PurpleheartOklahoma (scroll down)

POW Update
Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) is responsible for the accounting of all missing American servicemembers from all conflicts. Additional info on DMPO can be found at wwww.dtic.mil/dpmo/

News Releases
Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (Public Affairs)
Washington, DC 20301-2900
Phone: (703) 699-1169
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Fax (703) 602-4375
http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/news/news_releases/
 
October 20, 2011
 
U.S.-North Korea Conclude POW/MIA Talks
 
The Department of Defense announced today that the United States and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) officials reached an arrangement to resume recovering the remains of American servicemen missing from the Korean War.

The three-day talks held in Bangkok were led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs Robert J. Newberry. His negotiating team included representatives from across the Department of Defense, the Department of State, the U.S. Pacific Command and the United Nations Command-Korea.

The arrangement calls for U.S. teams to work in two areas in North Korea—Unsan County, about 60 miles north of Pyongyang, and near the Chosin/Jangjin Reservoir—where more than 2,000 soldiers and Marines are believed to be missing. The arrangement includes details on logistics and matters that will ensure the effectiveness and safety of remains recovery teams operating in the DPRK. Accounting for Americans missing in action is a stand-alone humanitarian matter, not tied to any other issue between the two countries.
 
The operations in North Korea are expected to begin next year and will mark the first since 2005, when the U.S. halted missions due to increased tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Prior to that time, U.S. specialists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command conducted operations in that country for 10 years, recovering remains believed to be more than 225 servicemen since 1996.

Of the approximately 83,000 Americans missing from all conflicts, more than 7,900 are from the Korean War with 5,500 of those believed to be missing in the DPRK.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site at www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1420.
 
Oct. 20, 2011
 
AIRCREW MISSING IN ACTION FROM WWII IDENTIFIED
 
 The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of 10 U.S. servicemen, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
 
 Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Robert R. Bishop, 24, of Joliet, Ill.; 2nd Lt. Thomas Digman, Jr., 24, of Pittsburgh; 2nd Lt. Donald W. Hess, 28, of Sioux City, Iowa; 2nd Lt. Arthur W. Luce, 24, of Fort Bragg, Calif.; Staff Sgt. Joseph J. Karaso, 21, of Philadelphia; Staff Sgt. Ralph L. McDonald, 22, of East Point, Ga.; Sgt. John P. Bonnassiolle, 20, of Oakland, Calif.; Sgt. James T. Blong, 19, of Port Washington, Wis.; Sgt. Michael A. Chiodo, 22, of Cleveland; and Sgt. John J. Harringer, Jr., 20, of South Bend, Ind., will be buried as a group, in a single casket representing the entire crew, on Oct. 26, in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.  Hess and Karaso will be interred individually at the same ceremony in Arlington.
 
 On April 29, 1944, the 10 airmen were ordered to carry out a bombing mission over Berlin, Germany, in their B-24J Liberator aircraft, piloted by Bishop and Luce.  German documents captured after the war noted that the aircraft crashed near the town of East Meitze, Germany, and there were no survivors.  German forces buried the remains of Digman, Blong, and one unknown airman in a cemetery near Hannover, Germany, around the time of the crash.  In 1946, the Army Graves Registration Service exhumed the remains of the three individuals for identification and reburied them in a U.S. Military Cemetery in Condroz, Belgium.
 
 In 2003, a German national located the site of the crash and recovered human remains, which were turned over to U.S. officials.  In 2005, a Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) team excavated the crash site and gathered additional human remains, military equipment, and metal identification tags for Bishop, Blong, Bonnassiolle, and Harringer.  The team also recovered a class ring with the initials AWL – presumably belonging to Luce.  In 2007, a JPAC team completed the site excavation and found additional evidence that helped to confirm the identity of the crew.
 
 Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used dental analysis and mitochondrial DNA—which matched that of some of the crewmembers’ families—in the identification of their remains
 
Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died.  At the end of the war, the U.S. government was unable to recover and identify approximately 79,000 Americans.  Today, more than 73,000 remain unaccounted-for from the conflict.
 
 For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1420.
 
 
Oct. 18, 2011
 
SOLDIER MISSING FROM KOREAN WAR IDENTIFIED
 
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the
remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and
will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
 
Private First Class Henry L. Gustafson, 18, of Cook Ill., will be buried Oct. 22 in West
Lebanon, Ind. In late Nov., 1950, Gustafson was assigned to 31st Regimental Combat Team in
North Korea, when the division came under attack near Kaljon-ri, near the Chosin Reservoir. The
unit was forced to withdraw to a more defensible position near Hagaru-ri, south of the reservoir.
Private First Class Gustafson was taken as a prisoner of war by the Communist Forces.
After the 1953 armistice, a surviving POW confirmed that Private First Class Gustafson
had been captured by enemy forces, and died from lack of medical care in captivity shortly after
being captured.
 
