On April 11, the Governor of Arizona, the Honorable Janet Napolitano, honored Clayton Kuhles with a Certificate of Appreciation, which reads: "Be it known to all that Clayton Kuhles is awarded this certificate in recognition of his dedicated service to the families of World War II MIA Aircrews. The time and effort you have given to find these crash sites is greatly appreciated not only by the families that you have brought closure to but to all Arizonans. On behalf of the citizens of the State of Arizona, I thank you and commend you for your admirable service. Best wishes and success in all future endeavors. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of the State of Arizona Janet Napolitano (signature) GOVERNOR DONE at the Capitol in Phoenix on this eleventh day of April in the year Two Thousand and Eight"

I, along with all the other relatives of the "Hot as Hell" crew - Capt. William Swanson, 1st Lt. Irwin Zaetz, 1st Lt. Robert Eugene Oxford, Flight Officer Sheldon Chambers, Staff Sgt. Charles Ginn, Staff Sgt. Harry Queen, Sgt. James Hinson, and Sgt. Alfred Gerrans, Jr. - am most grateful to the Indian and American Governments for the landmark agreement, announced March 19, permitting American recovery teams into India to recover the remains of American airmen lost during World War II.   We all hope that these joint recovery operations will proceed with the utmost safety.  We also recognize that this achievement could not have been reached without the leadership of several key individuals, namely, Lisa Phillips of the organization World War II Families for Recovery of the Missing, US Pacific Command chief Admiral Timothy J. Keating, US Ambassador to India David Mulford, India's Ambassador to the United States Ronen Sen, the entire Vermont congressional delegation, Under Secretary of Defense Eric Edelman, Indian Defense Secretary Vijay Singh, Rear Admiral Donna L. Crisp, and the leaders of Arunachal Pradesh.  It goes without saying that media coverage was a key element in this success:   the Indian publication Frontier India Defence and Strategic News Service was the first publication to give publicity to the Hot as Hell, in the article "Hot as Hell, Found in Paradise", by S. Prasad. (http://frontierindia.net/hot-as-hell-found-in-paradise).  We hope that this agreement signals a renewed focus on World War II MIA recovery efforts worldwide.   We also look forward in the near future to official recognition of the efforts of Mr. Clayton Kuhles in locating these crash sites in South Asia.

Gary Zaetz,    

Nephew of 1ST Lt. Irwin Zaetz, navigator of the "Hot as Hell", discovered December 7, 2006 in Arunachal Pradesh

I have been notified by Air Commodore Rakesh K. Jolly, the Indian Air Attache in Washington, that the Joint Indo-US Defense Policy Group recently concluded during its meeting in Washington this week an historic agreement allowing joint US-Indian MIA recovery operations in India’s Northeast. He reports major progress toward the recovery of the remains of the crew of the American aircraft “Hot as Hell”, which my uncle served and died on during the Second World War, from its crash site in Arunachal Pradesh. The families of the “Hot as Hell” are sincerely grateful to all involved in this decision, especially US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Ambassador Eric Edelman, Indian Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, USPACOM Commander Admiral Timothy Keating, JPAC Commander RADM Donna Crisp, the Director for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs, Amb. Charles Ray, former Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, Arunachal Pradesh MP Tapir Gao, US Sen. Bernie Sanders, as well as the US Embassy and Consular Staffs in India, and the Indian Embassy in Washington.

Gary Zaetz, Nephew of 1st Lt. Irwin G. Zaetz, navigator of the “Hot as Hell”

JPAC needs to radically increase its efforts to recover World War II MIAs, who represent by far the largest percentage of all MIAs and whose closest relatives have the least amount of time left.    As the nephew of a World War II MIA lost when his B-24 disappeared while flying the "Hump", I can personally attest to the relative lack of interest JPAC has shown in the case of my uncle and his crewmates - an entire year elapsed between the time his aircraft's wreckage was reported to JPAC and the time JPAC finally got pushed into discussing a recovery mission with the Indian Government.   Hopefully, under the new command of Rear Admiral Donna Crisp, JPAC will refocus its efforts  to give World War II MIA families for the first time in many years the attention they deserve.

Gary Zaetz

Nephew of World War II MIA 1st Lt. Irwin G. Zaetz