News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: Remains of War

Date: April 17, 2001

From Scientific American - Discovering Archaeology

"The Remains of War
Anthropologists Are Bringing American Soldiers Home

by Lisa Parks

While most archaeological digs unearth the distant past, a U.S. government agency excavates much more recent remains: the American dead from six decades of wars.

The Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii, (CILHI) was established by President Reagan in 1983 as a joint military/civilian unit of the U.S. Army. Its sole mission is searching for, recovering, and identifying missing servicemen from the battles of World War II, Korea, Indochina, and other conflicts.

The lab's forensic anthropologists frequently conduct excavations in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, North Korea, Europe, and the Pacific. A recent excavation in Cambodia helped identify a downed fighter pilot from the Vietnam War.

"Vietnam was the main focus at the inception of this agency, but we have expanded our mission to bring back all missing servicemen. Right now, we're stepping up World War II investigations in the Pacific Islands," says Lisa Leppo, a CILHI forensic anthropologist.

On the recent Cambodian mission, the lab tracked down an F-4 fighter bomber that crashed with two men aboard after an "armed reconnaissance" mission. Identifying plane crashes is tricky, since the "sites tend to get scavenged pretty quickly," says Dave Rankin, who headed the forensic investigation in Cambodia. Drawing on accounts of other airmen and local witnesses, the lab turned up pieces of a flight helmet, parts of flight suits, and other items.

No human remains were found — a common occurrence in such crashes. "The F-4 broke up into a lot of pieces," Rankin said. "That force is pretty rough on the human body. A lot was scattered over the surface, rather than buried in the ground. Animal activity, combined with 30 years of exposure — there was not much left."

Nonetheless, he said, "Strong circumstantial evidence suggests we have found the two men that were in the plane."

A CILHI mission begins in the Casualty Data Section, where workers compile casualty and rescue reports from witnesses and meticulously search maps. When a probable location is pinpointed, the anthropologists take to the field, accompanied by military linguists, Army medics, and ordnance defusers. When human remains are found, extensive laboratory analysis is undertaken to identify the body — or at least narrow the possibilities.

"We do this," Leppo says, "for the families. To give them peace." "