close

Local archaeologist searches for human remains from Vietnam War

By Scott Beveridge for The 3 min read
1 / 2

Courtesy of Marc Henshaw

Archaeologist Marc Henshaw is shown on a mission to Vietnam looking for the remains of Americans who died in the Vietnam War.

2 / 2

Courtesy of Marc Henshaw

Marc Henshaw enjoys some down time with colleagues on a mission to Vietnam to search for the remains of Americans.

Marc Henshaw has been the only civilian working in Southeast Asia teamed with the military and searching for the remains of Americans who served in the Vietnam War.

Henshaw, an instructor at California University of Pennsylvania, was the only archaeologist on the teams he worked with while searching for the remains of Americans in Vietnam and Laos.

“It’s a humbling experience to look at that landscape and think we were there fighting a war,” said Henshaw, who splits his time living in Brownsville and Allen Park, Michigan.

These days he’s been overseeing a dig at a site where the log Green Tree Tavern once stood along the National Road in Menallen Township.

Last week, he was accompanied there by some of his Cal U. students and members of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology-Mon Yough Chapter 3 looking for evidence indicating what happened to the tavern and where it stood.

“Route 40 was a busy place in the 1840s,” Henshaw said.

So far, they’ve found a Spanish coin and stone evidence of a possible location of a fireplace and foundation.

Abel Colley operated the tavern before he built another across the street, using bricks. The log building apparently fell into disrepair and possibly was destroyed by a fire.

While in Southeast Asia, Henshaw worked for the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, first undergoing training for the missions in Hawaii.

“What I did over there was looked for downed pilots, KIA and POWs who died in captivity,” he said.

Henshaw said the soil in Vietnam and Laos is highly acidic, conditions that caused bones to disintegrate over five decades. They have found teeth, personal effects and one unconfirmed pilot.

The agency did not permit the team members to take photographs of sites where digs were carried out, and it can take months or years to confirm identities through DNA testing. Henshaw said the items his teams have found have not yet been linked to a member of the U.S. military.

He was in Vietnam earlier this year and has been to Laos twice. He said Laos is definitely the least explored in the region by Westerners.

“It has beautiful landscapes. It’s really amazing.”

Henshaw is filling in this term at Cal U. for John Nass, who retired this year.

He said Vietnam is supportive of these digs and carries out its own such missions.

“They learn from us. It’s a give-and-take.”

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $4.79/week.

Subscribe Today