News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci
(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: DPMO Update

Date: May 27, 1998

Defense POW/MIA Weekly Update

JONES TO LEAD POW/MIA EFFORT

Robert L. Jones has assumed the office of The Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs. He was appointed by The Secretary of Defense to his new position earlier this month.

Jones is responsible for leading the Department of Defense worldwide commitment to the fullest possible accounting of Americans missing from all conflicts. This mission includes the rescue of individuals who fall in harmÕs way as a result of combat. Prior to his appointment he was the Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs in the Department of Veterans Affairs. He came to the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1993 after serving as the national executive director of AMVETS, the nationÕs fourth largest congressionally-chartered veterans service organization.

Mr. Jones is a combat veteran of the conflict in Vietnam, having served two tours there and earning numerous decorations and awards. He is a special disabled veteran, with duty in the Army as both an enlisted man and an officer including assignments in Infantry, Airborne, Ranger and Special Forces units. He was a ground liaison officer with the Air ForceÕs 50th Tactical Fighter Wing and has flown approximately 200 hours in the F-4 Phantom aircraft. He has also earned the Black Belt designation in Tae Kwon Do.

He was born in Decatur, Ill., holds a bachelorÕs degree from Methodist College in Fayetteville, N.C., and a masterÕs degree from Troy State University in Alabama. He and his wife Nancy reside in Severn, Md. They have three children.

MIA REMAINS REPATRIATED FROM NORTH KOREA

After more than a weekÕs delay, North Korea repatriated remains believed to be those of two U. S. soldiers across the demilitarized zone at Panmunjom. A joint U.S.-North Korean team had excavated the remains at a site about 60 miles north of Pyongyang, the capital city.

The operation began on April 21, with U. S. team members from the Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI) and DPMO working with their counterparts at a battlefield site in Kujiang County. It is the site of a November 1950 battle between the communist Chinese army and the U. S. 8th Army, 25th Infantry Division. The area was the site of fierce combat where approximately 50 U. S. soldiers fell. More than 8,100 American servicemen are unaccounted-for from the Korean War.

Specialists from CILHI spent about 25 days at the excavation site. These teams include experts in forensic anthropology; mortuary affairs; explosive ordnance disposal; logistics; photography; communications and medical support. Two members of the team remained in Pyongyang to maintain communications linkage between the site and the United States.

Five members of the archival research team are also completing a weekÕs research at two sites which contained records which may relate to unaccounted-for U. S. servicemen. The teamÕs entry into North Korea was delayed one week while U. S. and North Korean officials resolved the remains repatriation issue.

FAMILY UPDATE IN PORTLAND

The DPMO will lead a team of government officials in a Family Update meeting with more than 100 MIA family members in Portland this weekend. This is the first such meeting in that city. DPMO conducts monthly updates in communities across the country for family members of Americans who are missing in action. These updates are designed to keep family members informed of the U. S. governmentÕs worldwide mission to account for those still missing, and to discuss in detail the latest information available about their specific cases.

Throughout the year, many family members travel to Washington, D.C., to review their case file. But many cannot, so this program brings information to their home communities.

These meetings are designed to address the specific needs of the family members, and out of respect for their privacy and the sensitivity of the issues discussed, the sessions are open only to them.

The programs are built around briefings that include overviews of remains recovery operations in Southeast Asia, in North Korea and in other parts of the world. The agenda is tailored for the family members attending, and includes information about the U. S. governmentÕs work to account for Americans still missing in action from all conflicts. The agenda also includes information about the U. S.-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs, which seeks to address issues about which the Russians may have knowledge. Briefings also include details about the forensic identification work done at the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii. The use of mitochondrial DNA to help identify skeletal remains is one of the high-technology tools used to confirm identifications. Experts on that and other scientific methodology review their work with the family members.

Finally, one-on-one discussions with family members cover the details of each of their cases. In these, casualty officers from the military services, as well as the other government specialists, ensure that family members have the latest information about the accounting work being done on their specific cases.

The DPMO has conducted these monthly update programs since 1995.