MISSING IN ACTION
FROM MARYLAND
KOREAN WAR ~ MISSING IN ACTION


ALLMOND, JOHN WILLIAM

ANGLE, DONALD EUGENE

ASHLEY, GILBERT LAMOUR JR

BAIDO, JAMES

BAKIE, DONALD LINWOOD

BARTON, CHARLES W JR

BELFE, BERNARD JOSEPH

BENSINGER, NORMAN ELMER

BILLINGSLEA, CHARLES LEVINE JR

BLEVINS, HERENE KLINE

BOLT, DONALD DAVID

BOLTON, MARSHALL D

BROWN, GEORGE JAMES

BROWN, HARRY LEE

BROYLES, EDWIN NASH JR

BULLINGTON, HARRY LAFAYETTE

CARTER, ANDREW

CARTY, PAUL KENNETH

CHANT, HARRY LEDDY II

CHAPMAN, RICHARD A

CHURCH, ALPHONSO

COLLETTI, WILLIAM

CRISP, GEORGE S

CROWELL, LEROY

DAGENHART, MANVILLE EUGENE

DAMEWOOD, LOUIS ASHBY

DAY, DAVE HARRISON JR

DE LUNA, LEONARD OWEN

DELAUTER, ROY CHARLES

DEVONE, GEORGE DEWEY

DIFFER, PATRICK MICHAEL

DILLARD, FLOYD N

DILVER, JAMES A

DOYLE, LAWRENCE A

DYE, DAILEY FRANCIS ECKARD, CHARLES K

EDMONDS, LESTER E JR

ELY, JACOB A

ENGLISH, LEONARD JR

FISH, WILLIAM

GALT, ROBERT LYNN JR

GARDNER, WILLIAM

GARVER, CHARLES E

GEDNEY, KENDALL COURTNEY

GILMORE, JOHN ROBERT

GOLLNER, JOSEPH HENRY

GRAY, MARION DUNCAN

GREAVER, ROBERT E LEE

GRIFFITH, HAROLD W JR

HANLIN, ERNEST MILES

HANSEN, ARTHUR JR

HARE, JAMES REXFORD

HAYES, CORNELIUS ELVY

HAYES, DULANEY RIDGEWAY

HAYS, FREDERICK SPRIGG JR

HEATH, EDWARD F

HESTER, CHARLES G

HILL, JAMES CROSBY

HOFFECKER, FRANK SHAWN JR

HOLLYOAK, RICHARD G

HYSLOP, KENNETH CHARLES

JEROME, RICHARD

JONES, ARTHUR MACON

JONES, CHARLES MOYE

JONES, JACK E

JUBB, JAMES IVORY

KAHL, GORDON KING

KENNEDY, ROBERT G

LA BRIE, CLARENCE RONALD

LANE, JOHN FRANCIS

LANIER, CLAUDE

LAVELLE, JOHN THOMAS

MARKS, HARVEY LEE

MATHER, RANDOLPH E

MATHIS, GRAYSON LEE

MAYNARD, EDWARD WILEY

MCCOY, GLENN

MCCOY, RAYMOND H

MCKENZIE, JOHN LEE

MERRYMAN, ROBERT B

MISS, IRA VICTOR JR

MRYNCZA, LEO WALTER

MUHLBACH, ALLAN C

NAZELROD, EARL C

NOCKEMAN, ERNEST W

NOWAK, JOHN FRANK

PORTER, HENRY M

POULSEN, EDWARD MILES

REA, FRED M

REFFNER, MELVILLE EUGENE

REID, NORMAN L

RIDGE, KENNETH L

RIGGS, WILLIAM RUSSELL

RIGNEY, ROGER BRADLEY

ROBERTS, CHARLES C

ROBINSON, JOSEPH W

SANDERBECK, GEORGE W

SANFORD, WILLIAM H

SAUNDERS, EDWARD

SAUNDERS, LOUIS ALEXANDER

SAUNDERS, NORBERT BLAINE

SEGGIE, WILLIAM R

SHARP, JOHN THOMAS

SHEPPARD, JAMES W

SHERMAN, EARL WILLIAM

SLAGLE, LEONARD P

SLOAN, HAROLD

SMITH, JAMES MARSHALL

SMITH, PAUL T

SMITH, SHADRACH B JR

SREBROSKI, JOSEPH LEONARD

STEWART, WILLIAM S

SWAVELY, KERMIT GEORGE

TATE, JACK

THERIAULT, CONRAD WALTER

THOMAS, ROY HENRY

THOMSON, JOHN NORMAN

THORN, EDWARD EDVERT

TRAIL, JOSEPH HAYES

VAUGHN, CLEVELAND JR

VOGT, LEONARD PAUL

WALLER, FREEMON CHARLES

WALMSLEY, JOHN SPRINGER JR

WALTERS, GEORGE WILLIAM

WARD, ALFRED JOSEPH

WARFIELD, EDWARD F

WARREN, T P

WATERS, WILLIE

WATSON, MICHAEL RICHARD

WATT, GEORGE WESLEY

WEST, E GEORGE

WHEELWRIGHT, CLARENCE

WHITACRE, HUGH DOUGLAS

WHITE, RICHARD C

WHITNEY, GEORGE H

WILLS, JAMES WASHINGTON JR

WILSON, CHARLES EARL JR

WILSON, JESSE

WISHON, DAVID J JR

WOOLFORD, WILLIAM LYON

