DPAA

OCTOBER 2019 - SEPTEMBER 2020

YEAR IN 

REVIEW
1 2

Accounted For

Oct 1, 2019 - Sept 30, 2020

120 Overcoming Adversity to Find Success

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) 

barreled into Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 at break-neck speed, 

coming off of a strong year in FY 2019, in which we 

accounted for 217 Department of Defense personnel 

missing from our past conflicts. 

We were conducting investigation and recovery 

missions all over the world. We were partnering with more 

organizations than ever before in order to accomplish 

our noble mission. Our goal was to increase the pace we 

achieved the previous year, and we were well on our way 

to achieving this.

Then, the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) struck 

the world. By the middle of March, most of the U.S. and 

our partner countries had begun to restrict travel and 

entry. With our people’s safety at the top of our mind, 

we recalled all of our investigation and recovery teams 

to their home stations, future missions were postponed or 

canceled as were Family Member Updates (FMUs), and 

we went to maximum telework.

Despite not being in our offices, we kept working. 

Our laboratories devised a way to continue their 

forensic analyses while maintaining COVID-19 safety 

protocols. Our historians and analysts kept researching 

cases to present them for investigation or recovery, and 

we continued to stay connected to our families seeking 

answers. The rest of the agency kept the wheels turning in 

their respective areas so we would remain ready to deploy 

and conduct field activities once COVID-19 eased its grip.

We were also able to host or participate in some 

significant events with proper COVID-19 safety protocols 

followed. We repatriated the remains of 147 South 

Korean service members to the Republic of Korea during 

a ceremony in Hawaii in June. We honored all POWs and 

missing DoD personnel in several POW/MIA Recognition 

Day ceremonies, one at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. 

and one at our facility in Hawaii, both of which were 

streamed online, as well as at our three Southeast Asia 

detachments. We were able to repatriate the remains of 

more than 50 Unknowns disinterred from American 

cemeteries or recovered by partner organizations in 

Europe.

By the end of FY 2020, we overcame our curtailed 

operations and were still able to account for 120 

unaccounted-for DoD personnel, in spite of the 

extraordinary circumstances that has profoundly affected 

the world.

The red pins in the map indicate locations where DPAA conducted investigation or recovery missions. The yellow pins represent disinterrments locations, and the purple pins 

highlight the locations of Family Member Updates.

Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class Alton W. 

Whitson

S1c James C. Williams

S2c Bernard R. Wimmer

S2c Everett G. Windle

F1c Rex E. Wise

MARINE CORPS

Korean War

Pfc. Henry E. Ellis

World War II

Pfc. Frank L. Athon

Pfc. Elden R. Baumbach

Pvt. Jacob Cruz

Cpl. Elmer E. Drefahl

Pfc. John M. Fahy

Sgt. Fred Farris

1st Lt. Hugh D. Fricks

Pfc. Mervin D. Galland

Pfc. John E. Gillen

Pfc. Harold W. Hayden

Pfc. John W. Hoffman

Pfc. Robert D. Jenks

Pfc. Thomas F. Johnson

Pfc. John P. Langan

Pfc. Charles D. Miller

Pvt. Howard E. Miller

Sgt. George R. Reeser

Pvt. Jack R. Stambaugh

Sgt. Donald D. Stoddard

Gunnery Sgt. Arthur B. Summers

Cpl. Raymond J. Tuhey

AIR FORCE

Vietnam War

Maj. Paul A. Avolese

1st Lt. Alva R. Krogman

Note: This page contains the names of 116 of the 

120 Americans DPAA accounted for in FY 2020. 

The names of the remaining 4 are not included 

as their families are pending notification.

Visit www.dpaa.mil for full profiles of these individuals.

ARMY

Korean War

Pfc. Robert C. Agard, Jr.

Cpl. Lloyd A. Alumbaugh

Pfc. Benjamin R. Bazzell

Cpl. Eldert J. Beek

Pfc. Jackey D. Blosser

Pfc. Ralph S. Boughman

Pfc. William L. Brown

Cpl. William E. Cavender

Pfc. R.B. Cherry

Pvt. Glenn E. Collins

Pfc. Pete Conley

Pfc. Louis N. Crosby

Pvt. Bobbie Ray Daniels

Cpl. Stanley L. DeWitt

Sgt. 1st Class Harold F. Drews

Pvt. Donald A. Fabrize

Sgt. 1st Class James Hart

Pfc. Billie Joe Hash

Pfc. Henry L. Helms

Pfc. Richard L. Henderson

Cpl. Jesse D. Hill

Pfc. Charles E. Hiltibran

Pfc. Bill F. Hobbs

Pfc. Clifford S. Johnson

2nd Lt. Anthony R. Mazzulla

Pfc. David B. Milano

Pfc. Burl Mullins

Master Sgt. James L. Quong

1st Lt. Thomas J. Redgate

Pfc. Francis J. Rochon

Cpl. Billy V. Rodgers

Cpl. James N. Stryker

Sgt. 1st Class Frank G. Vejar

Cpl. Kenneth E. Walker

Pfc. Dale W. Wright

World War II

(Includes Army Air Forces)

Pvt. Charles Andrews

Pvt. Pearl F. Barrow

Staff Sgt. Raymond C. Blanton

Pfc. Clarence W. Brotherton

Pvt. James J. Cansler

Pvt. Warren G.H. DeVault

1st Lt. Gabriel J. Eggud

Pvt. Wayne M. Evans

Pvt. William D. Hedtke

Sgt. John E. Hurlburt

Pfc. Oliver Jeffers

2nd Lt. George M. Johnson

Tech. Sgt. Max W. Lower

Staff Sgt. Charles G. McMackin

2nd Lt. William H. Melville

Pfc. Anthony F. Mendonca

Pvt. Horace Middleton

Sgt. John V. Phillips

1st Lt. Ernest L. Roth

Pfc. John J. Sitarz

2nd Lt. Earl W. Smith

2nd Lt. Lowell S. Twedt

Pfc. James W. White

NAVY

World War II

F3c Welborn L. Ashby

Coxwain Layton T. Banks

F3c William L. Barnett

Coxswain Paul L. Boemer

Ship’s Cook 1st Class Rodger C. Butts

Shipfitter 3rd Class Patrick L. Chess

S1c James M. Flanagan

Firecontrolman 2nd Class George Gilbert

Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class George M.

Gooch

S1c Wesley E. Graham

Radioman 3rd Class Thomas E. Griffith

S2c Floyd D. Helton

Musician 1st Class Joseph W. Hoffman

F3c Herbert B. Jacobson

F1c Edward D. Johnson

S2c Charles A. Jones

F2c William P. Kubinec

Hospital Apprentice 1st Class John M. 

Mulick

Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class Alphard S. 

