DPAAYEAR IN REVIEW

OCTOBER 2020 - SEPTEMBER 2021
1 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 2

Accounted For

Oct 1, 2020 - Sept 30, 2021

142 A Year For Milestones

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) came 

into Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 with full plans to get back out in 

the field as much as COVID-19 would allow and surpassed 

several milestones in the process.

Our organic and partner investigation and recovery 

missions took place in 31 countries, and we accessioned 

364 sets of osseous material into our labs. We accounted 

for 142 Department of Defense personnel. All of this was 

accomplished while following all appropriate COVID safety 

protocols. These numbers were increases over FY 2020, but 

they were not the milestones.

In November, we held our first-ever, all-virtual Family 

Member Update (FMU), which was streamed live on our 

website and Facebook page. This was so successful we held 

three more virtual FMUs and also livestreamed our Korean/

Cold War Annual Government Briefings (K/CW) and our 

annual Vietnam War Government Briefings. The latter was 

held in conjunction with the 51st Annual Meeting of the 

National League of POW/MIA Families.

A milestone for the National League of POW/MIA 

Families was the 50th anniversary of their iconic black and 

white silhouette featured on the POW/MIA Flag, recognized 

around the world for the sacred mission of finding 

Americans missing from past conflicts. The 2021 POW/MIA 

Recognition Day Poster and on the cover and throughout 

the pages of this magazine are POW/MIA flag photos with 

historical facts about the flag.

FY 2021 was a big year for our USS Oklahoma Project, 

hitting two milestones. First, at the end of January, Marine 

Pfc. John F. Middleswart was the 300th identification from 

the ship. Then, at the beginning of August, Seaman 1st 

Class Buford H. Dyer was the 350th identification. Another 

significant milestone came in February when Lt. Cmdr. Hugh 

R. Alexander, a dental officer aboard the USS Oklahoma, 

became the 1,000th identification made since DPAA was 

formed in 2015.

In March, we accounted for U.S. Army Chaplain (Capt.) 

Emil J. Kapaun. For his many selfless acts during the Korean 

War, Chaplain Kapaun was named a Servant of God by 

the Catholic Church in 1993, the first step on the path to 

sainthood. He was also posthumously awarded the Medal of 

Honor in 2013.

We ended FY 2021 with a final milestone when we 

conducted the first-ever Joint Repatriation Ceremony with 

the Republic of Korea in Hawaii. South Korean President 

Moon Jae-in spoke at the ceremony held at Joint Base Pearl 

Harbor-Hickam. Six sets of remains were given to the U.S. 

and 68 sets of remains were repatriated to South Korea. 

The red pins in the map indicate locations where DPAA conducted investigation or recovery missions. The yellow pins represent disinterrments locations.

Fireman 1st Class Paul E. Saylor

Gunner’s Mate 3rd Class Herman Schmidt

Fireman 2nd Class William K. Shafer

Signalman 1st Class Eugene M. Skaggs

Seaman 1st Class Walter C. Stein

Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class Everett R. Stewart

Seaman 1st Class Donald A. Stott

Seaman 1st Class Edward E. Talbert

Seaman 1st Class Houston Temples

Fireman 2nd Class Benjiman Terhune

Seaman 2nd Class Arthur R. Thinnes

Seaman 1st Class David F. Tidball

Fireman 1st Class Everett C. Titterington

Fireman 1st Class Neal K. Todd

Firecontrolman 2nd Class Harold F. Trapp

Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class William H. Trapp

Fireman 1st Class William D. Tucker

Seaman 2nd Class Russell O. Ufford

Storekeeper 1st Class Harry E. Walker

Seaman 1st Class James R. Ward

Water Tender Chief Claude White

Musician 2nd Class Lloyd P. Wiegand

MARINE CORPS

World War II

Pfc. Walter L. Collier

Pfc. J.L. Hancock

Pfc. John F. Middleswart

Cpl. Andrew Pellerito

Pfc. Charles R. Taylor

Pfc. Glenn F. White

Note: This page contains the names of 137 of the 

142 Americans DPAA accounted for in FY 2021. 

The names of the remaining six are not included 

as their families are pending notification.

Visit www.dpaa.mil for full profiles of these individuals.

ARMY

Korean War

Pfc. Don D. Dowler

Cpl. Kenneth R. Foreman

Pfc. Philip T. Hoogacker

Chaplain (Capt.) Emil J. Kapaun

Cpl. Charles E. Lee

Cpl. Paul Mitchem

Pfc. William J. Sharp

Cpl. Walter A. Smead

Pfc. Raymond A. Smith

Cpl. Roy H. Thomas

Sgt. Elwood M. Truslow

Pfc. Michaux Turbeville

Sgt. 1st Class Nicholas J. Valentine

Cpl. Paul W. Wilkins

World War II

(Includes Army Air Forces)

