powmia

Hanoi, North Vietnam....American servicemen, former prisoners of war, are cheering as their aircraft takes off from an airfield near Hanoi as part of Operation Homecoming., 02/1973. Creating Org: Department of Defense. U.S. Marine Corps. Natl. Archive Photo.

WW II - Gaunt allied prisoners of war at Aomori camp near Yokohama cheer rescuers from U.S. Navy. Waving flags of the United States, Great Britain and Holland. Japan, August 29, 1945. Natl. Archive Photo. Full View

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OAK HARBOR, Wash. (Sept. 18, 2009) The color guard parades the colors during the Prisoners of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) Recognition Day ceremony held at the POW/MIA Sentinel Memorial onboard NAS Whidbey Island Seaplane Base. National POW/MIA Recognition Day honors the courage of those who were held as prisoners of war in foreign conflicts and to ensure those that remain missing in action are never forgotten. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tucker M. Yates/Released)

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (Sept. 18, 2009) Participants in Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton's 19th annual Service of Remembrance for American Prisoners of War and Missing in Action salute the eight Hospital Corpsmen still missing in action from the Vietnam War. The ceremony is part of National POW/MIA Recognition Day. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Anastasia Puscian/Released)

12/16/2008 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office officials here announced Dec. 15 that the group remains of six U.S. servicemen, missing from the Vietnam War, are soon to be buried with full military honors. The Air Force servicemembers are Maj. Bernard L. Bucher, of Eureka, Ill.; Maj. John L. McElroy, of Eminence, Ky.; 1st Lt. Stephen C. Moreland, of Los Angeles; and Staff Sgt. Frank M. Hepler, of Glenside, Pa.

These men will be buried as a group Dec. 18 in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. Two other servicemen, who were individually identified in October 2007, are also represented in this group. They are Army Capt. Warren R. Orr Jr. of Kewanee, Ill., and Airman 1st Class George W. Long of Medicine, Kan. Representatives from the Air Force and the Army mortuary offices met with the next-of-kin of these men to explain the recovery and identification process and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the secretaries of the Air Force and Army.

On May 12, 1968, these men were on board a C-130 Hercules evacuating Vietnamese citizens from the Kham Duc Special Forces Camp near Da Nang, South Vietnam. While taking off, the crew reported taking heavy enemy ground fire. A forward air controller flying in the area reported seeing the plane explode in midair soon after leaving the runway. In 1986 and 1991, U.S. officials received remains and identification tags from sources claiming they belonged to men from this incident. Scientific analysis revealed they were not American remains, but it was believed the Vietnamese sources knew where the crash site was located.

In 1993, a joint/U.S.-Socialist Republic of Vietnam team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, traveled to Kham Duc and interviewed four local citizens concerning the incident. They led the team to the crash site and turned over remains and identification tags they had recovered in 1983 while looking for scrap metal. During this visit, the team recovered human remains and aircraft wreckage at the site. In 1994, another joint team excavated the crash site and recovered remains, pieces of life-support equipment, crew-related gear and personal effects.

JPAC scientists used forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence in the identification of the remains. For additional information on the DOD's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at www.dtic.mil/dpmo/ or call 703-699-1169. (Courtesy of DOD News)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

He is Cpl. Steven Lucas, U.S. Army, of Johnson City, N.Y. He will be buried July 11 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. Representatives from the Army met with Lucas’ next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process, and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.

In late November 1950, Lucas was assigned to the Heavy Mortar Company, 31st Infantry Regiment making up part of the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), then engaging enemy forces east of the Chosin Reservoir near Kaljon-ri, South Hamgyong Province, North Korea. On Nov. 29, remnants of the RCT began a fighting withdrawal to more defensible positions near Hagaru-ri, south of the reservoir. Lucas never made it to the lines at Hagaru-ri and was last seen on Nov. 30.

Dr. Tom Holland, right, scientific director of the Central Identification Laboratory, explains how human remains of fallen warriors are found to Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright, center, and his wife Sandee, during the general's visit to the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, April 21, 2008. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Adam M. Stump...

Maj. Phil Heseltine participates in the funeral for Maj. Robert F. Woods April 9 at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Earlier that day, Major Heseltine presented the prisoner of war/missing in action bracelet to the family of Major Woods, whose name is on the bracelet that Major Heseltine wore for 18 years. Major Heseltine is the executive officer for the Air Force Expeditionary Center commander at Fort Dix, N.J. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol)

Family members of former missing in action Airman, Maj. Robert F. Woods, watch as the caisson carrying him is prepared to move to a grave site April 9 at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. On Nov. 30, 2007, the Air Force announced that Major Woods, along with co-pilot Capt. Johnnie C. Cornelius, were identified and their remains returned to the United States from Vietnam. On June 26, 1968, Major Woods and Captain Cornelius were flying a visual reconaissance mission over Quang Binh Province, Vietnam, when their O-2A Skymaster aircraft crashed in a remote mountainous area. Major Woods was buried with military honors nearly 40 years after he disappeared in the crash. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol)

Members of the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard carry the casket of Maj. Perry Jefferson into the Old Chapel on Fort Myer, Va., April 3. Major Jefferson was returned 39 years after he went missing in action in Vietnam. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Mike R. Smith)

POW/MIA RECOGNITION DAY - U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Donna L. Crisp speaks at the annual POW/MIA Recognition Day Ceremony at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 9, 2008. Crisp is commander of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command Pacific. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class John Wallace Ciccarelli Jr.

U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
News Release - IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 10, 2008 - The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. Army Air Forces airman, missing since 1942, have been identified and will soon be returned to his family for burial. He is Aviation Cadet Ernest G. Munn, U.S. Army Air Forces, of St. Clairsville, Ohio. He will be buried in May in Colerain, Ohio. Representatives from the Army met with Munn’s next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process, and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army. Munn was one of four men aboard a routine navigation training flight that departed Mather Field, Calif., on Nov. 18, 1942. Their AT-7 Navigator aircraft carried about five hours of fuel, and when the plane did not return to base, a search was initiated. It was suspended about a month later with no results.

In 1947, several hikers on Darwin Glacier in the Sierra Nevada mountain range discovered the wreckage of the AT-7 aircraft. Fragmentary, skeletal remains found at the site were buried as a group in the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, Calif. Then in October 2005, other hikers in the Sierra Nevadas discovered frozen human remains, circumstantial evidence and personal effects of an aircrew member. Park rangers from Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and a forensic anthropologist from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) recovered the remains. They were sent to the JPAC laboratory in Hawaii and identified as Cadet Leo M. Mustonen, one of the four men aboard the AT-7 aircraft.

In 2007, two other hikers found human remains near the 2005 discovery site. Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA in the identification of a second individual from the 1942 crew, Cadet Ernest G. Munn. For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.

