Missing In Action

1 week ago

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Foundation

John Hamre, Neale Cosby, Richard Azzaro, and Mick Kicklighter

Dear Colleagues,

This article is being forwarded to capture the work of Joe Neubeiser, Joe Griffies, and Richard Azzaro. This article was inspired by a woman who assisted us in finding the grave of Chaplain Father Duff, who escorted the remains of the World War I Unknown from France in 1921. How we met her kind and generous assistance would in itself justify our telling you about her. But there is more. In sharing with her our long-standing efforts to find the grave of Father Duff, she in turn shared with us her family’s long painful search for her great uncle, missing in action during the Korean War. She shared with us the deathbed wishes of her aunt, to ring her son home: a deathbed promise she made and has spent her life trying to honor.

That set us on a journey - a journey that introduced us to America’s continuing efforts to identify the remains of our war dead and hopefully provide closure to long-grieving families and friends. In writing this article, we tell the story of one family, hoping to bring attention to the missing in action and renew our fellow Americans’ awareness of those who we owe our freedom, their friends and families. At the same time, we bring attention to the excellent work of the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) as it continues to improve its ability to identify the remains previously unidentifiable by writing this article and publishing it, we hope to reach those who may not be aware of the modern developments in identification posted on the relevant websites of the DPAA or may not be included in the criteria determining official notification.

Accordingly, by this publication, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Foundation, The Society of the Honor Guard, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and The Never Forget Garden Committee will all be posting the same article on various platforms.

In the strongest possible language, all recipients republish both articles to spread this message amongst professional and private associates.

With your help and advocacy, we can reach “into the hamlet” of America to assist the DPAA in their tireless work to bring closure to families and friends of those missing in action. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions, or suggestions on how we can do this more effectively.

As you know, the Tomb Guard embraces an article of faith: “Soldiers never die until they are forgotten, Tomb Guard’s never forget”. What we do here today, and what we ask of you is an eloquent commitment to America’s sacred duty and covenant, “Honoring and keeping Faither with America’s Servicemen…”

Missing in Action

As Tomb Guards walk their 21 steps every day, twenty-four hours a day at Arlington National Cemetery, a solemn covenant of each soldier of the Old Guard, 3rd Infantry Regiment rests deep in their hearts: “A Soldier Never Dies Until He is Forgotten - Tomb Guards Never Forget.” That covenant is an article of faith and a pledge to the people of America to always remember, to always respect, and to always be there for their families of the warriors who never returned to their home.

On April 23, 1951, in fighting near Seoul, South Korea, a young Pennsylvania solider, Corporal Leo Tomas Buehler was reported missing in action to his family in Philadelphia. Elements of his unit, the 19th Infantry Division were forced to withdraw, leaving his body behind, and never recovered. In the last letter Corporal Buehler wrote to his mother, he asked her to return his body to his home if he was killed. Years later, on her deathbed, Corporal Buehler’s mother pleaded with her niece to promise to bring her son’s remains home. That dying wish fell upon the Society of the Honor Guard Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in August 2024.

After searching military records, newspaper articles and historical documents, the Society found that the soldier’s unidentified remains were probably buried in the United Nation’s cemetery at Tanggok, South Korea. It was further discovered that all the unidentified American remains buried at Tanggok were repatriated to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii - the Punch Bowl. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency reports that this missing soldier’s case is under active review, meaning that evidence has been found to continue with a potential identification.

The Department of Defense established the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency on January 30, 2015, through the merger of the Joint POW/MIA and the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Agency. Also included in the merger were parts of the United States Air Force Life Sciences Lab. One of the two missions of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is to recover unaccounted Department of Defense personnel listed as prisoner of war (POW) and or missing in action (MIA) from past conflicts around the world. The DPAA has labored to not only search for those who never returned but to offer in depth family updates on a regular basis and providing an informative internet web page that offers insight into the mission and processes of the DPAA.

The Korea War ended with 7,478 Americans missing in action and unaccounted for. By using DNA, the changes of identifying our missing warriors is enhanced through the painstaking work of more than 100 scientists at the Armed Force Identification Laboratory at Dover Air Force Base Delaware. Since 1992, the laboratory has been actively collecting maternal family reference
specimens - DNA - from family members of military personnel whose remains have not been recovered or identified.

Samples of DNA are acquired through two methods: One method is to use genealogical records to find family members. These searches are conducted by members of the service casualty office. Each branch of military service has a casualty office. When a family member is identified by a genealogical search, the service representative mails the family a kit to do a cheek swab to donate DNA. The sample is then returned to the DNA Lab for analysis. Recent advance in isolating human DNA from a vast array of bacterial, fungal, and parasitic DNA that is intertwined with the human sample has enhanced the process from doing four samples a bond with a 24% success rate to processing more than 100 samples among with a 65% success rate.

Each year, the DPAA conducts updates for family members of missing service members. At these meetings, DPAA with collect DNA reference samples from eligible family members. The collected samples are entered into a family reference database. The DPAA reports that it maintains DNA from relative of 92% of the original 8,157 service members missing in the Korean War.

During 2024, the DPAA positively identified the remains of 66 service members previously listed a missing in action during the Korean War and the work continues not only for the Korean War missing in action, but also for World War II and Vietnam. More than 80,000 Americans are listed as missing in actions from previous wars. The Department of Defense estimates that approximately 38,000 remains are recoverable.

The work is relentless and the commitment to those who served and never came home, and to the friends and families whose Greif inspires those who search for the missing to say in their hearts, “A soldier never dies until he is forgotten - America will never forget.” It is our Nation’s sacred promise. Though the process is long and tedious, perhaps someday that dying mother’s wish will be honored and her son will be returned home.

Family members of Missing in Action are encouraged to contact DPAA or to find dates for DPAA family update briefings, please visit their website:

https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaFamWeb

Families and friends of MIA will also find useful support and information here: https://missionpowmia.org

For news and developments, the DPAA maintains the following site: https://www.defense.gov/News/Tag/47219/powmia/

For further information, please reach out to:

Richard A. Azzaro

Co-Founder and President, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Foundation

Co-Founder and Past President, Society of the Honor Guard, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Phone: (443)472-0717