Capt. Nando A. Cavalieri

Tech Sgt. Arthur W. Countryman

Sgt. Albert L. Crette

Staff Sgt. Louis S. Doddo

1st Lt. Myles W. Esmay

Pvt. Archie V. Fleeman

Pfc. William L. Groh

Pfc. Juan F. Gutierrez

Pvt. Alevin A. Hathaway

Staff Sgt. Gerald E. Helms

Pvt. Robert J. Hernyk

1st Lt. Richard W. Horrigan

Pvt. Andrew J. Ladner

Staff Sgt. William R. Linder

Pvt. Stephen C. Mason

Pfc. Berton J. McQueen

2nd Lt. Henry D. Mitchell

Pfc. Bill Morrison

Tech. Sgt. Frank A. Norris

1st Lt. Robert Parker

1st Lt. Alan E. Petersen

Pvt. Lyle W. Reab

Staff Sgt. Richard G. Salsbury

Pvt. Emmet W. Schwartz

2nd Lt. Anel B. Shay

Pvt. Hillary Soileau

Pfc. Morris E. Swackhammer

Sgt. Bernard J. Sweeney

Tech Sgt. Alfred F. Turgeon

2nd Lt. Ernest N. Vienneau

Sgt. Larry S. Wassil

Sgt. Francis W. Wiemerslage

1st Lt. Jack K. Wood

1st Lt. James E. Wright

NAVY

Vietnam War

Cmdr. Paul C. Charvet

World War II

Lt. Cmdr. Hugh R. Alexander

Shipfitter 3rd Class Robert E. Bailey

Seaman 1st Class Gerald J. Bailey

Seaman 1st Class Wilbur F. Ballance

Fireman 1st Class Leroy K. Barber

Fireman 1st Class Malcolm J. Barber

Fireman 2nd Class Randolph H. Barber

Fireman 1st Class Harold E. Bates

Fireman 2nd Class Ralph C. Battles

Fireman 1st Class Walter S. Belt

Boilermaker 1st Class William E. Blanchard

Seaman 2nd Class John G. Bock

Seaman 2nd Class Raymond D. Boynton

Fireman 2nd Class Carl M. Bradley

Firecontrolman 3rd Class Jack A. Breedlove

Seaman 1st Class William Brooks

Fireman 1st Class Wesley J. Brown

Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class Charles D. Brown

Water Tender 1st Class Oliver K. Burger

Seaman 1st Class Biacio Casola

Seaman 2nd Class David Clark

Hospital Apprentice 1st Class Keefe R. Connolly

Chief Warrant Officer John G. Connolly

Fireman 1st Class Beoin H. Corzatt

Fireman 1st Class James W. Davenport

Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class Leslie P. Delles

Machinist’s Mate Chief Ralph A. Derrington

Electrician’s Mate 2nd Class Leaman R. Dill

Fireman 1st Class Kenneth E. Doernenburg

Patternmaker 1st Class Stanislaw F. Drwall

Seaman 1st Class Buford H. Dyer

Radioman 3rd Class Earl M. Ellis

Musician 2nd Class Charlton H. Ferguson

Carpenter’s Mate Chief Tedd M. Furr

Ship’s Cook 3rd Class Robert Goodwin

Fireman 1st Class Robert J. Harr

Electrician’s Mate 1st Class Harvey C. Herber

Signalman 3rd Class Austin H. Hesler

Fireman 1st Class Denis H. Hiskett

Fireman 1st Class Howard D. Hodges

Fireman 3rd Class Harry R. Holmes

Water Tender 1st Class Charles E. Hudson

Radioman 3rd Class Theodore Q. Jensen

Seaman 1st Class Elmer P. Lawrence

Seaman 2nd Class Harold W. Lindsey

Mess Attendant 1st Class Octavius Mabine

Seaman 2nd Class Howard S. Magers

Seaman 2nd Class Michael Malek

Fireman 1st Class James O. McDonald

Seaman 1st Class Wallace G. Mitchell

Radioman 3rd Class Charles A. Montgomery

Seaman 2nd Class Laverne A. Nigg

Fire Controlman 2nd Class Lawrence J. Overley

Pharmacist’s Mate 3rd Class George L. Paradis

Seaman 2nd Class Walter R. Pentico

Shipfitter 1st Class Charles F. Perdue

Water Tender 1st Class Milo E. Phillips

Fireman 1st Class George F. Price

Seaman 1st Class Joseph C. Rouse

Seaman 2nd Class Charles L. Saunders

On The Cover

The POW/MIA Flag hangs in a wet 

screening station at a recovery site 

in the Lao People’s Democratic 

Republic on Aug. 7, 2021. DPAA 

personnel and Laotian augmentees 

conducted excavation operations 

in an effort to find a U.S. 

reconnaissance pilot lost during 

the Vietnam War. Photo by Cpl. 

Jack A. E. Rigsby
3 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 4

Fiscal Year 2021 started off 

strong despite COVID-19 

still having a massive 

effect on agency travel and 

activities. We launched our 

first organic mission, an 

underwater investigation/

recovery mission to the 

Solomon Islands, since 

recalling our deployed teams 

in March 2020. We followed 

all required safety protocols 

to ensure the health of our 

personnel. We also leveraged 

our partnerships, fielding an 

underwater recovery mission 

in the Kingdom of Sweden and 

an underwater investigation 

mission in the Federal Republic 

of Germany. The 141st Joint 

Field Activities (JFA) in the 

Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 

comprised of three host nation 

recovery teams (RT), began 

operations. We disinterred 11 

Unknowns from the SicilyRome American Cemetery 

and Memorial in the Italian 

Republic; and 12 from the 

National Memorial Cemetery 

of the Pacific (NMCP) in 

Honolulu. We also identified 

four previously unaccountedfor service members.

2020

October Boris Kiefer, an archaeological technician with DPAA partner Underwater Archaeology (UWARC), prepares to set up equipment during an 

underwater investigation in Brandenburg, Federal Republic of Germany. UWARC divers conducted target investigations in water and muddy 

conditions Oct. 10-31. With COVID-19 travel restrictions in place, many DPAA investigation and recovery missions were conducted on our behalf 

by our partnership organizations. Photo by Johnathan Witte, UWARC
A Vietnamese RT works at a wet screening station searching for 

evidence of a missing U.S. service member at a recovery site 

in Lang Son Province during the 141st JFA, Oct. 30. The U.S. 

and Vietnam have cooperated closely for over three decades to 

provide the fullest possible accounting of Americans missing 

from the Vietnam War; 729 personnel have been accounted to 

date, with 1,244 still missing in Vietnam.

Col. Jon Lust, director 

of DPAA’s EuropeMediterranean 

Directorate, presents 

the Joint Service 

Achievement Medal 

to four Soldiers of the 

111th Quartermaster 

Company (Mortuary 

Affairs) in a 

ceremony at Fort 

Lee, Virginia, Oct. 

23. The medals were 

given in recognition 

of their diligent 

work conducting 

37 disinterments in 

Europe July-August 

2020, which, at the time, were the first European disinterment 

operations since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Fern Sumpter Winbush, DPAA’s Principal Deputy Director, gives 

a tour of the POW/MIA corridor in the Pentagon to Prabowo 

Subianto, the Republic of Indonesia Minister of Defense, Oct. 

23. Subianto was at the Pentagon to meet with then-Secretary 

of Defense Mark T. Esper and sign a Memorandum of Intent to 

advance DPAA’s efforts to re-start its work in Indonesia to recover 

the remains of U.S. personnel lost there during World War II.

JOINT SERVICE 

ACHIEVEMENT

Photo by 1st Sgt. Lauren 

Flores, 111th Quartermaster 

Company (Mortuary Affairs)

5 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 6

Ovidio Taurelli, 

Stefano Spirito, 

Alessandro Retrosi, 

and Maurizio 

Sadocco from 

the American 

Battle Monuments 

Commission 

begin excavation 

of a grave site 

for disinterments 

conducted Oct. 22-

29 at Sicily-Rome 

American Cemetery. 

Eleven Unknowns 

from World War II 

were disinterred, 

three from the 

Invasion of Sicily 

and eight from the 

Battle of Anzio.

The hallways of the DPAA 

laboratory at Offutt AFB, 

Nebraska, received a refresh 

in October. Pictures and 

infographics telling the history and current operations 

of our noble mission to account for U.S. personnel 

missing from our past conflicts now adorn the walls, 

inspiring those who work and visit there.

ITALY 

DISINTERMENT

Photo by Melanie Resto, 

Superintendent of SicilyRome American Cemetery

The POW/MIA flag flies at the Pentagon the 

morning of Sept. 15, 2017, which was also POW/

MIA Recognition Day. The design of the flag was 

approved by the National League of Families in 

January 1972. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Brigitte Brantley, 

Office of the Secretary of Defense Public Affairs

OFFUTT LAB 

REFRESH

Photo by Staff Sgt. Jonathan 

McElderry

INDONESIA 

PENTAGON TOUR

Photo courtesy of the Office of the 

Secretary of Defense

UNILATERAL 

VIETNAMESE 

RECOVERY

Photo by Lt. Col. Adam Points
7 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 8

In November, DPAA 

undertook our first 

organic field activity 

since COVID-19 travel 

restrictions began with a 

recovery mission to the 

Solomon Islands. While 

the team was quarantined 

in Guam, all travel to 

the Solomon Islands 

was restricted by the 

government because of the 

virus. However, the team 

pivoted to conduct recovery 

operations around Guam 

instead. The 141st JFA 

continued in the Socialist 

Republic of Vietnam. We 

also held our first-ever 

virtual Family Member 

Update (FMU) for families 

in and around Little Rock, 

Arkansas. Additionally, 

our laboratory at Offutt 

Air Force Base, Nebraska, 

received 11 disinterments 

from the Sicily-Rome 

American Cemetery and 

Memorial in Italy, and we 

accounted for 11 formerly 

missing persons from past 

conflicts.

2020

November U.S. Navy Diver 2nd Class Mitchell Pataszek and other divers assigned to Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 1 conduct a tow-behind 

scouting operation in support of a DPAA recovery operation at Sierra Wharf, Guam, Nov. 25. Tow-behind scouting operations 

utilize a diver’s capability to look below the surface of the water in search for wreckage. Photo by Sgt. Mitchell Ryan
9 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 10

DPAA’s Partnerships and Innovations Directorate hosted the first day of online orientation 

for new partner organizations Nov. 30. These orientations are designed to introduce partners 

to DPAA’s mission and capabilities, educating them on what the agency does to account for 

America’s missing Department of Defense (DoD) personnel.

Rear Adm. Darius 

Banaji, DPAA’s 

Deputy Director 

for Operations, 

conducted 

technical talks 

via video 

conferencing with 

representatives 

from the 

Kingdom of 

Cambodia, including H.E. Sieng Lapresse, First Vice-Chairman 

POW/MIA Committee, and the Honorable W. Patrick Murphy, the 

U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia, Nov. 5. Technical talks like this help 

maintain strong relationships as well as coordinate missions to search 

for, recover, and return missing U.S. service members from past 

conflicts.

Dr. Franklin Damann, DPAA’s Deputy Laboratory Director, gives a presentation on DPAA’s 

scientific capabilities during the virtual Little Rock, Arkansas, FMU Nov. 7. Despite COVID-19, 

this first-ever virtual FMU was held so we could continue to inform families about our efforts to 

locate their missing loved ones.

Sgt. 1st Class Amani 

Maulolo, a DPAA 

team sergeant, 

conducts wet 

screening training 

on Joint Base Pearl 

Harbor-Hickam, 

Hawaii, Nov. 17. 

