All language subtitles for Expedition.Unknown.S15E06

[dramatic music playing]

[Josh] I am walking on the edge
of a volcanic island deep

in the Pacific.

But despite being 3,700 miles
west of Hawaii

and nearly 6,000 miles west
of the mainland United States,

I'm actually standing
on U.S. soil.

Welcome to
the Mariana Archipelago

and the exotic shores of Saipan.

[dramatic music playing]

During World War II,

Saipan is part of
the Empire of Japan's
absolute defense zone,

protecting essential shipping
and supply routes

and acting
as a crucial air base.

In June of 1944,
the U.S. invades.

[explosions]

[Josh]
The battle of Saipan
becomes one of the bloodiest

in the Pacific.

After 24 days and a loss

of more than 40,000
soldiers and civilians,

the Americans capture
the island

in a critical victory
that leaves Japan shocked.

Their defense perimeter
has been breached.

The U.S. begins building massive
airstrips on Saipan

and her neighboring islands.

Soon, mainland Japan will be
within striking distance

of U.S. B-29 bombers.

Flash forward, less than a year
later, May 6th, 1945.

Tomorrow,
Germany will surrender,

and the war in Europe
will end.

But here in the Pacific,
the battles rage on.

Japanese forces and supply
ships continue to mobilize

at an island stronghold known
as Truk Lagoon.

Located 700 miles southeast
of Saipan is the atoll

of Truk Lagoon.

Truk has been the Japanese
Navy's main supply depot

and operational center,
but U.S. forces

had devastated the bases
at Truk in 1944

in an offensive known
as "Operation Hailstone."

And while their stronghold
there is crippled,

Japan continues to rebuild
and operate air bases in Truk

to help repel the advancing
American fleet.

In response, the U.S.
deploys 36 state of the art

P-47N Thunderbolts on a daring
raid to neutralize the threat.

[engine whirring]

The Thunderbolt is one of
the toughest planes

in World War II
with unmatched firepower.

Now, a squadron of them flies
over the vast, empty ocean

to strike Truk Lagoon.

The planes hit Japan's sea base
and airfield on the island

of Weno before strafing
nearby Dublon Island.

The attack goes off as planned,
but not for everyone.

American pilot
Lieutenant Gordon Beecroft

is hit by anti-aircraft fire

and is forced to bail out
at high speed.

His chute turns to shreds in
the wind, and both Beecroft

and his Thunderbolt vanish
into the Pacific

and have never been recovered.

[dramatic music playing]

[Josh] Now, 80 years later,
the historians

at Project Recover have taken up
Beecroft's case

and are determined
to find his lost Thunderbolt.

Recent testimony from
an American hero is narrowing

down the search zone,
and a next generation

autonomous sonar vehicle
could finally pinpoint

the plane's location.

So, join me on
a historic mission

to honor
an American MIA hero

by searching
for the lost Thunderbolt.

[propeller whirring]

-The past is all around us.
-Oh, my God!

-It goes on forever!
-[Josh] A world of mystery.

Come on!
Look at that!

Danger.
Hang on!

And adventure.
It's just straight down.

I gotta get a new job.

[eagle cries]

[Josh] I travel to the far
corners of the earth to uncover

where legends end...
-We got it!

-Yes!
-...and history begins.

-Whoo-hoo!
-Here we go!

I'm Josh Gates, and this is
"Expedition Unknown."

My search for the Thunderbolt
begins where its mission ended,

in the remote Micronesian
islands of Chuuk,

formerly known as Truk Lagoon.

This is the island of Tonowas.

Today, it is an utterly
overgrown wilderness.

But back in World War II,
it was something else entirely.

Back then, it was known
as Dublon,

and it was one
of the most important

Japanese military installations
in the Pacific.

Truk was once a hive
of military activity.

These islands are where
the Japanese constructed five

airfields that supported
500 planes, not to mention

facilities for seaplanes
and submarines.

And the lagoon itself housed
as many as 1,000 ships,

including gunboats,
minesweepers,

and supply vessels,
all defended from the islands

with anti-aircraft guns,
pillboxes, bunkers, and caves.

Eighty years later,
the lagoon is quiet.

The crumbling remnants of war
are slowly being absorbed

by the jungle.

