Press Release | Sept. 11, 2012

Airman Missing From Vietnam War Identified (Blanton)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Air Force Lt. Col. Clarence F. Blanton, 46, of El Reno, Okla., will be buried Sept. 15, in his hometown. In 1968, Blanton and 18 other men were assigned to Lima Site 85, a tactical air navigation radar site on a remote, 5,600-foot mountain peak known as Phou Pha Thi in Houaphan Province, Laos. In the early morning of March 11, the site was overrun by Vietnamese commandos, causing the Americans to seek safety on a narrow ledge of the steep mountain. A few hours later, under the protective cover of A-1 Skyraider aircraft, U.S. helicopters were able to rescue eight of the men. Blanton, who was the U.S. commander of the site, and 10 other Americans were killed in action and unable to be recovered.

In 1994, a joint U.S. /Lao People’s Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.) recovery operation, led by Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), took place near the top of Phou Pha Thi with negative results. A second recovery operation, in 2003, resulted in the discovery of remains which were subsequently identified as one of the missing U.S. servicemen—Tech Sgt. Patrick L. Shannon. Since that time, JPAC has evaluated the feasibility of conducting recoveries on Phou Pha Thi but logistics and safety concerns precluded further attempts.

From 1994 to 2009, in cooperation with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) and L.P.D.R., teams pursued multiple leads from dozens of witnesses interviewed, including those involved with the attack. In 2005, a Laotian citizen provided U.S. officials an identification card bearing Blanton’s name and human remains purportedly found at the base of Phou Pha Thi.

Scientists from the JPAC and the AFDIL determined the identity of the remains using circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools, such as mitochondrial DNA–which matched Blanton’s sister.

Today, 1,660 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. Since 1973, 986 servicemen have been accounted for from that conflict, and returned to their families for burial with military honors. The U.S. government continues to work closely with the governments of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia to recover Americans lost during the Vietnam War.

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.

Press Release | Sept. 7, 2012

Navy Pilot Missing From Vietnam War Identified (Broms)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Lt. Cmdr. Edward J. Broms, Jr., 25, of Meadville, Penn., was buried on Sept. 7, in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. On Aug. 1, 1968, Broms was the pilot of an A-4C Skyhawk aircraft that crashed while attacking enemy targets in Ha Tinh Province, North Vietnam. Three other U.S. pilots in the flight did not witness the crash, and search-and-rescue teams found no sign of the aircraft or Broms.

In 1993, a joint U.S/Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), traveled to Ha Tinh Province to interview villagers and analyze leads. As a result, the team found and surveyed the crash site locating aircraft wreckage and military equipment. In addition, a villager turned over human remains that his father found at the site in 1968. The remains could not be identified given the technology of the time. During an excavation of the site in 1995, a second joint team located more aircraft wreckage but no additional remains.

In 2011, given advances in DNA technology, the remains were reanalyzed. Scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) identified the remains as Broms, using circumstantial evidence and mitochondrial DNA – which matched that of his mother and sister.

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

Press Release | Aug. 29, 2012

Soldier Missing In Action From Korean War Identified (Walczak)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Pfc. Casimir F. Walczak, 18, of Harvey, Ill., will be buried Sept. 2, in Nordman, Idaho. On Aug. 17, 1950, Walczak and the other soldiers of B Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, came under attack as they took a hill, near the town of Waegwan, South Korea. After the battle, Walczak was reported missing in action.

In 1951, U.S. Army Graves Registration Service (AGRD) personnel recovered remains and a cigarette lighter bearing the initials “E.H.P.,” found near Waegwan. The AGRD transferred the remains to a nearby U.N. Military Cemetery in Tanggok, South Korea, where mortuary personnel were unable to identify the remains and they were buried as “unknown” at the cemetery.

Due to advances in technology, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) re-examined the records in 2011 and concluded that if the remains were exhumed they could be identified. Once the remains were exhumed, scientists from the JPAC determined the identity of Walczak using circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools, including radiograph and dental comparisons.

Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously buried as unknown. Today, more than 7,900 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War.

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

Press Release | Aug. 24, 2012

Soldier Missing From Korean War Identified (Block)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, were recently identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Cpl. Kenneth R. Block, 22, of Ann Arbor, Mich., will be buried Aug. 29, in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. In late November 1950, Block and elements of the 31st Regimental Combat Team, known as “Task Force Faith,” were advancing along the eastern banks of the Chosin Reservoir, in North Korea, when they came under attack. On Dec. 3, 1950, Block, along with many other Americans, was listed as missing in action as a result of the heavy fighting.

In September and October 2001, two joint U.S./Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), excavated a mass grave that had been discovered on the eastern shore of the Chosin Reservoir. Human remains, of at least 12 individuals were recovered, along with two military identification tags and military equipment.

For 2004 through 2011 scientists from JPAC used mitochondrial DNA to determine the identification of six of the soldiers, who served with Block as part of Task Force Faith. To identify Block’s remains, experts used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools, including radiograph and dental comparisons.

Today, more than 7,900 Americans remain unaccounted-for from the Korean War. Identifications continue to be made from the remains that were returned to the United States, using forensic and DNA technology.

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

Press Release | Aug. 21, 2012

Airman Missing In Action From WWII Identified (Hogan)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. John E. Hogan, 20, of West Plains, Mo., will be buried Aug. 24, in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. On Sept. 13, 1944, Hogan and eight other crew members were on a B-17G Flying Fortress that crashed near Neustaedt-on-the-Werra, Germany. Only one of the crewmen is known to have successfully parachuted out of the aircraft before in crashed. The remaining eight crewmen were buried by German forces in a cemetery in Neustaedt.

Following the war, U.S. Army Graves Registration personnel attempted to recover the remains of the eight men, but were only able to move the remains of one man to a U.S. military cemetery in Holland. In 1953, with access to eastern Germany restricted by the Soviet Union, the remains of the seven unaccounted for crewmen were declared non-recoverable.

In 1991, a German national who was digging a grave in the cemetery in Neustaedt, discovered a metal U.S. military identification tag and notified officials. Due to German burial
law, Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) wasn’t granted access to the site until 2007 and excavated the location in 2008. The team recovered human remains and additional metal identification tags from three of the crewmembers.

Scientists from JPAC used forensic identification tools, circumstantial evidence and mitochondrial DNA – which matched that of Hogan’s cousin – in the identification of his remains.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died. At the end of the war, the U.S. government was unable to recover and identify approximately 79,000 Americans. Today, more than 73,000 are unaccounted for from the conflict.

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