Owsley

Mess Attendant 3rd Class Isaac Parker

Shipfitter 1st Class Charles F. Perdue

Radioman 3rd Class Irvin F. Rice

S1c Russell C. Roach

Metalsmith 1st Class Leonard F. Smith

S1c Maurice V. Spangler

F1c Samuel C. Steiner

Firecontrolman 3rd Class Robert T. Stout

Gunner’s Mate 3rd Class Shelby Treadway

F1c Louis J. Tushla

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
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4

2019

October

FY 2020 launched with investigation and recovery operations in the 

Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Kiribati, the Independent 

State of Papua New Guinea, the Italian Republic, the Federal Republic of 

Germany, the Republic of India, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and 

the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. The Agency had as many as 164 

personnel deployed in support of organic missions, as well as partner 

missions. Additionally, the agency conducted 16 disinterments from the 

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP) in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Opposite page: East Carolina University (ECU) conducted an underwater 

recovery mission associated with a World War II aircraft loss in the 

Republic of the Marshall Islands Sept. 24 - Oct. 14. The mission took 

place at a depth of 118 feet and warranted the use of three different types 

of diving technologies. Surface supplied diving rigs allowed divers to 

safely conduct heavy tasks while maximizing time on the seabed; closed 

circuit rebreathers provided extended bottom times for photographic 

documentation of the site; and open circuit SCUBA was employed by 

archaeologists to complete site inspections and mapping. The use of 

each of these technologies combined with the competency and technical 

knowledge of all diving supervisors and divers created a safe and 

productive workplace. The ECU Program in Maritime Studies, the ECU 

Office of Diving and Water Safety, Professional Diving Services, and the 

Marshall Islands’ Bureau of Ocean Energy Management provided critical 

support for this important mission. 

Photo by John McCord, ECU Coastal Studies Institute

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
The American Battle 

Monuments Commission 

(ABMC) officially opened 

a new interpretive visitor 

center at the Manila 

American Cemetery and 

Memorial (MACM) Oct. 19. 

(From left to right) Chargé 

d’Affaires John Law, ABMC 

Commissioner Robert 

Wefald, Superintendent of 

the Pacific Larry Adkison, 

and DPAA Director Kelly 

McKeague conducted a 

ribbon cutting ceremony for 

the new facility. The ABMC 

manages and maintains 26 

cemeteries and 30 federal 

memorials, monuments, and 

commemorative plaques 

throughout the world, and is a 

key DPAA partner.

Danish Navy divers 

investigate a possible 

American World War II 

bomber aircraft off the 

coast of Denmark, Oct. 

10. Danish Explosive 

Ordnance Disposal (EOD) 

teams dived on the wreck 

site to remove and detonate 

aircraft’s ordnance. The 

dive teams also searched 

for correlating data to 

support DPAA’s research 

efforts. The Danish Navy 

team was accompanied 

by members of the U.S. 

Embassy-Copenhagen. 

DPAA partners with 46 

nations to search for 

missing Americans from 

past conflicts.

HOST NATION SUPPORT

Photo by Lt. Col. Trevor Gersten, U.S. 

Embassy, Copenhagen, Denmark

ABMC DEDICATION

Photo by ABMC Public Affairs

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U.S. service members assigned to 

DPAA participate in a disinterment 

ceremony held at NMCP, Honolulu, 

Hawaii, Oct. 21. Eight caskets were 

exhumed during DPAA’s second 

disinterment of the FY, continuing 

efforts to identify remains of 

unknown service members lost 

during the Korean War as part of 

Phase 2 of the agency’s Korean 

War Disinterment Project. Since 

almost 20 percent of the missing 

who are estimated to be recoverable 

are buried as Unknowns in U.S.-

controlled cemeteries at home 

and abroad, DPAA executes a 

rigorous and successful program to 

disinter remains for the purpose of 

identification.

U.S. Air Force 

Master Sgt. Aliah 

Reyes, a DPAA 

recovery team (RT) 

NCO, sifts through 

soil looking for 

evidence during a 

recovery mission in 

Lang Son Province, 

Vietnam, Oct. 29. 

The DPAA team 

was one of eight 

teams operating 

in Laos and 

Vietnam, totaling 

130 personnel, 

conducting recovery 

and investigation 

missions in search 

of service members 

who went missing 

in action during the 

Vietnam War.

KOREAN WAR 

DISINTERMENT PROJECT

Photo by Staff Sgt. Leah Ferrante

VIETNAM 

RECOVERY

Photo by Staff Sgt. 

Rusty Frank

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
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2019

November

This month, DPAA held a FMU in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and conducted 

investigation and recovery operations in the Republic of Kiribati, the 

Italian Republic, the Republic of India, the Socialist Republic of 

Vietnam, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Kingdom of Cambodia, 

and the Kingdom of Thailand. The Agency deployed 163 personnel 

supporting organic and partner missions, and conducted 16 disinterments 

from the NMCP in Honolulu and 40 from the Manila American Cemetery 

and Memorial (MACM) in the Republic of the Philippines.

Opposite page: Phillipe Ritter, son of recently accounted for George Ritter, 

puts a C-123 aircraft pin on his father ’s remains box during a Chain of 

Custody at the DPAA facility on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, 

Nov. 19, 2019. Ritter was an Air America pilot flying a C-123 on Dec. 27, 

1971, when the aircraft went down for unknown reasons in Laos. Ritter, 

two other two Americans, and one Lao national were killed in the crash. 

All three U.S. crewmen were identified and accounted for by DPAA in 

2018. 

Photo by Staff Sgt. Apryl Hall

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
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Fern Sumpter-Winbush, 

DPAA’s Principle Deputy 

Director, and U.S. Army 

Capt. Fabiola Castro, a 

DPAA recovery team leader, 

speak to family members 

of missing Americans 

during the FMU in San 

Juan, Puerto Rico, Nov. 2. 

Nearly 40 family members 

attended the FMU to stay 

informed on current DPAA 

operations as well as to 

share their own stories of 

loved ones still missing 

from past conflicts. While 

in Puerto Rico, DPAA also 

met with strategic partners, 

local government leaders, 

and DoD personnel. This 

is the first time since 2012 

DPAA has held an FMU in 

San Juan. 

Naval Air Station 

Sigonella Sailors 

and University of 

Illinois at Chicago 

archaeology students 

screen soil for 

osseous material 

and artifacts during 

a DPAA recovery 

excavation in Sicily, 

Nov. 16. Sailors 

from the Public 

Works department 

volunteered to 

assist the efforts 

of the university 

research team to find 

missing Americans 

unaccounted for from 

World War II.

U.S. Navy Petty 

Officer 2nd Class 

Laura Olague carries 

buckets during a 

recovery mission in 

Sekong Province, Laos, 

Nov. 6. A DPAA team 

deployed to the area in 

hopes of recovering the 

remains of two missing 

U.S. service members 

unaccounted for from 

the Vietnam War. 

DPAA teams would not 

be able to successfully 

operate in Laos without 

the cooperation of 

the Lao government 

officials and villagers 

who assist the teams.

U.S. Marine Corps 

Cpl. Khang Tran, 

a DPAA recovery 

team NCO, teaches 

children to play a 

board game during a 

recovery mission in 

Lang Son Province, 

Vietnam, Nov. 

19. Developing 

relationships with the 

locals in countries 

where investigation 

and recovery teams 

work is one of the 

important keys 

to being able to 

locate our missing 

Department of 

Defense personnel.

BUILDING 

RELATIONSHIPS

Photo by Staff Sgt. Rusty Frank

SAN JUAN FMU

Photo by Sgt. Jaqueline Clifford

ITALY 

PARTNERSHIP 

RECOVERY

Photo by Janine Scianna

LAOS RECOVERY

Photo by Senior Airman Taylor Crul

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
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2019

December

DPAA executed investigation and recovery operations in the Republic of 

Kiribati, the Republic of India, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Lao 

People’s Democratic Republic, the Republic of Panama, and the Republic 

of Poland. The Agency deployed 143 personnel supporting organic and 

partner missions. Additionally, the Agency conducted eight disinterments 

from the NMCP in Honolulu.