[glorious music playing]

[swish]

To start my mission I'm linking
up with an old friend,

and while I do love a reunion,
he's asked me to meet him

at the highest point
on the island.

Let's do it.

[action music playing]

It's 400 feet from sea level
to the top of Tonowas,

and I get to see every one
of them the hard way.

[foliage rustling]

Up, up, up.

Should be almost there.

OK, where is this guy?

-Hey, Colin!
-[Colin] Hey, down here, Josh!

-[Josh] Where you at?
-[Colin] Down here!

Oh, man, look at this thing!

Oh, my word!
Where are you?

[Colin]
All the way around here.

[Josh] Dude!

[Colin]
Hey, what's going on?

[Josh]
What's up?
Look at this place!

Colin Colbourn is the lead
historian with Project Recover,

which is dedicated to locating
and documenting the over

80,000 American servicemen who
are missing in action.

I've joined them on
investigations

in California's Channel Islands,
the Ivory Coast,

and we even located
the very first U.S. plane

ever found in this lagoon.

[Josh speaking]

[Josh] Dude, look at this thing.

[Colin] Yeah, this is a Japanese

127-millimeter
anti-aircraft gun.

Basically, like a five-inch
gun, taken off probably

a Japanese destroyer,
and hauled all the way up here

into the jungle.
-Dude.

This is like something out
of "Star Wars."

[Colin]
It is. And like "Star Wars,"

this is guarding
the "Death Star."

Every peak, every mountain had
these guns shielding the area.

This was the epicenter of
Japanese power in World War II.

Incredible.
This place...

First of all, I just can't
believe I'm back here.

Like, this place is
so far flung.

Yeah, this is about as far
as you can be flung.

Totally.
But for as remote as this place

feels, you can't overstate

the importance of Truk Lagoon
in World War II.

[Colin]
No, absolutely you can't.

This was the largest forward
operating naval base

for the Japanese Navy.

There were hundreds of ships,
hundreds of aircraft,

submarine, cruisers,
anything you could think of,

and we absolutely needed
to take it out.

[Josh] In 1944, the U.S.
launches "Operation Hailstone"

in an attempt to cripple
the Japanese Naval Force.

Two waves of bombers
converge on Truk,

successfully weakening Japan
at a critical point in the war,

while sacrificing 40 planes
and 200 crewmen in the process.

Even after Hailstone, the U.S.
launches additional follow-up

bombing missions to prevent

Japan from reconstituting
their bases in the lagoon.

And that's what brings us
here today.

So tell me about this new case
you're working on.

Well, it centers around First
Lieutenant Gordon Beecroft.

Take a look at
this news clipping.

[Josh] OK, so here he is,
Gordon B. Beecroft.

-He's 22?
-[Colin] He's 22 years old,

young guy from
Bakersfield, California.

[Josh] Wow.

And he's a fighter with
the "Vampires Squadron."

-Yeah.
-Cool name.

Very cool name.
333rd Fighter Squadron.

A unit still in existence
to this day.

Wow.
And it says here that Beecroft

is awarded the Air Medal,

"Decorated for low-level
divebombing, rocket,

and strafing attacks against
Guam, Tinian, Pagan, and Rota."

So this guy's 22 years old,

and he is a decorated
fighter pilot.

In early 1940,
Lieutenant Beecroft
was given the keys

to a brand new aircraft,
right off the assembly line,

the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.

This was the largest
and heaviest single-engine

fighter plane of World War II.

Weighing in at roughly eight
tons,

this beast could carry
2,500 pounds of bombs.

Then there are the wings,
which sported eight

.50 caliber guns,
capable of spitting out

3,400 rounds of ammunition.

Despite its toughness,
the Thunderbolt was capable

of flying at a blistering
473 miles an hour.

And a first-of-its-kind turbo
supercharger forced more air

into the engine,
generating incredible power.

[propeller whirring loudly]

So what happens to Beecroft?

Well, the reason why I brought
you up here is because Beecroft

gets hit by one of
Truk's anti-aircraft guns.

In fact, it could even be
this one.

Oh, it could literally be
this one?

-Literally, this one.
-Wow.

[Josh]
The date is May 6th, 1945.