The class was held 

during field training 

week, where DPAA 

members are 

taught how to use 

equipment they will 

be utilizing while on 

mission in austere 

environments.

A POW/MIA Flag flies alongside a Solomon 

Islands flag at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, June 

25, 2019. Local citizens and officials played an 

essential role working alongside DPAA personnel 

during excavation operations in search of missing 

U.S. Marines lost during the first allied offensive in 

the Pacific Theater of World War II. Photo by Staff 

Sgt. Michael O’Neal

PARTNERSHIP 

INSTRUCTION

Photo by Lt. Col. Tamara FischerCarter

CAMBODIA 

TECH TALKS

Photo by Maj. Leah Ganoni

VIRTUAL FAMILY 

MEMBER UPDATE

Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Sean 

Everette

FIELD TRAINING

Photo by Sgt. Jacqueline 

Clifford
11 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 12

The 141st JFA in the 

Socialist Republic of 

Vietnam came to an end 

this month as did the 

organic mission in Guam. 

Our Nebraska laboratory 

received biological and 

material evidence from 

a partner underwater RT 

who operated off the 

coast of the Republic of 

Croatia, and our Hawaii 

laboratory received 41 sets 

of remains disinterred from 

the MACM in the Republic 

of the Philippines. Since 

COVID-19 prevented us 

from having in-person 

holiday gatherings, we 

hosted our first-ever online 

Morale Day to bring our 

geographically dispersed 

team together virtually. 

We also accounted for 18 

formerly missing persons 

from past conflicts.

2020

December DPAA service members conduct an Honorable Carry for the remains of unidentified U.S. service members at Joint Base Pearl 

Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Dec. 21. The remains had been recently disinterred from graves marked Unknown at the Manila American 

Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) in the Philippines. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jonathan McElderry
13 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 14

DPAA service members participated in a disinterment ceremony at the NMCP, Honolulu, Hawaii, 

Dec. 7. The disinterment kicked off Phase 3 of the Korean War Disinterment Project, DPAA’s 

six-year, comprehensive effort to identify the remains of the over 600 service members lost 

during the Korean War who have been buried as Unknowns at the NMCP.

The Department of Veterans Affairs produced a short film honoring Navy Fireman 1st Class 

Billy J. Johnson of Kentucky, and released the film on Dec. 22. Accounted for in February 

2019 by our Offutt lab team, Johnson was the 200th service member to be identified from 

the USS Oklahoma. The film can be seen at: https://www.facebook.com/NationalCemeteries/

videos/299927788115401

200th USS 

OKLAHOMA ID FILM

Screenshot by Sgt. 1st Class Sean 

Everette

The POW/MIA flag flies with the USS Arizona

Memorial in the background during the 79th 

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony 

at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial in 

Honolulu, Hawaii. The flag is not trademarked 

or copyrighted, which is one of the reasons it 

can be found in so many different places. Photo 

by Petty Officer 2nd Class Jessica Blackwell

Army Staff Sgt. Dakota 

Lee (left), a DPAA 

team sergeant, and 

Greg Stratton (right), 

a DPAA underwater 

archaeologist, investigate 

a possible aircraft crash 

site near U.S. Naval 

Base Guam Dec. 3. The 

Guam mission came 

about because of the 

flexibility of DPAA’s 

team when their mission 

to the Solomon Islands 

was canceled because of 

COVID travel restrictions 

in that country. 

During a Dec. 3 visit at Joint Base

Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, 

Command Sgt. Maj. Scott Brzak, U.S. 

Army Pacific, 

met with 

DPAA Army

Soldiers, 

toured the 

facility, and 

received 

briefings 

on DPAA’s 

unique

mission and 

capabilities.

KOREAN WAR 

DISINTERMENT

Photo by Sgt. Jacqueline Clifford

GUAM 

INVESTIGATION

Photo by Sgt. Mitchell Ryan

USARPAC CSM VISITS 

HAWAII FACILITY

Photo by Tech. Sgt. Leah Ferrante
EuropeMediterranean

Directorate Recap Directorate Recap

Indo-Pacific

15 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 16

The Europe-Mediterranean (EM) Regional Directorate 

accomplished a number of field operations and 

disinterments in FY 2021, learning lessons from operating 

during the continuing pandemic, and putting processes 

into place which allowed us to investigate, recover, 

and disinter remains potentially associated to missing 

DoD personnel while also minimizing risk to the teams. 

DPAA conducted two research trips and eight terrestrial 

investigations in Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, 

Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Panama, Poland, and the 

United States, each of which yielded new information 

for several cases and will result in recoveries of missing 

personnel in future years.

Our team supporting the U.S. Russia Joint Commission 

on POW/MIAs secured access to the Russian Archives and 

continued employment of Russian researchers despite the 

tense bi-lateral relationship between the U.S. and Russia. 

Two DPAA scientists coordinated with a partner to recover 

remains at the former site of POW Camp Stalag Luft 6 Capt. Zachary Trevathan, a DPAA team leader, wet screens aircraft 

wreckage during a recovery mission in Belgium on May 5.

Photo by Staff Sgt. Apryl Hall

The Indo-Pacific (IP) Regional Directorate displayed a 

remarkable ability to adapt, innovate, and improvise in FY 

2021, evidenced by completion of seven JFAs, consisting 

of 15 organic RTs, six Investigation Teams (IT), and 18 

disinterment missions.

Recovery efforts in Southeast Asia remained the 

operational priority for the agency and have been buoyed 

by the efforts of our forward-staged operating detachments 

in Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam and by our strong 

relationships with the Lao POW/MIA Team, Kingdom of 

Cambodia POW/MIA Committee, and Vietnam Office for 

Seeking Missing Persons (VNOSMP).

Partnership with the Navy’s Experimental Dive Unit 

facilitated underwater IT work around the coast of Guam, 

and moderate COVID effects permitted IT activities 

in Thailand and planning for India. Data-sharing with 

our Republic of Korea (RoK) counterpart, the Ministry 

of National Defense’s Killed in Action Recovery and 

Identification (MAKRI), facilitated unilateral research 

and joint missions throughout the Demilitarized Zone, 

Central Corridor, and Busan perimeter. Annual World War 

II and Korean War Case Coordination Conferences, and a 

research exchange with the Chinese People’s Liberation 

Army Archives resulted in advancement of multiple 

in Lithuania. DPAA RTs excavated three sites associated 

with World War II aircraft losses in Austria, Belgium, and 

Germany. The successful recovery mission in Austria was 

years in the making as efforts by family members, DPAA 

senior leaders, U.S. Embassy-Vienna, U.S. Members of 

Congress, and Austrian government officials convinced a 

reluctant landowner to allow access to the alpine site. That 

reluctant landowner is now an enthusiastic champion of 

the DPAA mission.

EM accomplished 88 disinterments of unknown 

remains at eight American Battle Monuments Commission 

(ABMC) cemeteries, exceeding our FY 2021 goal of 85. 

The remains recovered potentially represent missing 

Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines from ground 

campaigns, aircraft losses, and ship losses across the 

European Theater. 

Lao workers assisting a DPAA recovery team pull a tarp out of the 

water in Houaphanh Province, Laos, Sept. 3.

Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Zachary Grooman

cases. IP analysts from Virginia, Hawaii, Detachment 

2 (Hanoi), and DPAA’s Ohio lab met in Crystal City, 

Virginia, July 26-30 to conduct the 62nd SEA Case 

Coordination Conference. They were joined by partners 

from the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Stony Beach 

program and coordinated the next steps on 379 SEA cases 

involving 622 missing personnel.

Supporting the agency’s outreach and communication 

efforts, IP researchers authored 597 family member Case 

Summaries and carried out 198 family Case Summary 

Review meetings. IP staff were the first researchers 

permitted back into the National Archives following 

COVID closures. IP completed 18 disinterment missions 

between the NMCP and the MACM, repatriating 114 and 

102 sets of remains, respectively, exceeding the goal of 

215 disinterred Unknowns.