Opposite page: The USS William P. Lawrence (DDG 110) renders honors 

during the 78th Commemoration of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 

7, 2019. The ship is named for Vice Admiral Lawrence (1930-2005), 

Naval Aviator, Mercury Astronaut finalist, and Vietnam War prisoner of 

war. Lawrence received the Silver Star and the Distinguished Service 

Medal, the nation’s third highest military award, for his inspirational 

leadership while in captivity. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile 

destroyer is deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet in support of security and 

stability operations in the Indo-Pacific Region. Cmdr. Dawn Allen is the 

commanding officer aboard the William P. Lawrence. 

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
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The U.S.-Russia Joint 

Commission (USRJC) on POW/

MIAs met in Moscow on Dec. 

12, to conduct Technical Talks 

regarding POW/MIA cases 

from the Cold War and Korean 

War. The U.S. delegation was 

led by Timothy Shea, Defense 

Intelligence Officer for Europe 

and Eurasia; and U.S. Army 

Col. Frank Tank, Director, 

DPAA Europe-Mediterranean 

Directorate. DPAA supports 

the USRJC through the Joint 

Commission Support Division, 

which provides administrative 

and analytic support and 

collaborates with its Russian 

counterparts on POW/MIA cases 

from America’s past conflicts.

U.S. Army Cpl. Earl H. 

Markle, killed during the 

Korean War, was buried 

Dec. 10. at Arlington 

National Cemetery. Markle 

was reported missing in 

action on Nov. 2, 1950, and 

he was not reported as a 

prisoner of war. Following 

the 2018 Summit between 

President Trump and North 

Korean Chairman Kim, 

North Korea turned over 55 

boxes purported to contain 

the remains of U.S. service 

members killed during the 

Korean War. Markle was 

identified from among these 

boxes. As of Sept. 30, 2020, 

69 Americans have been 

identified from the 55 boxes.

DPAA underwater 

archaeologists, Dr. 

Piotr Bojakowski 

and Kara Davis, 

view EOD 

clearing operations 

conducted by the 

Dutch company, 

BODAC, in the Bay 

of Szczecin, Poland, 

in December 2019. 

Representatives 

from multiple 

DPAA directorates 

conducted a joint 

investigation 

mission with the 

Polish Maritime 

Office and Poland’s 

Institute of National 

Remembrance to 

assess potential 

cases for recovery.

(From left to right) Kelly 

McKeague, DPAA’s Director, 

U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Darius 

Banaji, DPAA’s Deputy 

Director for Operations, and 

other DPAA members render 

honors during an Honorable 

Carry at Joint Base Pearl 

Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Dec. 

4. The case containing possible 

remains of U.S. service 

members lost during the 

Vietnam War were recovered 

from sites in Southeast Asia 

and will be examined by 

scientists at DPAA’s skeletal 

identification laboratory. 

USRJC IN MOSCOW

Photo by Senior Chief Petty Officer Ariana Ramirez

ARLINGTON FUNERAL

Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Sean Everette

FINAL HOMECOMING

Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st 

Class Claire Farin

BAY OF SZCZECIN, 

POLAND

Photo by Matthew DeFelice

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
EuropeMediterranean

Directorate Recap Directorate Recap

Indo-Pacific

In FY 2020, the Indo-Pacific (IP) Regional Directorate 

planned 33 Joint Field Activities (JFAs) consisting of 34 

organic Recovery Teams (RT), 21 Investigation Teams 

(IT), and 23 disinterment missions. Due to COVID-19, 

the IP team was only able to execute 10 JFAs comprised 

of 18 RTs (53%), 8 ITs (38%), and 11 disinterment 

missions (48%). IP completed 9 disinterment missions 

at the NMCP and two at the MACM, repatriating 72 

and 55 sets of remains, respectively, totaling 127 sets 

of remains for FY 2020.

In Southeast Asia, the Vietnam Office for Seeking 

Missing Persons (VNOSMP) mitigated the lack of U.S. 

teams by increasing the number of unilateral recoveries 

from one to three in both May and July. This was the 

first time the Government of Vietnam deployed more 

than one RT during a JFA and was made possible by 

training DPAA provided them last year.

IP also conducted one organic recovery mission 

in Myanmar (Burma). The Korea team developed 

a process of sharing information with DPAA’s 

strategic partner and Republic of Korea counterpart, 

the Ministry of National Defense Agency for KIA 

Recovery and Identification (MAKRI), to identify 

areas where Americans were lost fighting in the 

Korean War and to initiate planning for joint work in 

the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Building on research 

lessons learned, the IP team added bi-annual World 

War II Case Coordination Conferences this year in 

addition to the existing Korean War and Southeast 

Asia Conferences. IP further developed internal 

research projects for Papua New Guinea and the 

Philippines. Myanmar Recovery 

Photo by Mass Communications Specialist 2nd Class Seth Coulter

15 16

Field operations in the Europe-Mediterranean (EM) 

region were significantly disrupted by the COVID-19 

pandemic, which began to spread at the same time 

DPAA typically increases operations in Europe as we 

move from winter into spring. Prior to the onset of 

pandemic related travel restrictions, DPAA conducted 

six terrestrial investigations in Italy, Panama, Poland, 

and the United Kingdom. The Panama mission 

involved a 1985 A-6E loss, which the U.S. Navy 

requested DPAA lead. EM’s other recovery missions 

planned for FY 2020 are now planned for future 

execution.

In a hopeful sign that we will be able to resume 

full operations soon, in July and August, we were able 

to resume disinterment operations, completing 40 of 

an originally planned 85 disinterments of Unknowns 

from American Battle Monuments Commission 

(ABMC) cemeteries. This resumption of disinterment 

operations allowed DPAA to conclude exhumations 

of all unknown remains associated with losses from 

our 1943 U.S. Army Air Forces campaign against 

German-controlled oil refineries in Ploesti, Romania. 

EM personnel have made the most of this unplanned 

pause in field operations, refining and improving our 

capabilities to work together remotely, brushing up 

our language and planning skills, and focusing our 

efforts on case progression through in-depth research.

Research Investigation in England, Photo by Christine Cohn

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
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2020

January

As the New Year kicked off, the Agency held a FMU just outside of Las 

Vegas in Henderson, Nevada. Also conducted were investigation and 

recovery operations in the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of the 

Philippines, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Republic of the 

Union of Myanmar, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the United Kingdom of 

Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Republic of Panama, and the 

Italian Republic. The agency deployed 120 personnel supporting organic 

and partner missions, as well as conducted 14 disinterments from the 

MACM in the Philippines and 8 from the NMCP in Honolulu.

Opposite page: U.S. Army Lt. Col. (Retired) Rex Lucas holds a photograph 

picturing his uncle, who is still unaccounted for from World War II, while 

being interviewed by a local news station during the Henderson, Nevada 

FMU, Jan. 25. More than 200 family members gathered for a one-day event 

presented by the DPAA, along with the Armed Forces Medical Examiner 

System (AFMES) and Service Casualty Offices (SCOs), to communicate 

with families of loved ones who are missing from America’s past conflicts 

dating back to World War II. 

Photo by Staff Sgt. Michael O’Neal

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
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U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Michael Kocopy, lost in the Battle of Tarawa and recovered 

by DPAA partner History Flight, Inc., is given a funeral escort by the 3d U.S. Infantry 

Regiment (The Old Guard) Caisson Platoon; “The President’s Own” Marine Band; and 

Marines Corps Honor Guard from the Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C. at Arlington National Cemetery on Jan. 30.