To tamp down the activity
at Truk Lagoon, Beecroft

and his squadron take off
in their brand new Thunderbolts

from Saipan,
over 700 miles away.

The daring plan was for
the squadron to fly into

the heavily defended lagoon,
bombing first the seaplane base,

and then an airfield,
before swinging around to bomb

this island, once called
Dublon, and exiting the lagoon

to the northwest,
back to the safety of Saipan.

But sometime after strafing
Dublon, Beecroft is hit

and crashes into the lagoon.

[crash]

[Josh]
Where exactly is a mystery,
and one that might have been

forgotten, were it not
for Project Recover.

Colin and his colleagues
do the crucial work

of interviewing World War II
vets to preserve their memories,

an increasingly
challenging task.

In fact, less than 1% of the
16 million Americans who served

in World War II
are still living.

There's this huge legacy from
this greatest generation

that is just kinda going
quiet, right?

[Colin] Absolutely.
But in this case,

I actually managed
to find a living

witness to the incident.

Someone who saw him get
shot down?

Not just saw him, but was
actually a part of this mission,

in the same squadron,
and was a wingman

to Gordon Beecroft, a guy named
Colonel Durwood Williams.

And so, what did
Colonel Williams recollect

about this mission?

Well, Colonel Williams can
actually tell you himself,

because I recorded
the interview.

-You did?
-Yeah.

-Oh, amazing!
-Let's watch.

[Josh] Incredible.

I'm Colin Colbourn interviewing
Colonel Durwood Williams.

Can you tell me a little bit
about Lieutenant Beecroft?

[Col. Williams speaking]

These guys flew together
for a while.

-They were buddies.
-[Col. Williams speaking]

[Josh] So he's right there.

He actually sees the moment
when Beecroft gets hit.

[Colin] Yeah, he sees the wing
get hit, the fire starts.

He gets everyone to fly in
formation underneath Beecroft

in order to sort of assess
the damage

and see what to do next.

Amazing.

[Col. Williams speaking]

[Josh] Wow, so this doesn't
happen in an instant.

Like, he's on fire.

He's literally flying
in a ticking time bomb.

-[Colin] Absolutely.
-Wow.

[Col. Williams speaking]

"Altitude means time,"
and the goal is to

get out of the lagoon.

You do not wanna go down in
this lagoon.

-This is enemy territory.
-Enemy territory --

and a lot of the guys
that went down in this lagoon

ended up executed.
-[Josh] Right.

Beecroft isn't receiving
his wingman's pleas to climb

because their radios
are jammed.

To make matters worse,
the Thunderbolt isn't equipped

with an ejector seat.

Beecroft has to physically
slide back the canopy

and bail out, a terrifying
prospect given the speed

with which his burning plane
is flying.

So Beecroft's going how fast
at this point?

Well, they're coming out
of their dive.

-Right.
-And so they're about as fast

as that P-47 Thunderbolt can go

at this point, which is about
400 miles an hour.

Not the speed you wanna be
going to pull a parachute?

[Colin] No, absolutely not.

[Col. Williams speaking]

[sad dramatic music playing]

Boy, it's just watching that,
you get choked up.

It's like you can see him
in that moment,

like he's in the past.

And you can see him, kinda,
check himself.

And it's especially hard
because you can tell he thinks

he could have done something
to save Beecroft in that moment.
-[Josh] Yeah.

If he could have talked
to him.

He could have gotten through.

And he had to watch
that parachute split.

Do you remember
where in the lagoon

you were flying when
that happened?

Where he bailed out
and where his aircraft

ultimately ended up?

Do you remember if his aircraft
went much further

after he bailed out
of the aircraft?

This is potentially
critical information.

Absolutely.

[Josh] Hearing Beecroft's story
told from the perspective

of a pilot who was there
and who has carried this memory

to literally his 100th birthday
makes finding

the Thunderbolt feel
even more essential.

Do you think this plane
can be found?

I absolutely think
it can be found,

but we have to be honest
with ourselves.

-This is a huge search area.
-Right.

There's a lot of water
out there,

and it's gonna
take a lot of work.

OK, should we try
to find this plane?

-Let's do it.
-Come on, man, after you.

[Colin] All right.

[action music playing]

[Colin]
Now, I think a lot about how
these guys are flying in here,

young guys, seeing these
huge exotic islands.

