The Quest

Ful illing ourN t ion’s Prom

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting 

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Richard Du

recovery non-commissioned officer temporarily 

assigned to the Defense POW/MIA Accoun

Agency (DPAA), helps to excavate a site whi

searching for the remains of a U.S. service member stil

considered missing-in-action from the Vietnam War, in 

Boualapha Province, Laos, Jan. 29, 2017. The mission of

DPAA is to provide the fullest possible accounting fo

our missing personnel to their families and the nation. 

(DPAA photo by Air Force Staff Sgt. Matthew J. 

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Francis Sangiamvo

linguist, screens soil with local villagers during 

excavation operations as part of DPAA’

mission in the Khammovan Province, Laos,

Jan. 27, 2017. The Recovery Team executed

excavation operations in search of two 

missing U.S. Air Force pilots who crash

while on a visual reconnaissance mission 

during the Vietnam War more than 48 

years ago. (DPAA photo by Air Force St

Sgt. Leah Ferrant

Winter/Spring 201
The Actin

Director’s Note

As we head into the summer season,I look forward to seeing many of you i

the coming weeks and months—at FMU’s, your national conventions, annua

meetings, holiday events, and during my visits abroad.

I have been serving as the Acting Director for about a year now, and whil

the job has been rewarding,  am looking forward, like many of you, to the

hiring of a new director this summer. Despite the director vacancy, the men 

and women of DPAA continued to passionately pursue the fullest possibl

accounting, while also diligently working to make the organization better by 

tightening processes, codifying policy, and hiring against our vacancies so 

that the new director can hit the ground running. 

Since JanuaryI have had an active congressional season, meeting with numerous House and Senate Armed Services Committee staffers, as wel

personal Congressional staffers.  welcome their requests for updates on our

operations and greatly appreciate their collective support for our mission.

Likewise, many Veterans and Military Service Organizations have gone before Congress providing tremendous support

DPAA and advocacy for the accounting mission. Specifically, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vietnam Veterans of Ameria,  Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America and American Legions. Their testimonies are important to keeping this mission in the forefront of our nation’s elected o

We have also received support from the Secretary of Defense as he emphasized his budgetary priorities across the Department of Defense. The Secretary stressed the defense budget should focus on readiness and modernization and also kee

faith with our families. The department has put his guidance into action with the FY18 President’s Budget request of $131

for DPAA

With the approval of our Charter in January 2017 and a budget that supports our full operational capability, DPAA is on a soli

trajectory to navigate future challenges. With the authorities delegated by the Secretary of Defense, we will continue to follow U.S. and Department of Defense policies, especially with respect to country clearance and engagement and disinterme

policy. DPAA is committed to innovative and creative ways to solve some of our mission challenge  and use the full authorit

granted to us as a defense agency in pursuit of the fullest possible accounting.

In pursuit of the fullest possible accounting,I want to highlight two significant foreign engagements. First, the U.S.-Ru

Joint Commission met in late February in Moscow, and met during the week of June 19th engaging in Technical Talks for the

upcoming plenum this fall. Our Joint Commission Support Division has made steady progress, making detailed requests t

the Russians for assistance, and they have been very receptive. Additionally, our relationship continues to strengthen as w

provide information about their WWII losses. As a result of our maturing cooperation, they recently provided North Kor

maps we have been seeking for more than 20 years. Overall, our shared mission and vision continue to be realized.

Finally, in AprilI traveled to South Korea to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Ministry of National Defense Agenc

KIA (Killed in Action) Recovery and Identification (MAKRI). We appreciate the long standing cooperation and frien

have with MAKRI and celebrate this significant milestone for their country and citiz

As always, we are steadfastly committed to our mission, consistently displaying a determination that should comfort the

families of the missing and their advocates

~Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promis
Recently Accounted For

From December 15, 2016 through June 13, 2017

WW

Staff Sgt. Byron H. Nelson

Fireman 3rd Class Kenneth L. Holm,

Seaman 1st Class Harold R. Roesc

Seaman 2nd Class Floyd F. Clifford,

Seaman 1st Class Camillus M. O’Gra

Radioman 3rd Class Howard W. Bean,

Fire Controlman 2nd Class Donald R.