The Honorable Katsunobu Kato (center), Japanese Minister 

of Health, Labor, and Welfare, pays his respects during a 

wreath laying in honor of the missing as part of a ceremony 

at the NMCP, Honolulu, Jan. 10. He was accompanied by U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Darius Banaji, DPAA’s Deputy Director 

for Operations (left), and Jim Horton, Director of the NMCP (right). The ceremony honored the losses of U.S. service 

members incurred in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

DPAA team members 

excavate a unit during 

a recovery mission 

in Bataan Province, 

Republic of the 

Philippines, Jan. 21. 

The DPAA team was in 

the area in search of an 

alleged secondary burial 

site possibly associated 

with missing personnel 

lost during the Bataan 

Peninsula conflict of 

World War II.

Dr. Laurel Freas (left), a 

DPAA forensic anthropologist, 

provides a tour of the DPAA 

laboratory to Robyn Modly, 

wife of the Honorable Thomas 

Modly, Acting Secretary of 

the Navy, during her visit to 

the facility at Joint Base Pearl 

Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Jan. 

16. Mrs. Modly visited the lab 

to further understand the DPAA 

mission of providing the fullest 

possible accounting of missing 

personnel to their families and 

the nation. 

FUNERAL PROCESSION

Photo by Elizabeth Fraser, Arlington 

National Cemetery Public Affairs

LABORATORY TOUR

Photo by Mass Communications Specialist 2nd Class 

Alexander Kubitza

PHILIPPINE RECOVERY

Photo by Mass Communications 

Specialist 1st Class Claire Farin

JAPANESE DIGNITARY HONORS FALLEN

Photo by Sgt. Angelica Vasquez

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
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2020

February

The year ’s shortest month didn’t fall short in the work DPAA accomplished. 

The Agency conducted investigation and recovery missions in the 

Republic of Kiribati, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Republic 

of the Union of Myanmar, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the United Kingdom 

of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Republic of the Philippines, 

and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. DPAA deployed 142 personnel 

supporting organic and partner operations. DPAA also held a FMU in 

Portland, Oregon, and conducted 16 disinterments from the NMCP in 

Honolulu.

Opposite page: U.S. Army Capt. Michael Watson, a DPAA recovery team 

leader, greets the Honorable Patrick Murphy, the U.S. Ambassador to the 

Kingdom of Cambodia, during an agency recovery mission in Ratanakiri 

Province, Cambodia, Feb. 1. During his visit, the ambassador spoke with 

DPAA recovery team members and local nationals, and witnessed the 

recovery efforts for a missing U.S. service member lost during the Vietnam 

War. The Agency’s work in here is aided by decades of cooperation from 

the government and people of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Photo by Staff Sgt. Rusty Frank

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
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DPAA and AFMES 

members pose for 

a group photo with 

Reserve Officers’ 

Training Corps (ROTC) 

cadets from the 

University of Portland 

and Portland State 

University Feb. 20. The 

cadets received briefs 

on the missions and 

capabilities of DPAA 

and AFMES, and learned 

about the world wide 

mission to account for 

the DoD personnel still 

missing from our past 

conflicts.

U.S. Air Force 

Tech. Sgt. Timothy 

McSheehy, a DPAA 

recovery NCO, 

breaks up the earth 

of an excavation 

site during a joint 

field activity (JFA) 

in Khammaouan 

Province, Laos, Feb. 

10. A recovery team 

operated here in 

search of the remains 

of missing U.S. 

service members lost 

during the Vietnam 

War. As of the end 

of February, there 

were still 1,587 

service members and 

civilians missing in 

Southeast Asia from 

the Vietnam War. 

Lalana Taylor, an AFMES 

DNA analyst, collects DNA 

with a cheek swab from a 

family member of a missing 

service member during the 

Portland, Oregon, FMU Feb. 

22. More than 250 family 

members, representing 137 

losses, attended the FMU to 

find out what DPAA and its 

partners, like AFMES, are 

doing to find their loved ones. 

They also received one-onone briefings from DPAA 

analysts and historians, and 

Service Casualty Officers on 

their specific cases.

U.S. Navy Rear 

Adm. Darius 

Banaji, DPAA’s 

Deputy Director 

for Operations, 

participates in 

a disinterment 

held at the NMCP 

Feb. 10. This was 

DPAA’s eighth 

disinterment of the 

FY, part of Phase 

2 of the Korean 

War Disinterment 

Project, which 

concluded on Feb. 

24. The 7-phased 

project’s goal is to 

disinter the remains 

of all the Korean 

War Unknowns 

for the purpose of 

identification.

PUNCHBOWL 

DISINTERMENT

Photo by Staff Sgt. Leah Ferrante

PORTLAND ROTC VISIT

Photo by Staff Sgt. Leah Ferrante

LAOS RECOVERY

Photo by Staff Sgt. James 

Thompson

DNA COLLECTION

Photo by Staff Sgt. Leah Ferrante

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
DPAA Laboratory

Directorate Recap Directorate Recap

Partnerships 

& Innovations

The Partnerships and Innovations (PI) Directorate 

managed existing partners or conducted negotiations 

with a total of 152 institutions in FY 2020. These efforts 

led to the finalization of 15 new partnership arrangements 

with external entities. PI also expanded the geographic 

basis of its pool of partners by focusing on organizations 

based abroad, with the aim of facilitating local access 

and reducing mission costs.

In FY 2020, DPAA planned to conduct 43 partner 

missions; however, because of safety concerns and hostnation travel restrictions brought on by COVID-19, 

only 15 of those missions were able to be executed. It 

was encouraging that partner investigations in Germany 

and Papua New Guinea as well as an underwater 

recovery off Croatia were able to be conducted in the 

last quarter. Additionally, PI was able to reschedule 

the FY 2020 postponed missions and anticipates a large 

surge effort in FY 2021.

Some highlights from the field include the History 

Flight Group’s on-going activities in Tarawa; the 

University of Illinois at Chicago’s (UIC) multiple field 

missions in the Philippines and Laos (DPAA and UIC 

also established the basis for a multi-year initiative in 

the Philippines that will allow for a more comprehensive 

approach to future missions there);. Scripps Institute of 

Oceanography’s productive investigation off the coast 

of Vietnam; and Deep Sea Productions and the U.S. 

Naval History and Heritage Command collaboration on 

a no-cost-to-DPAA underwater investigation off Latvia.

PI also reinvigorated the “Hub & Spoke” military 

history program that incorporates the research and 

networking potential of individuals embedded in 12 

academic and research institutions across the U.S. These 

partners currently are working on nearly 30 research 

requests from directorates across DPAA.

Papua New Guinea village where a DPAA partner conducted an investigation mission, 

Photo by Dr. Matthew Leavesley, University of PNG

25 26

The DPAA Laboratory continued to identify missing 

DoD personnel during FY 2020, despite a near total 

telework posture for more than half the year. Yet, in 

accounting for 120 missing Americans, DPAA exceeded 

half of last year’s total. The in-progress integration 

of the new laboratory information systems, a critical 

component of the Agency’s Case Management System, 

allowed for work to continue across our geographically 

distributed workforce and enabled laboratory personnel 

to sustain forensic operations throughout the FY. DPAA 

scientists continued to advance isotope analysis, which 

provides expedient and cost effective methods that aid 

the analytical processes. 