[Josh] Totally, right?

I mean, how about Beecroft,
22 years old?

This is a long way
from Bakersfield.

In the remote waters of
Micronesia's Truk Lagoon,

I've rejoined the team from
Project Recover

to locate the plane
of a missing-in-action pilot

and decorated hero
from World War II.

Recent eyewitness testimony
from the pilot's wingman could

tell us where his P-47
Thunderbolt crashed,

and help us close the book
on an 80-year-old mystery.

[Colin] And I think about
their families too,

who got that letter
you never wanna receive.

-[Josh] Right.
-It said, "Your son lost in

Truk Lagoon."
-Right.

-[Josh] "Where is that?"
-"Where is that?"

Most people in America today
don't even know where this is.

[Josh] That's right.
Imagine losing a loved one,

half a world away, in a place

you've never heard of.
-It really builds trauma.

And that's why we're trying to
provide closure, 'cause even

80 years on, those families are
still feeling that.

[Josh] That's right.

Truk Lagoon is roughly 40 miles
in diameter and contains

almost 50 islands.

It's a hell of a haystack
in which to find a needle.

But if anyone is up to it,
it's the co-founder of

Project Recover,
my old friend Mark Moline,

and the team's engineer,
Erik White.

So I got the lowdown from Colin
here on the new mission.

Lieutenant Beecroft.
-[Mark] Yep, Beecroft.

And it sounds like from
Colonel Williams' testimony,

he goes down somewhere
in the middle of the lagoon.

[Mark]
Yeah, and that's where we are.

Right, OK.
So let's home in on it.

[Mark] So this is the wartime
map of Truk Lagoon,

the whole atoll here.
-[Josh] Yep.

[Mark]
And based on
the wartime action reports,

Colin's been able to recreate
the flight path of Beecroft.

Wow, look at this.
That's awesome.

So this is where we think
his mission flew.

Yeah, I mean, essentially,
in this after-action report,

they call out
that the aircrafts,

they started strafing at
the seaplane base, which is

actually just right over here.
-[Josh] Got it.

[Colin] Then they flew up north
to the bomber base.

And then they swung around
through the East Lagoon

to attack Dublon.

[Josh] And then this line that
carries on is where they're

meant to go, right?
They're gonna exit the lagoon.

[Mark] Exit.
Try and get the heck

out of here.
-[Colin] Yeah, that's

our projection
of where they went.

[Josh]
And based on the eyewitness
testimony of Colonel Williams,

the team from Project Recover

has narrowed down
the search zone

to the estimated exit path
of the Squadron

in the middle of the Lagoon.

So this projected line we need
to search along

is roughly how long?
-About 15 miles.

[Josh] Fifteen miles.

And we need to search how far
on either side of it?

Because we don't actually know
where he was flying.

Let's say about a mile on each
side of the flight path.

[Josh]
So we gotta search
30 square miles?

[Mark] That's what we're
planning to do.

[Josh] OK.

To cover that absurdly large
search zone,

we're not using masks and fins.

The team has brought along
their newest member,

an advanced AUV,

or autonomous
underwater vehicle.

This sonar drone will scan
the 30 square miles entirely

on its own, finding targets
that we can then dive on.

Because it's already been to
both the Arctic and Antarctic,

they've lovingly named
it "Bipolar."

All right, should we get it
in the water?

-Yes.
-Yeah.

-Let's do it.
-Let's do it.

[Josh] We load out the vehicle,
and because it retails just shy

of a million dollars,
we do it carefully.

-Coming down?
-[Erik] Yep.

Take off.
-[Josh] We are in the water.

Here we go.

[Erik] Can you push it out
a little bit?

All right.
-[Josh] And she's away.

-Send the "run" command.
-Roger that.

Three, two, one.
"Run" command sent.

Acknowledged.
-[Erik] OK, vehicle's underway.

And we're off.

[Josh] The AUV begins its work,
scanning the vast seabed along

Beecroft's flight path,
something that was literally

unthinkable in 1945.

For as space age
and high tech as this is,

the one thing
it doesn't do, though,

is give you that sonar data
in real time.

You've gotta collect all
that afterwards.

Correct.

