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POW/MIA RECOGNITION DAY September 21, 2007 Today, we pause to remember and salute American patriots … those who answered their nation’s call to service under the worst of conditions – war. The thought of not returning home – or of being captured – are unplanned events that impact many lives. Yet, these are just a few of the many unfortunate incidents that occur during war … a pilot who disappears off the radar scope … a ship that doesn’t return to port … or losing contact with your reconnaissance patrol. Those who have been in battle can somewhat prepare themselves when such events occur, but we guarantee you that their families cannot. The U.S. Government currently lists 88,000 Americans as missing and unaccounted-for. World War II - 78,000 Americans Korean War - 8,100 Vietnam War- 1,770 Cold War - 120 Gulf War - 1 Operation Iraqi Freedom - 4
Now multiply that number with parents, brothers and sisters, and sons and daughters, and you have a huge population of fellow Americans who continue to grieve in silence every day. We cannot imagine the sense of loss or the horror these families experienced when they received that fateful telegram or knock on the door. We do know that these families – wherever they are – continue to be in my thoughts and prayers, and I urge you to embrace them as brothers and sisters, too, because our wars are over … their war is not. Living amongst us are also former American POWs, many of whom continue to bear the physical and emotional scars of brutal treatment. One hundred and forty thousand Americans were held in captivity going back to World War II. Most returned home, but not 2,000 of the 7,000 POWs in North Korea who died in captivity and who continue to be listed as missing-in-action. We, as Americans, are fortunate to live in the only country that cares about the recovery and return of our missing soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen and Coast Guardsmen. The 500 dedicated military and civilian members of the Defense POW/MIA Office and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command carry on that time-honored military tradition of never leaving a comrade behind on the battlefield. Yet they operate in relative obscurity because recovering our war dead isn’t viewed as newsworthy. We argue that it fulfills a nation’s promise to its citizens who answer the call to duty. It was newsworthy when U.S. forces landed in Indonesia in 2004 to help in recovery efforts after the devastating Tsunami. It was newsworthy when we deployed relief forces into Peru last month to help in recovery efforts after the devastating earthquake. America’s military performs humanitarian missions all over this world. We say it should be especially newsworthy when America performs a humanitarian mission that solely benefits fellow Americans who have been waiting decades for some news that will lead to the recovery and identification of their loves ones. The MIA families celebrate every new identification as if it were their own, because they know that out there somewhere is another American family who finally has closure after so many years of praying. The VFW stands beside these families who continue to burn that candle of hope. Since 1991, we have been the only veterans’ organization to send its senior leadership to Vietnam every year to ensure their government understands how important the Full Accounting Mission is to America’s veterans and to the American people. We are also the only veterans’ organization to send its senior leadership to Moscow every year since 2004. We do this to help gain access into the former Soviet archives that may contain information to determine the fates of thousands of missing servicemen from World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Cold War. We engage with these foreign governments and their veterans’ organizations on the humanitarian level. Talks with former enemies are increasingly productive and candid, and have resulted in an increased level of openness and exchange of information. Our wars are over. Let us bring closure to the families who continue to wait. America has risen to greatness on the shoulders of ordinary citizens who refused to shirk the responsibility of citizenship … and who selflessly paid the highest price to preserve peace and freedom. Today, as we salute those who have given so much, we must never forget that old saying … “There but for the grace of God go I.” From the mountains and oceans to the deserts and jungles, our brave men and women in uniform today go where their duty calls. They don’t serve for fame and glory, and they don’t serve for the money. They march on because the person in front and the person behind continue to march. They march on because they have each other’s back. Our nation’s Full Accounting Mission is a promise to those who serve that we … also … have your back. |
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The Gulf Wars Accounting History The U.S. had very good success in its efforts to account for Americans who played a part in Operations DESERT STORM , ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM . Desert terrain, improved means of communication, and domination of the battlefield contributed to this success. During Operation DESERT STORM, past lessons guided the Department of Defense in how it established the “Joint Search and Rescue Center.” The center ran very effectively. In addition, officials made sure that the Defense Intelligence Agency, the POW Information Center of the Department of Defense , the casualty offices, and others coordinated their efforts. Drawing from Vietnam War POW/MIA lessons, the unified effort contributed greatly to the successful accounting efforts of the U.S. In addition, the value of dedicated units trained to conduct search, rescue, and recovery operations was reinforced. Forty-nine Americans were listed as POW/MIAs during Operation DESERT STORM. DoD accounted for 48 of the 49 POW/MIAs. To date, only one American remains unaccounted-for. He was lost over western Iraq and the U.S. government continues a robust and aggressive effort to learn his fate, so that