U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Kristen Duus
Navy Cmdr. Daniel Colon, in uniform, the senior Naval officer for the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, presents a collage to Gene Costill, during the funeral for Costill's brother, Fireman 3rd Class Harold K. Costill, in Clayton, New Jersey, Sept. 14, 2019. Harold Costill, affectionately known as "Brud," was aboard the USS West Virginia, moored in Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese torpedos, Dec. 7, 1941. DPAA disinterred the USS West Virginia "Unknowns" from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in 2017, and recently identified Costill through dental and anthropological analysis, as well as mitochondrial DNA.
Since the American Revolution, people fighting to secure the freedom of the United States have
at some points in time been held as prisoners of war (POWs).
But it took more than 200 years for our country to officially recognize the sacrifices made by
those Americans who spent time in enemy hands or who were declared missing in action (MIA)
from U.S.-involved conflicts around the globe.
National POW/MIA Recognition Day was established in 1979 through a proclamation signed by President Jimmy Carter. Since then, each subsequent president has issued an annual proclamation commemorating the third Friday in September as National POW/MIA Recognition
Day. In 1997, President Bill Clinton further strengthened the importance of the day by officially designated it as one of the six days per year that the POW/MIA flag is required to be flown at designated federal government locations.
U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Rachel Waller
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Skysen Valdriz, left, and U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Magdeleno Perez adjust a hose during a recovery mission conducted in Houaphanh Province, Laos, Aug. 20, 2019. During the recovery mission, 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.
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Seth Coulter
U.S. service members with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) conduct a disinterment ceremony at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii, August 19, 2019. The ceremony was part of DPAA's efforts to disinter and identify the remains of unknown service members lost during the Korean War. Currently in the second phase of the disinterment plan, 112 have been exhumed to date with five identified so far.
U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Seth Coulter
Mr. Kelly McKeague, director, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), speaks at the American Legion’s 101st National Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, Aug. 29, 2019.
-2.jpg "Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency")
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt Jacqueline Clifford
Raimund "Ray" Riedmann, Chief Pilot of "The Flying Bulls" fixed-wing fleet of vintage aircraft, based out of Salzburg, Austria, carries out a commemorative flyover of an excavation site in the South Tyrol of Italy, where a DPAA recovery team is seeking to recover the remains of an American P-38 pilot who went missing in October 1944, while escorting a formation of B-17s on a mission to bomb the oil storage tanks at Regensburg, Germany. Flying Europe's only operational P-38, Ray Riedmann made several low-level passes of the alpine recovery site at twilight on August 11, 2019, to include a barrel-roll, in a dramatic salute to his fallen war-time forerunner.
U.S. Air Force by Staff Sgt. Rusty Frank
U.S. service members with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency render honors as a transfer case containing the remains of possible U.S. military personnel lost during WWII pass during an honorable carry at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Aug. 17, 2019. The remains were recently recovered in the Solomon Islands and are being transferred to DPAA’s facility for forensic examination and identification.
DoD Photo by Mr. Lee O. Tucker
Elizabeth Jones-Ohree lays a hand on the casket of her brother, Pfc. William "Hoover" Jones, Aug. 22, 2019 at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington D.C.. In November 1950, Jones was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, engaged in attacks against the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces near Pakchon, North Korea. On Nov. 26, 1950, after his unit made a fighting withdrawal, he was reported missing in action. The U.S. Army declared him deceased as of Dec. 31, 1953, and his remains were reported as non-recoverable.
On June 12, 2018, President Donald Trump met with North Korea Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore. The leaders signed a joint statement, including a commitment to return the remains American service members lost in North Korea.
On July 27, 2018, North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii and were subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Jones’ remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA), Y-chromosome (Y-STR) and autosomal (auSTR) DNA analysis, dental, anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Erik Cardenas
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Michael O’Neal, forensic photographer, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, documents excavation procedures during a recovery mission Guadalcanal Province, Solomon Islands, June 25, 2019. DPAA team members deployed to the area in hopes in recovering Marines unaccounted for from the Battle of Guadalcanal during World War II.
U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Leah Ferrante
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency service members participate in a disinterment ceremony held at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii, Aug. 5, 2019. The ceremony was part of DPAA’s efforts to disinter the remains of unknown service members lost during the Korean War.
U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery
Marines from the Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C. (8th and I); “The President’s Own” Marine Band; and The 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) Caisson Platoon; conduct military funeral honors with funeral escort for U.S. Marine Corps. Sgt. Meredith Keirn in Section 55 of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, Aug. 8, 2019.
In late November, 1950, Keirn was a light machinegun section leader for Company F, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. He was reported to have been killed Nov. 30, 1950 while defending a hill overlooking the Toktong Pass, a critical main supply route between the villages of Hagaru-ri and Yudam-ni, North Korea. His remains were reportedly buried at the base of “Fox Hill,” in the Toktong Pass, but they could not be recovered following the war.
In August 2015, a South Korean citizen turned over remains believed to be U.S. servicemen from the Korean War. The remains were turned over to the U.S. Forces Korea Mortuary Affairs Office in Yongsan Garrison, Seoul, South Korea, which were subsequently turned over to DPAA.
To identify Keirn’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used Next Generation Sequencing and mitochondrial (mtDNA), Y-chromosome (Y-STR) and autosomal (auSTR) DNA analysis, anthropological analysis, as well as material and circumstantial evidence.