News-Info-Alerts

Re: CILHI is 30

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: April 08, 2003

"April 3, 2003 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Release #03-003

Press Release

CILHI CELEBRATES 30 YEARS Weeklong activities including 30K walk/run relay

HICKAM AFB, Hawaii — The U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii will commemorate 30 years of recovering and identifying service members who were lost in previous wars through weeklong activities April 7 to 11. The unit will kick off the celebration on Monday, April 7, on Hickam AFB with a 30K run/walk relay with CILHI personnel passing the unit flag and ending at the CILHI headquarters. Throughout the week, activities building espirt de corps will include an organizational day, a cake cutting ceremony, tours of historical military locations, and a sport competition. The events will end with CILHI’s 30th Anniversary Ball, April 11.

“For years, the Central Identification Laboratory has been providing answers to the loved ones and families of service members who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. On our 30th anniversary we are taking this time to honor all the dedicated staff at CILHI who have made those answers possible,” said CILHI Commander Col. Paul A. Bethke. “The command is recognizing the hard work and the staff’s commitment to recovering and identifying more than 1,100 service members who were previously unaccounted for,” he said. “Over the years, there have been 755 service members identified from the war in Southeast Asia, 307 fallen comrades identified from World War II, 30 servicemen identified from the Korean War and 15 individuals from the Cold War. This reinforces that those who give their life while serving this country are never forgotten.”
Countless recoveries and investigations have been conducted in the following countries and islands:
Vietnam Laos Cambodia France England Luxembourg
North Korea South Korea Bulgaria Albania Japan Canada
Australia China Burma Brazil Germany Panama
Russia United States Palau Iraq Tunisia Nicaragua
Vanuatu Indonesia Holland Solomon Islands Gilbert Islands Marshall Islands
Papua New GuineaCILHI provided humanitarian assistance to the following:

* Terrorist attacks World Trade Centers/ Pentagon - 2001
* Ehime Maru Disaster - 2001
* 25th ID Helicopter Collision - 2001
* Laos Aviation Crash, Laos - 2001
* Helicopter Crash, Vietnam - 2001
* Tour Airplane Crash, Big Island, Hawaii - 1999
* Korean Airlines Air Disaster, Guam - 1997
* Helicopter Crash, Maui - 1992
* USS Iowa explosion, Caribbean - 1989
* USS Stark Missile Attack, Persian Gulf – 1987
* Mass Air Disaster, Burma - 1986
* 101st Airborne Division Gander Air Crash, Newfoundland - 1985
* Marine Barracks Bombing, Beirut – 1983
* Jonestown Massacre, Guyana - 1978

Since the 1840s, the U.S. Government has made a concerted effort to recover and properly inter its service members killed in war. Starting with World War II, temporary laboratories were established for each war to recover service members who lost their lives. However, these laboratories closed following the expiration of their charters.

The first permanent laboratory was established in 1973 after the Vietnam War, called CIL-THAI. The mission of CIL-THAI was to continue the search, recovery, and identification of U.S. service members killed in Southeast Asia. As a result of the draw down of U.S. forces in Thailand in 1976, a decision was made to relocate the laboratory to U.S. soil. The small staff of Army personnel and six civilians were tasked with the enormous move.

In May 1976, the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii was established in Honolulu, Hawaii. With its renaming and relocation came an expanded mission. The CILHI was now responsible for the search, recovery, and identification of unaccounted for U.S. personnel from all past wars.

At the beginning of the 1980s the laboratory’s staff dwindled to six military and six civilian personnel. In the mid 1980s the emphasis on the work of the laboratory began to grow and the staff rose to 30 military and six civilians. This was the first time a focus was put on recruiting anthropologists.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s the staff increased to about 60. Shortly after the new facility was built on Hickam AFB and the move was completed, the total CILHI personnel grew to about 132 with a third being Department of Army cvilians. In the late 1990s the laboratory grew again to 170 and the Army remained the sole military branch for staffing the organization.

In 2001, the CILHI became jointly manned and for the first time teams were not only composed of soldiers and anthropologists but also of airman, sailors, and Marines. With this joint manning the staff grew to 247 personnel with approximately 70 civilians working closely alongside the service members who make up 18 search and recovery teams. As CILHI celebrates its 30th anniversary, 2003 will bring the end of the CILHI, but not the mission. On Oct. 1 the CILHI will merge with the Joint Task Force–Full Accounting, creating a new organization with the continued mission of bringing home those service members who gave their lives for our country.

Media are invited to cover the unit 30K walk/run relay as individuals run by the Missing Man Formation April 7, 7 a.m. Media must be at the Hickam main gate no later than 6:30 a.m. For more information or to RSVP to cover the run please contact the CILHI Public Affairs Officer Ginger Couden at (808) 448-8903 ext. 109.


U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii
310 Worchester Ave, Hickam AFB, Hawaii 96853"