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Defense POW/MIA Accounting AgencyFulfilling Our Nation's Promise

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## News Release

# Missing Vietnam War Airman Identified (Boston)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced todaythat the remains of a 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. Leo S. Boston, 30, of Canon City, Colo., will be buried on July 15 at theAir Force Academy Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colo. On April 29, 1966, Boston was aboardan A-1E Skyraider aircraft that disappeared while flying a search-and-rescue mission in NorthVietnam. Reports of an enemy aircraft in the area forced him and the pilot of another A-1E todivert to a holding position over Son La Province until the area was clear. When the lead aircraftdirected they return, he observed Boston following him but reported no sign of his aircraft oncehe arrived at the location. Enemy activity in the area precluded search efforts.

Between 1996 and 2005, joint U.S.-Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) teams, led by the JointPOW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), analyzed numerous leads, interviewed villagers in Son LaProvince, and conducted excavations that recovered aircraft wreckage, human remains and crewrelatedequipment.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the ArmedForces DNA Identification Laboratory used mitochondrial DNA – which matched that of Boston’smother and brother – in the identification.

With the accounting of this airman, 1,687 service members still remain missing from 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.

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