News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: DPMO Weekly (sometimes) Update

Date: May 31, 2000

Defense POW/MIA Weekly (sometimes) Update
May 25, 2000

MIA SERVICEMAN IDENTIFIED

An Air Force officer missing in action from the Vietnam War has been accounted for and his remains are being returned to his family for burial in the U.S.

He is identified as Col. Harold V. Smith of Bridgeport, Ill.

On March 7, 1966, Smith was leading a four-aircraft attack mission against enemy surface-to-air missile sites in Thanh Hoa Province, North Vietnam. When the flight reformed after the attack run, Smith’s F-105D Thunderchief failed to rejoin the group. Other members of the flight conducted a visual and electronic search of the area with no results.

Teams of U.S. and Socialist Republic of Vietnam investigators, led by the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting, interviewed potential witnesses and conducted local searches in 1993, 1994 and 1995, but neither the crash site nor human remains were found as a result of these investigations.

Then in 1996 the Vietnamese government provided U.S. investigators with documents relating to their unilateral investigation of the case. Following leads from those documents, a joint team interviewed an informant who led them to a burial site which was excavated August-September 1998. There, the team recovered personal effects, pilot-related artifacts as well as human remains.

Analysis of the remains and other evidence by the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii established the identification of this serviceman.

MEMORIAL DAY "NATIONAL MOMENT OF REMEMBRANCE"

In a memorandum to heads of executive departments and agencies, President Clinton asked all Americans to pause for one minute at 3 p.m. (in each local time zone) on Memorial Day, to "remember and reflect on the sacrifices made by so many to provide freedom for all."

The Presidentially directed "National Moment of Remembrance" will be included in future Department of Defense sponsored Memorial Day activities around the world.

The complete text of the President’s statement may be found on the Internet at: http://whitehouse.gov/remembrance

Each year the military services provide musical, ceremonial, and program support for national, regional, and local Memorial Day events.  The "National Moment of Remembrance" will be included in these activities where feasible.  Where the planned military programs and support for Memorial Day 2000 events do not allow for meeting this time requirement, the inclusion of a "National Moment of Remembrance" in currently scheduled activities and community events, even though scheduled for other times during the day, will meet the intent of this White House initiative.

DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS NAMED

Ashton H. Ormes has been selected to head the Research and Analysis directorate in the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office.

Ormes has recently completed a long and distinguished career in the U.S. Army and will now lead the largest directorate in DPMO.  His organization is responsible for analysis of individual MIA cases from the Vietnam War and the Korean War, to help resolve the more than 10,000 cases from those two conflicts.

His staff also participates in negotiations and technical talks with representatives of the governments of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and North Korea.  Working with other agencies, they assist in oversight of U.S. policies and operations in POW/MIA accounting.

Prior to assuming his position with DPMO, he served in the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs where he represented the DoD in interagency policy formulation and managed team projects within the interagency process.  He also served as Secretary to the Military Armistice Commission with the United Nations Command at Panmunjom, Korea. There, he led negotiations with North Korea and helped develop armistice policy positions.

He also served in DIA’s Asia division, and later as deputy chief of the newly formed Office of National Security Issues.  He served in other command and staff assignments in the U.S., to include the Joint Staff in the Pentagon as well as with NATO’s Allied Forces Northern Europe in Norway.

ANALYSTS REVIEW KOREAN WAR RECORDS

Two senior analysts traveled recently to Carlisle, Pa. to research Korean War unit histories and other related documents at the U.S. Army Military History Institute Library. They reviewed over 4,500 pages of archives in the library and retrieved valuable information on combat unit dispositions during all phases of the war. Their findings include, but are not limited to, unit histories of the 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 24th, 25th, and 45th Infantry Divisions, and the 1st Cavalry Division. Also included are documents dealing with the Chosin Reservoir and North Korean Army Order of Battle (Korean War period), and reports from the Military Armistice Commission on “Meetings of Graves Registration Committee held at Panmunjom, Korea, 21 July 1954” and “Meetings of Staff Officers Designated to Discuss Body Recovery Program (1954).”

COBRA GOLD EXERCISE UPDATE

The Director of Operations, DPMO, observed Joint Search and Rescue Center operations during exercise “Cobra Gold” recently in Thailand.  “Cobra Gold” is a regularly scheduled joint/combined exercise and is one of the largest exercises involving U.S. forces in the United States Pacific Command this year.

It is the latest in the continuing series of U.S.-Thai military exercises designed to ensure regional peace and strengthen the ability of the Royal Thai armed forces to defend Thailand or respond to regional contingencies.  This year, armed forces from Singapore participated for the first time.  U.S., Thai, and Singaporean search and rescue specialists manned the relatively small rescue center established by the Joint Task Force.  This was a notable improvement over U.S.-only manning during the 1999 exercises, and facilitated the effective coordination of the coalition effort to recover isolated personnel during the exercise. 

Issues of interest during our observation included coalition force coordination during recovery operations, dedication of recovery-capable aircraft for personnel recovery operations, incorporation of special operations forces into the personnel recovery plan, control of Special Forces dedicated to recovery operations and priority of recovery operations during operations other than war

ORAL HISTORY INITIATIVES

Analysts from DPMO and the USAF Casualty Office recently attended the 8th Attack Squadron Association Reunion at Randolph AFB near San Antonio, Tex.  The government representatives from both organizations spoke to reunion attendees on the effort to develop information on the loss incidents of servicemen still missing from the Korean War, and the search and recovery efforts on the peninsula. 

Also discussed was the outreach program to locate the next of kin of men still missing.  Each of the military services has established a toll-free number for Korean War next-of-kin to contact the respective casualty office.  The Air Force’s number is: (800) 531-5501; Army: (800) 892-2490; Marine Corps: (800) 847-1597; Navy: (800) 443-9298. 

The reunion included attendees of the 8th Bomb Squadron (Light), as it was known in the Korean War. Veterans shared specific loss information on four aircrews of B-26 bombers which did not return from their missions.  Information from the interviews will be placed in case files and passed to the Air Force for forwarding to the next-of-kin.

CHARLESTON FAMILY UPDATE CONCLUDES

Approximately 60 family members representing servicemen from the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Cold War met with government specialists recently in Charleston, S.C. to receive updated information on the worldwide effort to account for MIAs from all conflicts. 

The specialists also reviewed with family members the latest information on their specific cases.   These updates are held monthly in cities across the U.S.  This year marks the fifth year that DPMO and other government specialists have presented this updated information to family members.  Thus far, approximately 1,800 families of missing in action servicemen have attended these meetings.

These all-day Saturday briefings are preceded by a Friday evening session designed especially for veterans and members of the general public.  The Friday briefings last approximately two hours, and are open to the public. 

Experts present information on the latest technologies used to identify remains, including mitochondrial DNA.  Archival research and other topics are also presented to the families.  At the end of the all-day sessions on Saturday, families are invited to privately review details of their own cases.  This initiative assists families who are unable to travel to Washington, D.C. to review their individual case files.

Cities visited in recent months include New Orleans, Albuquerque, Los Angeles, Spokane, St. Louis, Omaha, Atlanta, Portland, Pensacola, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Philadelphia, Detroit, Jacksonville, Memphis, Sacramento, Oklahoma City, Birmingham and others.  Cities scheduled for the remainder of 2000 include Milwaukee, Wisc., Knoxville, Tenn., Seattle, Wash., Pittsburgh, Pa. and Miami, Fla.

Family members who wish to attend any of these updates should contact their military service casualty office immediately. Published by the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office 2400 Defense Pentagon Washington, DC 20301-2400 (703) 602-2102 www.dtic.mil/dpmo