McCloud,

1st Lt. Francis J. Pitonyak, 

Coxwain Verne F. Knipp, 

Fireman 3rd Class Glaydon I.C. Iverso

Pvt. Gene J. Appleby

Mess Attendant 1st Class Ralph

Boudreaux, 

Cpl. Walter G. Critchley, 

Gunnery Sgt. Sidney A. Coo

Pfc. Larry Roberts,

Pfc. James O. Whitehurst, 

2nd Lt. Ernest Matthews

Mr. John D. Armstrong, civili

Mr. Maax C. Hammer, Jr., civili

Mr. Peter W. Atkinson, civili

1st Lt. William J. Gray,

2nd Lt. Charles E. Carlson,

2nd Lt. John D. Mumford,

Fireman 3rd Class Robert N. Walkowiak

Fireman 1st Class Michael Galajdik

Gunner’s Mate 1st Class Arthur 

Neuenschwander,

Fireman 1st Class William H. Kennedy, 

Storekeeper 2nd Class Glenn G. Cyriac

Seaman 2nd Class George T. Georg

Musician 1st Class Elliot D. Larse

Fire Controlman 3rd Class Robert L. Pribble

Fireman 1st Class Charles W. Thompson, 

Pvt. William D. Gruber, 

Steward’s Mate 1st Class Cyril I. Dusse

Seaman 1st Class Paul S. Raimon

Fireman 1st Class Lawrence H. Fecho,

Fireman 1st Class Walter B. Rogers,

1st Lt. Robert E. Oxfor

Fireman 1st Class Elmer T. Kerestes,

Fireman 1st Class Charles R. Casto,

Pvt. Donald S. Spayd,

Seaman 1st Class Monroe Temple

Pfc. Jack J. Fox, U

Pfc. Reece Gass

Seaman 1st Class George A. Cok

Seaman 1st Class George A. Cok

Machinist’s Mate 1st Class Fred M. Jone

1st Lt. Ewart T. Sconiers

Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class Don O. Neh

Ensign William M. Thompson

Technician 4th Grade John Kovach, Jr.,

Pvt. Harold S. Hirschi, 

2nd Lt. Harry H. Gaver, Jr.,

Seaman 1st Class. Milton R. Surra

2nd Lt. George S. Bussa

Pfc. Lonnie Eichelberger

Staff. Sgt. Michael Aiel

Pfc. Sam J. Kourkos, 

Cpl. Henry Andregg, Jr., 

1st Lt. George W. Betchley,

Pfc. George B. Murray,

Staff Sgt. Gerald L. Jacobs

Pvt. Archie W. Newell,

Pfc. Ray James, 

Korea

Sgt. 1st Class Eugene J. Colley

Cpl. Jules Hauterman, 

Cpl. Luis P. Torres,

Pfc. Thomas C. Stagg,

Pfc. Charles C. Follese, 

Sgt. Thomas E. Zimmer

Sgt. Edward Saunder

Sgt. James W. Sharp

Sgt. Donald D. Noehren

Cpl. Billie J. Jimerson, 

Sgt. Willie Rowe

Pfc. Manuel M. Quintana

Pfc. Robert E. Mitchel

Cpl. William R. Sadewasser

Cpl. Freddie L. Henson,

Sgt. 1st Class Richard G. Cushma

Pfc. Richard A. Luca

Cpl. Leslie R. Sutto

Pvt. Walter F. Piper, 

Cpl. Richard Seadore

Cpl. John Lane,

Cpl. Frank L. Sandoval

Cpl. Glen E. Kritzwiser

Cpl. Edward L. Borders

Pfc. Albert E. Atkin

Vietnam

1st Lt. William C. Ryan,

Capt. Robert R. Barnett,

Capt. Daniel W. Thomas, U

Cpl. Glyn Runnels, 

Capt. John A. House, 

LCpl. John D. Killen, II

Col. William Campbell, U

Capt. Joseph S. Smith,

Cmdr. Charles B. Goodwin,

Col. Roosevelt Hestle, Jr., 
The Repatriation o

Tarawa Marine

Tarawa is a historic place for 

the 2nd Marine Division. During

the island-hopping campaign 

of WWII many Marines live

were lost on the small atoll 

in the Pacific. Many of the

Marines who fell were never

recovered. The Defense POW

MIA Accounting Agency

been working tirelessly to 

bring these Marines home,

not only by doing recovery 

operations on the atoll, but by 

partnering with History Flight. 

