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Airmen swept to sea by typhoon identified

ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AP) — Robins Air Force Base in Georgia has identified the dead and missing airmen who were swept out to sea by high waves from a typhoon near Okinawa, Japan.

Base officials said in a statement Monday that the body of Senior Master Sgt. James Swartz has been recovered, but Master Sgt. Daniel Paschal and Staff Sgt. Joshua Schoenhoff are still missing. Base officials say Swartz was an aerospace propulsion superintendent with the 116th Air Control Wing of the Georgia Air National Guard.

Base officials have said the airmen were on temporary duty at Kadena Air Base in Japan, and were visiting the coast when waves carried them into the ocean.

Okinawa is home to about half of the roughly 50,000 American troops stationed in Japan.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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