IP found reason to celebrate despite the constraints of 

operating during the pandemic. These successes would 

not be possible without the tremendous work of the staff 

in our Accounting Support Branch, Research Support 

Division, Operations Support Branch, Sub-Regional 

Teams, and Detachments.
17 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 18

The new year began with 

DPAA launching an organic 

recovery mission to the 

Kingdom of Cambodia, 

where our team successfully 

met all health protection 

guidelines before moving 

to the site. The USS 

Oklahoma Project reached a 

significant milestone when 

we accounted for Marine 

Pfc. John F. Middleswart, 

the 300th identification 

from the ship since 2003. 

We also conducted the 

first-ever Virtual Archival 

Exchange with China’s 

People’s Liberation Army 

Archives Department, 

discussing cases from the 

Vietnam War, Cold War, 

Korean War, and World 

War II. Additionally, we 

disinterred eight Unknowns 

from the NMCP as part of the 

Korean War Disinterment 

Project, and we accounted 

for nine formerly missing 

persons from past conflicts.

2021

January Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Austin Blocker and Army Sgt. 1st Class Richard Walton, service members attached to the DPAA, place a 

flag on a casket during a disinterment ceremony at the NMCP on Oct. 19, 2020. This photo was chosen in January as one of DoD’s 

top photos of 2020 and was highlighted on Defense.gov and DoD social media. Photo by Staff Sgt. Apryl Hall
Armed Forces Medical 

Examiner System

DNA Laboratory Recap

The Armed Forces Medical Examiner System-Armed 

Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFMES-AFDIL) 

continued to provide critical support to the DPAA’s 

identification efforts of missing service members in FY 

2021.

To maintain DNA testing requirements, AFMESAFDIL continued running an AM and PM shift that 

allowed 100% of our staff to be in the laboratory daily, 

and in June, AFMES went to 100% staffing on a single 

shift. The pandemic led to critical shortages in common 

laboratory supplies that both AFDIL and COVID Testing 

Laboratories used, but due to strategic planning and 

ordering, these shortages only reduced DNA testing 

efforts in April and May. Despite this decrease, staff 

were able to continue to process high priority cases, write 

DNA Reports, and finish critical trainings to increase the 

number of staff trained in Next Generation Sequencing 

(NGS) methods.

The Family Reference Section finished the development 

of an automated whole genome mitochondrial DNA 

(mtDNA) NGS method for maternal references that 

allows for 90 samples to be processed at a time.

The Emerging Technology Section continued 

working in conjunction with Parabon NanoLabs, Inc., 

as part of a DoD-funded research project, to complete 

the development of a nuclear DNA Single Nucleotide 

Polymorphism (SNP) assay and analytical software 

that will work with both chemically treated and nonchemically treated samples. This assay is similar to what 

Ancestry.com and 23andMe use, but tailored specifically 

for the challenging bone samples that DPAA submits for 

testing.

AFMES-AFDIL’s Past Accounting Section increased 

NGS processing by 30%; reported over 3,000 DNA results 

(mtDNA, Y-STR, and auSTR DNA); and generated over 

1,000 DNA Reports.

19 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 20

Col. Alice Briones, AFMES director, examines a training model skull 

during her tour of DPAA’s Offutt Laboratory July 21.

Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Sean Everette

OFFUTT LAB 

OUTREACH

Photo by Dr. Franklin Damann

300th USS OKLAHOMA 

IDENTIFICATION

Dr. Katie East, a DPAA forensic anthropologist, shows skeletal models during an Offutt 

laboratory tour for Airmen of the 55th Wing Protocol Office and Honor Guard Jan. 20. 

The Airmen were able to see firsthand how identifications are made through anthropology, 

odontology, DNA sampling, material evidence, and radiograph comparison. The tour also helped them understand how 

their participation in Honorable Carry Ceremonies of remains arriving to the Offutt lab supports DPAA’s noble mission.

Marine Pfc. John 

F. Middleswart was 

accounted for on Jan. 

28, and was the 300th 

identification made from 

the USS Oklahoma 

Project.The project 

started in 2015 when all 

Unknowns associated 

with the USS Oklahoma

buried at the NMCP 

in Honolulu were 

disinterred. 

The POW/MIA 

flag flies with the 

U.S. flag outside 

of the U.S. Post 

Office in Mount 

Sidney, Virginia, 

Jan. 6. The 

National POW/

MIA Flag Act was 

signed into law in 

November 2019 

requiring federal 

properties to fly 

the POW/MIA 

flag whenever the 

U.S. flag is flown. 

Photo by James 

Rusmisel, Mount 

Sidney Postmaster
21 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 22

February brought a major 

milestone when we made 

the 1,000th identification of 

previously unaccounted-for 

DoD personnel since DPAA 

was established in 2015. 

Recovery operations in 

the Kingdom of Cambodia 

continued. Our organic 

IT and RTs taking part in 

the 142nd JFA arrived, our 

first entry into the Socialist 

Republic of Vietnam since 

COVID-19 began. We sent 

a team to the Republic of 

the Philippines to disinter 

23 Unknowns from World 

War II buried at the 

MACM, where 22 others 

will be disinterred. We held 

our second virtual FMU, 

this time for families in 

and around Los Angeles 

and Honolulu. We also 

accounted for 26 formerly 

missing persons from past 

conflicts.

2021

February Army Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Gogue, a DPAA recovery noncommissioned officer, chops through bamboo in an effort to clear the site 

during a recovery mission in the Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia, Feb. 18. This mission was the first organic terrestrial recovery 

mission sent out since the COVID-19 pandemic caused the recall or cancellation of global missions nearly a year prior. Photo by 

Sgt. Jacqueline A. Clifford
23 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 24

More than 50 DPAA 

specialists arrived in 

Danang, Vietnam, 

on Feb. 21. This was 

the first time DPAA 

personnel deployed 

to Vietnam since 

March 2020 due to the 

COVID-19 pandemic. 

This JFA was planned 

in close coordination 

with the Government 

of Vietnam as a part 

of three decades of 

sustained bilateral 

cooperation. The team 

operated in Ha Tinh, 

Quang Binh, Quang 

Tri, Thua-Thien Hue, 

and Quang Nam 

Provinces.

Underwater archaeologists from DPAA partner Lund 

University present the POW/MIA Flag at the wreck of 

the B-24 Liberator bomber, the Tulsamerican, off the 

coast of Vis Island, Croatia, the summer of 2017. The 

flag is the most widely known symbol of POWs and 

MIAs, both accounted-for and unaccounted-for, from 

our past conflicts.

VIRTUAL LA/

HONOLULU FMU

Photo by Mass Communications 

Specialist 2nd Class Seth Coulter

142nd VIETNAM 

JFA ARRIVAL

Photo by Lt. Col. Adam Points

Dr. Denise To, DPAA’s Hawaii laboratory manager, gives a brief and answers questions in 

DPAA’s isotope laboratory during the virtual Los Angeles & Honolulu FMU Feb. 20. This was 

DPAA’s second virtual FMU, livestreamed online so we could continue to inform families about 

our efforts to locate their missing loved ones despite COVID-19. The virtual briefing also gave 

families a chance to ask questions via a chat window that were answered during a live Q&A session.

Army Lt. Gen. Ronald Place, the 

Defense Health Agency (DHA) 

Director, and Army Command Sgt. 

Maj. Michael 

Gragg, the DHA 

Senior Enlisted 

Leader, visited 

our Hawaii 

facility Feb. 

25. DPAA has 

a decades-long 

partnership with 

DHA’s AFMESAFDIL.

DHA LEADERSHIP VISIT 

HAWAII FACILITY

Photo by Sgt. Mitchell Ryan

NORTH KOREA 

WEBINAR

Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Sean Everette

Dr. Jennie Jin (pictured), DPAA’s Korean War Identification Project lead, and Kelly 

McKeague, DPAA’s Director, provided updates on efforts to account for U.S. service 

members missing from the Korean War during a webinar hosted by The National Committee 

on North Korea, a U.S. non-governmental organization, on Feb. 17. The two gave a history of activities with North 

Korea, highlighting unilateral turnovers such as the K55 in 2018 and the challenges of resuming joint field missions in 

North Korea.
DPAA Laboratory

Directorate Recap Directorate Recap

Partnerships 

& Innovations

25 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 26

The DPAA Laboratory continued to identify missing DoD 

personnel during FY 2021 by leveraging a balance between 

telework posture and in-laboratory work challenges. We 

accounted for 142 missing Americans in FY 2021 and 

identified 211 additional remains of previously accountedfor service members.