The Agency has also begun

to disinter the remains of the 

men who were brought back to 

Hawaii and buried as unknowns 

at the National Memoria

Cemetery of the Pacific. DPAA’

forensic scientists at the skeletal 

identification laboratory, Joint Base 

Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, are 

working to analyze and identify 

these remains.
U.S. Marines, assigned to DPAA, c

a transfer case containing possible 

remains of an unidentified U.S

Marine during a repatriation

ceremony, Tarawa, Republic

of Kiribati, Feb. 10, 2017. The 

contents of the transfer cases 

will be examined by forensic 

scientists at DPAA’s skeleta

identification laboratory 

on Joint Base Pearl HarborHickam, Hawaii. (DPAA photo

by Marine Corps Cpl. Julian

Temblador)
Returnin

with honor

Members of

DPAA participate i

recovery operations as 

part of DPAA’s mission i

the Khammouane Province, 

Laos, Jan. 26, 2017. The Recover

Team executed excavation 

operations in search of two missing 

U.S. Air Force pilots who crashed while 

a visual reconnaissance mission during the 

Vietnam War more than 48 years ago. (DP

photos by Air Force Staff Sgt. Leah Ferra
Story by Staff Sgt. Leah Ferrante

KHAMMOUANE, Laos—With c

1,608 service members missing in 

action from the Vietnam War, (as of 

June 21, 2017), the Defense POW

MIA Accounting Agency 

deploys hundreds of service members, 

Department of Defense civilians and 

contractors all over the world in hopes 

of returning our nation’s fallen heroes. 

In February a team of 59 personnel

completed DPAA’s second La

mission of fiscal year 2017, covering 

the Central East region of Laos. Fro

rice paddies to mountainsides, the 

teams excavated thousands of square 

meters of land recovering important 

evidence relating to missing 

servicemen lost during the war. 

“I’m very honored to have been part

of this initiative to bring our missing 

home,” said U.S. Navy Petty Offi

1st Class Chris Walgenbach, recovery 

non-commissioned officer. “This 

mission has been the most unique 

part of my 13-year career in the 

military and  know others feel the

same way.”

Whether the recovery noncommissioned officer is setting up 

the sites, or the recovery leader is 

collecting scientific data, working 

together ensures nothing is 

overlooked and the safety of the team 

remains the number-one priority.

Due to the efforts of the teams, Lao

representatives handed over possible 

remains to the U.S. to be repatriate

and welcomed back on American

soil after 48 years. Upon arrival, the

possible remains were transported 

to DPAA’s laboratory for examinatio

and possible identification. 

“During this mission  have worked

alongside some of the greatest men 

and women I’ve had the pleasure of

meeting, and being chosen for the 

repatriation ceremony was a perfect 

way to end such a great mission,” said 

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Andrew Brod.

is truly an honor to be bringing closure 

to the families of our fallen service 

members.”

The hard work and continued 

dedication of these teams makes 

it possible for DPAA to fulfill ou

nation’s promise and provide fullest 

possible accounting for our missing 

service members to their families and 

the nation.
Major Renovati

Project Underway at

Honolulu Memoria

A traditional Hawaiian site blessing and

groundbreaking ceremony for the Courts of 

the Missing project at the Honolulu Memoria

within the National Memorial Cemetery of th

Pacific at Punchbowl occurred in December 

2016. (Image courtesy of the U.S. Army Co

of Engineers
HONOULU--  The Honolulu M

at the National Memorial Cemeter

of the Pacific is undergoing a major 

renovation, which began in 2014. 

The Italian Trani limestone panels at

the Courts of the Missing, containing

more than 25,000 names from World 

War I and the Korean War, will b

replaced and re-engraved. The original 

stone selected in the 1960s proved 

to be prone to staining, deteriorating 

the overall look of the memorial. 

The American Battle Monument

Commission (ABMC) committe

more than $10 million for this project, 

which included a year-long study to 

identify an appropriate stone of similar 

appearance, but higher quality and 

design, and an improved mounting 

system. The stone selected is a 

Portuguese limestone. The work on the 

eight Courts of the Missing is expected

to be completed in 2018.  

The Courts of the Missing at the

Honolulu Memorial honor those

Americans who went missing in action,

or were lost or buried at sea in the 

Pacific during World War II, the Korea

War or the Vietnam War. The Honolulu 

Memorial includes only a portion of

the names from World War I who wer

lost in the Pacific—more than 36,000 

names are engraved on the Walls of the 

Missing at Manila American Cemete

in the Philippines.  The Courts of the 

Missing for the Vietnam War, which

were added in the 1980s, are in fair 

condition, of a different stone and 

unnecessary to replace at the current 

time.

The Army Corps of Engineers i

leading the site management of the 

project, which includes construction 

work by IRA Image Construc

LLC, and architectural desig

and historic preservation by Fung 

Associates, Inc.  The memorial i

located within the National Memoria

Cemetery of the Pacific, which is 

operated by the National Cemetery

Administration (NCA), an agen

within the Department of Veterans 

Affairs. The cemetery will remain open

and accessible to the public with 

normal operating hours. 