U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release
IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 527-06 June 8, 2006

The Defense POW/Missing Personnel (DPMO) announced today that three servicemen missing in action from World War II have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors. The three are 2nd Lt. Robert H. Cameron of Elkhart, Ind.; Cpl. George E. Cunningham of Rich Hill, N.Y., all U.S. Army Air Forces; and Capt. Vladimir M. Sasko, Chicago, U.S. Army Medical Corps. Cameron will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C., on Friday. Sasko was buried in December in Chicago, and final arrangements for Cunningham have yet to be confirmed.

On Dec. 10, 1944, a C-47 crewed by Cameron and Cunningham took off from Dobudura, New Guinea, on a cargo flight to Hollandia with three passengers aboard, including Sasko. Forty minutes into the flight the crew radioed a request for weather information. Another pilot in the area replied that the weather was bad, saying he was headed out to sea to avoid it. After that, there was no further contact with the Cameron crew. Search teams in the area from the Royal Australian Air Force were unsuccessful in finding the crash site.

In 1979 and 1980, search and recovery teams from the U.S. Army’s Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (CILHI) found the site and recovered remains subsequently identified by CILHI scientists as those of 2nd Lt. Stanley D. Campbell of Pioche, Nev., and Cpl. Carl A. Drain, hometown unknown. In October and November 2004 a team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) – CILHI’s successor organization – excavated the site in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea, where they recovered human remains and personal effects of the remaining airmen.

JPAC scientists and Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory specialists used mitochondrial DNA as one of the forensic tools to help identify the remains. Laboratory analysis of dental remains also confirmed their identification. For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO website and http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.

09/22/2003: VA Seeks Former POWs for Possible Benefit Awards
WASHINGTON, Sept. 22, 2003 -- The Department of Veterans Affairs wants former prisoners of war who aren't using VA benefits to contact the department to find out if they may be eligible for disability compensation and other services. More than 23,000...

09/22/2003: Airman Shows Support for POWs/MIAs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey, Sept. 22, 2003 -- Staff Sgt. John Gibson, 728th Air Mobility Squadron maintenance training manager, has spent hundreds of dollars throughout the years on bracelets. He wears them proudly, not because of their ornamentation or craftsmanship, but...

Veterans News Hour Daily - Supports all demands for a complete accounting of all military personnel listed as missing in action. Access - The National Alliance of Families as they provide information including WW II, Korea, Cold War, and Vietnam. http://www.nationalalliance.org/home1.htm

On a personal note I am still actively pursuing the fates of Jerry Mack Wall and Bill Moore, two of my crewmembers shot down over Vietnam, May, 1966. Gary Thomas Founder of Veterans News Hour Daily.

For more information go to the Vietnam Era POW-MIA Database; From the Library of Congress at; http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pow/powhome.html This site contains a search casualty area that is quite useful for re-searching names.

According to the legislation: "The select committee shall conduct a full investigation of all unresolved matters relating to any United States personnel unaccounted for from the Vietnam era, the Korean conflict, World War II, Cold War Missions, or Gulf War, including MIA's and POW's."

Each military branch has a Casualty office that maintains information on those veterans who are missing in action (MIA) and some information on those who were killed in action (KIA). Contact the respective service of the veteran.

Army: 1-800-892-2490 -- Navy: 1-800-443-9268
Marine: 1-800-847-1597 -- Air Force: 1-800-531-5501

To obtain additional information on those veterans killed in action (KIA), contact the National Personnel Record Center (Military Personnel Records) at: www.nara.gov/regional/mpr.html or
1-800-318-5298.......SOURCE: Korean War Commemoration

Air Force Sergeant MIA from Vietnam War is Identified The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

He is Tech. Sgt. Patrick L. Shannon of Owasso, Okla. Funeral arrangements are yet to be set by his family. Shannon and 18 other servicemen operated a radar installation atop Pha Thi Mountain in Houaphan Province, Laos, approximately 13 miles south of the border with North Vietnam. The site, known at Lima Site 85, directed U.S. bombing missions toward key targets in North Vietnam. Click on link below to read the full story. 12/08/2005 Air Force Sergeant MIA from Vietnam War is Identified

US Team to Finish Long Dig for Remains in NK
The Korea Times
Friday, May 21, 2004
By Yoo Dong-ho, Staff Reporter

KOREA - A group of U.S. officials will visit South Korea next Wednesday after wrapping up their 52 days of operation in North Korea to unearth the remains of U.S. soldiers missing or killed during the 1950-53 Korean War, U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) officials said on Friday.
The 13-member U.S. team of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) has been engaged in operations to excavate the remains of U.S. soldiers killed on two of the war's major battlefields for U.S. forces _ Unsan, North Pyongan Province, and Changjin, Hamgyong Province.

A total of 22 sets of remains _ 20 from around Changjin and two from Unsan _ have been excavated. This is the biggest number of remains that have been unearthed since the U.S. and North Korea started jointly conducting excavation efforts in 1996.
About 8,100 U.S. servicemen from the Korean War are yet to be accounted for.
The JPAC, which consisted of 13 U.S. members and 13 North Korean officials, has conducted remains recovery operations in North Korea since April 5.

The USFK said it will hold a ceremonial funeral service at Knight Field in Yongsan Garrison next Thursday with the participation of South Korean war veterans associated with the Korea Veterans Association and the Korea Retired Generals and Admirals Association.
The remains will then be flown to the U.S. Army identification laboratory in Hawaii, according to the USFK.

Between 1990 and 1994, North Korea independently excavated and returned more than 200 sets of remains to the United States. However, due to co-mingling of the remains and other complicating factors, very few have been identified.
Some 180 sets of remains had been recovered by the end of last year but fewer than a dozen have been positively identified.
The team will conduct four more searches up until November this year.

U.S. and North Korean negotiators agreed Wednesday to improve markedly several areas of cooperation in operations to recover the remains of American soldiers missing in action from the Korean War.

During talks in Bangkok, Thailand, both sides agreed to resume repatriating remains recovered during joint recovery operations in North Korea across the demilitarized zone at Panmunjom. This practice has not occurred since 1999. U.S. team members will accompany the remains into South Korea. Additionally, supplies and equipment for the 2004 operations will be moved by ground transportation across the DMZ.

“I am encouraged by the level of cooperation the North Koreans demonstrated during these talks,” said Jerry D. Jennings, deputy assistant secretary of defense for POW/missing personnel affairs. “We accomplished much at no additional cost to the U.S. government, and these new procedures will streamline the process of getting our teams in and out of North Korea, and bringing our fallen heroes back home to their families.”

Jennings led Wednesday’s talks, as well as those in November, where broad terms were set for five recovery operations and a period of unilateral and joint investigations prior to the excavations. The five operations will be centered in the areas of Unsan County, about 60 miles north of Pyongyang, and near the Chosin Reservoir in the northeast part of North Korea.

For the first time, the North Korean side also agreed to present to their senior leaders a proposal to establish a single point of contact to resolve reports of Americans living in North Korea. In the past, the North Koreans refused to even broach the subject denying that any Americans missing from the Korean War are still alive in the North. “This doesn’t resolve the live sighting issue in North Korea, but at least this time they agreed to discuss it and consider our request,” said Jennings.