The DPAA Laboratory maintained its high standards 

by successfully passing another surveillance visit 

and external audit in November 2019 by ANSI-ASQ 

National Accreditation Board (ANAB). The visit 

contained three scope expansions as well as a new 

building location in Hawaii. The Nebraska facility 

added Odontology and Chest Radiographic Comparison 

as areas of expertise, and, in Hawaii, a “geographic 

profile” category, Isotope Analysis (for preparation 

and interpretation), was added to their scope of work. 

DPAA became the first DoD laboratory to achieve 

accreditation under ANAB for Isotope Analysis, and 

joins only one other laboratory, the Drug Enforcement 

Agency, to achieve this.

Isotope Analysis, Photo by Staff Sgt. James Thompson

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
27 28

2020

March

March is usually the beginning of DPAA’s high operational tempo season, 

but COVID-19 put most of those plans on hold by the middle of the month, 

including cancellation of the FMU in Miami, Florida. Before operations 

had to be curtailed, however, it was business as usual. DPAA leaders held 

key engagements in the Indo-Pacific Region, and the Agency completed 

investigation and recovery operations in the Lao People’s Democratic 

Republic, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Republic of Kiribati, the 

Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the 

Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Panama, and the Republic of Poland. 

DPAA deployed 153 personnel supporting organic and partner missions. 

DPAA also conducted 8 disinterments from the NMCP in Honolulu.

Opposite page: Howard Mariteragi, a DPAA life support investigator, 

looks at possible material evidence during a unilateral turn-over in Kon 

Tum Province, Vietnam, March 8. Items, such as this spoon from a mess 

kit or parts from an aircraft, aid DPAA scientists in their forensic analyses 

of an excavation site, the association with a service member, and the 

subsequent identification.

Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class 

Claire Farin

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
U.S. Navy EOD Technician 2nd Class George Barney, a DPAA diver, searches for 

unexploded ordnance March 2 during an underwater recovery operation searching 

for personnel who went missing off the coast of Ha Long Bay, Quảng Ninh 

Province, Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. 

29 30

The spouse of William 

Hall, nephew of 

U.S. Navy Seaman 

Apprentice Hubert P. 

Hall, puts flowers on 

Hubert’s casket during 

his funeral at the NMCP 

on March 17. Hubert 

was assigned to the 

USS Oklahoma, which 

sustained fire and 

multiple torpedo hits 

from Japanese aircraft, 

causing the ship to 

capsize, and resulting 

in the deaths of over 

400 crew members on 

Dec. 7, 1941. He was 

accounted for on Aug. 

14, 2018.

DPAA members conduct a repatriation ceremony in Mandalay, Myanmar, Mar. 

12, while local media take photos. The recovered remains are believed to be 

of unaccounted-for Americans lost during World War II, and were transported 

by U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster to the DPAA lab at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis and 

potential identification.

MYANMAR REPATRIATION

Photo by Mass Communications Specialist 2nd Class 

Seth Coulter

PUNCHBOWL 

FUNERAL

Photo by Staff Sgt. Jamarius Fortson

VIETNAM RECOVERY

Photo by Mass Communications Specialist 1st Class 

Tyler Thompson

Dr. Gregory E. Berg, 

DPAA’s Scientific 

Analysis Directorate 

lab manager, weighs 

a portion of a test 

specimen in DPAA’s 

Isotope Lab on Joint 

Base Pearl HarborHickam, Hawaii, March 

9. Berg received this 

year’s prestigious Ellis 

R. Kerley Research 

Award for research in 

intraperson variation in 

isotopic values, which is 

directly linked with the 

establishment of the first 

DoD ANAB-accredited 

isotope laboratory, 

which is housed in 

DPAA’s facility.

RESEARCH AWARD

Photo by Staff Sgt. James Thompson

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
31 32

2020

April

This month, COVID-19 significantly impacted daily operations agencywide. We canceled the Little Rock, Arkansas, FMU, as well as missions to 

the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 

the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of the Philippines, the Independent 

State of Papua New Guinea, the Republic of Panama, the Republic of 

Korea, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the 

Kingdom of Belgium, the Italian Republic, the French Republic, and the 

Republic of Poland. While the majority of our personnel were teleworking 

from their homes, some of our medics assisted local military hospitals 

and clinics with the COVID-19 response, and our laboratories developed 

a schedule so our scientists could still work in shifts while practicing safe 

distancing.

Opposite page: Three DPAA service members were named winners in their 

respective Services’ yearly media awards in April. (Top) U.S. Air Force 

Staff Sgt. Apryl Hall won 1st in the News Photo Category of the Air 

Force’s Command Master Sgt. Douglas W. Morrell Media Awards with her 

photo of an Airman walking on the flightline at Joint Base Pearl HarborHickam, Hawaii, after a rainfall and framed by a C-17 Globemaster 

after it returned from Papua New Guinea. (Bottom Left) U.S. Navy Mass 

Communication Specialist 1st Class Tyler Thompson placed 2nd in the 

Graphic Design - Digital Art Category of the 2019 Russell Egor Navy 

Media Awards for the 2019 National POW/MIA Recognition Day poster he 

created. (Bottom Right) U.S. Navy Mass Communication Specialist 2nd 

Class Seth Coulter won 1st in the Photo - Feature Category of the Navy 

awards for his photo of DPAA service members conducting a disinterment 

ceremony at the NMCP in Honolulu.

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
33 34

Because of COVID-19, much of the 

agency’s work force had to begin 

teleworking during the month, but still 

making the mission happen from the safety 

of their homes. (Top) Gabe Zinni works in 

Policy and Plans, and is making sure both 

he and his son, Gabriel III, get their work 

done from their lanai at their Hawaii home. 

(Bottom left) Lauretta Anastasia Edamivoh 

is DPAA’s Front Office Executive Assistant, 

making sure everything is running smoothly 

for agency leadership in Washington, D.C. 

(Bottom right) U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. 

Sharonda Jones, part of the Joint Military 

Manpower/Personnel Actions Section, 

ensures DPAA’s human resources needs are 

met while her son, Kameron, works on his 

school tablet.

DPAA Working From Home

Every loss of an American from one of our past conflicts begins with one question: where are they? DPAA’s 

historians and analysts are the cold case investigators who answer that question. They are the researchers 

who find all of the information possible regarding a specific loss, summarize that information, and then use 

it to determine if it will be possible to find the person in question.

“Historians and analysts start the process that can lead to investigations, excavations, disinterments, and, 

ultimately, identifications,” said Dr. Andrew Speelhoffer, a DPAA IP historian. “If I don’t do my job, my 

colleagues in IP, Expeditionary Support, the lab, and Outreach and Communications can’t do theirs.”

Their job isn’t just poring over archival documents and books, however. Some of these researchers also go 

into the field to lead or take part in investigations. 

“We interview witnesses, conduct local archival research in city archives, churches, and cemeteries, 

and we assist the investigation team’s assigned Scientific Recovery Expert (SRE) during a survey of any 

possible crash or burial sites,” said Joshua Frank, a DPAA Europe-Mediterranean (EM) Directorate analyst. 

“If the information we gained leads us to believe that we can find a missing service member by excavating 

the surveyed site, we work with our SRE to propose the site to DPAA leadership for excavation,” said 

Frank.

All of their work doesn’t just go to excavation and recovery teams. It also goes to the families.