During the work, portions of the 

Courts of the Missing will not be

accessible to the public due to 

safety concerns. The majority of 

the monument itself will be open 

including all map pavilions, the 

chapel, the upper terrace, the Vietnam 

Courts of Missing and the public

restrooms.  If you are planning a visit

to honor someone commemorated 

in the Courts of the Missing, please

contact Tim Nosal at 703-696-6789 for

the most up-to-date information.

Story By Sarah Hermann, 
WASHINGTON, .C.--  Margot 

Delogne was just two years old when her 

dad was lost in the Vietnam War. She has

no memories of him, only stories, home 

videos, audio letters and pictures her 

mom kept as precious keepsakes. Carlson 

Delogne grew up in an age where it was 

common to hold onto hatred toward the 

Vietnamese, but, as she grew older, she realized there was another side of the story 

to be told. 

“IfI was going to have any lasting peace

was going to need to meet the other side, 

the sons and daughters.”

Carlson Delogne understood the 

other side of the story involved 

meeting the children who lost 

their fathers fighting American troops during the war.

While they are no longer 

children, they all share a 

common ache- the loss 

of a loved one during 

war. In order to tell her

story, Carlson Delogne 

created the “2 Sides

Project,” where she and 

five other American children of Vietnam losses

traveled to the other side 

of the world to meet and

 connect with those who understood her 

pain.

The 2 Sides Project is now a nonprofit organization that connects sons and daughters who lost fathers on opposite sides of

the Vietnam War. The first meetings of the 

opposite sides were featured in a documentary film, which premiered at the 

Film Festival, in Washington, D.C., May 25

“I went with a lot of fear and trepidation,”

said Carlson Delogne. 

GI Film Festival premiere

story of loss and hope

“2 Sides Project”

connects families

Story and photo by Sgt. 1st Class Kristen Du
“We met 21 Vietnamese counterparts 

in four cities, and  was not sure how we

would be received- if they’d be angry, or if 

I’d be angry.I had no idea  The Vietnamese look at the war as a collective  The

don’t look at it as what they lost personally; they look at what the country lost.”

Over several weeks, Delogne and five

American sons and daughters who accompanied her-- Mike Burkett, Sus

Mitchell-Mattera, Ron Reyes, Margaret

Lienen and Patty Young Loew-- travele

throughout Vietnam, speaking with other 

sons and daughters, and visiting the locations their fathers were lost. They paid 

tribute to their fathers with traditional 

Vietnamese offerings, as well as a touch 

of their own personalization. Burkett had 

with him a photo of his father’s prized 

car. Reyes brought a couple of beers and

played a recording of his father’s favorite 

song. 

Of the six, only Carlson Delogne’s and

Von Lienen’s fathers remain missing. Von

Lienen’s father, Robert Saavedra, was

Navy pilot who was shot down over Ha

Tinh Province, April 28, 1968. Carlson

Delogne’s father, Capt. John W. Carlson, 

went missing in December 1966 near Bien 

Hoa. Both ladies remain dedicated to 

finding their fathers’ remains.

Carlson Delogne said her family has 

worked alongside government agencies 

for 50 years, trying to find her father’s 

remains. She continues to work with the

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Ag

(DPAA) looking for answer

Carlson Delogne’s father was on a mission 

to bomb a depot and had just released 

the bombs when his plane went down 

about 200 meters from his target location.

“Before  went,I sat in the hotel with th

filmmaker looking at coordinates on the 

map,” she said. “We drew the line, made 

the measurement, found the 200 meters. 

When we got there, we were at a rubber 

plantation with paths to walk on. We 

walked in that direction. We got 200 meters and found a crater.”

Carlson Delogne said she had conflicting feelings about her dad and Vietnam. 

During her visit, she saw a beautiful country and wonderful people. She could not

understand how we, as Americans, could

have been at war with them. Even so, she

felt her father’s presence the entire time 

she was there.

Carlson Delogne hopes people will be 

moved by her story and meet the other 

side, regardless of the war or the debate. 

The I Film festival, held annually, focuse

on veterans’ stories. Hers tells the story of 

what happens after the war ends to the 

families left behind.

For more information on the 2 Sides Project, visit http://www.2sidesproject.co

For more information on the I Film Festival, visit https://gifilmfestival.c
Then and Now

DPAA in Cambod

Story by Mass Communications Specialist 3

Class Armando Vele

Photos By Sgt. Demetrius Munnerl

Cambodian workers set up a base camp 

operated my members of DPAA for 

mission in Ratanakiri, Cambodia, March 6

2017. (DPAA photo by Marine Corps S

Demetrius Munnerlyn

HONOLULU – The Vietnam War

in the tri-border area of VietnamLaos-Cambodia despite Cambodia’s

claim to neutrality. The proximity of 

the war left the tri-border area riddled 

with elaborate labyrinths of supply 

routes, warehouse complexes, border 

crossing points and support units to 

transport supplies and protect the 

flow of logistics by Vietnamese Forces, 

which had been developing since the 

1950s. 

