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DPAA Family/VSO Quarterly Call and Update Notes

Friday Oct 29, 2021, 2:00 PM EDT

‘Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise’

Summary: Keeping the families of our missing as well as veterans informed is a primary mission

of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency's (DPAA) mission. This update is intended to

provide an overview of efforts during the previous quarter to account for our missing.

Family Group/Veterans Service Organization Participants:

• Coalition of Families: Ms. Donna Knox

• Disabled American Veterans: Mr. Justin Hart/Mr. Vince Darcangelo

• Honor Release Return: Mr. Moe Moyer

• Korea-Cold War Families of the Missing: Ms. Sherra Basham

• Korean War POW/MIA Network: Mr. John Zimmerlee

• National League of POW/MIA Families: Mrs. Ann Mills Griffiths/RDML (Ret) Jon Kreitz

• Veterans of Foreign Wars: Mr. B.J. Lawrence

• Vietnam Veterans of America: Mr. Grant Coates

The agenda includes:

• Director’s Update (Mr. Kelly McKeague) 

• Deputy Director for Operations Update (RDML Darius Banaji)

• Operational Update (Indo-Pac Col Matt Brannen/Euro-Med COL Jon Lust)

• Partnerships and Innovations Update (Dr. Tom Holland)

• Scientific Analysis Update (Dr. Debra Zinni)

• Armed Forces Medical Examiner System (AFMES) Update (Dr. Tim McMahon)

• Outreach and Communications Update (Mr. Johnie Webb)

• Question & Answer

Director’s Update

Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Budget. The Congress passed and the President signed a 64-day continuing

resolution (CR), which funded the Federal government beginning October 1st through midnight,

December 3rd. Under the CR, we were allocated the proportion of our FY 2022 President’s Budget

request of $130.7 million (M). Of the four Defense Committees who have acted on their Defense

Bill, only the House Armed Services Committee had a program increase ($25M) for DPAA. 

COVID-19 Update. Like the rest of the world, the pandemic has continued to be disruptive. 

However, we adapted our methods and were able to pursue operational opportunities whenever they 

arose. Almost all of our personnel have been fully vaccinated, which has become a criterion for 
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partner nations allowing us entry. Here at home, we operate with a combination of in-office 

presence (about 25%) and teleworking and virtual meetings. All of this is in accord with Federal 

government policies and guidance, and adherence to health and safety protocols.

 

Support to VSO Conventions. On August 1, our Principal Deputy Director, Fern Sumpter 

Winbush, was in Tampa at the Disabled American Veterans and Auxiliary National Convention, 

where she addressed the POW/MIA Seminar. I spoke to the American Legion’s National Security 

Committee and the American Legion Auxiliary’s National Convention, which were in Phoenix, in 

late August. On September 14, I addressed the National Association of State Directors of Veterans 

Affairs in Remo, a first-time engagement for DPAA. Then on October 20, I provided remarks to 

the Special Operations Association Unreturned Heroes Memorial Breakfast, which was part of their 

National Convention in Las Vegas. And on October 27, I spoke at the Korean War Veterans 

Association’s Annual Meeting in Orlando. We appreciate these opportunities to connect and 

communicate with stakeholders whose support to our mission is critical.

First Overseas Trip. In mid-November, I have my first overseas trip in two years. I will first 

speak at the American Cemetery in Tunis on Veterans Day and meet with Tunisian and U.S. 

officials. The stop in France will include a meeting with American Battle Monuments Commission 

(ABMC) officials and a visit to a partner recovery team. While in Germany, I will meet with 

officials at Army and Air Force component commands who support DPAA operations in Europe. 

Key Personnel Announcements. In every organization, personnel transition is inevitable. George 

Gagne, who served as our Chief Information Officer for 13 years, including a year as Acting Chief of 

Staff, retired in September. After 5 years of leading our Outreach and Communications team, Todd 

Livick will retire from Federal Service next month. Johnie Webb will serve as the Acting Director 

and Mike Fowler will be the Acting Deputy. And at the end of December, Dr. Tom Holland will 

also be retiring from Federal service after a distinguished 29-year career. Lastly, in early November, 

we will welcome Army Sergeant Major Ronald Lee Gardner, an Armor Senior Sergeant, to serve as 

our Senior Enlisted Leader. 