we ultimately can either repatriate him or recover his remains. Regrettably, two accounted for as KIA-BNR are at-sea losses and will likely never be recovered. The U.S. government significantly improved its recovery and accounting procedures on the battlefield, resulting in the smallest post-war accounting effort. Our success has continued during the recent Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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SOLDIERS MISSING FROM THE VIETNAM WAR ARE IDENTIFIED The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of two U.S. servicemen, missing from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors. They are Chief Warrant Officer 2 Bobby L. McKain, of Garden City, Kan.; and Warrant Officer Arthur F. Chaney, of Vienna, Va., both U.S. Army. McKain will be buried on Aug. 11 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C., and Chaney will be buried Sept. 16 in Arlington. Representatives from the Army 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 Secretary of the Army. On May 3, 1968, these men flew an AH-1G Cobra gunship on an armed escort mission to support a reconnaissance team operating west of Khe Sanh, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. Their helicopter was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire, exploded in mid-air and crashed west of Khe Sanh near the Laos-Vietnam border. The crew of other U.S. aircraft flying over the area immediately after the crash reported no survivors, and heavy enemy activity prevented attempts to recover the men’s bodies. In 1985, an American citizen with ties to Southeast Asian refugees turned over to U.S. officials human remains supposedly recovered from an AC-130 aircraft crash in Laos. While subsequent laboratory analysis disproved the association of the remains to the AC-130 crash, some of the remains were those of McKain and Chaney. Between 1989 and 2003, Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) investigative teams working in Laos and Vietnam made five attempts to locate the crew’s crash site, but could not confirm the location. Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in identifying the remains.
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Vietnam War Accounting History The U.S. government continues to account for Americans missing in Southeast Asia from the Vietnam War. Since late 1973, the remains of over 700 Americans killed in that war have been returned and identified. Many have been buried with full military honors in accordance with the wishes of surviving family members. Efforts continue to recover nearly 1,800 Americans who remain unaccounted-for from the conflict . “Operation HOMECOMING,” in April 1973, marked the return of 591 POWs captured in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Although the Paris Agreement to end the war called for assistance in accounting for the missing, North Vietnam denied access to most loss sites. At that time, the U.S. listed about 1,350 Americans as prisoners of war or missing in action and sought the return of roughly 1,200 Americans reported killed in action and body not recovered. U.S. teams conducted some very restricted searches in 1974 to account for Americans missing in South Vietnam . These met with limited success. At the same time, the work by the “Four Party Joint Military Team” resulted in the return of 23 sets of remains. These men had died in captivity in North Vietnam . The 1975 communist victories in South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia virtually halted U.S. work in the region. Over the next decade, Vietnam returned few remains of missing Americans. In the mid-1980s, the U.S. and Vietnam increased the frequency of high-level policy and technical meetings to help resolve the POW/MIA issue. The U.S. government viewed this work as a humanitarian obligation. The Vietnamese slowly began to return American remains that they had previously collected and stored; eventually they permitted the U.S. to excavate a few crash sites. The Lao government, with whom the USG maintained diplomatic relations, agreed to several crash-site excavations in the mid-1980s. This resulted in the return and identification of the remains of a few dozen Americans. Cambodia ’s political state of affairs did not permit in-country accounting work. In 1988 a presidential emissary, General John Vessey, USA (Ret.), convinced the Vietnamese to permit U.S. teams to search throughout the country. As part of an ongoing process, for over a decade the U.S. government has conducted joint field activities with Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Throughout those countries, U.S. teams investigate and excavate crash and burial sites. They interview many persons who have knowledge about loss circumstances . The U.S. government has also pressed for and obtained access to historical wartime records and archives. These often provide information relevant to the fates of missing Americans . Working jointly, American and Vietnamese experts first focused on “Last Known Alive” (LKA) cases. These involved missing Americans who m the U.S. believed might have survived their initial loss incident. T he outcome of these investigations helps resolve the question of captive Americans remaining behind in Indochina. To date, the U.S. has identified 296 individuals as LKA in all of Southeast Asia. Following very deliberate and exhaustive investigative efforts , DoD has determined that more than 190 are deceased . In 1992, the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA) formed to expand U.S. field operations. Teams from this organization worked in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia alongside their foreign counterparts. Together, they interviewed thousands of witnesses regarding the fate of missing Americans. Their hard work resulted in the locat ion of crash and burial sites all over the region, so that the recovery elements made up primarily of Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (CILHI) , personnel could excavate them. This work continues today under the direction of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC).
