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Perry Searches Pacific For U.S. Servicemen

AUSTIN (AP) - Gov. Rick Perry and wife Anita Perry have traveled to a remote South Pacific archipelago to search for U.S. servicemen missing from World War II battles.

The Perrys traveled to the island of Peleliu in the Republic of Palau, where he and other volunteer searchers will search for about 80 U.S. airmen missing after being shot down by Japanese forces in 1944 and '45.

Peleliu was the site of a bloody Marine Corps landing and two-month battle on the Japanese-held island that left about 6,500 U.S. Marines and 3,200 U.S. soldiers dead, injured or missing. About 11,000 Japanese troops died and only 202 were taken prisoner.

The Perrys are scheduled to be in Palau through April 17.

(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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