The USS Oklahoma Identification Project continued to 

reach many milestones. It commenced in the summer of 2015 

with the disinterment of nearly 13,000 highly commingled 

bones. Remarkably, 361 Sailors and Marines have been 

individually identified, which is over 90% of all missing 

from this ship. In June, the USS Oklahoma group remains 

were transferred from the Nebraska laboratory to the Hawaii 

laboratory for turnover to the U.S. Navy and interment at the 

NMCP on the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Accessions of remains from disinterments continued 

in FY 2021, including all 101 Unknowns from Phase 3 of 

the Korean War Disinterment Project, 102 accessions from 

the MACM, and 88 accessions from various cemeteries in 

Europe. In addition, exhumations commenced on the 47 

Unknowns from the Battle of Myitkina, Burma, who are 

buried at the NMCP.

A new addition to the lab’s thirteen Special Projects is the 

Southeast Asia Project that reviews and analyzes all existing 

and new evidence from Vietnam War accessions. A dedicated 

project that will add more efficiency to the identification 

The Partnerships and Innovations (PI) Directorate managed 

existing partners or conducted discussions with a total of 178 

institutions in FY 2021. These efforts led to the finalization 

of 13 new partnership arrangements with external entities. 

PI also expanded the geographic basis of its pool 

of partners by focusing on organizations based 

abroad, with the aim of facilitating local access 

and reducing mission costs.

In FY 2021, DPAA planned to conduct 55 

partner missions; however, because of safety 

concerns and host nation travel restrictions 

brought on by COVID-19, only 26 of those 

missions were executed. It was encouraging 

that partner teams nevertheless were in the field 

every quarter of the FY with a notable surge in 

the fourth quarter. Additionally, PI was able to 

reschedule the FY 2021 postponed missions and 

anticipates a large surge effort in FY 2022.

Some highlights from the field include the 

University of Illinois at Chicago’s field mission 

in Cambodia; multiple missions in Europe with 

American Veteran’s Archaeological Recovery; 

and projects with first-time partners Indiana 

University of Pennsylvania, Middle Tennessee 

State University, University of Wyoming, 

Geoscope, Western Australia Museum, Colorado 

State University, and RPM Nautical Foundation. 

PI also amplified and expanded the “Hub & 

Spoke” History Program that incorporates 

the research and networking potential of 

individuals embedded in 14 academic and 

research institutions across the U.S. These and 

other partners are currently working on nearly 

50 research requests from directorates across 

DPAA.

Finally, DPAA launched innovation 

initiatives in FY 2021 aimed at finding creative 

new ways to identify technology, equipment, 

and procedures that offer the potential to 

expand DPAA’s capacity and capabilities. These 

include endeavors related to future underwater 

investigations and recovery efforts and wetlands 

excavation, among other areas.

A hard hat diver from Legion Underseas Services performs underwater dredge 

operations with Project Recover during a partner mission in Palau in August. 

Photo by Chris Perez, Legion Undersea Services

Star Lavin, a forensic radiographer in DPAA’s Hawaii laboratory, shows off the lab’s CT 

scanner in the Labratory Tour Video produced in FY 2021.

process. 

Despite COVID’s continued impacts on field operations, 

there were localized improving trends which permitted 

laboratory forensic scientists to successfully complete site 

survey and recovery operations in 15 countries, including 

first-time scientific efforts in Guam and Lithuania. 

Continued efforts by the VNOSMP kept unilateral hostnation recovery operations going throughout the year. 

These and organic DPAA teams comprised a total of 85 

sites scientifically processed throughout the world.

In December, the DPAA Laboratory’s scope of 

accreditation was officially extended to fully encompass 

Geographical Profile (via Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry). 

The laboratory was the originator of the Geographical 

Profile component/parameter for isotope testing under 

the Anthropology discipline and is thus unique within the 

U.S. In May, the DPAA Laboratory, in conjunction with 

the DPAA Academy, hosted the first Virtual Scientific 

Summit. Originally to be held in person, this event was a 

huge success with participation from nine countries.

The laboratory supported the first U.S.-Republic 

of Korea Joint Repatriation Ceremony in Hawaii by 

reviewing, selecting, and sampling over one hundred sets 

of possible Korean remains. The year-long preparation 

process involved extensive collaboration with the scientists 

at MAKRI, which led to the successful repatriation of 68 

Korean soldiers, and return of 6 potential U.S. remains.
27 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 28

March was a busy month 

for DPAA, starting with 

the accounting of Chaplain 

(Capt.) Emil J. Kapaun, 

who was posthumously 

awarded the Medal of 

Honor in 2013 and is being 

considered for sainthood by 

the Catholic Church for his 

actions during the Korean 

War. Our three RTs and 

one IT taking part in the 

142nd JFA in the Socialist 

Republic of Vietnam began 

work after their two-week 

quarantine. Our organic 

RT continued operations in 

the Kingdom of Cambodia, 

and we launched partner 

missions to the Republic of 

Austria and the Kingdom of 

Belgium. Additionally, we 

disinterred 48 Unknowns -- 

16 from the NMCP and 32 

from the MACM. We also 

accounted for 20 formerly 

missing persons from past 

conflicts.

2021

March A Vietnamese Unilateral RT excavates a site in western Quang Nam Province, Vietnam, during the 142nd JFA in March, searching 

for a U.S. service member still missing from the Vietnam War. Vietnam and the U.S. have partnered for more than three decades to 

account for Americans missing from the war. Photo by Lt. Col. Adam Points
Marine Corps Reserve 

Pvt. Jacob Cruz, 

unaccounted for from 

the Battle of Tarawa in 

November 1943 during 

World War II, was 

honored by his family 

with a billboard along 

the I-105 freeway in 

Los Angeles on March 

23 when he he was laid 

to rest there. Cruz was 

recovered on Betio Island 

by DPAA partner History 

Flight, Inc. in 2019, and 

identified by our Hawaii 

laboratory on April 14, 

2020.

29 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 30

This is one of the first POW/MIA flags from 1970, kept 

by Carol Hickerson, whose first husband, Maj. Steve 

Hanson, was lost in Vietnam and was the inspiration 

for the silhouette still used on the flag today. Hanson’s 

remains were found, and he was identified by the Central 

Identification Laboratory-Hawaii, a DPAA predecessor 

organization, on June 12, 2000. Photo by Carol Hickerson

Rengert-Jan Elburg, a DPAA casualty 

resolution officer, moves buckets during 

a recovery mission in Austria March 30. This mission was the first 

organic DPAA mission to Europe since the COVID-19 pandemic 

caused the recall or cancellation of global missions a year prior. 

Air Force Master Sgt. Reginald Cromier, a DPAA life support investigator, speaks to 

Ambassador W. Patrick Murphy, U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia, about evidence recently 

found during a recovery mission in the Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia, March 9. 

Navy Rear Adm. Darius Banaji 

(right), DPAA’s Deputy Director 

for Operations, and Scott Burch, 

Pearl Harbor National Memorial Superintendent, untie a maile lei 

to commemorate a new DPAA exhibit at the Pearl Harbor National 

Memorial March 5. The display will be seen by the millions who 

visit the memorial each year.

REMEMBERING 

FALLEN HEROES

Photo by Laura Herzog, Executive 

Director, Honoring Our Fallen

EXHIBIT UNVEILING

Photo by Mass Communications Specialist 

2nd Class Seth Coulter

AMBASSADOR VISITS 

CAMBODIA RECOVERY

Photo by Sgt. Jacqueline Clifford

AUSTRIA RECOVERY

Photo by Sgt. Melanye Martinez

Le Chi Dung (center), the VNOSMP Director; Nguyen Hong

Quang (right), the VNOSMP Deputy Director; and Ritu

Tariyal (left), from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), listen as Dr. Gregory Berg, DPAA’s Lab 

DNA Manager, delivers remarks on the role of the DPAA laboratory in identifying American MIAs. Berg’s presentation

was part of the Scientific Workshop on DNA Identification of Human Remains from War, organized by the VNOSMP and 

USAID to improve Vietnam’s internal capabilities for identifying their missing war dead.

