From the hand of Mark Stephens, USA (Ret):
It is my honor to be a part of something so humbling this 75th Anniversary of events that occurred in 1944 during WWII. Out of respect to the families and a much deserved notification process I am not at liberty to discuss our mission in great detail but what I can say is we are returning to Saipan to look for and excavate WWII losses from the Battle of Saipan. We will be excavating a site possibly associated with a F6F-3 Hellcat that was found by our team last year. Several Hellcats were lost during 1944 and we are hoping to excavate and correlate the site with a loss with the hopes of a recovery. Also we will be searching for a B-29 that went down with the entire crew on a mission in 1944. It will involve magnetometer, side scan sonar, and ROV investigation followed by shallow to deep CCR (rebreather) target diving.
The mission is a continued collaboration and teaming of the Department of POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), East Carolina University Marine Archeological Department (ECU) and Task Force Dagger Foundation (TFDF). The TFDF team will be made up of some of our leadership/staff and SOF members that need Mission, Purpose and Focus. These three words, implemented, are incredibly important and impactful to those the foundation serves and supports.
We have received support from many in industry and other great Americans. These types of missions need to continue. It’s great to see so many knowing we can never forget! This is a promise our country made to everyone that has or is serving in our military.