WASHINGTON, D.C. –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Principal Deputy Director, Fern Sumpter Winbush, hosted a Vietnamese delegation, to include the Deputy Foreign Minister of Vietnam, H.E. Do Hung Viet, and Vietnamese Ambassador to the United States, H.E. Nguyen Quoc Dzung, representatives from Mission: POW-MIA, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Vietnam Veterans of America in Washington D.C., May 21, 2025.
“It was an honor to host the Vietnamese Delegation in recognition of the ever-increasing cooperation we continue to enjoy as we perform our work to provide the fullest possible accounting for our Vietnam War families.”
Speaking on the support provided by Vietnam, Sumpter Winbush added, “We are incredibly grateful for the support and assistance provided by the Government of Vietnam and its people with the recovery of the remains of U.S. personnel.”
This gathering served as a platform to turnover a war trophy artifact and information associated with Vietnamese losses and discuss subjects such as the Mobile Investigation Unit initiative, and archival access. The conversation also included more personal experiences of the Vice Foreign Minister’s family wartime loss, and personal visits to excavations sites in Vietnam by the Deputy Foreign Minister and Cindy Stonebraker Reed, President of Mission: POW-MIA.
Also in attendance were Dave Huffman, Executive Director of Mission: POW-MIA, and Jeanie Jacobs Huffman, the Gold Star daughter of Navy Cdr. Edward J. Jacobs Jr., who went missing in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of North Vietnam in 1967, Michael McPherson, Gold Star grandson of Tanos Kalil, a U.S. civilian who was captured by the Viet Cong in 1969, and Gold Star sister, Mandy Robins whose brother, Sgt. 1st Class John Adams went missing in 1967.
Recent efforts by Mission: POW-MIA have led to new leads on Vietnamese missing. To assist Vietnam’s effort to account for their missing, Huffman turned over documentation and location information of a reported mass grave with 22 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese army soldiers. The documentation included after action reports and maps drawn by an Australian platoon commander and included names of eight soldiers associated with the mass grave. The platoon commander verified where his platoon buried the bodies in an interview conducted the week of May 12, 2025.
Huffman also presented the Deputy Foreign Minister a Viet Cong flag, captured during a 1968 battle in the U Minh Forrest between the 21st Infantry Regiment and Viet Cong forces. The Deputy Foreign Minister and Vietnamese Ambassador expressed appreciation for receiving the flag and the details associated with the battle where it was captured. Notably, the suspected the mass grave is approximately 36 kilometers from where Kalil was captured and the same general region where the flag was taken.
The families conveyed their hope that the return of the artifacts and information would motivate Vietnamese officials to return artifacts related to unaccounted for Americans, which are currently housed in museums throughout Vietnam. They emphasized that these artifacts may represent the only tangible connection to their missing loved ones. The families expressed their goal to facilitate a formal exchange of these artifacts during DPAA Director Kelly McKeague’s upcoming visit to the Vietnam in July.
The remainder of the event was spent sharing stories of visits to excavation sites, plans for an upcoming Mission: POW/MIA delegation visit to Vietnam, and personal stories of loss, such as the Deputy Foreign Minister’s uncle, who is still missing from the Vietnam War.
Stonebraker Reed, shared the story of her father’s loss while expressing the hope of finding him and bringing him home.
“For years, I didn’t know anybody cared,” said Stonebraker Reed. “I had no idea that people were still out looking for our missing men and to have an opportunity today to sit with the Vietnamese government officials and seeing them work together with the Americans gives families a lot of hope that one day our loved ones will come.”
The engagement not only highlighted the ongoing commitment of both nations to account for missing personnel from the Vietnam War, but also reinforced the importance of collaboration in returning artifacts, people-to-people ties, and sharing the stories of those who remain unaccounted-for. With family organizations like Mission: POW-MIA advocating for continued efforts, the exchange of artifacts serves as a powerful symbol of remembrance and reconciliation between two nations once at war.