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Defense POW/MIA Accounting AgencyFulfilling Our Nation's Promise

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## News Release

# Airmen Missing From Vietnam War Identified (Christiano, Jeffords, Eilers, Colwell, Hassenger, Thornton)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced todaythat the remains of six U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, were recentlyidentified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

Air Force Col. Joseph Christiano, 43, of Rochester, N.Y.; Col. Derrell B. Jeffords, 40, ofFlorence, S.C.; Lt. Col. Dennis L. Eilers, 27, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Chief Master Sgt. William K.Colwell, 44, Glen Cove, N.Y.; Chief Master Sgt. Arden K. Hassenger, 32, of Lebanon, Ore.; andChief Master Sgt. Larry C. Thornton, 33, Idaho Falls, Idaho, will be buried as a group July 9, in asingle casket representing the entire crew, in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.On Dec. 24, 1965, the crew was aboard an AC-47D aircraft nicknamed “Spooky” that failed toreturn from a combat strike mission in southern Laos. After a “mayday” signal was sent, allcontact was lost with the crew. Following the crash, two days of search efforts for the aircraft andcrew were unsuccessful.

In 1995, a joint U.S./Lao People’s Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.) team investigated acrash in Savannakhet Province, Laos. Local villagers recalled seeing a two-propeller aircraft,similar to an AC-47D, crash in December 1965. A local man found aircraft wreckage in a nearbyfield while farming, and led the team to that location. The team recovered small pieces of aircraftwreckage at that time and recommended further investigative visits.

Joint U.S./L.P.D.R. investigation and recovery teams re-visited the site four times from1999 to 2001. They conducted additional interviews with locals, recovered military equipment,and began an excavation. No human remains were recovered, so the excavation was suspendedpending additional investigation.

In 2010, joint U.S./L.P.D.R. recovery teams again excavated the crash site. The teamrecovered human remains, personal items, and military equipment. Three additional excavationsin 2011 recovered additional human remains and evidence.

Scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command used dental records andcircumstantial evidence in the identification of their remains.

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) 699-1420.

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