“During this time period the Vietnamese 

took advantage of Cambodia to create a 

chain of supply routes to support their 

war efforts in the surrounding areas,” said 

Alvin Teel, Casualty Resolution Speciali

for the Defense POW/MIA Accoun

Agency (DPA

Unable to ignore the fact that longstanding neutral Cambodia was a

sanctuary to the Vietcong and North

Vietnamese Army Forces, the U.

took action. The administration 

chose to disrupt the operation of the 

sanctuary, despite the proclamation of 

military de-escalation. 

U.S. strategy efforts agains

Communist logistical stations led to 

the flight of an F-4D aircraft with the 

purpose of a tactical air strike during 

Operation Freedom Deal on Ma

13, 1970. Capt. Alan Trent, aircraft

commander, and 1stLt. Eric Huberth

pilot, led the strike mission with the 

intent of disrupting one of the enemy’s 

passageways. 

Due to terrain and unforeseen 

circumstances the F-4D aircraft crashed. 

Trent and Huberth did not eject and the 
aircraft was obliterated. 

The two patriots were lost. 

In their ongoing effort to bring home Trent and

Huberth, DPAA deployed a 15-member tea

to conduct a recovery operation. Facing the 

challenges that a remote wilderness site 

poses, the team relied on one another to 

complete the recovery and keep each 

other safe. 

“We’re making really good 

excavation progress, 

despite the fact that 

we are dealing with 

a lot of bamboo 

and uneven terrain.” 

said Dr. Mary Megyesi

Scientific Recovery Expe

at DPAA

Living conditions find all involved

base camping due to the location 

of the site. “The terrain is very heavily 

bamboo, number one. Number two, it

is also a very isolated spot. There’s almost 

no villagers around there. The villagers 

that come to help actually have to do 

a lengthy trip over land...through 

Vietnam, as a matter of fact,” said 

Teel. 
Science, Ancest

and Identity

What  learned from

following my D

DOVR AIR FORCE BASE, D

I settled into my new assignment at the

Armed Forces Medical Examiner Sys

this past year  embarked on a personal

DNA journey. To be honest I nev

really understood the in-depth specifics 

surrounding DNA and the potentia

influence it has in providing closure to 

military families. 

Last yearI had the opportunity t

attend a Defense POW-MIA Accoun

Agency Family Member Update 

Arlington, Virginia. This is an event like

no other. Family members of those still 

unaccounted for from past conflicts 

gathered in one location to hear briefings 

from various experts and receive updates 

about their specific cases.  witnessed

relatives of those lost contribute Family 

Reference Samples to the AFM

identification lab. The reference samples 

can then be used to possibly match their 

DNA to their unidentified loved ones. Thi

was all very interesting to me because 

never really thought about DNA in thi

manner before. 

As a military service member, we are

required to have a blood stained card 

on file for the purpose of identification. 

A DNA data base for military membe

does not exist. SinceI now work a

AFMES and may go into the l

on occasion, it is necessary for my 

DNA sequence to be on file fo

exclusionary purposes. For this 

reason  was able to go through

the exact same process family 

members do by having my D

collected and analyzed.  felt the

need to follow this process and 

share my story.  have never been

really good in science so it took me a 

few minutes to learn all the scientific 

Story by Senior Airman Ashlin Feder

Armed Forces Medical Examiner Sy
terms for what the analysts were 

doing but after a day or so  began

to understand. 

During this process  learned that

mitochondrial (mtDNA) is passed o

through your mother’s side of the 

family. This means if you were to put 

my mother’s DNA and my DNA sideby-side they would look exactly 

same.  also learned that nuclear

DNA comes from both parents an

it is the DNA that is unique to yo

unless you have a twin.

Marc Keirstead, AFMES 

Registry quality control analyst, said

there are differences between mtD

and nuclear DNA. Nuclear is inherit

from both the mother and the father 

and is unique to an individual whereas 

mtDNA is maternal and is commo

amongst anyone following the maternal 

line.

“As a result, nuclear DNA will provi

you with more discriminatory power, 

but only if it is available,” said Keirstead. 

“In situations where remains are older or

severely degraded, that may not be the 

case. Within a cell, you will only have two 

copies of nuclear DNA where you woul

have more than 1000 copies of mtDNA

making it an excellent tool and resource 

in identifying these types of remains 

based on the sheer number alone.”

