An official website of the United States government         Here's how you know         
**Official websites use .mil**
A **.mil** website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
**Secure .mil websites use HTTPS**
 A **lock (lock )** or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to main content (Press Enter).

Defense POW/MIA Accounting AgencyFulfilling Our Nation's Promise

Search
Search

Search

              - 
              - 
              - 

-  Home		 
-  Families		 
-  Our Missing    -  Searchable List of the Missing             
  -  Searchable Map of the Missing             
  -  Recently Accounted For             
  -  World War II      -  World War II Summary             
    -  Battle of Tarawa             
    -  Attack on Pearl Harbor 
  -  Korean War      -  Korean War Summary             
    -  Battle of Chosin Reservoir             
    -  Battle of Unsan             
    -  Korean Air Battles             
    -  The Inchon Campaign             
    -  The Pusan Perimeter             
    -  The DMZ Campaigns             
    -  Korean War Disinterments             
    -  Operation Glory             
    -  POW Camps 
  -  Vietnam War      -  Vietnam War Summary             
    -  Vietnam War Identification Project             
    -  Tet Offensive             
    -  Battle of Khe Sanh             
    -  Mayaguez Incident             
    -  Battle of Ia Drang             
    -  Lam Son 
  -  Cold War             
  -  Gulf Wars & Libya             
  -  Unknowns 
-  News & Stories    -  Our Stories             
  -  Press Releases             
  -  DPAA In The News             
  -  Year In Review 
-  Multimedia    -  Livestreams             
  -  Podcast             
  -  Briefing Videos             
  -  Science Videos             
  -  DPAA Laboratory             
  -  Media Gallery 
-  Resources    -  FAQs             
  -  AFMES DNA Laboratory             
  -  Publicly Released Documents             
  -  Family/VSO Update Notes             
  -  Family Member Guide             
  -  POW/MIA Day Toolkit             
  -  USRJC 
-  About    -  Leadership             
  -  Vision-Mission-Values             
  -  DPAA Organizational Chart 
-  Contact    -  Contact Us             
  -  Join Us      -  Careers 
  -  Report a Site             
  -  Donate to the Mission 
-  Volunteer		 

## News Release

# Missing Vietnam War Airman Identified (Palmer)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office 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.

Air Force Col. Gilbert S. Palmer Jr., 37, of Upper Darby, Pa., will be buried Nov. 1, inArlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. On Feb. 27, 1968, Palmer and one othercrew member were carrying out photo-reconnaissance of enemy targets in Quang Binh, NorthVietnam, in their RF-4C aircraft. After losing radio communication, Palmer’s plane crashed in anunknown location and could not be located during search efforts at the time.

In 1999, a U.S./Lao People’s Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.) recovery team, led by theJoint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), was taken by a local villager to a crash site inSavannakhet Province, near the Vietnamese border. Aircraft wreckage from an RF-4reconnaissance aircraft was found. Additional investigations of the crash site, between 2001 and2010, recovered human remains and military equipment specific to Palmer’s aircraft.

In addition to forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from theJPAC, and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used mitochondrial DNA – whichmatched that of Palmer’s brother – in the identification of the remains.

More than 1,600 Americans remain missing from the Vietnam War. More than 900servicemen have been accounted for from that conflict, and returned to their families for burialwith military honors since 1973. The U.S. government continues to work closely with thegovernments of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia to recover all Americans lost in the conflict.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missingAmericans, call (703) 699-1169 or visit the DPMO Web site at www.dtic.mil/dpmo.

**                    SHARE                

**                    PRINT