A Complete Restart Not Necessary 

This article is on the right track, it it were just reorganized.   In general, other articles start with a background of the history of the term.  In this case, when did the designation of MIA begin.  The idea was used as long ago as the American Civil War, and surely the concept was known in the Napoleonic wars as many prisoners were taken.  However, it is also likely that the designation of MIA was a product of the expected survival or capture of opposition.  In Pre-Napoleonic times most wounded soldiers died, and many would be killed rather than taken prisoner.  I am not enough of an expert on this to say when the changes took place, but it surely has something to do with MIA as a designation.

I think that the Kerry issue is not germane at all to the overall topic, although may be worthy of exploration.  Mentioning Viet-Nam and Korea are not US centric, either, as Korea was a UN sponsored war, and many countries sent soldiers.  While less widely supported, British, Australian, and Korean soldiers were also present in South Viet-Nam, as were Chinese, and Soviet soldiers in the North.  However, there were many wars that were fought by countries other than the US that bear mentioning, especially those fought by Israel.

 1LT 12OCT2006