Deputy Director for Operations (DDO) Update

Operations Outlook. As FY 2021 ended, we completed 51 DPAA and private partner Joint Field 

Activities (JFAs) in 31 countries. In aggregate, these 51 JFAs resulted in: our teams completing 17 

recovery and 17 investigative missions; the Vietnamese Office for Seeking Missing Persons 

(VNOSMP) completing 11 recoveries and 3 investigations, while we were prevented entry due to 

COVID; and our private partners completing 14 recovery and 12 investigative missions. This 

tremendous success was as result of extensive coordination and collaboration with our U.S.

Embassies and partner nation counterparts. We remained vigilant in applying our force health 

protection measures, before, during, and after missions, to ensure the safety of our teams and host 

nation personnel. We remain just as optimistic for field missions in FY 2022. Three of our Staff 

Directors will highlight recent and upcoming missions across 16 countries. 

Agency Disinterment Program. Disinterments of Unknowns represent a large portion of 

identifications currently made by DPAA. These cases are central to establishing our ability to 

conduct future recoveries for field losses associated with World War II and the Korean War. Each 
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Unknown currently interred in a Veterans Affairs (VA) or ABMC cemetery represents a field 

recovery after the respective war, which unfortunately did not result in an identification. With our 

expanded access to historical records as well as more advanced forensic identification methods, we 

dedicate World War II and the Korean War disinterment efforts to resolving the X-file cases as they 

not only increase our understanding of the historical records, but also provide answers to families 

and fulfill our Nation's promise for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. 

Artifact Exchange. On July 19, Secretary of Defense Austin participated in an artifact exchange 

with Vietnamese Defense Minister Giang. The Secretary provided pictures of a mass burial site in 

central Vietnam and the Vietnamese provided a pilot’s checklist, identification card, evasion map, 

and a “blood chit” with the unique identifier of an US Air Force F-4 pilot. Credit goes to the 

Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) who encouraged their members to turn in war artifacts, which are 

useful and appreciated by the Vietnamese. 

Key Leader Engagements. In the last three months, among the many senior leaders we hosted 

were: Republic of Korea’s (ROK) Minister of Defense Suh; Senator Sullivan of Alaska; 

Ambassador McFeeters, U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia; both the Commander and Deputy 

Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Aquilino and LtGen Sklenka; and GEN 

Yamazaki, Chief of Staff, Japan at our Hawaii facility. Similarly, in Nebraska, we hosted the 

Military Liaison Assistant to Senator Fischer of Nebraska. These visits afford us the opportunity to 

highlight our personnel and mission, and visitors gain a richer understanding of our worldwide 

efforts.

Consultations/Technical Talks. Despite COVID-19, for the second year in a row, we conducted 

virtual consultative talks with our counterparts in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Our virtual talks 

with the Cambodian POW/MIA Committee were held in August; in September, with the VNOSMP; 

and just yesterday, October 28, with the Lao POW/MIA Team. In addition to our partner nation 

counterpart leaders, present were U.S. Embassy leaders, DPAA Detachment personnel, and Defense 

Intelligence Agency (DIA)-Stony Beach representatives. These discussions primarily focused on 

summarizing FY 2021 field missions, reviewed COVID-19 mitigation measures, and finalized FY

2022 field missions. All three sessions were extremely productive and built on our already strong 

partnerships. 

Joint Repatriation Ceremony. On September 22, DPAA hosted the first-ever, Joint Repatriation 

Ceremony between the U.S. and the RoK at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam. The purpose of the 

ceremony was to transfer the remains and commemorate the service of 68 fallen South Koreans and 

6 believed-to-be U.S. Service members who fought during the Korean War. The remains were 

analyzed jointly by the DPAA Laboratory and scientists with the ROK Ministry of National 

Defense Agency for KIA Recovery and Identification (MAKRI). The keynote speakers were His 

Excellency, President Moon and Admiral Aquilino. This ceremony was a testament to DPAA’s 

longstanding partnership with MAKRI and the ROK.