Since the United States has conducted remains recovery operations in North Korea every year since 1996, more than 180 sets of remains believed to be those of American soldiers have been recovered. More than 8,100 are still missing in action from the Korean War.

United States Department of Defense -- News Release
(Two Servicemen Missing in Action in Vietnam Identified)

Dec. 19, 2003 -- Two airmen missing in action from the Vietnam War have been identified and returned to their families for burial. They are Maj. Richard W. Cooper, Jr., of Salisbury, Md.; and Chief Master Sgt. Charlie S. Poole, of Gibsland, La.

On December 19, 1972, Cooper and Poole were crewmembers aboard a B-52D Stratofortress bomber participating in the Linebacker II bombing of Hanoi, North Vietnam. Cooper was the navigator and Poole was the aerial gunner. At the completion of their bombing run, their bomber was struck by an enemy surface-to-air missile and crashed about six miles southwest of Hanoi. No other aircraft on the mission were able to establish emergency radio contact with the crew, and no parachutes were sighted. There was no search and rescue attempt mounted due to enemy control of the area.

It was subsequently learned that four of the crew had been captured and were being held as prisoners of war. Upon their release in 1973, they reported that Cooper had been unable to eject from the aircraft. Each of the surviving crewmen reported having seen only three other parachutes, thus accounting for all four survivors.

In 1993 and 1994, U.S. investigators of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command found photographs, records and artifacts in a Vietnamese military museum that correlated to the crashed B-52. Later in 1994, another U.S. team interviewed Vietnamese informants, visited a purported crash site, and determined that it was most likely the site of the B-52 loss. In the fall of 1995, a joint U.S.-Vietnamese team excavated the site where they found B-52 wreckage, crew-related items, personal effects and human remains. The crash site was so large that a second excavation was conducted in early 1996 when additional remains and personal effects were discovered.

Anthropological analysis of the remains by the Central Identification Laboratory, as well as mitochondrial DNA matches, confirmed the identification of these two men. Of the more than 88,000 Americans missing in action from all conflicts, more than 1,800 are from the Vietnam War.

Remains believed to be those of eight American soldiers missing in action from the Korean War were recovered by two teams of U.S. specialists and repatriated to U.S. control in ceremonies at Yokota Air Base Japan Oct. 28.

The joint remains recovery work is the result of July negotiations with North Korea led by the Defense Department’s POW/Missing Personnel Office. The negotiated terms enabled U.S. specialists to recover these eight remains between Aug. 23 and Oct. 28. A joint forensic review confirmed these remains likely to be those of U.S. soldiers.

A joint team operating near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea recovered seven sets of remains believed to be those of U.S. Army soldiers from the 7th Infantry Division who fought against Chinese forces from November-December 1950. Approximately 1,000 Americans are estimated to have been lost in battles of the Chosin campaign.

Additionally, a second team recovered one set of remains in Unsan County, about 60 miles north of Pyongyang. This area was the site of battles between communist forces and the U.S. Army’s 1st Cavalry and 25th Infantry Divisions in November 1950.

The 28-person U.S. contingent was composed primarily of specialists from the Army’s Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii.

Since 1996, 27 individual joint operations have been conducted in North Korea, during which 186 sets of remains believed to be those of U.S. soldiers have been recovered. Of the 88,000 U.S. servicemembers missing in action from all conflicts, more than 8,100 are from the Korean War. For additional information about POW/MIA recoveries, visit http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo .

10/24/2003 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- The four nations involved in accounting for Americans missing in action from the Vietnam War ended a meeting in Bangkok on Oct. 24.

The senior-level talks were held by officials from the United States, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. They exchanged ideas, experiences and techniques that have been productive in accounting for missing Americans, and set a vision for future work in this area.

The meeting represented the first time all four nations have joined together in such talks since the war ended in 1975. U.S. officials work with each of the countries individually as specialists investigate MIA cases and excavate sites to try to recover and identify the remains of missing Americans.

Since the war ended, U.S. officials have accounted for more than 700 Americans from the Vietnam War, with more than 1,800 still unaccounted for. More than 88,000 are still missing from all conflicts.

The United States will continue its bilateral relationships in this work, said Jerry Jennings, deputy assistant secretary of defense for POW/Missing personnel affairs. He expressed his appreciation to the delegation, on behalf of American families, for their country’s cooperation in the past. Each year, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam host more than 700 American specialists who review archives or conduct investigations and recovery operations.

At the end of the two-day session, the delegates said they agreed that such talks were a useful forum for improving joint cooperation on this humanitarian mission. They also agreed to hold such consultations annually and to rotate where the venues are held. This forum would be known as the Annual POW/MIA Consultations.

The delegates expressed hope that sharing POW/MIA-related information among the four nations could be useful as they seek to investigate cases through archival research and cross-border interviews. They also said the exchange of information should be continued.

The remains of four servicemen missing in action from the Vietnam War have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

They are U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Jack C. Rittichier, Barberton, Ohio; U.S. Air Force Capt. Richard C. Yeend, Jr., Mobile, Ala.; U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Elmer L. Holden, Oklahoma City and U.S. Air Force Sgt. James D. Locker, Sidney, Ohio. Rittichier, on a pilot exchange program with the U.S. Air Force, was the only Coast Guardsman missing in action from the Vietnam War.

On June 9, 1968, Rittichier and Yeend were pilot and co-pilot, respectively, of an HH-3E Jolly Green Giant rescue helicopter that departed Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam, on a search and rescue mission for a downed U.S. pilot. At the rescue site, Rittichier reported his aircraft had been struck by enemy fire. Before he could safely land, his aircraft stalled and exploded in a massive fireball. There were no survivors.

From 1989 through 1992, U.S. officials received information about the crash site from various Southeast Asian sources, including refugees seeking resettlement in the U.S. The reports suggested that some of the individuals may have seen or had access to materials collected from the crash site. Throughout the 1990s joint U.S.-Vietnamese teams led by the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting investigated the crash at many locations in Vietnam, all with negative results.

But in May 2002 a joint team operating in Laos received information about the crash of a large helicopter at a site near Ban Kaboui, Laos, about 15 kilometers from the reported wartime loss location. In late 2002, another team surveyed the suspected site and uncovered wreckage and crew-related items that correlated to a Jolly Green Giant helicopter. Then in January and February 2003, the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI), conducted an excavation where human remains were recovered and later identified by CILHI as those of the crew.

Approximately 1,800 Americans are unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War, with 88,000 missing from all conflicts. Achieving the fullest possible accounting of Americans missing in action is a top national priority. For more details visit http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/

WASHINGTON, Sept. 16, 2003 -- The remains of nine U.S. Navy crewmembers, missing in action from the Vietnam War, were laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery in June. That final action brought closure to their status 35 years after their plane's disappearance over Laos.

