As we honor our war dead this Memorial Day, we must not forget that some families have no cemetery to visit, no grave to decorate; indeed, no knowledge of what became of their loved ones who went off to war. They may take some comfort in knowing that America is engaged in an intensive effort to find and bring their family members home.
The effort is coordinated by the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) at the Pentagon. There are more than 88,000 U.S. military personnel unaccounted for from conflicts from World War II through the Gulf War. The DPMO sets policy and priorities for recovering persons, conducts archival research to aid in recovery, and tends to the budget matters.
The operational work is done by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) in Hawaii. JPAC conducts investigations and analyzes evidence to locate and recover missing U.S. military personnel using state of the art forensic techniques. Key to their mission is the work done by JPAC's Central Identification Laboratory (CIL), the world's largest forensic anthropology laboratory. The lab is currently identifying about two individuals a week--more than 100 a year.
CIL can often identify individuals if they have a reference sample of DNA from surviving family members. CIL uses mitochondrial DNA, or mtDNA, inherited only from the mother. They use this type of DNA because, as Blaine Bettinger has taught us, it is long-lasting, abundant, and doesn’t change much from generation to generation.
Genealogists can help by selecting a casualty (perhaps from your home town, home state or a man that served in the same unit as you), and researching their family history to determine if there are living relatives who might be FRS donors. Click here for a list of Family Reference Samples (FRS) required by JPAC.
At this link, you'll find press releases announcing recent identifications.
Until They Are Home . . . .
Showing posts with label POW/MIA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label POW/MIA. Show all posts
Monday, May 26, 2008
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Family History Out in the Cold--Again
It's been almost two years since we reported on the discovery of the body of an airman in California's Sierra Nevada. The airman was later identified as 22 year-old aviation cadet Leo Mustonen of Brainerd, Minnesota. He and three other airmen were on a training mission from Mather Field near Sacramento on November 18, 1942, when their aircraft disappeared. The bodies of the other three airmen were not recovered in 2005.
This week, the story took another turn:
From the San Francisco Chronicle:
A 1923 buffalo nickel, an old Army uniform and a crumbly wallet with faded photographs might help investigators figure out exactly which missing World War II airman's remains are lying in the county morgue in Fresno.
But it will probably come down to something more modern and foolproof - DNA matching.
The remains of what is believed to be the second of four crewmen who died on a 1942 training flight were found by hikers last week on a remote Sierra mountainside in Kings Canyon National Park. The body was taken by helicopter and coroner's van to the morgue Monday.
Read the rest of the story here.
The three missing airmen are 2nd Lt. William Gamber, 23, of Fayette, Ohio; and aviation cadets John Mortenson, 25, of Moscow, Idaho; Ernest Munn, 23, of St. Clairesville, Ohio. As before, the identification will be done by the Central Identification Laboratory of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. JPAC has world-class personnel and uses the best available science to perform its sensitive mission. Its facility in Hawaii is the largest forensic anthropology laboratory in the world. Hopefully, another family is about to get closure.
You Can Help
There are over 35,000 Americans still missing but deemed recoverable from World War II. The Government is committed to bringing closure to their families as well as the families of missing servicemembers from other conflicts. DNA samples contributed by family members will aid in the identification process. If your family stories include the lore of a loved one who never returned from war, it may not be too late to help write the end of the story. See the JPAC website for information on how to contribute a DNA sample.
The body of Aviation Cadet Leo Mustonen is handled with honors at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. (Department of Defense Photo by Sgt. Michael Caya, U.S. Army)
This week, the story took another turn:
From the San Francisco Chronicle:
A 1923 buffalo nickel, an old Army uniform and a crumbly wallet with faded photographs might help investigators figure out exactly which missing World War II airman's remains are lying in the county morgue in Fresno.
But it will probably come down to something more modern and foolproof - DNA matching.
The remains of what is believed to be the second of four crewmen who died on a 1942 training flight were found by hikers last week on a remote Sierra mountainside in Kings Canyon National Park. The body was taken by helicopter and coroner's van to the morgue Monday.
Read the rest of the story here.
The three missing airmen are 2nd Lt. William Gamber, 23, of Fayette, Ohio; and aviation cadets John Mortenson, 25, of Moscow, Idaho; Ernest Munn, 23, of St. Clairesville, Ohio. As before, the identification will be done by the Central Identification Laboratory of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. JPAC has world-class personnel and uses the best available science to perform its sensitive mission. Its facility in Hawaii is the largest forensic anthropology laboratory in the world. Hopefully, another family is about to get closure.
You Can Help
There are over 35,000 Americans still missing but deemed recoverable from World War II. The Government is committed to bringing closure to their families as well as the families of missing servicemembers from other conflicts. DNA samples contributed by family members will aid in the identification process. If your family stories include the lore of a loved one who never returned from war, it may not be too late to help write the end of the story. See the JPAC website for information on how to contribute a DNA sample.
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