New Indo-Pacific Deputy Director. Lastly, I want to extend a warm welcome to Christopher 

Phelps, who has taken the reins as the Indo-Pacific Regional Deputy Director. Chris comes to us 

with nearly 23 years of dedicated uniform, private sector, and civil service experience. He recently 

served as the U.S. Africa Command Assistant Deputy J5, where he oversaw all their security 
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cooperation activities. He brings a wealth of operational and staff experience, to include serving at 

the Joint Center for International Security Force Assistance at Fort Leavenworth, KS. 

Operational Update

Indo-Pacific (IP) Region

Field Operations. Over the last quarter, we accomplished three JFAs in the ROK, Laos, and 

Vietnam. An investigation team (IT) returned from the ROK and nominated trench lines near Hill 

111 in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) for excavation after further demining was completed. DPAA 

returns to South Korea in November with an IT whose purpose is to set conditions for future FY

2022 excavation activities. In Laos, two recovery teams (RTs) and an investigation effort with the 

DIA-Stony Beach completed their purposed efforts. In Vietnam, a VNOSMP-led JFA included 

excavation of three sites, a Last Known Alive investigation, and a Joint Forensics Review (JFR). 

The JFR was the 137th of its kind, evaluated ten sets of remains, and approved the repatriation of 

four sets of remains and additional material evidence to the DPAA Laboratory for further analysis. 

The four sets of remains came from a unilateral turnover, two Vietnamese RTs, and a Joint RT. 

Continued lack of access in Oceania led to the deferment of multiple missions in the Solomon 

Islands, but we remain hopeful about returning in FY 2022. In mid-October, IP deployed two RTs 

and 2 ITs teams to Vietnam and three RTs to Laos. Additionally, current Vietnam unilateral 

activities include two RTs and an IT. 

Research and Analysis. In July, we conducted an in-person Vietnam War Case Coordination 

Conference and virtual Korean and Cold War Case Coordination Conference. Together, these 

conferences coordinated the "next steps" for 730 cases. Additionally, we conducted 62 case 

summary review virtual meetings during the September Vietnam War Government Briefings. 

Despite limited access, our historians were able to visit document repositories in Virginia, West 

Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and California, acquiring new documents and sources to aid future World 

War II (WWII) case development. Finally, the Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) provided 

substantial spatial data services and map products supporting this research and field activities.

Disinterment Operations. We wrapped up Phase Three of the Korean War Identification Project 

(KWIP) with 22 disinterments from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP) in 

Honolulu in September 2021. We met the Agency's disinterment goal for FY 2021, with 223 

Unknowns disinterred: 121 from the NMCP and 102 from Manila American Cemetery and 

Memorial (MACM).

Planned Field Operations. During the first and second quarters of FY 2022, IP plans to execute 

three ITs in India, an RT in Thailand, three RTs and an IT in Laos, a small IT in Kirabati, two 

VNOSMP RTs and one IT in Vietnam, and an underwater RT to Papua New Guinea. We also plan 

to conduct a staff engagement during the second week of November with our MAKRI counterparts 

and the United Nations Command.

Planned Disinterments. After completing Phase Three of the KWIP, disinterment of WWII 

Unknowns from the Myitkyina-47 Project began at the end of September and continue throughout 

the 1st quarter before transitioning to Phase Four of the KWIP at the end of January 2022. Despite 
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significant COVID-19 restrictions in Manila, we will begin our planned FY 2022 disinterment 

operations of WWII Unknowns from MACM in November. We are on track to achieve the 

Agency's goal of disinterring 200 Unknowns in FY 2022: 100 from NMCP and 100 from MACM.