"If we send men and women into harm's way, we have an obligation to do everything in our power to account for them," Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Affairs Jerry D. Jennings said here Sept. 15. "That means if they're POWs, to rescue and return them; if they've died in combat and are missing, to locate and return their remains with honor -- return them to their family and loved ones."

More than 600 U.S. specialists work every day around the world to locate and identify the more than 88,000 Americans still missing from World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, the Vietnam War and the 1991 Gulf War. The remains of more than 700 Americans who were missing as a result of the Vietnam War have been identified.

Sept. 19 is National POW/MIA Recognition Day, a time that should be in the forefront of everyone's minds, said Jennings. "It's the one day of the year when we honor those who fought and died or who are missing, those that may still be POWs, and those we have yet to recover from around the world (from) all wars since World War II," he added.

The work of Jennings' office, however, continues year-round. There are teams in North Korea, Russia, Vietnam, China, Papua New Guinea and Cambodia. "Cambodia is extremely cooperative. We have a free hand to look anywhere in that country we want to for remains," said the former Marine who served as an intelligence officer with the CIA in Southeast Asia from 1965 to 1968. "We have people conducting recovery operations in North Korea. We don't take a high profile, but we're there."

Jennings said his office receives thousands of leads. "If someone thinks they've spotted an American in North Korea, Vietnam or Cambodia, we follow up until we can say, 'No, it was not an American,'" he said. "We believe there is a possibility that POWs have survived in these wars (Korea and Vietnam) and could be held against their will," he added. "As long as we continue to get leads, we'll continue to follow up."

Jennings also is a commissioner on the U.S.-Russian Joint Commission on POW/MIAs, which seeks to clarify the fates of American and Russian service members from conflicts since World War II. Earlier this month, Jennings passed documents to the Russians that clarified the fates of 202 Soviet servicemen from the Korean War. American researchers working in Russian and American archives had located the information, according to a Department of Defense news release.

Every month, staff from the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office set up shop in a major U.S. city. Families who have missing loved ones are invited for updates on what "their government is doing to work their cases," said Jennings. Jennings said the people who work in his office are there because they want to be. "It's a mission of the heart," he added. "It's a mission where there's a lot of emotion involved. Few people could survive working this mission unless they really believed in it."

The 2003 POW/MIA Recognition Day poster reflects on the past as well as the present, noted Jennings at the unveiling of the poster June 26. The somber, black POW/MIA flag -- a national symbol -- is a firm reminder of those still missing and of their families who have waited decades for answers, Jennings said. The words "You are not forgotten" on the bottom of the flag remind us of their sacrifice for our freedom, he added.

The rippling red, white and blue banner, so clear and so proud through the smoke of battle, said Jennings, leads American warriors forward toward "freedom" for oppressed peoples, who know the word only because it means "America."

"Freedom" lies in the hearts of the people of the entire nation, he added. "It lies in the ideas so richly American, and it rests on the shoulders of those who we honor on this special day."

Two search-and-recovery teams from the U.S. Army's Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii will be in Europe this week to search for the remains of American aviators lost during World War II, and another team will investigate sites in Belgium and Albania.

In Germany, a team will investigate sites in Elsnig and Westergeln. Another team will examine sites in Retie, Belgium, and Shepr, Albania. The teams are composed of experts including forensic anthropologists, mortuary affairs specialists, medics and explosive ordnance Soldiers. The laboratory’s mission is to search for, recover and identify personnel unaccounted for from past wars. MORE

WASHINGTON, July 15, 2003 – President Bush has proposed legislation to Congress that would improve benefits for former prisoners of war, responding to the needs of Operation Iraqi Freedom POWs. "What we're proposing is to eliminate the current requirement in federal law that a former POW must be detained for at least 30 days in order to qualify for full POW benefits," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi.

For its disability compensation program, the Department of Veterans Affairs currently presumes that certain medical conditions in former POWs held at least 30 days are related to their captivity. This allows veterans to obtain financial benefits without providing evidence directly linking a medical problem to captivity. "That may have made sense years ago for some conditions linked to nutritional deficiencies, but even a few days enduring terror at the hands of enemy captors may lead to other conditions," Principi said.

The VA proposal also would improve dental care eligibility and exempt former POWs from current co-payments for medications for non-service-connected conditions. Currently, some ex-POWs may be charged $7 for drugs that treat conditions unrelated to their service. The current presumptions in law recognize that military medical records do not cover periods of captivity, which make it difficult for a veteran to provide evidence of the conditions endured. VA pays tax-free disability compensation ranging from $104 to $2,193 monthly, depending on the degree of disability, with additional sums for dependents.

"Studies have shown that the physical hardships and psychological stress endured by POWs have life-long effects on health and on social and vocational adjustment," Principi said. Because benefits have changed over the years, VA took steps earlier this year to ensure that all former POWs are aware of benefits to which they are entitled. VA's outreach included mailing benefits information to more than 10,000 former POWs currently receiving compensation as well, as another 4,700 known ex-POWs not on its rolls.

Early feedback indicates that VA is receiving hundreds of claims from POWs for new benefits or for higher disability ratings. VA is taking special efforts to process the claims of older veterans quickly, including those of former U.S. POWs who served in World War II. The average age for this group is 82.

VA maintains a Web site with detailed information on its benefits for former prisoners of war at http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/Benefits/POW/. (Based on a VA news release.)

General Says Family Members Keep Search for Missing Servicemen Alive
By Rudi Williams American Forces Press Service

ARLINGTON, Va., July 11, 2003 - Families of service members still missing from the Vietnam War are "the essence of America's strength," according to the general in charge of finding those missing troops.

View larger image........Air Force Brig. Gen. Steven J. Redmann chats with JoAnn Shaw after speaking to her and other members of the National League of Families during the league's 34th annual conclave. Photo by Rudi Williams. .........2003qqq.jpg (62357 bytes)

"Without your determination, we wouldn't be here today," Air Force Brig. Gen. Steven J. Redmann told members of the National League of Families, an organization for family members of those still missing, during the group's recently completed annual conclave here. The group is dedicated to bringing every service member home.

Redmann is commander of Joint Task Force Full Accounting, the Hawaii-based organization responsible for searching for and identifying remains of missing service members. He told the family members that without their dedication "many Americans would still be missing and unaccounted for from our nation's past conflicts.

The National League of Families has been the voice of America for finding the missing from the Vietnam War and, subsequently, all of our nation's past conflicts." Continued

ARLINGTON, Va., June 27, 2003 – The quest to account for missing servicemen from the Vietnam, Korean and Cold War and World War II – "is unwavering, untiring and will not fail!" Jerry D. Jennings told the audience during the 34th annual National League of Families conclave here June 27.

The global war against terrorism, including Afghanistan and Iraq, will not diminish the nation's efforts to account for the missing from past conflicts, said Jennings, deputy assistant secretary of defense for prisoner of war and missing personnel affairs and director of the Defense POW/MIA Office.