[Josh] The sub runs through
its pre-programmed route,

covering 30 square miles
of ocean,

while leaving us with little
to do except wait.

[dramatic music playing]

[Josh] And wait,

And wait.

We're getting there.

Yeah, we're about half done
with our total area.

-Halfway done.
-Half done.

'Kay, things are not
looking up.

I use the remaining hours
to work out a little jet lag.

Until finally.

[Erik]
Looks like we're about
to finish up.

We're gonna go pick up
the vehicle and be done

with this mission.
-Here we go.

The AUV, having completed
its route, returns to us

alongside the boat,
so we can pull it aboard

for a well earned rest.

-[Erik] And that is it.
-That's it.

Thirty square miles
done and dusted.

That's right.

That's a lot of data
to review.

-To the dock?
-To the dock.

-Let's do it.
-Let's go.

[Mark] Let's go.

[dramatic music intensifies]

[Josh]
We return to Project Recover's
home away from home on dry land

to download the AUV's data
and analyze the results.

OK.

Well, what do we got, Erik?
How we looking?

Well, Josh, we have terabytes
and terabytes of data.

That's better than zero data,
I guess.

Because there's so much data,
you remember last time you were

here, we used a machine
learning model.

[Josh] That's right.

Brought some AI
to bear on this.

[Mark] Yeah, to go through all.

We've done that for the
30-square-miles of data.

And this is, like,
witchcraft to me.

This is basically the computer
is able to distinguish between

man-made wreckage that's down
there and just natural

undersea formations.
-[Mark] Yep.

Now, Erik, it would take
you how long

to go through this data?

-A week
-[Josh] A week.

And it will take
the AI how long?

-A couple of minutes.
-[Mark] It's crazy.

[Josh] The many anomalies seen
in the sonar data can lead to

hundreds of potential targets.
Let's turn it on.

Whoa!
Oh my, those are all targets?

Yes.

[Josh] Now, specially designed
AI is about to use a powerful

algorithm to discriminate
and keep only targets

with a high likelihood
of being wreckage.

And just like that.
-[Mark] It's done.

It's insane.

What do you need humans
for anymore?

Lucky for us and our jobs,
humans are still required

to review the targets
and investigate them.

OK, so how many
targets we got?

We have about
four solid targets.

[Josh] Four targets.

So, four targets out of
30 square miles is not much.

No, but these are
the high scores from

the machine learning model.
-OK, let's see the first one.

Oh, wow!

All right, so we got something
there for sure.

[Mark] Yeah, that's a definite
debris field right there.

Right, we have these very weird
angular things

sitting down there in the sand.

So that's almost certainly
man-made, right?

Yeah, because they're casting
shadows, they're above

that sand layer.
-Right.

[Colin] And Josh, take a look
at the shadow over here.

-[Josh] These two lines?
-[Colin] Yeah, it kinda looks

like two lines.
We call it rabbit ears.

-Yep.
-It's something we see a lot

that could be propellers.
-[Josh] Right.

Plane goes down,
the engine's down there,

and then maybe there's two
propellers just sticking up

from the sand.
-[Josh] OK.

At first blush, you look
at this target,

you don't immediately think,
"Oh, that's an airplane."

-[Erik] No.
-No.

And, in fact, that's what
we deal with a lot here.

When an airplane hits the water
at high speed, it breaks into

a lot of pieces.
-[Josh] Right.

And think of Beecroft, right?

He was last seen
going 300 plus miles an hour.

-Plane's on fire.
-Plane's on fire.

-He bails out.
-[Josh] Yep.

And that plane's just
uncontrolled going

into the lagoon at high speed.

Chances are it could be
in 100 pieces.

Right, so that may be a plane.
Absolutely, it could be.

So that's going on our list
for sure.

What else we got?

Oh, that looks like wreckage.

Two pieces, there.

[Colin]
It's definitely man-made.

[Josh] I could believe
that's part of a fuselage.

I mean, I would love it if
we saw something wing shaped

there, but whatever it is,
it's a mystery.

-Yes.
-And it shouldn't be there.

[Mark] It definitely should not
be there.

[Colin]
No, it shouldn't be there.

[Josh] OK, so we gotta see
what it is.

-[Mark] We'll document it.
-OK, next up.

Oh, look at that!
That's an airplane!