Europe-Mediterranean (EM) Region 

Field Operations. While organic field operations in our area have most likely concluded as the 

weather turns unfavorable until late spring, we will launch an RT to Sicily on October 31. Among an 

extremely productive last quarter, we completed our third recovery mission for the year in Germany, 

and with the outstanding support of the Lithuanian government, were able to conduct an 

unscheduled field forensic review associated with missing Americans from the Stalag VI POW

Camp. Additionally, a recovery mission in Austria already resulted in the successful identification 

of Army Air Forces Lt Mitchell and provided answers to his surviving 90-year-old brother. We 

also completed investigation missions in Germany and Poland, Great Britain, Italy, as well as 

Luxembourg and Belgium, which have already produced actionable leads to progress cases and 

allow future field operations. Finally, an IT is now on site in Panama, on behalf of the U.S. Navy, 

to continue investigating the crash site of an A-6 lost during a training mission in 1985.

Planned Field Operations. As we look to the new FY, conditions for entry in our region remain 

favorable to continue field operations once the weather conditions in Europe allow. We just 

completed our internal planning synchronization and are on track to execute two field recoveries 

and multiple investigation missions over the next 12 months.

Disinterment Operations. We completed 88 disinterments in FY 2021, exceeding our goal of 85,

due to outstanding support from the ABMC and a lot of hard work by the entire DPAA team. While 

the majority of our disinterments have focused on field losses recovered by the American Graves 

Registration Command (AGRC) after the Battle of Hurtgen Forest, we have been able to increase 

efforts into losses from the Battle of the Bulge, the Anzio landings in Italy, the initial phase of 

Operation OVERLORD, and the Stalag IIA POW Camp as our research has broadened and 

deepened over the last six years. Additionally, we will coordinate our initial FY 2022 disinterment 

plan with ABMC in December and look forward to resuming these critical activities in March 2022 

as they are truly foundational to enabling future field operations. Finally, with the assistance of the 

Department of State, we are hopeful the agreement with the Government of Tunisia to conduct 

disinterments at the North Africa American Cemetery in 2022 is near completion. 

General Research Activities. While our access to conduct research at the National Archives and 

Records Administration (NARA) facility in College Park, MD, continues, COVID-19 conditions 

have not progressed enough for them to resume shipment of imagery records stored in Kansas. 

While this does not currently impact our planned missions for FY 2022, we continue to talk with 

NARA leadership to fully resume the range of research activities critical for us and the families of 

the missing. 

US–Russia Joint Commission (USRJC). The Russian Side of the commission was essential to 

gaining formal recognition by the Russian government that our research contract was not a target of 

recent Russian Presidential decrees. If we had not obtained that statement, our research activities in 

the Russian Ministry of Defense Archives would have stopped in September and may not have 
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resumed for several years. Additionally, the U.S. Chairman conducted a phone call with his 

Russian counterpart this month to maintain support for executing Technical Talks, the 23rd Plenum, 

and Hospital 404 recovery as well as a WWII B-24 investigation as soon, as COVID-19 conditions 

in Russia allow. Finally, while I am sad to announce the departure of Rich Lyda as US Side 

Executive Secretary for the USRJC, I can assure you the EM Team and DPAA will maintain 

support to the USRJC until we can hire his replacement.

Partnerships and Innovations (PI) 

During the last quarter, the PI Directorate oversaw 17 field missions and initiated or completed 47 

separate research projects. The field missions included terrestrial recoveries in Germany, Croatia, 

Italy, France, Austria, and Poland, and underwater recoveries or investigations in Denmark, Palau, 

Italy, France, the Marshall Islands, and Australia. Potentially identifiable remains were found at a 

number of these. And at the Palau site, we had what may be a first. The President of Palau and the 

U.S. Ambassador to Palau put on SCUBA tanks and dove with the team. During this same period, 

we also executed 15 Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) to initiate or renew an existing partner, 

and negotiated and drafted 31 others. Currently, we have 120 existing or developing partnerships 

and an additional 58 that are being negotiated. Some of the notable new partners are Colorado State 

University, the University of Wyoming, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and the Korean War 

Legacy Foundation.