VIETNAM SCIENTIFIC WORKSHOP

Photo by Maj. Eric Richards
31 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 32

DPAA began the month by 

remembering the seven U.S. 

service members and nine 

Vietnamese personnel lost 

in a 2001 MI-17 helicopter 

crash in the Socialist 

Republic of Vietnam during 

a mission planning flight; 

ceremonies were held at 

the Pentagon, our Hawaii 

facility, and the crash site in 

Vietnam. Our investigation 

and recovery efforts 

continued in the Socialist 

Republic of Vietnam, the 

Republic of Austria, the 

Kingdom of Belgium, and 

the Kingdom of Cambodia. 

Field operations began 

in the Republic of Korea, 

Lao People’s Democratic 

Republic, the Kingdom of 

Thailand, and the Republic 

of Panama. We disinterred 

16 Korean War Unknowns 

from the NMCP as part of 

Phase 3 of the Korean War 

Disinterment Project. We 

also held a virtual FMU 

for families in and around 

Albuquerque, New Mexico, 

and accounted for five 

formerly missing persons 

from past conflicts.

2021

April

Dr. Denise To (right) briefs Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Rear Adm. Darius Banaji, DPAA Deputy Director for Operations, during a tour of the 

DPAA laboratory on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, April 30. “The care and commitment that you exhibit in each and every mission that you go on is just 

extraordinary,” Austin said. “It’s not lost on me that in years past we’ve lost members of our team while out on missions. It’s dangerous, it’s hard, it’s tedious, but the 

fact that we have people like you who are committed to do what you’re doing is just absolutely terrific, and it sets us apart and it makes us different, so I want to thank 

you for what you do.” Photo by Sgt. Jacqueline A. Clifford
33 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 34

A 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) 

Soldier marches with the POW/MIA flag behind 

the caisson carrying the remains of Army Sgt. 

James E. Smith, Jr., who died during the Korean 

War, during Smith’s funeral at Arlington 

National Cemetery April 12. Photo by Kelly 

McKeague

Dr. Ian Spurgeon, a DPAA EM Directorate historian, gives a presentation on DPAA’s World War II research efforts. DPAA 

launched a series of World War II briefing videos on our website in April in order to better keep families informed of the 

various projects we have on-going. These videos can be watched at: https://www.dpaa.mil/Resources/Briefing-Videos/.

WORLD WAR II 

BRIEFING VIDEOS

Screenshot by Sgt. 1st Class Sean Everette

MI-17 

REMEMBRANCE

Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Sean 

Everette

Gen. Mark A Milley, 

Chairman of the 

Joint Chiefs of Staff, 

speaks at the April 7 

DPAA Remembrance 

Ceremony at the 

Pentagon for 16 

American and 

Vietnamese personnel 

who were killed when 

their Mi-17 helicopter 

crashed in Quang Binh 

Province, Vietnam, in 

2001, while on mission 

for a DPAA predecessor 

organization. 

KOREAN DMZ 

INVESTIGATION

Photo by Cpl. Jack A.E. Rigsby

Lt. Col. Kim Jin Ho, 

operations chief at the 

MAKRI, speaks to DPAA 

IT members as part of an 

investigation mission in the 

Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) 

separating North and South 

Korea on April 15. DPAA 

personnel were surveying 

possible locations of U.S. 

service members lost during 

the Korean War within the 

DMZ.

Navy Builder 3rd Class Amanda Hartjes, a DPAA RT 

noncommissioned officer, screens soil for possible 

remains and material evidence while snow is falling 

during a recovery mission in Austria April 6. During 

the mission, potential osseous material was recovered 

and accessioned into the DPAA laboratory at Offutt 

AFB, Nebraska.

SOIL SCREENING

Photo by Sgt. Melanye Martinez
35 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 36

In May, we held our 

fourth virtual FMU, this 

time for families in and 

around Oklahoma City. In 

addition to our continuing 

investigation and recovery 

missions to the Kingdom of 

Cambodia, the Kingdom of 

Belgium, the Lao People’s 

Democratic Republic, 

the Federal Republic of 

Germany, the Republic of 

Korea, and the Kingdom 

of Thailand. We also 

launched the 143rd JFA 

in the Socialist Republic 

of Vietnam and partner 

missions to the Republic 

of Austria and the French 

Republic. Additionally, we 

disinterred 16 Unknowns 

from the NMCP and 

accounted for four formerly 

missing persons from past 

conflicts.

2021

May Air Force Master Sgt. Jacqueline Risley, a DPAA EOD technician, excavates a unit during a recovery mission in Belgium on May 

26. Throughout the 72-day mission, the DPAA team was able to excavate and screen an estimated 1,013 tons of soil in a 422 squaremeter area while searching for 1st Lt. Eugene Shauvin, lost in a C-47 crash in 1944. Photo by Staff Sgt. Apryl Hall
37 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 38

An Air Force Honor Guard 

member holds the POW/MIA 

flag at attention during the 

funeral for Col. William E. 

Campbell at Arlington National 

Cemetery, Virginia, May 18, 

2017. Campbell was lost on 

a mission over southern Laos 

in 1969. His remains were 

recovered in 2014. Photo by 

Sgt. 1st Class Kristen Duus

U.S. Coast Guard 

Diver 2nd Class 

Corey Smith, a 

mission augmentee 

from Coast Guard 

Regional Dive 

Locker Pacific, 

jumps into the 

water from a 

barge during 

an underwater 

recovery mission 

in Khanh Hoa 

Province, Vietnam, 

May 27. Smith was one of four Coast Guard divers who joined DPAA’s underwater 

recovery team to search for unaccounted-for U.S. service members as part of the 143rd 

Joint Field Activity. DPAA is grateful to the Vietnamese government for their sustained 

cooperation and partnership in our on-going mission to recover our unaccounted-for 

service members from the Vietnam War.

VIETNAM 

UNDERWATER 

RECOVERY

Photo by Sgt. Mitchell 

Ryan

LAOS RECOVERY 

MISSION

Photo by Lt. Col. Daniel Oh

After completing a 14-day quarantine, DPAA RT members board a Lao Airlines charter flight 

from Vientiane, Laos, on May 18 for onward movement to recovery sites in Khammouan 

Province. This recovery mission excavated four sites in an effort to bring missing service 

members home from the Vietnam War.

ARMY CHIEF OF 

CHAPLAINS VISIT

Photo by Staff Sgt. Michael O’Neal

VIRTUAL SCIENTIFIC SYMPOSIUM Screenshot by Sabrina Taala

Maj. Gen. Dato’ Dr. Mohd Ilham 

Haron (top right) of the Malaysian 

Forensic Odontology Team gives 

a briefing during the DPAA 

Virtual Scientific Symposium 

May 24. Representatives from 

organizations in Australia, 

Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Palau, 

Papua New Guinea, Philippines, 

South Korea, and Vietnam met 

with DPAA forensic scientists to 

discuss topics of joint interest in 

anticipation of an eventual inperson Scientific Summit, which 

continues to be postponed due to 

pandemic restrictions.

Chaplain (Maj. Gen.) Thomas L. Solhjem, the Army’s 25th Chief of Chaplains, gives a prayer 

during a tour at the DPAA facility on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam May 12. The Hawaii 

facility receives many visits from distinguished guests every year. These visits provide 

valuable outreach opportunities for DPAA personnel to educate visitors from across the DoD, U.S. Government, and 

many partner nations on our noble mission and its complexities.
39 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 40

The high operational 

tempo continued with 

investigation and recovery 

efforts, both organic and 

partnered, in the Republic 

of Austria, the Kingdom of 

Belgium, the Lao People’s 

Democratic Republic, 

the French Republic, and 

the Socialist Republic 

of Vietnam. New field 

operations commenced in 

Hungary, the Kingdom of 

Great Britain and Northern 

Ireland, and the Federal 

Republic of Germany. 

We disinterred 31 World 

War II Unknowns from 

the ABMC’s Ardennes, 

Lorraine, and Normandy 

American Cemeteries, and 

16 Korean War Unknowns 

from the NMCP. We also 

accounted for 14 formerly 

missing persons from past 

conflicts.

