and established a website on the topic. As stated above, he visits the area regularly and has discovered many wrecks. The longest time he stayed was 7 months.

Mr. Taylan says: " When seen from above, the jungle id beautiful. But once you enter it on foot there are trees 30meters high and travel by car is mostly out of the question. In this place the Allied and Japanese soldiers fought a war with scarce supplies. Their remains should be returned to their countries. There are many pilots who ended up in this jungle. Their bravery and honor are incredible." There is a place in New Guinea where Japanese troops were the first to introduce taro roots. Even now, the locals call them "Nihon Taro" [Japanese Taro].

Mr Taylan: "There are so many incredible and unbelievable stories, I want to solve the riddles of missing aircraft and KIAs and return the remains of Japanese soldiers to Japan. I am the grandchild of a US serviceman. My dream is to return the remains of japanese servicemen to their grandchildren"  Contact address: info@pacificghosts.com