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Mrs. Fern Sumpter Winbush, principal director for the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, lays a wreath at the Spirit of the Elbe plaque at Arlington National Cemetery, April 25, to commemorate the 71st Anniversary of the Meeting on the Elbe of Soviet and American troops in 1945. This was the 22nd annual ceremony sponsored by the Russian Embassy and the U.S. and Russian veterans group. Sumpter Winbush was accompanied by Dr. James Connell, Jr., acting executive secretary of the U.S. side of U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs and Mr. Maxim Nikolayevich Alexeyev, chief of the Washington office of the Russian side of USRJC. (Photos by Staff Sgt. Kristen Duus, DPAA PAO.)

April 27, 2016

Spirit of the Elbe ceremony

Arlington, Virginia — Mrs. Fern Sumpter Winbush, principal director for the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, lays a wreath at the Spirit of the Elbe plaque at Arlington National Cemetery, April 25, to commemorate the 71st Anniversary of the Meeting on the Elbe of Soviet and American troops in 1945. This was the 22nd annual ceremony sponsored by the Russian Embassy and the U.S. and Russian veterans group. Sumpter Winbush was accompanied by Dr. James Connell, Jr., acting executive secretary of the U.S. side of U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs and Mr. Maxim Nikolayevich Alexeyev, chief of the Washington office of the Russian side of USRJC.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) hosts a repatriation ceremony for unknown service members in New Delhi, India, Apr. 14, 2016. The remains of these unknown heroes recovered from various regions in India will undergo an examination for possible identification at DPAA. DPAA's mission is to provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing personnel to their families and the nation. (DoD photo by MC2 Aiyana Paschal/RELEASED)

April 18, 2016

Missing for over 70 Years, American Warriors Finally Come Home

Honolulu, April 18, 2016 — The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, in conjunction with the Department of Defense, U.S. Embassy New Delhi and the Government of India, held a repatriation ceremony Apr. 13 in New Delhi, India to pay full honors to what they believe are the possible remains of crew members. Attended by Defense Secretary Ash Carter, this event marks the first time the U.S. has repatriated remains from the country of India.

U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Mark Spindler, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency deputy director, and U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Michael Swam, DPAA senior enlisted advisor, carry a wreath as part of a memorial service held on Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam, Apr. 7 to honor men killed in a helicopter crash on Apr. 7, 2001 in Quang Binh, Vietnam. The 16 men were on an advanced party as part of a personnel recovery joint field activity. The DPAA's mission to provide the fullest possible accounting of missing personnel to their families and the nation. (DoD photo by MC1 Vladimir Potapenko/Released)

April 7, 2016

DPAA Remembers Fallen Comrades on 15th Anniversary of Helicopter Crash

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency held a memorial ceremony today on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam to honor 16 U.S. and Vietnamese personnel who lost their lives in a helicopter crash while

March 18, 2016

Next Generation DNA Sequencing

March 18, 2016 — DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- When American biologist James Watson and English physicist Francis Crick first discovered the double helix in 1953, they could not have imagined the huge strides DNA technology would take in just a few short years. From the 1977 development of the Sanger Sequencing technique by Frederick Sanger to the 1996 birth of Dolly the Sheep, the first ever cloned animal, to the 2003 completion of the Human Genome Project, which sequenced the human genome to 99.9 percent accuracy, scientists have continually improved upon their methods and techniques to lead us to the DNA Sequencing of today.

A photo display shows Col. Warren Anderson, a pilot missing from the Vietnam War, during a government update brief held in Honolulu, Jan. 25. The Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency hosts meetings around the country every year to brief families of missing service members.

Feb. 9, 2016

Families of missing Air Force pilots connect in Hawaii

Honolulu — HONOLULU-- Natalie Anderson Rauch remembers her dad as a funny man who loved to make everyone laugh and was the life of the party. She remembers living in England as a child and trips to the beach with her family. Beyond that, her memories are nearly nonexistent. Rauch was eight years old when her father’s plane went missing in North Vietnam.

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Public Affairs Contact Information


Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency PAO
Washington, D.C.
2300 Defense Pentagon
Attn: Outreach and Communications
Washington, D.C. 20301-2300
Email: dpaa.ncr.oc.mbx.public-affairs@mail.mil