“Researchers create the written summaries that are provided to family members that explain their loved 

ones’ circumstances of loss, the history of DPAA and its predecessor organizations’ work to find their loved 

ones, and the agency’s next steps to provide resolution to their loved ones’ losses,” said Frank.

In short, everything DPAA does to recover the missing starts with historians and analysts.

“We are history detectives using historical information gathered from all over the world to determine what 

happened to a missing American service member, why they were not recovered, and what we can do to find 

them now,” said Dr. Ian Spurgeon, an EM historian.

DPAA SPOTLIGHT - Historians and Research Analysts

SUPPORTING THE FORCE

Photo by Maj. Christine Harris, Director of 

Nursing, Family Medicine Clinc, Tripler Army 

Medical Center, Hawaii

U.S. Navy Hospital 

Corpsman 1st Class 

Westley Gorman, assigned 

to DPAA, conducts a 

patient assessment in 

the Respiratory Triage 

Tent at Tripler Army 

Medical Center (TAMC), 

Hawaii, April 6, 2020. 

Fourteen DPAA medics 

assisted TAMC during 

the COVID-19 response, 

working directly in the tent 

TAMC set up to process and 

treat possible victims of the 

virus.

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
35 36

2020

May

COVID-19 continued to impact our daily operations. We canceled the 

Chicago FMU and scheduled disinterments, as well as missions to the 

Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 

the Republic of Kiribati, the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, the 

Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern 

Ireland, the Kingdom of Belgium, the Italian Republic, the Kingdom 

of Cambodia, and the Republic of Austria. The majority of the Agency 

continued to work from home, and our medics kept up their assistance to 

local military hospitals.

Opposite page: One of the ways DPAA honors those who are or were 

unaccounted for from our past conflicts is by posting Personnel Profiles 

for these service members on the Agency website. These profiles depend 

on family members and the public for photographs, all of which can be 

uploaded through the site at www.dpaa.mil. These are 30 of the 80 service 

member photographs submitted in May.

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
37 38

Workers from the NMCP, many of whom are themselves are military 

veterans, render honors for U.S. Navy Seaman 2nd Class Everett G. 

Windle, of Kansas City, Missouri, who was laid to rest during a ceremony 

at the cemetery in Honolulu, Hawaii, May 26. On Dec. 7, 1941, Windle was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, 

which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. Until DPAA 

scientists identified Windle, his remains were buried at the NMCP as an Unknown for more than 65 years.

INTERNMENT CEREMONY

Photo by Air Force Staff Sgt. Rusty Frank

The USS Oklahoma Project, while slowed by COVID-19, spotlighted a DPAA first and hit a major 

milestone.

 On May 27, Dr. Carrie Brown, the DPAA Laboratory Manager at Offutt Air Force Base (AFB), Nebraska, 

became the first DPAA member to participate in a live, public webinar when she was the guest speaker on 

an episode of Pacific Historic Park’s History Talks web series, which was entitled “Until They All Come 

Home.” She spoke about DPAA’s mission and how that mission is accomplished before diving into specifics 

about the project. More than 120 people virtually attended the presentation that was made up of a lecture 

and question-and-answer session. 

Brown said she was very happy with how the event turned out.

“I was really appreciative of the ability to answer questions at the end of the lecture, because you don’t get 

the interaction during the lecture that you would if it were in a room full of people,” said Brown.

During the presentation, Brown revealed the USS Oklahoma Project recently hit the major milestone of 

completing the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequencing of the more than 5,000 DNA samples given to the 

AFMES Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory for processing.

“This is huge for us because it allows us to complete our analyses of all of the USS Oklahoma remains, 

and therefore, identify as many service members as possible,” said Carrie LeGarde, the current project 

manager.

According to LeGarde, the project’s roots go back to 2003 when a single casket of USS Oklahoma

Unknowns was disinterred from the NMCP in Honolulu. Five service members were identified, but DNA 

testing determined remains of 89 others were present. Another single casket was disinterred in 2007, and the 

60 remaining caskets were disinterred in 2015, which is when the project began in earnest.

After World War II, 394 Sailors and Marines were unaccounted for from the USS Oklahoma. At the end of 

FY 2020, 267 of those Americans have been accounted for since that first disinterment in 2003.

DPAA SPOTLIGHT - The USS Oklahoma Project

(Left) Carrie LeGarde is an 

anthropologist at DPAA’s 

laboratory at Offutt AFB, 

Nebraska, and is the current 

USS Oklahoma Project 

manager. Her work helper, 

Scout, makes sure she stays 

on task. (Right) U.S. Navy 

Mass Communications 

Specialist 1st Class Tyler 

Thompson is one of 

DPAA’s photographers 

and graphic designers and 

is working on this year’s 

POW/MIA Recognition 

Day poster. 

DPAA Working From 

Home

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
39 40

2020

June

In June, DPAA hosted a ceremony with the Republic of Korea (RoK) to 

repatriate 147 fallen South Korean soldiers who fought alongside U.S. and 

United Nations forces during the Korean War, and adjusted plans due to 

the coronavirus pandemic. The National League of POW/MIA Families 

cancelled its Washington, D.C. Annual Meeting, which cancelled DPAA’s 

accompanying family briefings. The Agency also canceled investigation and 

recovery missions to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Lao People’s 

Democratic Republic, the Republic of Kiribati, the Independent State of 

Papua New Guinea, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern 

Ireland, the Kingdom of Belgium, the Italian Republic, and the Republic of 

Austria. At the same time, DPAA personnel continued to actively explore 

and plan for how teams could safely get to and operate in the field to 

resume its operations.

Opposite page: Wook Gu Heo, the ROK’s MAKRI Director, renders honors 

during a repatriation ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, 

June 23. The ceremony was held to repatriate the largest number of remains 

turned over to the DPAA’s ROK partners, which included 77 from the 55 

boxes that had been turned over by North Korea in August 2018 and 70 

from turnovers in the early1990s and joint field operations in the mid2000s. The remains were analyzed by DPAA and MAKRI scientists, who 

jointly concluded the 147 remains were of South Korean origin. Although 

the remains had yet to be individually identified, MAKRI had associated 7 

of them to DNA family reference samples they had collected. 

Photo by Air Force Staff Sgt. Rusty Frank

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
41 42

The KWIP was the first of its kind at DPAA, a project focused comprehensively on one conflict. Dr. John 

Byrd, DPAA’s Laboratory Director, ccreated the project in 2011 with the thought that having a dedicated 

team of scientists and analysts to compile in-depth knowledge on the nature of the remains being analyzed 

and the historical background of the conflict from which they came. He was prescient.

“The implementation of a project turned out to be very successful,” said Dr. Jennie Jin, the KWIP 

Director. “Of all the Korean War IDs made since the 1980s, 74 percent (435 out of 589) were made since 

the launch of the project in FY 2011. We are currently the largest project in the lab with most analysts and 

the largest number of remains.”

With more than 7,500 service members still unaccounted for from the Korean War, Jin said the KWIP 

would last for a while, especially because the project includes the remaining disinterment of more than 600 

sets of remains of Unknowns from the NMCP in Honolulu.

For Jin, a naturalized U.S. citizen, the project has a personal element too. Her grandparents safely escaped 

from North to South Korea on a U.S. Navy ship during the Korean War.

“It feels surreal for me to analyze and identify the U.S. servicemen who lost their lives near my 

grandparents’ hometown, when my grandparents ended up building a good life in the south,” said Jin. “It is 

also very personal. It is my way to say thank you to all the U.S. servicemen and their families for saving my 

family and my native country.”