2021

June

U.S. service members participate in an Honorable Carry Ceremony for unidentified remains of USS Oklahoma service members held on Joint Base Pearl HarborHickam, Hawaii, June 24. DPAA hosted a similar ceremony earlier that day in Lincoln, Nebraska. Both were held to pay tribute to the Sailors and Marines lost aboard 

the USS Oklahoma during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. These unidnetified remains were returned from the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt AFB, 

Nebraska, to Hawaii to be reinterred by the Navy at the NMCP on the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor as DPAA’s USS Oklahoma Disinterment Project concludes. The 

highly successful project is a testament to the collaboration among DPAA, AFMES-AFDIL, the Navy and Marine Corps, and NMCP. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Rusty Frank
41 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 42

The POW/MIA Flag flies atop 

the White House in Washington, 

D.C. on National Former POW 

Recognition Day April 9, 2021. 

The flag moved back atop the 

White House after flying on the 

South Lawn since June 2020.

CHAIR OF HONOR 

DEDICATION

Photo by Ashley Wright

Colleen Shine, daughter of Air Force Col. Anthony Shine (accounted for from the Vietnam 

War in 1996) and representative of the National League of POW/MIA Families; and Air Force 

Capt. Ralph Galati, a former Vietnam War POW, unveil the POW/MIA Chair of Honor during 

a ceremony in the lobby of DPAA’s Arlington, Virginia, office June 14. These chairs are found 

across the United States, in state capitols, town halls, and sports arenas and stadiums. The 

chairs are meant to represent those service members who are unable to fill them because of their 

sacrifices. A Chair of Honor was unveiled at DPAA’s Hawaii facility in February 2020.

TRAPP BROTHERS 

RECEIVE ROSETTES 

Photo by Tech. Sgt. Rusty Frank

Carol Sowar, niece of 

Harold and William 

Trapp, brothers who 

died on the USS 

Oklahoma during the 

attack on Pearl Harbor 

and were successfully 

identified as part of 

the USS Oklahoma 

Project, places rosettes 

signifying her uncles 

have been accounted 

for on a memorial wall 

in the Courts of the 

Missing at the NMCP in 

Honolulu June 15.

VIETNAM RECOVERY 

MISSION

Photo by Lance Cpl. Timothy Fowler

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Draft Criss, a DPAA RT member, does an initial sweep of an 

excavation site during a recovery mission in Quang Binh Province, Vietnam, June 

15. During the recovery mission, which was part of the 143rd JFA, DPAA personnel, 

augmentees, and local nationals spent their days digging and screening in hopes of finding a 

missing U.S. service member lost during the Vietnam War. 

HUNGARY 

INVESTIGATION MISSION

Photo by Joshua Frank

Air Force Capt. Attila Zsigmond, a 

DPAA augmentee from the 336th 

Fighter Squadron out of Seymour 

Johnson Air Force Base, North 

Carolina, takes part in the survey 

of a possible crash location of an 

American bomber in Győr-MosonSopron County, Hungary, June 14. 

Zsignmond is an F-15 Eagle fighter 

pilot who served as a linguist for the 

mission. He came to DPAA as part 

of the Air Force’s Language Enabled 

Airmen Program, a volunteer program 

designed to strengthen partnerships 

and interoperability across the DoD. 
43 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 44

This month, we unveiled the 

2021 POW/MIA Recognition 

Day poster in a ceremony 

at the Pentagon. We also 

continued both organic and 

partner investigations and 

recoveries to the Socialist 

Republic of Vietnam, the 

Republic of Austria, the 

Lao People’s Democratic 

Republic, the Italian 

Republic, the French 

Republic, the Kingdom of 

Great Britain and Northern 

Ireland, and the Federal 

Republic of Germany. 

New operations began in 

Republic of the Philippines, 

the Republic of Poland, and 

the Republic of Croatia. We 

also disinterred 20 World 

War II Unknowns from the 

Ardennes, Luxembourg, 

and Netherlands American 

Cemeteries, and 16 Korean 

War Unknowns from the 

NMCP. We accounted for 16 

formerly missing persons 

from past conflicts.

2021

July

Ben Thompson, a volunteer with the American Veterans Archaeological Recovery (AVAR) group, searches for remains of fallen service members during 

a B-24 Liberator bomber excavation at Park Farm in Arundel, England, July 8. AVAR and the University of York in England partnered with DPAA to 

excavate the site. The bomber crashed June 22, 1944, after being severly damaged while completing its bombing mission in France during World War 

II. Three of the crew members died in the crash and were never recovered. The site had never been excavated with remains recovery in mind until this 

partnership mission. Photo by Senior Airman Koby I. Saunders, 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
45 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 46

A DPAA RT poses for a group photo with the POW/

MIA Flag during a recovery mission in Quang Nam 

Province, Vietnam, July 3. All DPAA RTs take a 

moment for a picture with the flag while on mission. 

Photo by Staff Sgt. Jonathan McElderry

FRANCE PARTNER 

MISSION 

Photo by Tabitha Wadford

Dr. Adam Fracchia (left), lead archaeologist, and Dr. Tiffany Saul (middle), principal 

investigator, discuss excavations with Senior Defense Official/Defense Attaché to France Air 

Force Col. Alan Pepper on a recovery mission run by DPAA partner Middle Tennessee State 

University near Néron, France, July 8. Many DPAA recovery missions are made possible 

because of the network of partners established by our Partnerships and Innovations Directorate.

OFFUTT 

DOCUMENTARY 

Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Sean 

Everette

Dr. Lara McCormick, 

a DPAA forensic 

anthropologist at the 

Offut AFB lab, prepares 

histology samples for 

the camera July 15. 

The Nebraska Public 

Television series 

“What If,” a series 

about innovation and 

creativity in Nebraska, 

filmed at the lab for 

three days to highlight 

the DPAA mission and 

the work done by our 

scientists.

POSTER UNVEILING

Photo by Staff Sgt. Jack Sanders, 

Office of the Secretary of Defense 

Public Affairs

The 2021 POW/MIA Recognition Day Poster was unveiled in a ceremony in the POW/MIA 

Corridor of the Pentagon July 27. Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen H. Hicks (left of 

poster) joined DPAA Director, Kelly McKeague, and representatives from several MIA Family 

Groups and Veteran Service Organizations to reveal this year ’s poster.

STORMS 

FUNERAL 

Photo by Ashley Wright

The four sons of Army Maj. Harvey Storms 

attended their father’s funeral at Arlington National 

Cemetery July 16. Storms was reported missing in 

action on Dec. 1, 1950, when his unit was attacked 

by enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North 

Korea. He was returned to the U.S. among the 55 

boxes of remains turned over by the DPRK in 2018.
47 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 48

We virtually connected 

with families during our 

Korean/Cold War Annual 

Government Briefings (K/

CW). We also conducted 

organic and partner 

investigation and recovery 

missions to the Lao People’s 

Democratic Republic, the 

Kingdom of Great Britain 

and Northern Ireland, 

the Federal Republic of 

Germany, the Republic 

of Croatia, the Italian 

Republic, the French 

Republic, and the Republic 

of Austria. We commenced 

field work in the Republic of 

Palau, the Marshall Islands, 

the Republic of Poland, the 

Republic of Lithuania, and 

the Kingdom of Denmark. 

We also disinterred 12 

World War II Unknowns 

from the Brittany, 

Normandy, Netherlands, 

and Henri-Chappelle 

American Cemeteries, and 

four Korean War Unknowns 

from the NMCP, finishing 

Phase 3 of the Korean 

War Disinterment Project. 

We accounted for eight 

formerly missing persons 

from past conflicts.

2021

August

Ray Kapaun, nephew of Chaplain (Capt.) Emil J. Kapaun, a Korean War Medal of Honor recipient accounted for by DPAA in March; along with Joyce

Dalton and Verlie Quinan, sisters of Korean War missing service member, Ensign Ronald D. Eaton; and DPAA Director Kelly McKeague participated in 

a public Wreath-Laying Ceremony and viewed the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, 

Aug. 5. The wreath-laying was held in conjunction with the Aug. 5-6 Korean/Cold War Annual Government Briefings. Photo by Elizabeth Fraser, 

Arlington National Cemetery
49 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 50

Members of the Offutt AFB Honor 

Guard raise the POW/MIA flag over the 

base parade grounds. On Aug. 10, 1990, 

Congress passed a law designating the 

POW/MIA flag “the symbol of our 

Nation’s concern and commitment to 

resolving as fully as possible the fates 

of Americans still prisoner, missing and 

unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, thus 

ending the uncertainty for their families 

and the Nation.” Photo by Kristen Allen

K/CW ANNUAL 

BRIEFINGS 

Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Corey Idleburg

The Honorable Hwang 

Ki-chul, Minister of 

Patriots and Veterans 

Affairs, Republic of 

Korea, addresses viewers 

during DPAA’s K/CW in 

Arlington, Virginia, Aug. 