Between 1991 and 1994, North Korea gave the United States 208 boxes of remains
believed to contain the remains of 200-400 U.S. servicemen. In the late 1990s and early 2000s,
additional human remains were recovered by join U.S./Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
teams in North Korea. From these remains the Department was able to identify the remains of
Private First Class Gustafson through DNA testing.
 
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the
Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory
also used dental comparisons and mitochondrial DNA – which matched that of Private First Class
Gustafson’s mother—in the identification of the remains.
 
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing
Americans, visit the DPMO web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.
 
Oct. 18, 2011
 
MISSING VIETNAM WAR AIRMAN IDENTIFIED
 
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the
remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and
will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
 
Air Force Capt. Thomas E. Clark, 29, of Emporium, Pa. will be buried Oct. 22 in his
hometown. On Feb. 8, 1969, Clark was attacking an anti-aircraft artillery position in Savannakhet
Province, Laos, when his F-100D Super Sabre aircraft was struck by enemy fire and crashed.
Three other American pilots on the mission did not see a parachute or any other signs of Clark.
Immediate search and rescue missions were not able to locate the crash site.
 
In 1991, and again in 1992, joint U.S./Lao People’s Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.)
teams investigated the area of the crash and recovered aircraft wreckage and military equipment.
The teams also conducted interviews with locals who reported witnessing the crash. Local
Laotians gave the investigators two military identification tags that identified Clark, and human
remains, which had been recovered from the site shortly after the crash. In 2009, an additional
excavation of the site recovered dental remains which also helped to identify Clark.
 
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the
Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command were able to use dental analysis to help identify Clark.
Today more than 1,600 American remain un-accounted for from the Vietnam War. More
than 900 servicemen have been accounted for from that conflict, and returned to their families for
burial with military honors since 1973. The U.S. government continues to work closely with the
governments of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia to recover all Americans lost in the Vietnam War.
 
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing
Americans, call (703) 699-1420 or visit the DPMO Web site at www.dtic.mil/dpmo.
 
 
 
If you no longer wish to receive e-mail from us, please click here.

Washington, DC 20301-2900
Phone: (703) 699-1169
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Fax (703) 602-4375
http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/news/news_releases/
 
October 20, 2011
 
U.S.-North Korea Conclude POW/MIA Talks
 
The Department of Defense announced today that the United States and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) officials reached an arrangement to resume recovering the remains of American servicemen missing from the Korean War.

The three-day talks held in Bangkok were led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs Robert J. Newberry. His negotiating team included representatives from across the Department of Defense, the Department of State, the U.S. Pacific Command and the United Nations Command-Korea.

The arrangement calls for U.S. teams to work in two areas in North Korea—Unsan County, about 60 miles north of Pyongyang, and near the Chosin/Jangjin Reservoir—where more than 2,000 soldiers and Marines are believed to be missing. The arrangement includes details on logistics and matters that will ensure the effectiveness and safety of remains recovery teams operating in the DPRK. Accounting for Americans missing in action is a stand-alone humanitarian matter, not tied to any other issue between the two countries.
 
The operations in North Korea are expected to begin next year and will mark the first since 2005, when the U.S. halted missions due to increased tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Prior to that time, U.S. specialists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command conducted operations in that country for 10 years, recovering remains believed to be more than 225 servicemen since 1996.

Of the approximately 83,000 Americans missing from all conflicts, more than 7,900 are from the Korean War with 5,500 of those believed to be missing in the DPRK.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site at www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1420.
 
Oct. 20, 2011
 
AIRCREW MISSING IN ACTION FROM WWII IDENTIFIED
 
 The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of 10 U.S. servicemen, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
 
 Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Robert R. Bishop, 24, of Joliet, Ill.; 2nd Lt. Thomas Digman, Jr., 24, of Pittsburgh; 2nd Lt. Donald W. Hess, 28, of Sioux City, Iowa; 2nd Lt. Arthur W. Luce, 24, of Fort Bragg, Calif.; Staff Sgt. Joseph J. Karaso, 21, of Philadelphia; Staff Sgt. Ralph L. McDonald, 22, of East Point, Ga.; Sgt. John P. Bonnassiolle, 20, of Oakland, Calif.; Sgt. James T. Blong, 19, of Port Washington, Wis.; Sgt. Michael A. Chiodo, 22, of Cleveland; and Sgt. John J. Harringer, Jr., 20, of South Bend, Ind., will be buried as a group, in a single casket representing the entire crew, on Oct. 26, in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.  Hess and Karaso will be interred individually at the same ceremony in Arlington.
 