-[Mark] That's 100%
-That is an airplane!

-Yeah, that's an airplane.
-For sure.

[Colin] I mean, it's intact.
You can see the shape.

[Josh] Dude, that's amazing.

That's a well intact plane
right there.

Can we measure this one wing
that's showing?

-How long is that?
-[Erik] It's about 18 feet.

And the full wingspan for
the Thunderbolt is how long?

-[Colin] It's 40 foot.
-[Josh] So we're in the money.

[Colin] Yeah, we're not far off
right now.

I mean, that could be
it, right?

[Mark] Absolutely could be.

That's really promising,
beyond promising.

Oh, well, we'll put
this one up...

-[Josh] Yes.
-...to dive.

[Josh] For sure.
OK, last target.

Oh.
-[Mark] Oh, wow!

[Josh] What is that?

Oh, I don't know
what I'm looking at there.

Does that look like aviation
to you?

You can't tell on the surface,
but what you can see is that

there are scour marks,
like halos around

the individual pieces.

And a lot of times we see
that with fish living

around wreckage.
-Right.

Wrecks in Truk turn
into artificial reefs,

supporting sea life,
including sharks, which are

known to cruise the deep waters
of the lagoon.

[Colin] That's a promising hit
right there.

It's hard to tell if that's
a plane or not.

No, it's a very
concentrated site.

I mean, there's definitely --

Everything's gonna be kinda
compacted in together.

-[Josh] Right.
-[Colin] Which is indicative

of a plane that might
have hit the water

at high speed.
-[Josh] Sure.

We have to eliminate a target
like this.

-[Colin] Oh, absolutely.
-[Josh] Right.

OK, so that goes on our list.
So we got

four compelling targets here.
-We do.

And remember, whatever these
targets are, nobody's seen it

in 80 years.
-Well, let's change that.

-Let's do it.
-Come on, let's go, guys.

[action music playing]

[Josh] The next morning,
we load back out onto the boat

and motor out to dive
on our targets.

Not surprisingly,
everyone wants to start

with this one.

All right, let's talk
about this target.

This is as promising
as it gets, right?

It is.
It's a fully intact plane.

[Josh] We approach the target
coordinates and prep

a weighted shot line.

It's critical that we throw
this marker as close

to the coordinates as possible
to give us the best chance

of finding the target
on the bottom.

[Erik] Three, two, one, drop.

Neutral, neutral.

[Josh] Once we're hovering
over the first target,

Mark, Colin, and I suit up
and dive in.

-[dramatic music intensifies]
-[splashes]

[Josh, Colin,
and Mark speaking]

[Josh, Mark,
and Colin speaking]

[adventurous music playing]

[Josh, Mark and Colin speaking]

[Josh, Colin,
and Mark speaking]

[Josh]
A hundred feet below the surface

of Micronesia's Truk Lagoon,

the team from
Project Recover is searching

for the downed plane
of missing American pilot

Lieutenant Gordon Beecroft.

His P-47 Thunderbolt was shot
down over these waters

in May of 1945.

[Josh, Colin,
and Mark speaking]

[Josh]
I quickly consult
laminated schematics from

the Thunderbolt's manual
to see if we can match

any of the parts
from the wreck.

[Josh, Mark,
and Colin speaking]

[Josh] Torpedo bombers are large
and designed to fly low,

releasing torpedoes which glide
through the water

to their targets.

Since Lieutenant Beecroft's
Thunderbolt was a high-speed

one-man fighter,
this is clearly not his plane.

However, there were other
American torpedo bombers lost

at Truk, like the Avenger,
which have never been found --

meaning this could still be
an enormous find,

Perhaps an undiscovered casualty

from "Operation Hailstone"
in 1944.

[Josh, Colin,
and Mark speaking]

[Josh]
The Nakajima B6N Tenzan was
a carrier-based torpedo bomber

with the allied
code name "Jill."

The Japanese
started using them in 1943,

replacing the older B5N
known as "Kate."

This was the plane armed with
500-pound torpedoes that was

responsible for destroying
several American battleships

on December 7th, 1941,

a day which still
lives in infamy.

[Josh, Colin,
and Mark speaking]

[Josh] This moment right now is
the first time anyone has seen

this plane since the day
she crashed in World War II.