He went on to say that missing service members will not be forsaken in order to take care of those in harm's way today. To emphasize his comments, Jennings said, in May 2001, President Bush spoke of "a special group of veterans: Americans still missing and unaccounted for from Vietnam, Korea, the Cold War and World War II. They deserve and will have our best efforts to achieve the fullest possible accounting and, alive or dead, to return them home to America."

Moreover, he quoted Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who echoed the president's commitment in January: The brave men and women who serve in the war on terror "can do so with the full confidence that if they are captured, become missing or fall in battle, this nation will spare no effort to bring them home. That's our solemn pledge. However long it takes, whatever it takes, whatever the cost." "Our mission of the fullest possible accounting has not and will not be diminished by combat operations around the world," Jennings noted.

View larger image......."Our mission of the fullest possible accounting has not and will not be diminished by combat operations around the world," Jerry D. Jennings told members of the National League of Families during its 34th annual conclave in Arlington, Va., June 26-28. Photo by Rudi Williams. .....200306277pow.jpg (77133 bytes)

He told the gathering of mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and other loved ones of missing servicemen that Congress has made clear its desire that the mission to account for the missing will not be cut. "In fact," he said, "much of our field work and resources have actually increased because Congress supports our mission. And they've also specified that the manpower and the budget of our agency (DPMO) will not be touched."

DPMO has more than 600 men and women of different specialties working every day around the world to account for the more than 88,000 Americans who are missing from all conflicts, the secretary said.

Jennings then asked employees of his office to stand to be recognized, to audience applause. "Their talents and specialties are so varied – research, policy, analysis, personnel recovery, communications, security and so on," he noted.

He also recognized the lifelong dedication of Ann Mills Griffiths in moving the issue forward on behalf of POW and MIA families. Griffiths is the executive director of National League Families. Noting that the first-ever DoD-wide personnel accounting conference was held last January, Jennings said that included government briefings and presentations by Griffiths and several veterans organizations representing millions of members.

"In another new initiative, I've invited senior policy level representatives from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to attend POW/MIA consultations in Bangkok, Thailand, in October," Jennings told the audience. "We plan to discuss lessons learned from the past, craft strategies to advance the effort in Southeast Asia, and forge together a vision for the future." He foresees the countries exchanging ideas, fostering greater cooperation and ultimately contributing to achieving the answers to America's and families' questions about missing personnel.

Among other initiatives, DPMO is planning a veteran-to- veteran exchange in Southeast Asia. "American veterans organizations have already offered support for this initiative," he said. "We're appreciative of their willingness to join with us in what we believe will be a very productive initiative." U.S. efforts to press for greater cooperation continues beyond Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, into Russia and other countries, Jennings noted. For example, he said work with the Russian government to clarify cases of American missing personnel from the Vietnam War continues.

"Though we've not reached the point of dramatic breakthroughs, I'm encouraged by certain recent signals from Moscow indicating a more forthright approach to working with us than previously shown," Jennings said. For example, he said efforts are underway to allow declassification of some Russian military records from the Vietnam War era. "In recent months, the Russians have provided us with excerpts of classified materials that we're correlating with our own records relating to American loss incidents," Jennings said.

"Unfortunately, as long as nations have disagreements, there will be wars," he said. "We're not finished until the job is done to bring home every American warrior.'

ARLINGTON, Va., June 26, 2003 - POW/MIA Recognition Day isn't until Sept. 19, but, as with tradition, this year's poster was unveiled June 26 during a national organization's annual meeting, according to Jerry D. Jennings.

The unveiling took place during the convening here of the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia June 26-28.

View larger image......This year's POW/MIA Recognition Day poster was printed in 150,000 copies - 20,000 more than last year - because the 2002 edition was so successful. 200306265a.jpg (86572 bytes)

Jennings, deputy assistant secretary of defense for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs, is not only concerned about those missing from the Vietnam War. His organization searches the world for remains of missing Americans from all wars.

The dominant picture on this year's poster was taken in March of infantrymen fighting in the desert during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"American warriors of yesterday and today have never failed to answer their nation's call," Jennings told the audience. "Through selfless sacrifice, they've brought to the entire world a concept closely associated with American ideals - freedom!

"Freedom -- a word with so many meanings to so many people, yet a word that clearly means, 'This is America!' he said.

Pointing out that this year's poster reflects on the past and the present, Jennings said, "The somber, black POW/MIA flag - a national symbol that's internationally recognized -- is a firm reminder of those still missing and of their families who have waited decades for answers."

He said the words "You are not forgotten," which grace the POW/MIA flag, "reminds us of their sacrifice - for our freedom." Jennings said the rippling red, white and blue banner on the poster is clear and proud through the smoke of battle and leads American warriors forward. "Yes, we are at war," he said calmly.

"It leads the warriors forward toward freedom for oppressed peoples, toward freedom for those who know the word that means so much to the world," he said. "Freedom lies in the hearts of the people of an entire nation. It lies in the ideals that are so richly American. And it rests on the shoulders of those we honor on this special day and we'll honor again in September."

Noting that last year's poster was a huge success, Jennings said 20,000 more copies were printed this year, bringing the total to 150,000. The poster is being sent out to all DoD military units around the world, according to Larry Greer, public affairs officer for the POW/Missing Personnel Office. "It's also being sent to all veterans organizations' posts and chapters worldwide, all POW/MIA family organizations and to all Veterans Affairs hospitals and service centers," Greer noted.

He said the poster is on his organization's Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or by writing to DPMO, 2400 Defense Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 20301-2400. Jennings noted that there are more than 88,000 servicemen still unaccounted for from past conflicts. "Their families wait. Our work is not done," he emphasized.

"More than 140,000 Americans since World War I have endured the hardships of captivity as prisoners of war," Jennings said. "Their sacrifices - for freedom - must never be forgotten. This nation especially honors their names, their undying spirit and their memory on Sept. 19, 2003."

The nation will celebrate POW/MIA Recognition Day on that date, which is proclaimed by the president and most states. The league, which originated on the West Coast in the late 1960s, works to obtain the release of all prisoners, the fullest possible accounting for the missing and repatriation of all recoverable remains of those who died serving during the Vietnam War.

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The remains of nine U.S. Navy crew members, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified, and their remains are being returned to their families for burial.

The nine are identified as Cmdr. Delbert A. Olson, Casselton, N.D.; Lt.j.g.s Denis L. Anderson, Hope, Kan.; Arthur C. Buck, Sandusky, Ohio; and Philip P. Stevens, Twin Lake, Mich.; Petty Officers 2nd class Richard M. Mancini, Amsterdam, N.Y.; Michael L. Roberts, Purvis, Miss., Donald N. Thoresen and Kenneth H. Widon, Detroit and Petty Officer 3rd class Gale R. Siow, Huntington Park, Calif.

A group burial will be held at Arlington National Cemetery June 18, 2003.

