HONOLULU — A Hawaii-based military command responsible for finding, recovering and identifying missing-in-action service members is being investigated for money spent on a gravel road in Papua New Guinea.
The Defense Department confirms an investigation is underway but officials won’t reveal the actual expenditure for the roadwork.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Tuesday the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command known as JPAC is being investigated for spending as much as $12 million on a 3.4-mile road to reach a World War II battlefield in Papua New Guinea. But officials say it’s not clear how many missing American service members’ remains can be recovered.
American and Australian forces fought the Japanese on the Papuan Peninsula in late 1942 and early 1943.