Jennie McMahon, AFMES

Registry supervisory DNA analyst, sa

she thinks the whole DNA proces

is amazing because each year new 

advances are made allowing them 

to piece together more DNA puzzle

using smaller portions of samples and 

ultimately identify more missing service 

members.

“I’m very proud to be associated with

the Armed Forced DNA Identificat

Laboratory mission,” said McMahon

have been part of the past accounting 

section for 18 years and still get excited 

each time a sample gets reported out. 

I know that our work with DNA brin

that individual one step closer to being 

identified and the family one step closer 

to having closure. We want each family to 

know their loved one has been found and 

will be returned home.”

To read the full article, visit https://www.

dvidshub.net/image/3085749/scienceancestry-and-identity-learned-followingmy-dna
The agency is known for its 

recovery missions: teams 

spending weeks digging 

on farmlands, glaciers and 

mountainsides, how does the 

agency get to the point to 

that it knows where to start 

excavation operations?

There is a lot of research and 

investigation that goes into 

every case of every service 

member the agency is tasked 

to find. Before a shovel goes 

into the ground, there is a 

breadth of work done by 

historians and analysts in 

finding and following a paper 

trail. Once research points

to a certain area where there 

may be a certain level of 

success, investigation teams 

are sent out to fill gaps that 

cannot be found in records 

available and confirm what 

are believed to be viable 

recovery sites.

An investigation team traveled

through the country side of 

Sicily in February and Marc

2017 to track down sites of 

men lost during

Story by Tech. Sgt

Kathrine Dodd

DPAA Trave

to Sicil
the Allied invasion of Sicily

code named Operation Husky

during WWII. The successfu

operation allowed the Allies to

set up a stronghold for the next 

move; a northern push into the 

boot of Italy

Among those lost on the first

day of the siege, July 10, 1943, 

were several U.

Army Air Corps pilots o

Lockheed P-38 Lightning aircraf

assigned on bombing runs 

and escort missions to take 

out logistical targets across the 

island.

Farmlands and towns have 

now covered up all signs of 

the conflict, making it hard to 

pinpoint the location of crash 

sites by sight alone. Harder 

still is the dwindling pool of 

witnesses who remain to direct 

the investigation team where to 

go. 

“In a lot of cases, we can’t find

witnesses that are still alive,” 

said Josh Frank, DPAA researc

analyst and team investigation 

leader. “What we have left are 

either people who were very 

young during the conflict and 

with memory being as best as it 

could be as a child or people

who have second hand 

information.”
“We do get lucky in Europe that the

records in the local towns that we go to, 

like priest diaries, cemetery records, other 

church records, school records and police 

records are sometimes are very specific 

about what farm an aircraft crashed on,” 

Frank said.

After canvassing the area for local

witnesses with the help of officials and 

independent researchers, a team can be 

led to an area where the field work begins.

“We start with a systematic archeological 

pedestrian survey,” said Dr. Kimberley 

Maeyama, DPAA forensic archeologis

“We’ve had to coordinate with the 

landowner because everything we have 

to do has to take into consideration any 

potential effect we would have on that 

property and that tells us the parameters 

of what we can do in the field.”

On every investigation team is an

explosive ordnance disposal 
technician that will sweep the 

area for metal hits in hopes 

of locating aircraft wreckage, 

personal effects and munitions. 

For this set of cases in Sicily,

finding munitions could prove 

to be valuable. The P-38 aircraft 

was the only fighter plane the 

U.S. that was armed with 20m

canon rounds and .50-caliber 

rounds. But depending on the 

land owner, sometimes metal hits 

cannot be dug up for inspection.

Other indicators that the

team looks for are deformities 

in the landscape. According

to Maeyama, a noticeable

depression in the land that does 

not match or conform to the 

natural topography may be an 

anomaly. One can suspect that

perhaps that anomaly was an 

impact location. 

As the team follows cases across

Sicily, they will work to collect

information and evidence to help 

DPAA come back to the islan

for recovery operations knowing 

they are on the right track.
Operation Husk

HONOLULU—The m

of the Defense POW

Accounting Agency is to provid

the fullest possible accounting of 

missing personnel to their families 

and the nation.  mission that takes

members all over the world in 

search of service members lost 

during past conflicts.

Story b

Staff Sgt. Leah Ferra
From Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia,

to France, Germany and Korea the

search continues for the missing all 

over the world. With so many areas 

to be searched, DPAA’s mission

are no easy task. Years of research 

and planning is completed before 

excavation operations can even 

take place. This includes vast 

knowledge on the battles that 

brought our Service members to

these foreign grounds so many 

years ago.

Recently, a DPAA Investigat

team made their way to the 

country side of Sicily to track down

sites of men lost during the Allied

invasion of Sicily, code named

Operation Husky, during WWI

In 1943, President Franklin D.

