C-141 aircrew flies two MIAs out of Vietnam
- Released: 7 May 1999
by Tech. Sgt. Jon R. Hanson
62nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
HANOI,
Vietnam (AFPN) -- The mission was straightforward: go in and bring them home. Now, two
American servicemen who gave their lives for their country so many years before are home.
On May 4, a 62nd Airlift Wing C-141 Starlifter crew from the 4th Airlift
Squadron at McChord Air Force Base, Wash., flew into Noibai International Airport, Hanoi,
as part of a repatriation mission to bring back two servicemen who were listed as
unaccounted for during the Vietnam War.
The remains of the servicemen were repatriated after Joint Task Force-Full
Accounting officials completed an investigation and recovery operation. Approximately
2,063 soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, civilians and one coast guardsman are still
unaccounted for from the war.
The task force, based out of Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii, was formed in 1992 to
investigate, recover and repatriate remains from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The task
force makes five to six missions to these three countries annually trying to bring back as
many remains as possible.
Most cases have been worked on at some level sometime in the past. They have
been correlated to another case or have been reviewed. Whenever an aircraft went off the
scope, a firefight occurred, an individual was not accounted for after the battle, or the
body was left because of the intensity of the battle, that information became archived for
historical purposes. Because of that information the task force is able to recover more
remains.
Still, sometimes the team gets lucky and finds a new site while interviewing
local residents. Sometimes people will come up to the team and say they know where a plane
crashed, said Marine Master Sgt. Gene Szakacsy, operations chief for JTF-FA.
"Over the past six months we have had some real fortunate opportunities to
have some full sets of remains turned over that were not correlated to any cases we were
investigating at the time," he said.
"We discover the remains at the recovery site through a process of
excavation," said Szakacsy. "Whether it is fragments, large pieces of remains or
equipment, we turn it all over to the Vietnamese government. Two weeks prior to the
ceremony we do a joint-forensic review with the anthropologist from the Central
Identification Laboratory, based at Hickam. They determine whether or not to accept the
bones of the remains. The field anthropologist who works at the recovery site will have
already made a determination whether it is an animal or human bone."
Once the remains are found and have undergone a forensic review by the
laboratory and determined to be someone who is unaccounted for, they are turned over to
that government so an official ceremony can be held.
In all, three ceremonies are held during the repatriation mission. At Hanoi, the
United States receives the remains of those servicemen from the Vietnamese government
during a small ceremony. They are then flown to Andersen AFB, Guam, an American territory,
where the United States holds a ceremony marking the first time they are back on U.S.
soil.
The next day they are flown to Hickam, where a large ceremony is held before the
remains are taken to the CIL for forensic identification analysis to confirm the exact
identity. It is only then that the families are notified and they are taken off the
unaccounted-for list.
Since the task force was formed in 1992, it has sent more than 100 missions into
Vietnam, more than 40 missions into Laos and around 17 missions into Cambodia to look for
remains.
Since 1973, the remains of more than 500 American service members, formerly
listed as unaccounted for, have been identified and returned to their families.
"This is one of the few missions we do that actually gives you satisfaction
when you get done," said Master Sgt. Mark Kitchen, a 4th Airlift Squadron loadmaster
on the C-141. "Emotionally, what can you do that is more important than bringing
families back together, even though it's 20- to 30-years past due?"
Kitchen has flown three repatriation missions and said, "You have the same
challenges, the same pride. You feel the same pride swell up inside when you go through
the ceremonies."
Others involved in the repatriation had similar thoughts.
"Every time we lift off from Vietnam I get a lump in my throat," said
Szakacsy, who has been with the task force since early 1998. "These guys have been in
a resting place for 30-years plus, and we are finally able to bring (them) back to their
family for closure." (Courtesy of Air Mobility Command News Service)
RELATED SITES
* C-141
Starlifter
* Andersen Air Force Base, Guam
* Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii
* McChord Air Force Base, Wash.
* U.S. Army
* U.S. Marine
Corps
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