Yap Island, FSM WWII Memorial Project – The Most Unique World War II Memorial Setup in the Pacific; New book, “The Island Remembers” is now available
Yap Island, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) (PRWEB) March 06, 2015 -- Yap Island, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).—The Yap Visitor Bureau (YVB) and the Missing Air Crew Project are pleased to announce the release of the new World War II (WWII) tourism book “The Island Remembers – Yap Honors the Loss and Sacrifice during World War II”. This new 30 page book will be used by the tourism industry on Yap Island to promote the unique WWII memorials that have been created throughout the entire island.
The YVB partnered with Patrick Ranfranz’s Missing Air Crew Project from Cameron, Wisconsin to help preserve the WWII history on Yap Island where numerous American planes were shot down while attacking the Japanese held island during WWII. Throughout this partnership the two groups have created numerous WWII tourism resources for the Yap tourism industry including memorials at crash sites with all-weather signs and engraved marble markers that tell the stories about the men, their final missions and their sacrifices during the war. Patrick originally arrived on Yap in 2005 to search for his missing uncle, T/Sgt. John R. McCullough, who was shot down on June 25, 1944 in a B-24 over the island. After numerous return visits, Pat and his wife, Cherie, have yet to find his uncle’s plane but during their search, they researched, documented and located numerous American crash sites around the island (water, jungle and mangroves) with the help of Yapese guides.
More than 150 men and nearly 40 American aircraft were lost in missions against the Japanese-held island of Yap during World War II. Although some of the men were rescued and others’ remains were recovered after the war, many of the men remain listed as missing in action (MIA) today. Many considered the island a backwater to the overall Pacific war, but its strategic location held great importance. Keeping Yap out of the war was a major factor for US success in the rest of the Pacific theatre. Attacks were launched against Yap through long-range B-24 bomber raids, carrier raids, ship-to-shore bombardments, and land-based Navy and Marine planes and submarines.
The Yapese tourism industry is being trained this week by Patrick and Cherie Ranfranz on the history behind each of the memorial sites to assist guides and visitors in locating the sites and to tell the story of the men, the planes and the losses. The local hotels can now offer experienced guides to bring visitors to notable WWII memorial sites around the island.
The new book “The Island Remembers – Yap Honors the Loss and Sacrifice during World War II” is at the printer and will be available for the Yapese tourism industry shortly. It will be available for sale through the Yap Visitor Bureau, http://www.visityap.com, and the Missing Air Crew Project, http://www.missingaircrew.com, within the next few weeks. The “The Island Remembers” book is one of the most distinctive WWII memorial projects in the Pacific.
For more information please contact Tom Tamangmow with the Yap Visitor Bureau at tomyvb(AT)mail.fm or Patrick Ranfranz with the Missing Air Crew Project at pat(AT)missingaircrew.com.
Patrick Ranfranz, Missing Air-Crew Project, (612) 282-5624, [email protected]
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