DPAA SPOTLIGHT - The Korean War Identification Project

DPAA hosted a repatriation ceremony at Joint Base 

Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, June 23, during which 

147 remains were transferred and the service of 147 

fallen South Korean servicemen were commemorated. 

Resulting from the collaboration between DPAA and 

MAKRI, this turnover was the largest transfer of remains between the two countries since DPAA returned 

64 remains to the ROK in 2018.

(Top) Most of the 31,183 people who viewed the 

ceremony watched through livestreams on the DPAA 

Facebook page and the Defense Visual Information 

Distribution Service. U.S. Navy Adm. Philip Davidson, 

commander of Indo-Pacific Command, was the senior 

U.S. official and keynote speaker at the ceremony.

(Middle) U.S. Army Gen. Robert Abrams, 

commander, United Nations Command, Combined 

Forces Command, U.S. Forces Korea, renders a 

salute during a repatriation ceremony at Seoul Air 

Base, ROK, June 25, which coincided with the 70th 

anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. 

(Bottom) DPAA service members salute the flagdraped transfer cases of possible remains of U.S. 

service members from the Korean War as they arrive at 

Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on June 26. The ROK 

repatriated the remains, which had been recovered 

by MAKRI teams, to the United Nations Command 

following the return of the 147 South Korean remains.

DPAA Working From 

Home

(Left) Dr. Jennie Jin is an anthropologist at DPAA’s laboratory at Joint Base Pearl 

Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, and leads the Korean War Identification Project (KWIP). 

(Right) Dan Baughman of the IP Directorate’s Research Support Division reviews a 

Korean DMZ site for possible future investigation.

REPATRIATIONS

Screenshot by Sgt. First Class Sean Everette (top)

Photos by Air Force Staff Sgt. Rusty Frank (middle) and Army Sgt. Mitchell Ryan 

(bottom)

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
43 44

2020

July

After 106 days of maximum telework, DPAA began Phase 1 of its “Return 

to Work” Plan in early July. This enabled those whose duties could be 

better performed in the office to return, and they did so after the Agency 

implemented extensive health and safety protocols to keep everyone safe. 

Disinterment operations, the first since March, resumed with 16 Unknowns 

killed during Operation TIDAL WAVE, who were repatriated from Ardennes 

American Cemetery and Memorial in Belgium. The Republic of Malta also 

turned over remains recovered by a DPAA partner, the University of Malta, 

in an underwater mission. With DPAA teams unable to enter Vietnam due 

to COVID-19 restrictions, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam unilaterally 

conducted three recovery missions. At the same time, investigation and 

recovery missions were canceled in Hungary, the Lao People’s Democratic 

Republic, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Russian Federation, and 

the Republic of Austria.

Opposite page: A team of military and civilian specialists from DPAA’s 

partner, the Vietnam Office for Seeking Missing Persons, work together 

on a recovery site in the mountains of Quang Binh Province during the 

139th Joint Field Activity (JFA) in search of the remains of a U.S. service 

member lost during the Vietnam War. This JFA was the first time in three 

decades of close cooperation that three Vietnamese Recovery Teams 

deployed simultaneously in support of this humanitarian endeavor. This 

year marked the 25th anniversary of the U.S.-Vietnam bilateral relations, 

which was preceded by 10 years of JFAs that were accomplished only with 

the help of the government and people of Vietnam. 

Photo courtesy of the Vietnam Office For Seeking Missing Persons

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
45 46

Just as a plane can’t fly without fuel, an agency like DPAA can’t operate without resources. People and 

equipment are are what first comes to mind, but they’re like the pilot and engines of the plane. The fuel is 

money, and at DPAA, the manager of that money is the Comptroller Office.

“The Comptroller is the agency Chief Financial Officer and responsible for all aspects of the [DoD] 

resource and financial management process as it applies to DPAA,” said David Kalis, DPAA’s Comptroller. 

“The Department uses a process called PPBE - short for Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution. 

I lead a team of dedicated financial management analysts and accountants to manage all financial resources 

from planning to appropriation, execution to accounting.”

Kalis and his team are the link between the agency and the DoD resources, processes, and systems.

“Success within complex Department processes results in the personnel and financial resources necessary 

for DPAA to account for the missing and communicate with families and other stakeholders,” said Kalis. 

“And we don’t do it alone. Comptroller requires close coordination from directorates throughout DPAA to 

support the entire agency.”

Like a plane where the fuel works with the engine and pilot to make it fly, the Comptroller team fuels the 

agency and its global mission.

“We perform a very different form of accounting, but one vital for the business functions for the agency, 

said Kalis. “Being good stewards is our responsibility to support our very important mission.”

DPAA SPOTLIGHT - Comptroller

U.S. Air Force Airmen from the 55th Wing, Offutt AFB, Nebraska, conduct an Honorable Carry 

for 28 possible missing Americans July 21. The remains consisted of 18 Unknowns disinterred 

from two American cemeteries in Europe, nine from previous DPAA organic and partner missions, 

and one set of remains from a unilateral transfer from the Royal Netherlands Army Recovery and 

Identification. This mission marked the first accession of remains to the Offutt lab since COVID-19 

restricted worldwide operations.

David Kalis, DPAA’s 

comptroller, keeps the 

money flowing from his The VNOSMP and DPAA held the 153rd Repatriation home work station.

Ceremony in Hanoi, Vietnam, July 16. The Honorable 

Daniel Kritenbrink, U.S. Ambassador to the Socialist 

Republic of Vietnam, and Le Chi Dzung, Director 

General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Americas 

Department, witnessed the signing over the one set of 

remains unilaterally recovered by a VNOSMP team 

and believed to be associated with a missing U.S. 

service member from the Vietnam War. Since 1985, 

727 Americans have been accounted for in Vietnam.

HONORABLE 

CARRY

Photo by Zachary

Hada, 55th Wing 

Public Affairs

153rd REPATRIATION CEREMONY IN HANOI

Photo courtesy of the Vietnam Office For Seeking Missing Persons DPAA Working From 

Home

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jonathan McElderry, a DPAA forensic photographer, took this photo of 

Soldiers assigned to the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, defending 

against opposing forces during training exercise Lightning Forge 20 on Kahuku Training Area, 

Hawaii, July 15. McElderry took part in the training to develop crucial skills in the field in order to 

remain ready to carry out his DPAA role once COVID-19 allowed for organic missions.

TRAINING 

WITH 25TH ID

Photo by Staff Sgt. 

Jonathan McElderry

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
47 48

2020

August

As COVID-19 prevented large gatherings of people, DPAA was forced 

to cancel the Korean War and Cold War Annual Government Briefings in 

Washington, D.C., which in recent years had been attended by over 500 

family members. Arlington National Cemetery funerals for our recently 

identified service members resumed this month with three funerals with 

full military honors. We partnered with the Henry M. Jackson Foundation 

for the Advancement of Military Medicine and Geoscope Archaeological 

Services to conduct field recovery work in the Federal Republic of Germany. 

The Agency also conducted 21 disinterments from Ardennes American 

Cemetery and Memorial in Belgium.