Roosevelt and British leaders

joined together to discuss 

strategies to collapse Benito 

Mussolini’s government and

gain Turkish allies in the process. 

General Dwight D. Eisenhower wa

appointed overall commander of 

the American forces, accompanied

by British General Sir Harol

Alexander

The battle started early the 

morning of July 10, 1943. Using

air and sea landings, the battle 

involved more than 150,000 

troops, 3,000 ships, and 4,000 

aircraft. The U.S. 7th Army, und

Lieutenant General George

Patton and the British Eighth

Army, under General Sir Berna

Montgomery, combined forces.

Mussolini was captured and

arrested on July 24, driving Italian

and German forces out of Sicily

With great battles, comes great 

loss. Over Operation Husky’

38 days a total of 8,781 men 

of the U.S. 7th Army we

lost--2,237 killed or missing, 

5,946 wounded, and 598 captured. 

DPAA continues to make its wa

through Sicily, researching and

excavating, until we have have 

achieved the fullest possible for 

the missing Service members who

have been waiting to return home 

75 years later.
Connecting

With Family Member

Story by Tech. Sgt. Jocelyn Fo

The first quarter of the calendar year, the 

Defense POW/MIA Accounting A

(DPAA) has crossed the nation fro

Phoenix to Charleston with a third stop 

in New Orleans, providing families wit

answers. 

Members of DPAA have met with mo

than 500 family members this year, and 

267 were first time attendees to a Family 

Member Update (F

Two such individuals were James “Jim” 

Amromin and Barbara “Barb” Miles

nephew and niece to U.S. Army Air For

2nd Lt. Jerome Amromin, unaccounted fo

from World War I

One night Jim typed his name into

a search engine and found a site 

that showed him as having died in a 

plane crash in Papua New Guinea. H

recognized the fact that the name was 

meant to be that of his uncle, and he 

reached out to correct the error. In doing

so he became even more interested in 

knowing more about this man he had 

never met. 

When he received an invite to the 

Phoenix FMU he called his sister Barbara

“I couldn’t do it without her,” said Jim.

Barb flew in from Missouri to accompany

her brother to the event. 

January 28, 2017, more than 300 family 

members attended government 

briefings at the Marriott Mesa

Arizona, in an effort to gain more

information on the cases of 

their missing service members. 

In addition to gaining new

information regarding their 

respective cases, the families 

were also able to connect with 

one another and share their 

personal stories. (DPAA photo

by Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jocely

Ford)
The first quarter of the calendar year, the 

Defense POW/MIA Accounting A

(DPAA) has crossed the nation fro

Phoenix to Charleston with a third stop 

in New Orleans, providing families wit

answers. 

Members of DPAA have met with mo

than 500 family members this year, and 

267 were first time attendees to a Family 

Member Update (F

Two such individuals were James “Jim” 

Amromin and Barbara “Barb” Miles

nephew and niece to U.S. Army Air For

2nd Lt. Jerome Amromin, unaccounted fo

from World War I

One night Jim typed his name into

a search engine and found a site 

that showed him as having died in a 

plane crash in Papua New Guinea. H

recognized the fact that the name was 

meant to be that of his uncle, and he 

reached out to correct the error. In doing

so he became even more interested in 

knowing more about this man he had 

never met. 

When he received an invite to the Phoenix 

FMU he called his sister Barbara.

couldn’t do it without her,” said Jim. 

Barb flew in from Missouri to accompany

her brother to the event. Together they 

attended briefings presented by senior 

officials, experts, and scientists who work 

in various areas pertaining to the POW

MIA mission. They also had a schedul

one-on-one to get detailed information 

about the case of their uncle. 

“The people that are involved in our case 

are really here, and we really got to meet 

them,” said Barb.

Though there was little new information 

provided to Jim and Barb in regards to the 

case, they left knowing they had someone 

to talk to as the information becomes 

available. 

“It’s absolutely fantastic,” said Jim. “Meetin

people and now we have a caseworker and 

we know who to go to.”

“I’m so glad that the Department of

Defense cares and really implements 

and doesn’t pay lip service to ‘no man 

left behind’,” said Barb. “There is a branch 

within our government structure that 

does what they say they’re going to do no 

matter how long it takes, no matter how 

difficult it is.” 

It wasn’t just DPAA that made this eve

so meaningful to this family. “It’s meeting

all these people that are here, not just the 

military, but the families,” said Jim. “You 

feel a kinship inside the room because you 

have the same basic story, you got a loved 

one that hasn’t been recovered.”