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SOLDIER MISSING IN ACTION FROM KOREAN WAR IS IDENTIFIED The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office 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 Master Sgt. Cirildo Valencio, U.S. Army, of Carrizo Springs, Texas. He will be buried on Aug. 4 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. Representatives from the Army met with Valencio’s next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process on behalf of the Secretary of the Army. Valencio was assigned to Company L, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division then occupying a defensive position near Unsan, North Korea in an area known as the “Camel’s Head.” On Nov. 1, 1950, parts of two Chinese Communist Forces divisions struck the 1st Cavalry Division’s lines, collapsing the perimeter and forcing a withdrawal. In the process, the 3rd Battalion was surrounded and effectively ceased to exist as a fighting unit. Valencio was one of the more than 350 servicemen unaccounted-for from the battle at Unsan. In 2002, a joint U.S.-Democratic People’s Republic of Korea team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), excavated a burial site south of Unsan near the nose of the “Camel’s Head” formed by the joining of the Nammyon and Kuryong rivers. The team recovered human remains. Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in the identification of the remains.
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Korean War Accounting History The Korean War accounting effort remains a high priority for the U.S. Government. DPMO aggressively pursues any opportunity to gain access to actual loss sites within North Korea. Joint Field Activities (JFAs) conducted between 1996 and 2005 yielded over 220 sets of remains that are currently being processed for identification. DPMO provides policy oversight and control of all personnel accounting activities and leads the effort to negotiate access to North Korea. DPMO also updates files to assist in refining investigative work. More than 8,100 Americans remain unaccounted for from this war. During Operation GLORY in 1954, North Korea returned the remains of
over 2,000 Americans. Concurrently, U.S. “graves registration” teams
searched for and recovered remains on South Korean battlefields. The U.S.
identified thousands of these remains. Those that could not be identified
and other unknowns from South Korea, a total of 848, were buried in 1956.
19 unknowns were added later as identification work progressed and
interred in Hawaii in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also
known as “The Punchbowl.” One of the unknowns was selected and interred
in the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington, Virginia.
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World War II Accounting History World War II ended on August 15, 1945 . Nearly 406,000 of the 16 million Americans who served in the war died. At the end of the war, the USG was unable to recover, identify, and bury approximately 79,000 as known persons. They include those buried with honor as unknowns, those lost at sea, and those missing in action. That number also includes the 1,100 sailors entombed in the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. Today, more than 78,000 Americans remain unaccounted-for from WW II. Following the war, the USG had full access to most of the former battle areas. This significantly assisted the recovery of the war dead. The U.S. created two Army identification laboratories, one each in Japan and Germany. Those laboratories worked only World War II cases and made recoveries on both sides of the globe from 1945 to 1951, working until all known leads were exhausted. In 1976, the Department of Defense established the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (now part of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command or JPAC), as a permanent group. One of its assigned missions is to recover and identify all U.S. Service members killed in past wars. Their initial World War II program focused on Papua New Guinea, due to the large number of sites known to be there and the fact that the sites were accessible. Today JPAC investigate and excavate World War II sites worldwide.
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