World War II American Troops in India

A significant number of American soldiers spent time in India during World War II. Many died.

For example, American pilots had the arduous task of flying goods and materials to China over the tall Himalayan peaks. This route was known as the “Hump” and the pilots had to handle poor weather and outwit enemy fighter aircraft.

Calcutta in East India served as the American headquarters for construction units as well as operations in Burma. In the squalid and overcrowded city, American soldiers led a comparatively luxurious lifestyle compared to the Indians and British. Even low ranking soldiers were able to hire household help. American officers ate at high-end restaurants and the troops introduced the dill pickle as well as baseball to their hosts.

In 2012, India granted permission to American military squads to search the Himalayan mountain ranges for the remains of US service personnel who died during the war. “This is a humanitarian gesture by a government with whom we share so many values,” U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said in New Delhi at the end of a two-day visit. “The ability to return heroes to their loved ones is something that America deeply, deeply appreciates.”

For more than six decades, the burned wreckage of the planes and human remains were left strewn across the remote Himalayan ranges. Now, teams from the American Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency search for the remains in India and bring them back to the United States.

For years earlier, since 2003, Arizona-based businessman, Clayton Kuhles, has journeyed up steep Himalayan slopes, crossed treacherous rivers and combed through dense jungles to find human remains as well as engine parts, identification plates, wing sections and other pieces of the planes. Kuhles has posted updates about his discoveries on his Web site, www.miarecoveries.org.