Since the start of the new FY, we have launched two field missions and they are ongoing at this 

time. One is being done in Germany by Cranfield University (England), and the other in France by 

a group called Geoscope (an archaeological company based in England). We also are prepping five 

more missions to Papua New Guinea, India, and Australia, using Scripps Institution of 

Oceanography, Portland State University, the University of Nebraska, and the University of Papua 

New Guinea. We have initiated, or are continuing, 48 research projects with our military history 

partners, which include The Ohio State University, the University of Wisconsin, Temple University, 

and Texas A&M University. And we have finalized 8 additional MOUs (and have 3 more being 

drafted) and have established a new Cooperative Agreement with Florida State University.

On a personal note, it is with some sadness that I note that this will be my last update. I will retire 

at the end of December, and in January, I will take over as Director of the Forensic Institute for 

Research and Education at Middle Tennessee State University. It will be a seismic shift in my life. 

This mission has defined my professional existence for three decades, and I will miss it, and the 

people associated with it, dearly. 

Scientific Analysis (SA) Update

Our Laboratory System continued its balanced lab work/telework plan to maintain progress on 

identifications while mitigating risks due to COVID-19. We closed out FY 2021 ahead of the FY

2020 mark and are positioned to do as well or better in FY 2022. SA closed out FY 2021 with 142 

newly accounted-for service members and 211 Additional Portions Reports. Furthermore, our field 

recovery missions along with our disinterments resulted in 364 sets of osseous materials 

accessioned into our labs in FY 2021
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The USS Oklahoma Identification Project is closing out. The project commenced in the summer of 

2015 with the disinterment of 13,000 highly commingled bones. Remarkably, by the end of FY 

2021, 354 Sailors and Marines, who had been buried as Unknowns had been accounted for, which 

is over 90% of all missing from this ship. This total Agency effort was facilitated through 

coordination with the Navy and their final push for Family Reference Samples (FRS). The group 

remains will be interred at the NMCP on the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

SA began to receive and action exhumations on the 47 remaining Unknowns from the Battle of 

Myitkyina, Burma. These remains represent the newest project for the Laboratory. Skeletal 

inventory and analyses are underway using the custom-built Commingled Remains Analytics 

(CoRA) database. 

The fourth quarter of FY21 included a major software update to our Laboratory Information 

Management System. The new features have been tested by a small team of staff, and we expect 

full release into production by the first quarter of FY 2022. This system has fully modernized our 

approach to analysis and documentation but has required considerable efforts to design and correct 

the system as we are using it.

SA continues its investment in the forensic applications of isotope analyses. In addition to the 

impact for DPAA work, there is significant interest from the larger forensics community. The 

laboratory’s collaborative work with Agency partners on this effort was recently highlighted by the 

American Academy of Forensic Sciences President’s Spotlight article that discussed the latest 

research and improvements within the discipline. 

The American Board of Forensic Anthropology announced the most recent forensic anthropologists 

to earn Diplomate status and three SA staff - Dr. Larkin Kennedy, Dr. Veronica Keyes, and Dr. 

Katie Rubin were among them. This is the highest level of professional achievement for forensic 

anthropologists. Today, there are 22 Diplomates working for DPAA, which is 20% of all active 

Diplomates worldwide.

FY 2021 Identifications

Total IDs = 142 newly-accounted-for

WWII = 127 newly-accounted-for

Korean War = 14

Vietnam War= 1

(Additional Portion IDs) = 211

FY 2022 Identifications 

Total IDs = 43 newly-accounted-for

WWII = 41 newly-accounted-for

Korean War = 2
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AFMES-AFDIL Update

FY 2021 Year in Review.

FY 2021 FY 2020

DNA Tests Total % Success Total % Success

mtDNA 1,096 87% 1,814 93%

auSTR 797 68% 1,109 80%

YSTR 492 60% 707 70%

NGS 908 70% 693 68%

DNA Believed-to-be Report 1,241 1,240

First-time named DNA report 141 145

Additional Portions 1,100 1,095

FY 2021 saw a reduction in total number of DNA analyses performed (3,296 vs 4,323). This was 

due to supply delays associated with COVID-19. The laboratory uses many of the same 

consumables as the COVID testing laboratories. DNA testing resulted in 141 first-time named 

DNA Reports, which have or will support new identifications. It is worth noting that DNA 

Comparison Reports are written through the end of the FY and may be used to support 

identifications in the next FY and that DNA may not be needed for every new identification. 