The nine departed Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base Jan. 11, 1968, aboard a Navy OP-2E Neptune aircraft for a mission over Laos to drop sensors which detected enemy movements. During its last radio contact, the crew reported they were descending through dense clouds. When they did not return to their home base, a search was initiated but found no evidence of a crash. Two weeks later, an Air Force aircrew photographed what appeared to be the crash site, but enemy activity in the area prevented a recovery operation.

Between 1993 and 2002, six U.S.-Lao investigation teams led by the Joint Task Force Full Accounting interviewed villagers in the surrounding area, gathered aircraft debris and surveyed the purported crash site scattered on two ledges of Phou Louang Mountain in Khammouan Province. During a 1996 visit, team members also recovered identification cards for several crew members, as well as human remains.

Full-scale recovery missions by the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI) in both 2001 and 2002 yielded additional remains, as well as identification of other crew members. More than 1,900 Americans are missing in action from the Vietnam War, with another 86,000 MIA from the Cold War, the Korean War and World War II.

FREE — Seven Army former POWs greet the media this morning from the balcony of their hospital ward at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany. From left to right are: Chief Warrant Officer Ronald D. Young Jr., 26, of Lithia Springs, Ga., Pfc. Patrick Miller, 23, of Park City, Kan., Army Spc. Shoshana Johnson, 30, of El Paso, Tx., Sgt. James Riley, 31, of Pennsauken, N.J., Chief Warrant Officer David S. Williams, 30, of Orlando, Fla., Spc. Edgar Hernandez, 21, of Mission Tx. and Spc. Joseph Hudson, 23, of Alamogordo, N.M. Defense Dept. photo by Melvin Tarpley

HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
UPDATE: AMERICAN SERVICE MEMBERS FOUND

CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, April 13, 2003 -- Qatar – Earlier today members of the First Marine Expeditionary Force returned seven American service members to the coalition. They were found in the vicinity of Samarra, Iraq. Their identities are being withheld at this time pending notification of next of kin.

They were flown by helicopters to an airfield near An Numaniyah, south of Baghdad. They are being transferred by C-130 to Kuwait City International Airport and will receive medical evaluation at a theater medical treatment facility. Their conditions are unknown at this time. More information will be released as it becomes available.

04/04/03 - HOUSTON (AFPN) -- The day before five soldiers became prisoners of war in Operation Iraqi Freedom, a meeting for relatives of some still lost from past wars demonstrated the eternal promise that everyone comes home. A "Family Member Update" brought experts working on POW and MIA cases together to share information with more than 150 Texas families.

"I've forgotten how emotional these can be," said David Lewis, who was 10 years old April 7, 1965, when he found out his father, Col. James W. Lewis, would not be returning from a B-57 mission over Laos. "It stirs up a lot of stuff." "It helps talking to the other families," said Chris Cope, whose uncle, Capt. Troy "Gordy" Cope, is still unaccounted for after being shot down in his F-86 Sabre near Dandong, China, on Sept. 16, 1952. "I was a basket case at my first update."

While some experts pinpoint crash sites on computerized maps, others discuss the differences between mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA to identify remains. Still others speak on the dangers and difficulties of working in jungles and rice paddies, on rock cliffs and arctic tundra to find clues to the fates of missing loved ones. The last news Cope's family received came in 1995 when a businessman reported seeing his dog tags in a Chinese war museum. At the meeting, an intelligence analyst showed Chris the recently found Russian documents containing testimonies of the MiG pilot who downed "Gordy" and the people who found the wreckage. One account indicated that the pilot died in the crash.

Chris is relieved to hear the news, since it lessened the likelihood that his uncle suffered at a prison camp. "He probably wouldn't have made it that long at a camp anyway," he said. "Gordy weighed 137 pounds and was diabetic. We're still planning to go over to the museum (in China). We would like to at least get his dog tags." Today's open approach to families has not always been the case.

When his dad was shot down, David said, information was hard to come by and his family was not allowed to say that the plane went down in Laos. "Now the government is giving us information," he said. "It's 180 degrees different than ... the past." Lewis' crash site was verified in 1997 and possible human remains were located in January. "Since they've found remains, it's tough ... one of those mixed blessings," said Susan Powell, whose brother, Maj. Arthur Baker, was the navigator on Lewis' plane. "I'm having feelings that I should have had 38 years ago. It just goes on and on."

Working with family members on a daily basis can take an emotional toll, according to Capt. David Robinson, chief of the Air Force missing person's team. "We have to stay focused, and the families are our focus. To bring closure to a family makes our work gratifying." Tense faces hide decades of not knowing what happened to husbands, fathers, brothers and sons. Tears are common. The updates allow families to share experiences with others still enduring the same emotions.

The families "don't experience a typical pattern of grief," said Dr. Kaye Whitley, senior director for communications for the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office and original proponent of the updates. "Many of these family members are still in the first stage of the mourning process. They don't have closure and these events bring the feelings back as if it happened yesterday."

The update program was started in 1995 for the families of the more than 78,000 people still missing from World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Cold War. There are 18,000 family members registered with the service branch casualty offices -- the families' main point of contact with the government. The next of 10 regional updates held every year is scheduled for April 26 in Detroit. More information about the recovery efforts for missing personnel can be found at www.dtic.mil/dpmo.

U.S., CHINA AGREE TO ENHANCED COOPERATION ON POW/MIA MATTERS
United States Department of Defense -- News Release
March 29, 2003

A Department of Defense delegation has concluded a visit to China to discuss additional cooperation in resolving POW and MIA cases. Jerry D. Jennings, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for POW and Missing Personnel Affairs, led a team of specialists to China this week to explore opportunities with Chinese officials. During his five days in China, Jennings met with U.S. and Chinese officials to emphasize the commitment of the U.S. government to POW and MIA accounting.

He met in Beijing with officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense Foreign Affairs Office, and the Red Cross Society of China to discuss ways in which the Chinese government could be of assistance. "Chinese records may well hold the key to helping us resolve many of the cases of American POWs and MIAs from the Vietnam War, the Korean War and the Cold War," Jennings said."

"The government of China has been very cooperative in our investigations of World War II and Vietnam losses, and has on several occasions notified the U.S. government of China's discovery of some loss sites. Both sides suggested ways to enhance cooperation on Korean War cases and acknowledged that we have limited time to achieve this goal. Toward this end, both sides agreed to increase the frequency of contacts," Jennings added.

Last year, China hosted teams of U.S. specialists to investigate two WWII aircraft crash sites and one Cold War crash site. Follow-on investigations are to continue at these sites. During the delegation's meetings with Chinese officials, the team explored options for gaining information from Chinese archival materials at the national and provincial levels. These records may be helpful to analysts investigating American POWs and personnel who were lost during combat operations.

Mr. Jennings requested the assistance of Chinese civilian researchers who could conduct archival research on behalf of the U.S. government. Additionally, the U.S. visitors sought information from the Dandong Museum relating to two F-86 pilots who are missing in action from the Korean War.

U.S. officials also want to resume contact with Peoples' Liberation Army veterans from the Korean War in order to build upon information related to the Chinese operation of POW camps during the war.

