News-Info-Alerts

Re: Australia Refuses DNA for ID of Remains Held at CILHI

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: November 10, 2003

"No DNA access to identify remains

By Nick Papps Courier-Mail

AUSTRALIA is refusing access to vital DNA evidence that could identify the remains of Australian soldiers.
The Government has rejected a US Army request for DNA samples from descendants to identify up to six soldiers killed in Vietnam and three airmen from World War II.

The US Army believes it may have the remains of several Australian soldiers in its laboratory in Hawaii but their identification has been stalled by a refusal to hand over DNA.

Australian Defence officials have told the US they do not want to upset the soldiers' families by asking for DNA samples to check against the remains.

The move has outraged former Australian soldiers and US authorities who have accused the Australian Government of "closing the books" on missing Australian soldiers.

Inquiries have also revealed:

• A team of US defence experts is examining a site in Laos where it is believed the remains of an Australian missing since 1974 may be.

• New information on the location of an Australian soldier missing in Vietnam is to be investigated by the US military.

• Families of missing soldiers and ex-Diggers have pleaded for the Australian Government to search for Australian soldiers missing in Vietnam.

The Department of Defence has twice rejected US Army requests for DNA samples.

Last month the department refused to provide DNA to help identify the suspected remains of three RAAF airmen recovered from a World War II aircraft in Papua New Guinea.

The US Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii, which recovers and identifies remains of US servicemen, said the remains were recovered from a plane crewed by four US and three RAAF airmen that crashed in 1943.

In mid-August US authorities requested DNA reference samples for the families of the three airmen but was rejected because the department was worried about upsetting the families.

CILHI DNA co-ordinator Dr Mark Leney said the aircraft was found last year but investigations into the remains had now stalled.

"We certainly do have the remains of some individuals from the Royal Australian Air Force from World War II," he said. "This specific aircraft went down with Australians on it. In a sense we are stalled."

It is understood the families of the airmen believe they have been buried in Papua New Guinea.

© Herald and Weekly Times "