Opposite page: A Soldier from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old 

Guard) holds the POW/MIA Flag at “Present Arms” while an Old Guard 

bugler plays Taps at the Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, funeral 

of Army Cpl. Henry L. Phillips, who was captured and died as a POW 

during the Korean War, Aug. 7. Phillips had originally been buried as an 

Unknown at the NMCP in Honolulu, after his remains were recovered, but 

were unable to be identified, in 1954 duirng Operation GLORY. Phillips 

was identified in September 2019 as part of the Korean War Disinterment 

Project.

Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Sean Everette

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
49 50

Funerals for service members identified by DPAA resumed at Arlington National Cemetery 

in August. (Above) The casket for Army Pfc. Karl L. Dye, killed during the Korean War and 

identified as part of the KWIP, is loaded onto the caisson by Soldiers of the 3rd U.S. Infantry 

Regiment (The Old Guard), Aug. 20. (Below) Sisters Constance Gadd (left) and Judy Cottrell 

(right) say a final good-bye to their brother, Army Cpl. Ralph L. Cale, killed during the Korean 

War during his memorial ceremony, Aug. 14. Cpl. Phillips was identified from the remains turned 

over in the 55 boxes by North Korea in 2018.

GERMANY PARTNERSHIP 

MISSION

Photo courtesy of GEOSCOPE, Inc.

Archaeolgists with DPAA partners GEOSCOPE, Inc. and 

WWII Aviation Research record the dimensions of the possible 

impact crater of a World War II crash site in North RhineWestphalia, Germany. DPAA partners with more than 150 

organizations worldwide 

in an effort to fulfill our 

mission of accounting for 

the missing from the U.S.’s 

past conflicts.

U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Darius 

Banaji, DPAA’s Deputy 

Director for Operations, 

hosts a video teleconference with U.S. Ambassador Kritenbrink 

and his staff on Aug. 26 to prepare for the subsequent Annual 

Technical Talks with the VNOSMP. Undeterred by COVID-19 

impacts, DPAA conducted these talks virtually to advance 

DPAA’s mission to provide the fullest possible accounting to 

families of DoD personnel missing from the Vietnam War. 

VIETNAM TELECONFERENCE

Photo by Maj. Leah Ganoni

ARLINGTON 

NATIONAL 

CEMETERY 

FUNERALS

Photos by Lee Tucker 

(above) and Sgt. 1st Class 

Sean Everette (below)

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
51 52

2020

September

DPAA ended FY 2020 on a high note despite the wide-ranging and 

adverse impacts of COVID-19. The Agency hosted National POW/MIA 

Recognition Day ceremonies in Hawaii, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 

and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and helped to facilitate the 

ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The D.C. and Hawaii 

events were livestreamed online and viewed by more than 110,000 people. 

With support from the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Defence Force and PNG 

National Museum, the University of PNG, one of our partner organizations, 

conducted investigation missions in two northern provinces. DPAA 

institutionalized our cooperation with the Defense Intelligence Agency by 

signing a Memorandum of Understanding. 

Opposite page: A formation of UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters from the 12th 

Aviation Battalion out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, conducted a Missing Man 

flyover during the National POW/MIA Recognition Day Ceremony at the 

Pentagon in Washington, D.C., Sept. 18. Held on the third Friday of each 

September, the first National POW/MIA Recognition Day was in 1979, 

and has been observed every year since. This year ’s Pentagon ceremony 

was hosted by the Honorable David Norquist, the Deputy Secretary of 

Defense, with U.S. Air Force Gen. John Hyten, Vice Chairman of the Joint 

Chiefs of Staff, as the keynote speaker.

Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Sean Everette

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
53 54

Kelly McKeague, 

DPAA’s Director, 

and U.S. Army Lt. 

Gen. Robert Ashley, 

the Director of the 

Defense Intelligence 

Agency (DIA), sign 

a Memorandum 

of Understanding 

formalizing the 

cooperation between 

the two agencies at 

DIA headquarters in 

Washington, D.C. Sept. 

17. DIA has been an 

invaluable resource in 

DPAA’s mission over 

the years.

The ceremony in Hawaii 

was at the DPAA facility 

on Joint Base Pearl HarborHickam, Hawaii, Sept. 18. 

Allen Hoe, Civilian Aide to 

the Secretary of the Army 

and a Gold Star father, 

whose oldest son, Nainoa, 

was killed in action in Iraq 

in 2005, was the keynote 

speaker. Mr. Hoe, a 

longtime DPAA supporter, 

helped recover two of his 

lost Vietnam War comrades 

by accompanying a field 

investigation mission in 

2006.

The Honorable 

Peter Hammond, 

U.S. Ambassador 

to the Lao People’s 

Democratic 

Republic, spoke 

at ceremony 

hosted by DPAA 

Detachment 3 at 

the U.S. Embassy 

in Vientiane, Laos, 

Sept. 18. U.S. 

Embassy personnel 

and family 

members as well 

as Lao government 

officials attended 

the ceremony.

Russell Meadows, 

an Information 

Security/Network 

Operations 

Engineer in 

DPAA’s D.C. office, 

watches the Hawaii 

ceremony live 

from his home in 

Virginia. Both the 

Hawaii and D.C. 

ceremonies were 

livestreamed online 

since to compensate 

for the extremely 

limited physical 

attendance because 

of COVID-19 

safety precautions.

NATIONAL POW/MIA 

RECOGNITION DAY IN 

HAWAII

Photo by Sgt. Jacqueline A. Clifford

NATIONAL 

POW/MIA 

RECOGNITION 

DAY IN LAOS

Photo by Phonesavanh 

Sangsomboun, U.S. Embassy

DPAA-DIA 

MEMORANDUM OF 

UNDERSTANDING

Photo by Myles Scrinopskie,

DIA Public Affairs

NATIONAL 

POW/MIA 

RECOGNITION 

DAY VIRTUALLY

Photo by Erin Haslinger

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise
DPAA Leadership

Kelly McKeague - Director 

Fern Sumpter Winbush - Principal Deputy Director

U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Darius Banaji - Deputy Director for Operations

U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Kerrick Loyd - Senior Enlisted Leader

Year in Review Editorial and Design Staff

Todd Livick - Outreach and Communications Director

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Tamara Fischer-Carter - Public Affairs Division Chief

Lee Tucker - Public Affairs Specialist

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Sean Everette - Public Affairs NCO

Web: www.dpaa.mil 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dodpaa 

Twitter: twitter.com/dodpaa

DVIDS: www.dvidshub.net/unit/DPAA

YouTube: https://youtu.be/FcSwcb57OGg

FOR YOUR

INFORMATION

Family members seeking more 

information about missing 

loved ones should call their

respective Service 

Casualty Office

U.S. Army

(800) 892-2490

U.S. Marine Corps

(800) 847-1597

U.S. Navy

(800) 443-9298

U.S. Air Force

(800) 531-5501

U.S. Coast Guard

(202) 795-6637

Central Intelligence Agency

(703) 874-4270

U.S. Department of State

(202) 485-6125

2021 Family Update Schedule*

Date Location

November 7 Little Rock, AR**

January 23 Miami, FL

February 20 Albuquerque, NM

March 20 Los Angeles, CA

March 22 Honolulu, HI

April 17 Boston, MA

May 22 Oklahoma City, OK

June 23-26 Arlington, VA***

August 5-6 Arlington, VA****

September 25 Chicago, IL

* Family Member Updates are tentative and 

subject to change.

** This will be a virtual Family Member Update.

***The Vietnam War Annual Government 

Briefings held in conjunction with the National 

League of POW/MIA Families Annual Meeting

**** The Korean and Cold War Annual 

Government Briefings