Remains believed to be those of 11 American soldiers missing in action from the Korean War will be repatriated Tuesday in North Korea.

The remains will be flown aboard a U.S. Air Force aircraft from Pyongyang, North Korea, under escort of a uniformed U.S. honor guard, to Yokota Air Base, Japan, where a formal U.N. Command repatriation ceremony will be held.

A joint team operating near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea recovered remains believed to be those of U.S. Army soldiers from the 7th Infantry Division who fought against Chinese forces November-December 1950. The recovery teams were composed primarily of specialists from the Army's Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI).

A second CILHI team recovered remains in Unsan county, about 60 miles north of Pyongyang. The area was the site of battles between Communist forces and the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry and 25th Infantry Divisions in November 1950. Approximately 1,000 Americans are estimated to have been lost in battles of the Chosin campaign.

The Defense Department's Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office negotiated terms with the North Koreans in June, which led to the scheduling of three operations this year. This repatriation marks the last of this year's operations.

Twenty-five individual joint operations have been conducted since 1996 in North Korea, during which remains believed to be those of at least 178 U.S. soldiers have been recovered. Thirteen have been positively identified and returned to their families for burial with military honors. Of the 88,000 U.S. servicemembers missing in action from all conflicts, more than 8,100 are from the Korean War.

United States Department of Defense
News Release - October 22, 2002
REMAINS OF MIA FROM VIETNAM IDENTIFIED

The remains of Army Capt. Larry F. Lucas of Marmet, W.Va., a U.S. soldier previously unaccounted-for from the war in Vietnam, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with military honors.

Lucas and another crewman were flying a reconnaissance mission in their OV-1 Mohawk aircraft over Savannakhet Province, Laos, when they were hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire. As the crew of another OV-1 watched, the aircraft entered a steep dive, crashed and exploded. The other crewmember ejected from the aircraft before the crash and was rescued.

Other aircraft searched the area for a survivor, but with negative results. No parachute was seen and no radio transmissions were heard from Lucas.

Between January 1990 and September 1999, four joint U.S.-Lao on-site investigations were led by the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting. During two of these investigations, excavations recovered aircraft debris, pilot-related artifacts and human remains. Forensic scientists from the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii identified the remains. There are currently more than 1,900 Americans unaccounted-for from the war in Southeast Asia.

HICKAM AFB, Hawaii (Army News Service, Oct. 9, 2002) -- A 14-man search and recovery team out of the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory returned to Hawaii late last week with what is believed to be the remains of four American service members whose C-46 transport plane crashed in the Tibetan Himalayas of China in March 1944.

The aircraft was based at Sookerating, India, and was reported missing in flight enroute from Kunming, China, to its home base during World War II. It is believed the aircraft became lost, ran out of gas and crashed. The aircraft wreckage was located in a cliff face above a ravine. The search and recovery team was in China for two months excavating the crash site located at about 15,600 feet above sea level. (Ginger Couden is a public affairs specialist with the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii.) Full Story

10/07/02 - ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFPN) -- The "Hanoi Taxi," the Air Force's flying tribute to the Vietnam War's prisoners of war and missing in action, received a makeover and a hero's sendoff here before returning home Oct. 7. This C-141 Starlifter was the first aircraft to airlift American POWs to freedom from Gia Lam Airport in Hanoi, North Vietnam, on Feb. 12, 1973.

The 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, which owns the aircraft, asked Air Force Reserve Command headquarters officials for permission to repaint the aircraft in the 1970s white and gray paint scheme. AFRC officials approved and funded the work, which was done while the aircraft underwent programmed depot maintenance at the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center here.

Air Force Reserve Maj. Gen. Edward J. Mechenbier, one of the POWs repatriated aboard the Hanoi Taxi, flew the historic aircraft from Robins back to Wright-Patterson. "It was the most beautiful thing I had seen in six years," said Mechenbier, referring to the first time he saw the Hanoi Taxi. He is currently the mobilization assistant to the commander of Air Force Materiel Command,

Mechenbier, a command pilot with more than 3,500 flying hours, was assigned to Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam, and was on his 80th mission over North Vietnam when his F-4C Phantom II fighter was shot down in June 1967. He spent nearly six years as a POW before the Hanoi Taxi brought him home.

The Hanoi Taxi's name comes from the writing on the flight engineer's panel by the POWs aboard the plane for the freedom flight. Signatures of the freed prisoners have been preserved on the panel over the years and are the centerpiece of what is essentially a "flying museum." Plaques, documents and photographs of the homecoming are part of the on-board exhibit researched and created by the 445th AW. Etchings of the names of those who are missing in action were taken from the Vietnam Wall in Washington and are mounted on the plane.

"The Hanoi Taxi is a tribute to the men and women who serve in the Air Force," Mechenbier said. The general added that it is important for the American public to know about the airplane and what it means to the nation. The aircraft, which has been upgraded to a C-141C with improved avionics, is used to transport troops and cargo worldwide. It is one of four C-141s flown by the 445th AW that were involved in Operation Homecoming, the repatriation of American POWs in the Vietnam War.

All C-141s are scheduled to be retired from the Air Force inventory by 2006. (Courtesy of AFRC News Service)

PHOTO CREDIT: The "Hanoi Taxi," the Air Force's flying tribute to the Vietnam War's prisoners of war and missing in action, was recently repainted in the 1970s white and gray paint scheme. (Photo by Lt. Col. Philip Pierce) | High-res version of this photo

Click here for a larger image..........w020924repat-h.jpg (21293 bytes)

PYONGYANG, North Korea -- Members of a United Nations Command Joint Color Guard carry a casket containing remains of a U.S. service member from the Korean War. The remains of eight service members were flown to Yokota Air Base, near Tokyo for a repatriation ceremony Sept. 24.

A 28-person contingent from U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii, recovered the remains while deployed to North Korea. An arrival ceremony will be held on Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, Sept. 27, 9 a.m. (Reuters photo by Toshiyuki Aizawa) Access the: (CILHI Press Release)

A Department of Defense delegation has concluded a visit to Rangoon, Burma, where it laid the framework for operations to recover the remains of WWII American servicemen whose aircraft crashed in Burma while flying missions against the Japanese.

Jerry D. Jennings, deputy assistant secretary of defense for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs, met with senior Burmese officials in Rangoon this week to discuss U.S. recovery operations at four sites in Burma. The government of Burma pledged full support for these recovery missions.

Jennings invited Burmese officials to visit the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI) next month to meet with U.S. scientists who lead the field excavations and conduct forensic identification work in their laboratory. The visit is to familiarize Burmese specialists with U.S. remains recovery and identification procedures in order to facilitate operations in Burma.

CILHI has identified four crash sites of C-47 cargo aircraft that crashed in 1944 and 1945 in the northern part of Burma. Technical talks are to be held in Burma in November to arrange details on the excavation of the four sites in early 2003. During the talks, the U.S. team will seek to visit each site and survey them for subsequent excavation.

