HANOI, Vietnam –
Despite the lapse of appropriations forcing the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to cancel its Joint Field Activities in Vietnam that was planned for late October through early December, the mission did not stop thanks to two Vietnamese recovery teams.
These teams, consisting of host nation officials trained by DPAA and augmented by more than 60 local workers, are unilaterally excavating challenging recovery sites, with one team recovering possible remains. These humanitarian efforts underscore the strong partnership and unwavering commitment that has marked the 40 years of U.S.- Vietnam joint operations to account for Americans missing from the war.
“The two Vietnamese recovery teams are conducting the mission due to prior year funding,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jason Kim, DPAA Detachment 2 commander. “These difficult sites, characterized by karst mountains, steep hills, and dense jungle, highlight the significant contributions of our Vietnamese counterparts.”
Since Oct. 30, 2025, the Vietnam Office for Seeking Missing Persons-led teams have been excavating the two sites. This cooperation ensured that DPAA’s mission to provide the fullest possible accounting of missing personnel continued during the recent government shutdown.
“Vietnamese recovery teams are part of almost every joint field activity, and in this case, mitigated the negative impact of the government shutdown,” said Kelly McKeague, DPAA director. “Similarly for the 13 months that DPAA teams were unable to travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, their teams performed 16 excavations from which three Americans were accounted for.”
DPAA Detachment 2 has been operating in Hanoi since 1991, four years before the normalization of diplomatic relations with Vietnam. It was the first full-time U.S. government agency to be present in Vietnam since 1975, and the first in what was once North Vietnam.
There are currently 1,566 personnel unaccounted for from the Vietnam War, with 1,316 of them located in Vietnam.