[Josh, Colin,
and Mark speaking]

[Josh] Project recover will
notify the local and Japanese

governments of our discovery so
that they have the opportunity

to catalog the wreck
and repatriate any remains

that may still be inside.

In the meantime, to preserve
the find in its place,

Mark carefully takes hundreds
of photographs to be stitched

together digitally in a process
known as photogrammetry.

The resulting three-dimensional
image offers us a stunning view

of a plane unseen for 80 years.

And it reveals a seam in
the wing, barely visible

to the naked eye, folding points
that saved space when

these planes were placed side
by side on aircraft carriers.

[Josh, Mark,
and Colin speaking]

[Josh] Our first sonar target
turned out to be truly historic,

but our mission is to find
another aircraft.

We make our way back
to the surface

to keep narrowing down
our list of sonar suspects.

Once aboard, we motor
to an area of the lagoon

where two anomalies mapped
by the AUV

were grouped closely together.

The pilot navigates the boat
toward the coordinates

of one of the hits.

OK, here we go.

And we endeavor to throw a shot
line at the exact right moment

to put us on top of the target.

[Erik]
Three, two, one, drop, drop.

[Josh] Then we splash in.

[Josh, Colin, Erik,
and Mark speaking]

[Josh speaking]

[Josh]
At the end of World War II,
some military equipment

was viewed as too expensive
to bring home to the U.S.

and so much of it was scuttled
in the Pacific.

[Josh, Mark, Erik,
and Colin speaking]

[Josh chuckles]
-[Josh speaking]

[Josh]
My jeep doesn't wanna start.

And in fact, it's hard
to ignore just how creepy

this auto boneyard really is.

[Josh, Colin, Mark,
and Erik speaking]

[Josh, Mark, Erik,
and Colin speaking]

[Josh] I've joined the team from
Project Recover as we search

for the P-47 Thunderbolt
of Lieutenant Gordon Beecroft,

which was shot down here
in Micronesia's Truk Lagoon

in the closing days
of World War II.

We're investigating a series
of sonar readings that we're

hoping could be
the missing plane,

but hovering between
them is this.

[Josh, Mark, Colin,
and Erik speaking]

[Josh] Whitetip reef sharks
often cruise near the seabed

and do not usually attack
unless provoked.

Still, since this one isn't
used to seeing humans,

we decide to give him
some space.

[Colin and Josh speaking]

[Josh]
We start swimming over
to the second grouping

of sonar hits
we found in this area.

One thing you learn diving in
Truk Lagoon is to always

expect the unexpected.
First a shark, now this.

[Mark and Josh speaking]

[Josh]
These jellyfish have tentacles
that fire barbed stingers,

which cause intense pain,
so we cautiously

swim past them.

[Josh and Mark speaking]

[Josh] Soon, we reach
our target zone.

Our eyes peeled for
a large engine, propellers,

or the aluminum skin
of an airplane.

[Josh and Mark speaking]

[Josh, Mark, Colin,
and Erik speaking]

[Josh] With our bottom time up,
we ascend to the surface,

admittedly disappointed.

We are left with a single
target to investigate,

one final chance to find

Lieutenant
Beecroft's Thunderbolt.

So we hit the throttle
and motor to its coordinates,

crossing our fingers
that this might be it.

The trouble is, this is also
our most challenging dive.

OK, so let's talk
through this.

We're in pretty deep water
here, yeah?

-It is deep, 120 feet.
-OK.

Yeah.
We only have about 14 minutes

of bottom time, so around 10,

we should be kind of wrapping
up the dive.

We gotta be fast
and efficient here.

Very much so.

This target is a bit of
a mystery, right?

I mean, if this is an airplane,
it's gotta be in pretty bad

shape because it doesn't
scream aviation.

Yeah, pretty mangled up,
but it is isolated

and it has a number of
chunks around it.

We have to investigate.

[Colin] We have a couple
of scooters on board.

Josh, you, and I are gonna take
those, try to maximize

our bottom time, and get down
as fast as possible.

OK, let's see what it is.

[Josh]
We splash in, anxious to get
our eyes on the last viable

sonar target that we've got.

[Josh speaking]

[Josh] The scooters are small
but mighty, propelling us

toward the sea floor
in under 30 seconds.