More than 78,000 Americans are missing in action from WWII. The Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office establishes and oversees U.S. policies on accounting for missing Americans from all conflicts.
DoD News Release

Airmen From Vietnam War Identified
06/04/02 WASHINGTON (AFPN) --
RELATED LINKS
http://www.cilhi.army.mil/

The remains of two U.S. Air Force servicemen killed in action during the Vietnam War have been identified and are being returned home to their families. They are Master Sgt. Thomas E. Heideman and Capt. Craig B. Schiele, both of Chicago.

On Oct. 24, 1970, Heideman and Schiele were crewmembers of a CH-3E helicopter as the lead of a two-ship formation on a mission to extract friendly forces from Laos. Shortly after takeoff, the helicopter crashed into nearby dense jungle. Some, but not all, crew and passengers were rescued. A rescue mission was continued the next morning, but there was no evidence of survivors.

On Dec. 14, 1994, a U.S.-Lao team, led by Joint Task Force-Full Accounting officials, conducted an investigation at the crash site in the Laotian province of Khammouan. Material from the recovered wreckage included aircraft debris and personal artifacts but no human remains.

In the spring of 1995, a second joint team excavated the crash site and recovered human remains and additional personal affects that were submitted to the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii. By compiling eyewitness accounts and other physical evidence such as personal artifacts and the human remains, the forensic scientists at laboratory identified the remains as those of Schiele and Heideman. A group burial with full military honors for these two servicemen will be conducted June 7 at Arlington National Cemetery.

VA Announces Membership of
POW Advisory Committee
April 17, 2002

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi today announced the membership of a 12-member panel that will advise him on issues affecting former prisoners of war.

"Many POWs have endured privations beyond description, even torture," said Principi. "The Department of Veterans Affairs must remain ever-attuned to their special needs. This advisory committee is an important element in honoring the nation's commitment to our POWs."

More than 45,000 former POWs are still alive. They are entitled to the full range of VA's medical care. About a third of living POWs receive VA disability compensation for health care problems related to their military service.

The advisory committee, formally named the Advisory Committee on Former Prisoners of War, has a charter that calls upon it to "assess the needs of former prisoners of war in the area of service-connected compensation, health and rehabilitation." It also will review VA programs and recommend administrative and legislative changes.

The committee will meet at least twice a year, although individual members or working groups may be called upon for specific consultations with VA officials. Each member will serve for up to three years. The committee will provide Principi with written reports.

The panel is headed by Thomas M. McNish of San Antonio, a physician and POW during the Vietnam War. To read the names of the other members Click Here

Department of Defense News Release: No. 058-01 Feb. 8, 2001
(China provides World War II U.S. Aircraft Crash Sites)
The following is a summary of DoD news release no.058-01 by VNHD

DoD announced it has received information from China about two U.S. World War II aircraft crashes in Tibet. The first may be that of a C-46, lost on March 27, 1944, with a crew of four aboard. Their names are among those listed as missing in action. The process of notifying relatives is underway so their names are being withheld. The crash site is in the Lang Gong Region of Tibet. The flight originated in Kunming, China in route to Scokarating, India. Information on the second aircraft is still under development by the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii.

President Clinton signed this legislation into law on Nov. 11; The act allows asylum for any foreign national of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, China, North Korea or any other of the former states of the Soviet Union, who personally delivers a living American POW/MIA from either the Vietnam War or Korean War to the United States. The act would also grant refugee status to any parent , spouse, or child of the foreign national who delivers the living American to the U.S. This legislation was introduced in the senate by Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Col.., and in the House by Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Col.

The Following is re-published from the
Library of Congress Web Site Federal Research Division

1. BACKGROUND: The Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Service, and the Department of State report the current numbers of Americans who are unaccounted for in Southeast Asia

AMERICANS UNACCOUNTED FOR IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
COMPONENT COUNTRY OF LOSS

2. U.S. GOVERNMENT EFFORTS: Since the fall of Saigon in 1975, the U.S. Government has acquired 21332 reports pertaining to Americans in Southeast Asia:

a. Of the 1908 firsthand reports received since 1975, 1832(98.48%) reports are resolved.

    -- 1309(68.61%) reports were equated to Americans who are accounted for (i.e., PW returnees, missionaries, civilians jailed at various times for violation of Vietnamese codes).
    -- 45(2.36%) reports were correlated to wartime sightings of military personnel or pre-1975 sighting of civilians who remain unaccounted for.
    -- 525(27.52%) reports were determined to be fabrications.

b. The remaining 29(1.52%) unresolved firsthand reports represent the focus of the U.S. Government's analytical and collection efforts:

-- 26(1.36%) pertain to Americans reported in a captive environment.
-- 3(0.16%) reported sightings of Americans in a non-captive environment (i.e. working as truck drivers; married with a Vietnamese family).

c. The following timeline presents an overview of unresolved firsthand sightings by the year of the sighting:

3. ACCOUNTING FOR U.S. PERSONNEL: The Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii, reports that since 1973, the U.S. has accounted for 518 Americans from Southeast Asia.

* 34 remains from the Official Died in Captivity Lists provided by the Vietnamese in 1973
** 2 ashes returned from China
*** 4 remains were recovered and turned over to the U.S. by indigenous personnel; 1 from North Vietnam and 3 from Laos. They are included in the country count.

KEY OBSERVATION ABOUT REPORTING: A Vietnamese Government misinformation program has been associated with recent reporting on missing Americans. Those reports all pertain to the alleged recovery of remains and identifying data (i.e., dog tags) by Vietnamese citizens.

a. Since mid-1982, 9745 “dog tag” reports on 8275 individuals reveal the following trends:

7719 (93.28%) of those names reported are individuals who returned to the U.S. alive

386 (4.66%) of the reports correspond to U.S. remains that have been recovered/identified and buried in the U.S.

b. In all instances, dog tag reports receive thorough investigative attention, to include informing the military services of those reports with valid names so next of kin can be advised as appropriate.

Camp Pendleton, California. Operation Homecoming--Wives of Marines stationed at Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, wait at the Naval Air Station, Miramar for repatriated Marine prisoners of war to arrive. During the Vietnamese conflict, 26 Marines were captured and held prisoners of war by the enemy. The first group was released at the Gia Lam International Airport near Hanoi, North Vietnam, on February 12, 1973. (NWDNS-127-N-A900089) Natl. Archive Photo.

Korea - At Panmunjom, Korea, POW's (recently repatriated in the UN POW exchange) are off-loaded from ambulances. Note the ones in the foreground walking towards tent. U.S. Air Force Photo. Full View

Vietnam - Hanoi, North Vietnam....American servicemen, former prisoners of war, are cheering as their aircraft takes off from an airfield near Hanoi as part of Operation Homecoming., 02/1973. Creating Org: Department of Defense. U.S. Marine Corps. Natl. Archive Photo. Full View

Korea - Pyok Tong, North Korea POW Camp. Graveyard for many UN prisoners over 2000 UN prisoners are buried behind the camp. Full View