Metal pieces sold as scrap revealed to be from US wartime plane

Colonel Tran Quoc Khanh, deputy head of the 9th Military Region staff department’s engineering division, said Wednesday a team checking metal pieces and parachutes found on land owned by Le Van Cham, 54, in the southern province found ‘US.NAVY’ written on the latter.

“We believe these are the remains of a plane shot during the war.”

But the team has yet to identify the aircraft, he said.

The division has suggested to the Ministry of National Defense that a search has to be made for the remaining debris.

On July 8, while working in his shrimp pond, Cham saw oil stains rising to the surface. He used machines to dredge the bottom and found several pieces of metal. Since they had rusted, he sold them as scrap.

When the military caught wind of the incident, they cordoned off the area and sent personnel to the site to look for more remains.