“The knowledge that you are not alone 

in your search makes you feel like you are 

part of something bigger than yourself,” 

said Barb. 
WWII pilo

sacrifices self to 

save crew

The search for a hero in Bulgaria

It is like the plot to some 1940’s Hollywood

movie, made while WWII was still bein

fought. The B-24 is heading back to its 

home field after a successful mission against 

marshalling yards and an oil refinery outside 

Bucharest, Romania, when German fighte

planes attack. 

Crippled by 20mm cannon fire, the aircraft is 

losing fuel and altitude, engines two and three 

are on fire, and the auto-pilot is not working. 

The pilot is struggling to get the bomber to the 

Adriatic coast. It’s not going to happen  Th

crew will have to bail out. The pilot gives the 

order, and the crew members, singly or in pairs, 

begin parachuting to safety. 

“You coming?” asks the co-pilot, the next to 

last man aboard. 

“Yes,” replies the pilot, still at the 

controls. “Get the hell out!

The co-pilot bails out, 

but the pilot, 1st Lt. John

D. Crouchley, Jr., doesn’t 

have time to follow, 

and the B-24 slams 

into a mountainside 

in southern Bulgaria. 

It was 11:30 A

Wednesday, June 

28, 1944. The crew 

members who bailed out 

survive the war; the other 

air crews on the mission 

return to their base in Italy

not knowing the fate of 

Crouchley.

Story by Dr. Stephen Johnson, 
Nearly 73 years later, Dr. Denise To,

an anthropologist, stands beside 

two men screening dirt from a 

test pit. Even though it is midafternoon it is still cold. The

five-person team has been on 

the site since the morning, 

as they have been all week. 

Their days start and end with 

a 40-minute ride over frozen, 

rutted, mud-packed logging 

roads, in the open bed of a 

Soviet-era Gaz-66 truck fro

the small village of Churen 

to the crash site in the Rodopi

Mountains, Bulgaria.

Three members of the team, Army

Lt. Col. Justin Budd, Navy Lt. Cmd

Christopher Gustafson, from Plans and

Partnership, Europe/Mediterranea

Directorate, and Air Force 2nd Lt. Zhech

Radevski, the augmentee interpreter, arrived

more than a week earlier to coordinate the 

recovery mission with a projected multinational training exercise planned for this 

summer. Drs. To and Stephen Johnson, the

team historian, joined the mission for the 

last week to complete a final, pre-recovery 

site survey, and run down leads concerning 

vague and ultimately unsubstantiated 

rumors about a burial or a memorial, or a 

marker at, or near, the crash site.

After clearing enough loose brush from the

steep hillside to conduct a site survey, and 

document and assess the metal detector 

hits, the team dug a set of test pits to gauge 

the density and type of debris at various 

locations around the site. Each pit produced

material evidence, but on the final day at 

the site, in the pit dug in the general area 

of the cockpit, the yield was particularly 

encouraging. Aside from pieces of cloth and

leather, fasteners and clips, and spent .50 

caliber rounds, the final screening produced 

a shard of plexiglass windshield. 

Although scratched, and in one corner

slightly charred and melted, after a quick 

buffing the shard was remarkably clear. 

The team members took turns holding the 

shard to the dappled sunlight streaming 

through the pine boughs. It was sobering

to realize that the last person to look 

through the windshield was a young man 

from Rhode Island whose courage gave hi

crewmembers the chance to survive the war 

and go home to their families. 
Disinterment

at the National

Memorial Cemetery

of the Pacific

detail 

of DP

personnel 

unfurl the 

American

Flag during a 

disinterment ceremony 

at the National Memoria

Cemetery of the Pacific, 

Honolulu, Hawaii, March 13,

2017. The disinterred remains were 

transferred to the DPAA laboratory fo

analysis and identification. (DPAA photo

by Marine Corps Sgt. Lauren Fa
For Your Informatio

Family members seeking more information about missing loved ones may call 

their respective Service Casualty Offc

DPAA Leaders

Fern Sumpter Winbush - Acting Director Brig

Gen. Mark Spindler - Deputy Direc

Editorial Sta

Maj. Jessie Romero - Public Affairs Offi

Sgt. 1st Class Kristen Duus - Editor-in-Chi

Sgt. Lauren Falk - Layout and Des

Published by DP

Connect with us on

Social Media @D

Or visit our website

www.dpaa.mil

www.dvidshub.net/unit/DP

Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency 2

Defense Pentagon

Washington, D.C. 20301-2300

Phone: 703-699-1420

U.S. A

(800) 892-2490

U.S. Marine Co

(800) 847-1597

U.S. N

(800) 443-9298

U.S. Air Fo

(800) 531-5501