Courtesy photo U.S. Ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu Joseph Cella stands by wreckage of the United States B-25G-5 Coral Princess on the island of Nauru in January.

CARNEY — Above Nauru, an island 6,986 miles away from the Upper Peninsula, Staff Sgt. Benedict Jasper of Carney was shot down with his crew on June 29, 1944, during World War II. He was a tail gunner on the B-25G-5 bomber Coral Princess. It was the only plane shot down on Nauru during that time.

Seventy-five years later, U.S. Ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu Joseph Cella hiked to the wreckage of the Coral Princess while on his accreditation tour of Nauru. He took photos of the wreckage and the Japanese gun that shot the plane down while on that hike.

After visiting the site, Ambassador Cella researched the wreckage and found the young 22-year-old tail gunner, Jasper, was part of the crew that went down. Ambassador Cella, originally from Michigan, decided to reach out to the Jasper family to share family stories along with Nauru President Lionel Aingimea. Ambassador Cella found Jasper was originally from the Jasper Sugar Bush in Carney, still in operation. He got the family’s phone number off the website and ended up leaving a message on the answering machine, where Jasper’s great-niece Stefanie Klee now lives.

“I had to listen to the message several times to put together what he was saying,” said Klee.

She then did a little researching herself, of the Ambassador.

“I wasn’t sure it was real,” said Klee. “I was a bit skeptical about why he would be calling. We have never had anyone contact us regarding Uncle Benedict’s death, it seemed strange.”

Klee called the number Ambassador Cella left on the answering machine, after finding everything she looked at pointed to the information being accurate.

“The purpose of his first call was to explain who he was and why he visited the site. He shared his experience visiting the crash site and he sent pictures from his visit,” said Klee.

Ambassador Cella shared photos and a video of the crash site with Klee during his time there. He visited the crash site Jan. 29, after presenting his credentials to President Aingimea starting his service in Nauru. On the video the Ambassador honored the crew members of the plane.

On June 29, 1944, the plane took off from Makin Island at 8:15 a.m. on a bombing mission, second position in the formation. According to information provided by Ambassador Cella, the formation was targeted by 127mm anti-aircraft guns that opened fire with a heavy barrage. Just before releasing a bomb, the Coral Princess sustained a direct hit in the bomb bay that caused the bomber to leave formation before exploding into two pieces. It was presumed the crew died on impact or in the explosion. The wreckage crashed into Nauru, with several secondary explosions observed.

“We now live in the home Uncle Benedict grew up in. He would have taken it over had he not died in the war,” said Klee. “My grandfather Anthony Jasper, the youngest sibling, took over the homestead and sugar bush after their parents Henry and Josephine died.”

The Jasper family has had a few Zoom conferences with Ambassador Cella and President Aingimea. During one, President Aingimea spoke of his father’s experiences and how the Japanese would take people from their island and scatter them to other islands hoping they would not fight as fiercely because they were not on their homeland.

His father found the direction to Nauru and swam back from where the Japanese left him. When the Japanese soldiers found President Aingimea’s father they did not believe he swam the distance back to Nauru and tortured him.

Ambassador Cella resides at the U.S. Embassy in Suva, Fiji, and is proud to celebrate over 70 years of peace in the Pacific Islands later this year. “God’s will first” is Nauru’s motto. “One nation under God” is America’s motto. Ambassador Cella says God ties the two countries together.

Staff sergeant Benedict Jasper is a war hero who died 6,986 miles from his sugar bush in Carney. He did not make it back home to continue the family business, but he should know it’s in good hands.