DPAA In The News

Members of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) conduct a disinterment ceremony at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii, April 17, 2023. Approximately 60 individuals were disinterred as part of the Enoura Maru Project: an on-going effort by DPAA to disinter, transport, and identify missing POWs from World War II. The remains were taken to the DPAA laboratory on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for further scientific analysis and possible identification. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jonathan McElderry)

May 31, 2023

DPAA begins multi-year “Hellship” Accounting Project

WASHINGTON — The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) began the multi-year project to disinter the remains of 431 Unknowns that are associated with those lost on the Enoura Maru, a cargo ship used by the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II to transport prisoners of war (POWs).  Nearly 1000 service members are unaccounted for from this incident.The first

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Director (DPAA), Mr. Kelly McKeague (center) signs a framework arrangement with the Government of Indonesia on March 21, 2023, Arlington, Virginia. McKeague is joined by the DPAA Principal Deputy Director Ms. Fern Sumpter Winbush (left) and Senior Defense Official and Defense Attaché to Indonesia, U.S. Army Colonel Theodore Liebreich in this historic occasion. The framework permits the first DPAA joint research and survey mission later this year of Americans missing from World War II in Indonesia.

March 21, 2023

Framework Arrangement Enables First Survey Mission for Americans Missing from World War II in Indonesia

Arlington, VA — The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) signed a Framework Arrangement with the Government of Indonesia March 21 that permits the first DPAA joint research and survey mission later this year of Americans missing from World War II in Indonesia. Concluding several years of coordination and multiple Secretary of Defense engagements, the two

Feb. 17, 2023

DPAA reaches 50 identifications for the Huertgen Forest Project

WASHINGTON — On December 12, 2022, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that Private First Class William L. Simon had been accounted-for, nearly 78 years after he was killed fighting German forces near the town of Germeter, Germany, during World War II. Simon’s identification answered his family’s questions and marked the 50th identification

Mr. Thuan Chau, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) Isotope Mass spectrometrist, and Ms. Lyndia Low, DPAA Isotope Preparation scientist, give a presentation to Aliamanu Middle School students during a visit to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Feb. 10, 2023. DPAA consistently holds education tours both to engage with the local community and to educate students on DPAA identification and recovery operations. It provides an extra avenue to share the DPAA mission to achieve the fullest possible accounting for missing and unaccounted-for U.S. personnel to their families and our nation. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Blake Gonzales)

Feb. 17, 2023

That’s my Dad! DPAA hosts Aliamanu Middle School

Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickham, Hawaii — It isn’t very often that a son or daughter gets to say, ‘My dad is a historical archeologist who helps return lost heroes to their families’, but Nino Peterson, Aliamanu Middle School (AMS) student, gets to say just that and more.The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) hosted Nino and her fellow students during a visit to the headquarters

Feb. 17, 2023

DPAA to Discuss Mission, Science Behind Their Operations at Upcoming Event

ORLANDO, FLORIDA — “We have an obligation to honor the sacrifices of the generations that have come before us, especially the generations that lost their lives while securing the many liberties that we and our allies enjoy today,” said Winbush. “It is a sacred promise – not just to the families who have already lost loved ones, but to those who are continuing to

Sept. 12, 2022

Inside the agency working to bring every missing US service member home (via Task and Purpose)

On the third floor of a beautiful, renovated building in Oahu, Hawaii, is a lab full of tables, holding human remains.The lab, which belongs to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, is huge. One wall is made entirely of glass, offering an unobstructed view of DPAA employees as they sort through and run tests on the remains in front of them. The

Aug. 17, 2022

WAVY- Missing, but never forgotten: A Virginia Beach son comes home

Virginia Beach, Va. — To view this story in its original format, visit https://www.wavy.com/news/local-news/missing-but-never-forgotten-a-virginia-beach-son-comes-home/.VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – Missing, but never forgotten. This is the story of U.S. Marine Corps Corporal Jack Shelton Brown, U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, and WAVY-TV’s exclusive report on the Dignified

Aug. 17, 2022

Nearly 80 years after his death, WWII soldier’s remains identified, sent home to Kansas

WICHITA, Kan — To view the story in its original format, visit https://www.kansas.com/news/state/article264311446.htmlWilliam Dorsey was just a baby when his uncle, U.S. Army Pvt. Carl G. Dorsey, was declared missing in action in World War II in December 1944.Now, nearly 80 years later, Carl Dorsey is coming home. He will be buried Sept. 3 in Grenola,

July 14, 2022

Students, Faculty To Conduct Second Forensic Archaeology Field School In Germany At Site Of World War II Airplane Crash (via Indiana University of Pennsylvania)

For the second year, Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Anthropology has been selected by the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine Inc. through the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to conduct a field study in Germany at the site of a crash of a World War II airplane.The mission of the

July 11, 2022

U.S. Air Force lieutenant killed on D-Day laid to rest in Normandy "with full military honors" nearly 80 years later (via CBS News)

A 23-year-old who was killed during the World War II invasion of Normandy has been laid to rest nearly eight decades later. U.S. Air Force Lt. William J. McGowan was buried at Normandy American Cemetery "with full military honors" on Saturday, according to the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).McGowan's P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft was shot