6. The briefings were 

held virtually after being 

canceled in 2020 due to 

COVID. These briefings 

are designed to keep family 

members informed of the 

DoD’s worldwide mission 

to account for those still 

missing from the Korean 

and Cold Wars and provides 

them the latest information 

available concerning their 

individual losses.

PALAU PRESIDENT 

VISITS RECOVERY 

SITE

Photo by Harry Parker, Project 

Recover

Nick Zaborski (left) and 

John Marsack (right), of 

DPAA partner, Project 

Recover, brief His 

Excellency Surangel 

Whipps, Jr. (seated), the 

President of Palau, on the 

surface supply dive system 

before diving with him at 

a recovery site Aug. 30. 

Whipps and the Honorable 

John Hennessey-Niland, 

U.S. Ambassador to Palau, 

visited the Project Recover 

team to get a better 

understanding of what 

goes into an underwater 

recovery mission.

On behalf of the DPAA, U.S. Embassy-Copenhagen officials recognized members of the 

Royal Danish Navy in a ceremony on Her Danish Majesty’s Ship Søløven Aug. 24. DPAA 

awards and certificates of appreciation were presented to the captain and crew of the ship 

and divers with the Danish Navy Fleet Diving Unit for their efforts to support the underwater 

survey of a U.S. B-24 Liberator bomber wreckage, which might help to account for missing World War II Airmen and 

provide information to their families. 

DANISH NAVY 

RECOGNITION

Photo by Lt. Col. Trevor Gersten, U.S. 

Embassy Copenhagen Air Attaché

GERMANY RECOVERY

Photo by Staff Sgt. James Thompson

Air Force Capt. Jenavee Viernes (left), a DPAA 

team leader, and Air Force Tech. Sgt. Catherine 

Deacon (right), a DPAA medic, assist with site excavation during a recovery 

mission in Brandenburg, Germany, Aug. 16. This mission was investigating the 

potential crash site of a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber that did not return from a 

mission to bomb Berlin in World War II.
51 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 52

It was a busy end to FY 2021. 

The President of the Republic of 

Korea was the principal official at 

the Joint Repatriation Ceremony 

in Hawaii. We also held our 

Annual Vietnam War Government 

Briefings in conjunction with 

the 51st Annual Meeting of the 

National League of POW/MIA 

Families in Virginia; conducted 

a Chain of Custody ceremony 

for Chaplain Emil Kapaun; 

and held ceremonies for POW/

MIA Recognition Day across 

the globe. Organic and partner 

investigation and recovery 

missions continued in the Lao 

People’s Democratic Republic, 

the Republic of Poland, the 

Republic of Palau, the Federal 

Republic of Germany, the 

Marshall Islands, the Italian 

Republic, the Republic of 

Korea, the French Republic, 

the Republic of Austria, and 

the Republic of Croatia, with 

new missions beginning in the 

Commonwealth of Australia, the 

Kingdom of Belgium, and the 

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. 

We disinterred 21 World War II 

from multiple ABMC cemeteries 

in Europe and accounted for 

seven formerly missing persons 

from past conflicts.

2021

September

His Excellency Moon Jae-in, President of the Republic of Korea and First Lady Kim Jung-sook render honors during the firstever Korean War Joint Repatriation Ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Sept. 22. The ceremony included 

the transfer of remains and commemoration of the service of 68 fallen South Korean and 6 U.S. service members who fought 

in the Korean War. The remains were analyzed jointly by scientists from DPAA and South Korea’s MAKRI. Photo by Staff 

Sgt. James Thompson
53 • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise • 54

U.S. service members participate in a 24-hour memorial 

run as part of events to recognize National POW/MIA 

Day at Joint Base Pearl-Harbor-Hickam Sept. 16, 2021. 

Observances of the day are held across the country on 

military installations, aboard ships, in state capitols, 

schools, and veterans’ facilities. Photo by Tech. Sgt. 

Rusty Frank

KAPAUN CHAIN 

OF CUSTODY 

Photo by Staff Sgt. Apryl Hall

DPAA members render honors during a Chain of Custody Ceremony for the remains of Medal of 

Honor-recipient U.S. Army Chaplain (Capt.) Emil J. Kapaun at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam 

Sept. 21. In May 2021, DPAA announced that Chaplain Kapaun’s remains had been positively 

identified. His remains had previously been interred in a grave marked “Unknown” at the NMCP 

in Honolulu in 1956 and had been disinterred in 2019 as part of DPAA’s Korean War Disinterment 

Project.

VIETNAM WAR 

GOVERNMENT BRIEFINGS 

Photo by Lt. Col. Tamara Fischer-Carter

Concurrent with the 51st Annual Meeting of the 

National League of POW/MIA Families, DPAA 

conducted Annual Government Briefings virtually 

for families whose loved ones are unaccounted from 

the Vietnam War Sept. 15-16. U.S. government 

officials updated family members on current and 

future accounting efforts through various briefings that 

provide strategic, operational, and scientific overviews 

as well as fielded questions from those viewing. 

POW/MIA 

RECOGNITION DAY

Photo by Staff Sgt. Brittany Chase, 

Office of the Secretary of Defense 

Public Affairs

Secretary of Defense 

Lloyd J. Austin III 

gives remarks during a 

ceremony for National 

POW/MIA Recognition 

Day held at the Pentagon, 

Washington, D.C., Sept. 17. 

First established in 1979 

through a proclamation 

from President Jimmy 

Carter, National POW/

MIA Recognition Day is 

an observance to honor and 

recognize the sacrifices of 

those Americans who have 

been a POW, and to remind 

the nation of those who are 

still MIA.

LAOS 

RELATIONSHIP 

BUILDING

Photo by Cpl. Jack A.E. Rigsby

Army Sgt. 1st Class 

Michael O’Hanlon 

(center), a DPAA team 

sergeant, dances with 

local workers during 

a recovery mission 

in the Lao People’s 

Democratic Republic 

Sept. 4. DPAA 

personnel arrived to 

conduct excavation 

operations in an 

effort to find a U.S. 

reconnaissance pilot 

lost during the Vietnam 

War.
DPAA Leadership

Kelly McKeague - Director 

Fern Sumpter Winbush - Principal Deputy Director

U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Darius Banaji - Deputy Director for Operations

DPAA Outreach and Communications/Public Affairs

Johnie Webb - Acting Outreach and Communications Director

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Tamara Fischer-Carter - Public Affairs Division Chief

Ashley Wright - Strategic Communications Chief

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Sean Everette - Public Affairs NCO

Web: www.dpaa.mil 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dodpaa 

Twitter: twitter.com/dodpaa

DVIDS: www.dvidshub.net/unit/DPAA

YouTube: https://youtu.be/FcSwcb57OGg

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

Family members seeking more information 

about missing loved ones should call their

respective Service Casualty Office

U.S. Army

(800) 892-2490

U.S. Marine Corps

(866) 210-3421, Opt. 1

U.S. Navy

(800) 443-9298

U.S. Air Force

(800) 531-5501

U.S. Coast Guard

(202) 795-6637

Central Intelligence Agency

(703) 874-4270

U.S. Department of State

(202) 485-6125

2022 Family Update Schedule*

Date Location

January 22 Miami, FL

February 26 Dallas, TX

February 28 Honolulu, HI

March 26 Spokane, WA

April 23 Minneapolis, MN

May 21 Boston, MA

June 22-25 Arlington, VA**

July 26-27 Arlington, VA***

September 10 Colorado Springs, CO

* Family Member Updates are tentative and 

subject to change.

**The Vietnam War Annual Government 

Briefings held in conjunction with the National 

League of POW/MIA Families Annual Meeting *** The Korean/Cold War Annual Government 

Briefings