Success rates for all testing remain high and will vary by year based on samples received. 

Budget. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of Congressman Chris Pappas and others who were 

instrumental in getting a $4M program increase for AFMES-AFDIL included in the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act 2021. The $4M was single-year money and was used for the purchase of 

reagents and new instruments supporting the past accounting mission. AFMES-AFDIL executed 

99.9% of the Past Accounting Section’s $22M budget ($18.1M baseline and $4M program 

increase).

Other Notables. In June, we completed a 5-year DoD-funded project to develop a nuclear Single 

Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) test and software to work with DPAA samples. This testing 

method is similar to what is being used to solve cold cases but developed specifically for highly 

degraded and chemically-treated samples. The process is currently undergoing the extensive 

validation process. It will utilize all existing FRSs. 

AFMES-AFDIL was awarded a National Institute of Justice Grant to increase forensic whole 

mtDNA genome database and to study maternal family and non-maternal related individuals with 

common mtDNA sequence to see about establishing a discrimination calling threshold.

Worked with the Max Plank Institute to assess their ancient DNA extraction protocol and modified 

and optimized it for DPAA samples. Validation is complete and in review. This will allow us to 

capture more DNA.
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Outreach and Communications 

Korean/Cold War Annual Meeting. We hosted the Annual Korea/Cold War Government 

Briefings August 5-6 as a virtual event due to COVID-19 conditions which prevented the scheduled 

in-person briefing. There were 524 families representing 308 cases, of which 16 families 

represented 10 Cold War losses, who participated. DPAA analysts provided 47 Case Summary 

Reviews via Zoom to the families. The briefings were viewed over 4,000 times online.

Vietnam War Annual Meeting. September 15-16, we hosted the Southeast Asia Government 

Briefing in conjunction with the 51st National League of Families’ Annual Meeting as a virtual event 

due to COVID-19 conditions. There were 178 families representing 116 losses who participated. 

DPAA analysts provided 44 Case Summary Family Reviews via Zoom to the families. Additionally, 

4,000 online views were generated. 

Family Member Updates (FMU) Postponed. Current DoD health and safety restrictions still limit 

our ability to conduct large gatherings, including FMUs in Chicago and Norfolk, which were 

respectively scheduled for October 23 and November 21. Because attendance at both FMUs was 

expected to be high, we rescheduled them for next FY rather than conducting them virtually. Our 

next FMU is scheduled for Miami in January 2022, and we hope it will be our first in-person update 

in almost two years.

News Releases. The Public Affairs teams released 88 accounting releases, 8 articles, and more than 

350 photos and videos. Among the latter was a virtual tour of our laboratory which was viewed 

nearly 10,000 times in less than a week and our videos of National POW/MIA Recognition Day. 

One of the stories written was shared by Secretary of Defense Austin on his Twitter account. In 

addition, DoD Public Affairs launched an experience page on Defense.gov entitled, “Not Forgotten”, 

which is beautifully compiled: https://www.defense.gov/Multimedia/Experience/POW-MIA/

National POW/MIA Recognition Day Ceremonies. The DPAA Hawaii ceremony drew 5,500

viewers online while the Pentagon ceremony was viewed by 12,000 online. Each of our three 

detachments in Southeast Asia hosted a ceremony at the respective US Embassy. 

News Articles of Note. More than 334,000 articles mentioned DPAA over the last quarter. Most 

dealt with identification announcements and interviews with families, but other highlights include 

Yahoo and International coverage of the first Joint Repatriation Ceremony; and Army Chaplain 

Kapaun’s Funeral which generated an audience of 70 million, including a series of articles called 

“Finding Father Kapaun” in the Wichita Eagle that will be part of a documentary debuting in 

November. Finally, the first weekend in October, DPAA was featured as the “Power Player of the 

Week” on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, which aired on Fox stations across the country and 

Fox News. 