YOUNG, CHARLES HENRY

ZALNER, ALBERT ANTHONY

ZEPP, CHARLES E



VIETNAM
~ MISSING IN ACTION ~


DAVIDSON, DAVID ARTHUR

DOLAN, EDWARD V

DOLAN, THOMAS ALBERT

FLANAGAN, SHERMAN E JR

GEIST, STEPHEN J

HAMILTON, ROGER D

HICKS, TERRIN D

HILTON, ROBERT

LARIE KILCULLEN, THOMAS M

LANCASTER, KENNETH R

MAC LAUGHLIN, DONALD C JR

PAYNE, KYLIS THEROD

POWERS, VERNIE HOMER

SAUSE, BERNARD JACOB JR

SHAY, DONALD EMERSON JR

SMITH, VICTOR A

SPARENBERG, BERNARD J

STEGMAN, THOMAS

WATKINS, ROBERT JAMES JR

WEST, JOHN THOMAS

WILLS, FRANCIS DESALES

WORTH, JAMES F

WRIGHT, DAVID IRVIN


COLD WAR
~ MISSING IN ACTION ~


DUNHAM, JOHN R

WATKINS, RICHARD E
MISSING IN ACTION
BY THE NUMBERS
World War II

*73,690

Korean War

*7,962
(Maryland 143)

Cold War

126

Vietnam War

1,677

Gulf War

2

TOTAL

83,457
Protocol for flying the POW/MIA flag
  • On one flagpole, the POW/MIA flag is flown below the American flag and above any state flag
  • On two flagpoles, the POW/MIA flag is flown on the same pole as the American flag, below the American flag (this pole should be to the flag’s own right of the second pole). Any state flag should fly on the second pole.
  • On three flagpoles, the American flag should be flown on the pole located to the flag’s own right, the POW/MIA flag should be flown on the middle pole, and any state flag should be flown on the pole to the (flag’s own) left.
Those who have served, and those currently serving in the uniformed services of the United States, are ever mindful that the sweetness of enduring peace has always been tainted by the bitterness of personal sacrifice. We are compelled to never forget that while we enjoy our daily pleasures, there are others who have endured and may still be enduring the agonies of pain, deprivation and imprisonment.

 

They are called POWs and MIAs. (Prisoners of War and Missing in Action). This page is devoted to thier cause.....
 
LEST WE FORGET.. SO TOO WILL WE BE FORGOTTEN
Click to Replace
Occasions for Displaying the POW/MIA flag
  • Armed Forces Day (3rd Sat. in May)
  • Memorial Day (Last Mon. in May)
  • Flag Day (June 14)
  • Independence Day (July 4)
  • National POW/MIA Recognition Day (3rd Fri. in Sept.)
  • Veterans Day (Nov. 11)

 

HISTORY of the POW/MIA Flag

In 1971, the wife of MIA serviceman Michael Hoft was a member of the National League of Families. She recognized the need for a symbol for the POW/MIAs, and contacted Norman Rivkees, the Vice President of Annin & Company to make a flag. The company commissioned Newton Heisley, a creative director for an advertising firm in New Jersey to design the flag. A former World War II pilot, Heisley sketched several designs based on his wartime memories. The design that was chosen depicted a silhouette of a man’s head with barbed wire and a watchtower in the background. Below the design, the flag bears the motto “You Are Not Forgotten.” Following the approval of the National League of Families, flags were manufactured and distributed.