 On April 29, 1944, the 10 airmen were ordered to carry out a bombing mission over Berlin, Germany, in their B-24J Liberator aircraft, piloted by Bishop and Luce.  German documents captured after the war noted that the aircraft crashed near the town of East Meitze, Germany, and there were no survivors.  German forces buried the remains of Digman, Blong, and one unknown airman in a cemetery near Hannover, Germany, around the time of the crash.  In 1946, the Army Graves Registration Service exhumed the remains of the three individuals for identification and reburied them in a U.S. Military Cemetery in Condroz, Belgium.
 
 In 2003, a German national located the site of the crash and recovered human remains, which were turned over to U.S. officials.  In 2005, a Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) team excavated the crash site and gathered additional human remains, military equipment, and metal identification tags for Bishop, Blong, Bonnassiolle, and Harringer.  The team also recovered a class ring with the initials AWL – presumably belonging to Luce.  In 2007, a JPAC team completed the site excavation and found additional evidence that helped to confirm the identity of the crew.
 
 Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used dental analysis and mitochondrial DNA—which matched that of some of the crewmembers’ families—in the identification of their remains
 
Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died.  At the end of the war, the U.S. government was unable to recover and identify approximately 79,000 Americans.  Today, more than 73,000 remain unaccounted-for from the conflict.
 
 For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1420.
 
 
Oct. 18, 2011
 
SOLDIER MISSING FROM KOREAN WAR IDENTIFIED
 
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the
remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and
will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
 
Private First Class Henry L. Gustafson, 18, of Cook Ill., will be buried Oct. 22 in West
Lebanon, Ind. In late Nov., 1950, Gustafson was assigned to 31st Regimental Combat Team in
North Korea, when the division came under attack near Kaljon-ri, near the Chosin Reservoir. The
unit was forced to withdraw to a more defensible position near Hagaru-ri, south of the reservoir.
Private First Class Gustafson was taken as a prisoner of war by the Communist Forces.
After the 1953 armistice, a surviving POW confirmed that Private First Class Gustafson
had been captured by enemy forces, and died from lack of medical care in captivity shortly after
being captured.
 
Between 1991 and 1994, North Korea gave the United States 208 boxes of remains
believed to contain the remains of 200-400 U.S. servicemen. In the late 1990s and early 2000s,
additional human remains were recovered by join U.S./Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
teams in North Korea. From these remains the Department was able to identify the remains of
Private First Class Gustafson through DNA testing.
 
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the
Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory
also used dental comparisons and mitochondrial DNA – which matched that of Private First Class
Gustafson’s mother—in the identification of the remains.
 
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing
Americans, visit the DPMO web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.
 
Oct. 18, 2011
 
MISSING VIETNAM WAR AIRMAN IDENTIFIED
 
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the
remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and
will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
 
Air Force Capt. Thomas E. Clark, 29, of Emporium, Pa. will be buried Oct. 22 in his
hometown. On Feb. 8, 1969, Clark was attacking an anti-aircraft artillery position in Savannakhet
Province, Laos, when his F-100D Super Sabre aircraft was struck by enemy fire and crashed.
Three other American pilots on the mission did not see a parachute or any other signs of Clark.
Immediate search and rescue missions were not able to locate the crash site.
 
In 1991, and again in 1992, joint U.S./Lao People’s Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.)
teams investigated the area of the crash and recovered aircraft wreckage and military equipment.
The teams also conducted interviews with locals who reported witnessing the crash. Local
Laotians gave the investigators two military identification tags that identified Clark, and human
remains, which had been recovered from the site shortly after the crash. In 2009, an additional
excavation of the site recovered dental remains which also helped to identify Clark.
 
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the
Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command were able to use dental analysis to help identify Clark.
Today more than 1,600 American remain un-accounted for from the Vietnam War. More
than 900 servicemen have been accounted for from that conflict, and returned to their families for
burial with military honors since 1973. The U.S. government continues to work closely with the
governments of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia to recover all Americans lost in the Vietnam War.
 
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing
Americans, call (703) 699-1420 or visit the DPMO Web site at www.dtic.mil/dpmo.