[Josh, Colin,
and Mark speaking]

[suspenseful music playing]

[Josh, Colin,
and Mark speaking]

[Josh]
Now we need to look for clues
to determine if this is

the plane we're searching for.

[Josh and Mark speaking]

[Col. Williams speaking]

[Josh, Colin,
and Mark speaking]

[Josh] The scooters we brought
aren't just for getting around.

By directing their force
downward, we can gently blow

sand away from the seabed,
exposing whatever's beneath

the years of built up sediment.

[Josh, Mark,
and Colin speaking]

[dramatic music playing]

[Josh, Mark,
and Colin speaking]

[dramatic music builds]

[Josh speaking]

[Josh]
Three months to the day after
Beecroft and his squadron flew

from Saipan to attack
Truk Lagoon,

another mission was launched

from Saipan's neighboring island
of Tinian.

It's hard to believe,
but at the time,

this was the largest airport
in the world

built by the U.S. Military.

Today, very little remains,
but there is this --

a bomb loading pit where
a top secret weapon was hoisted

into the belly of a waiting
B-29 Super fortress.

The pilot,
Colonel Paul W. Tibbets Jr.

named the plane
after his mother, "Enola Gay."

This is runway Able
at Tinian's North Field,

and under cover of darkness,
at 2:45 AM.

on August 6, 1945,
the "Enola Gay" roared down

this runway and took off
toward Hiroshima

and into the pages
of history,

ultimately ending
World War II

and igniting the Atomic Age.

[dramatic music playing]

[Josh, Colin, Erik,
and Mark speaking]

[Josh] In the remote waters of
Micronesia, we've just found

the lost airplane,
of MIA American pilot

Lieutenant Gordon Beecroft,
who was shot down

in the closing days
of World War II.

-[plane roaring]
-[splash]

[Josh]
From that moment, no one in
the world knew exactly where

his plane crashed
until right now.

[Colin, Josh, Mark,
and Erik speaking]

[Josh]
We don't have enough air
to stay,

so we head topside
for a well-earned celebration.

-Oh!
-[Colin] Oh, my God!

That's it!

That's it!
-[Mark] See that?

General Tire.
Made in America.

-General Tire made in USA.
-[Mark] Yeah.

How about that?

You just don't get those kind
of clues that often.

-[Mark] No.
-What an unbelievable

mission to be a part of.

-[Mark] Yeah.
-What a win.

I wish Colonel Williams could
be here to see this.

Well, he shared his story,
and you guys ran with it,

and it led to this.

You think about,
you know, you can float out

here in this lagoon,
and you just think about what

it must have been like
on that day.

-[Colin] Yeah.
-[Josh] And the noises,

and the smoke,
and the gunfire,

You know, and that flight path
ended right here, literally,

right underneath us.

So, here's to
Lieutenant Gordon B. Beecroft

and his missing Thunderbolt,
missing no more.

-[Colin] We got it,
-[Mark] We got it.

-[Colin] Thanks, Josh.
-[Josh] Amazing.

[Mark] Thanks for being here.

[Josh] Amazing!
Woo!

Mission accomplished.

We have found
the P-47 Thunderbolt

that Lieutenant Gordon Beecroft
flew into Truk Lagoon

on May 6th, 1945.

He gave what Lincoln called

"The last full measure
of devotion

to the cause of freedom."

Only three months later,

the war in the Pacific
would end,

and men like Durwood Williams
would return home

to live with what they had
seen and lost.

Colonel Williams never
forgot his friend,

keeping Beecroft's story alive
for 80 years, keeping it,

in fact, until the day he died,
only months after talking

to Project Recover at age 101.

It is this urgency,

the fading voices
of the greatest generation,

that has fueled Project Recover,

driving them to find
the forgotten and make sure

that no man is left behind.

[glorious music ends]

[Josh]
Before we leave Micronesia,

we return one last time
to hallowed ground.

[Colin speaking]

[Mark speaking]

[Josh]
This wreck is also a reminder
of the more than 200 Americans

who gave their lives here
at Truk Lagoon and to the more

than 400,000 Americans who made
the ultimate sacrifice

in World War II.

May they rest in peace.

[triumphant music playing]