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Defense POW/MIA Accounting AgencyFulfilling Our Nation's Promise

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## News Release

# Navy Pilot Missing In Action From Vietnam War Identified (Egan)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) 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.

Navy Lt. Cmdr. William P. Egan, 35, of Denton, Texas, will be buried on July 16 inWebster, Texas. On April 29, 1966, Egan was killed after his A-1H Skyraider crashed as a resultof enemy ground fire during an attack on targets in Khammouan Province, Laos. His wingmanobserved the crash and immediately flew over the area but saw no sign of Egan.

Between 1994 and 1998, joint U.S.-Lao People’s Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.) teamsled by JPAC, analyzed leads, interviewed villagers, surveyed possible crash site locations andconducted excavations. During several joint field surveys, teams recovered crew-relatedequipment and aircraft wreckage—that directly correlated to Egan’s aircraft—but no humanremains. In late 2009, a Laotian farmer turned over bone fragments recovered from his field,approximately 10 meters from a joint excavation site.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPACand the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used mitochondrial DNA—which matched thatof Egan’s niece—in the identification of his remains.

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

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