National Geographic highlighted the work of our partners at AVAR in a fascinating piece in 

September. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/veterans-dug-up-a-wwii-bomber-inhopes-of-finding-peace
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Also, the New York Times featured a piece on the first non-governmental partnership mission in 

Vietnam that led to an identification of a missing Air Force Major. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/01/world/asia/pentagon-robots-vietnam-war-dead.html

Questions & Answers

DAV: Thank you and appreciate the information today.

VFW: Great briefing, no questions. Thank you.

VVA: Very good report, thank you.

Coalition of Families: Thank you for the work you do and continuous outreach. I have four 

questions. For the USRJC, I asked about the seven archival repositories and have not received a 

response? Answer: Unfortunately, your questions concerning our access to specific Russian 

archives was submitted to the Rich Lyda just prior to his departure from DPAA. We now have your 

request and are working on a detailed response to send directly to you. 

When is the next meeting with PLA-Archives? Answer: There are two planned engagements in FY 

2022 currently being discussed with the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense (Policy) 

[OUSD(P)], so details of those engagements are pre-decisional at this time. DPAA Policy and Plans 

along the IP Directorate will finalize the first contact proposal the first week of November and 

submit it to OUSD(P) for approval. While our planned engagements with PLA-Archives are based 

upon the Base Arrangement signed in February 2008 and the most recent technical arrangement 

signed in June 2015, we will be drafting an update to the technical agreement. 

How many IDs from KWIP Phase 1-3 and K-55? Answer: For KWIP Phases 1 and 2, 14 

identifications have been made (Chaplain Kapaun was from Phase 2) and no identifications have 

been made yet for Phase 3. For the 55 boxes North Korea turned over in July 2018, 78

identifications have been made. We are estimating there are approximately a little over 80 U.S. 

Service members still represented in the K-55.

When might we get into DPRK? Answer: Regrettably, the last communications DPAA had with 

the North Korean Army on the repatriation and recovery of remains from the Korean War was in 

March 2019. The Biden Administration has reached out to various levels of the DPRK government 

to open general dialogue, but none of those overtures have resulted in any response. Like previous 

Administrations, they recognize the humanitarian nature of the POW/MIA issue can serve as a 

bridge to build confidence and help normalize relations, as proven with Vietnam, but it requires 

DPRK to cooperate, which has proven to be elusive.

Honor Release Return: No questions --- gratitude and thank you to Dr. Tom Holland for your 

dedicated service.
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Korea/Cold War Families of the Missing: Best wishes to Dr. Holland and Mr. Livick. Any update 

on DoD releasing the names on the memorial wall? Answer: The four Services are finalizing their 

respective validation of names of the Korean War Memorial Wall of Remembrance. A couple of 

them are complete with the others expected to finish in the next two weeks. DoD will then provide 

the final list to the Foundation. 

National League of Families: Provide an update on the Vietnam War Project in the meeting notes. 

Answer: The Vietnam War Identification Project (VWIP) began at the onset of FY 2021 with 

Dr. Nicolette Parr as the Project Lead. However, cases processed and analyzed through the 

laboratory date back to the early 1970s. To date, nearly 1,300 identifications associated with the 

Vietnam War have been made; 1,584 Service members are still unaccounted-for from the war. There 

are approximately 170 Vietnam War-related accessions in the laboratory believed to contain possible 

human remains. Many of these accessions are very small fragments of bone which are highly 

degraded and in previous years did not support DNA testing or produced inconclusive results when 

tested. However, approximately 35 of these are still being pursued as having potential to be the 

remains of unaccounted-for Americans. The primary goal of the VWIP is to review these accessions 

in light of new technological advances with DNA and isotope testing to lead towards case resolution. 

The VWIP will also review, analyze, and forensically test possible osseous remains from new 

accessions resulting from current excavations and unilateral turnovers. Approximately, 83% of the 

missing Service members for the Vietnam Conflict have at least one FRS on file for DNA 

comparisons and the laboratory is actively working to increase this coverage.