 

In 1990, the 101st Congress officially recognized the POW/MIA flag, designating it “the symbol of our Nation’s concern and commitment to resolving as fully as possible the fates of Americans still prisoner, missing and unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, thus ending the uncertainty for the families and the Nation” (Public Law 101-355).

 

The flag’s message is spread through its visibility. The POW/MIA flag has flown over the White House on National POW/MIA Recognition Day since 1982. With the exception of the American flag, the POW/MIA flag is the only flag to fly over the White House and fly continually over the Capitol’s rotunda.

 
Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office Last Known Alive (LKA) Cases in Southeast Asia

Published by the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office           
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense
Washington, DC  20301-2900

Gen. John W. Vessey, the Special Presidential Emissary to Hanoi on the POW-MIA issue, began negotiations with the Vietnamese Government in August 1987.  One of his priorities was to address
concerns raised by the public of the possibility that live American prisoners had been left in Southeast Asia.  Vessey directed accounting community analysts to look closely at and select from all Americans,
missing from the Vietnam War, those who could have become prisoners.  He stated that he wished to investigate these cases in order to “illuminate the live prisoner issue.”  Those selected as possibles became known as the Last Known Alive (LKA) cases.  The conditions considered for adding a missing service member to the LKA list included loss incidents in which the individual was last seen alive, not gravely wounded, and in proximity to enemy forces.  The total list included 296 LKAs—196 in Vietnam, 81 in Laos and 19 in Cambodia.  Over more than 20 years, analysts have found clear and convincing evidence to confirm the wartime deaths of 238 LKA individuals, leaving 58 who remain on priority investigation status in Southeast Asia.

In 1993, Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (now Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command or JPAC) established a field team dedicated to LKA case investigations.  This team was known as the Priority Case Investigation Team (PCIT) but was later changed to the Research Investigation Team (RIT).  The RIT, made up of both U.S. and Vietnamese research analysts, meets annually to establish future
investigation requirements, as well as identify cases which require unilateral assistance from the Vietnamese side to resolve.

The process used to confirm the fates of individuals Last Known Alive is very thorough.  Analyst must first receive solid evidence of death.  The results from the RIT and Joint field investigations, surveys, and excavations provide the majority of the evidence.  There is no formula or checklist used to assess an individual’s fate.  Recommendations are based on analysis using all available information and sources.  Reports from credible first-hand witnesses, especially if independently corroborated, provide the most compelling information.  Much of the RIT team’s focus is finding first-hand witnesses to the incident.  Wartime reporting, Vietnamese archives and material evidence discovered during recovery efforts may also provide supporting evidence of death.  Analysts examine all information from all sources
(to include contradictory reporting) before making a recommendation.   

Analysts from both DPMO and JPAC independently analyze LKA cases.  If an analyst from one organization, say JPAC, believes there is clear evidence of death on a particular LKA case, he will present his position to the DPMO Southeast Asia analyst for that case.  The DPMO analyst will review the case, and if there is agreement, DPMO and JPAC will jointly prepare the final analysis and presentation for a “Fate Determination” panel.  This panel is comprised of three flag officers, independent of the accounting community.  One analyst briefs the case to the panel detailing the incident, analysis and evidence.  The
panel will often ask specific questions.  Based on all the information, the panel will make the final decision as to whether they agree with the analyst’s recommendation to confirm the fate as deceased.  If
the panel agrees with the recommendation, the fate of the Last Known Alive serviceman is confirmed as deceased.
 
It is important to clarify that confirming the fates of those Last Known Alive does not end our efforts to account for these missing servicemen.  DPMO, JPAC, and the entire accounting community
will continue to pursue leads to recover the remains of those missing through research, analysis, and/or investigative field work. 
Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office Live Sighting Investigations
Published by the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office           
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense
Washington, DC  20301-2900   


Repatriation of American POWs and resolution of live sighting reports has always been one  of this nation’s highest priorities.  Since the collapse of the South Vietnamese government in 1975, the U.S. Government has received 7,576 live sighting reports of possible American POWs.  Of these reports,
1,997 are purportedly firsthand.  

Upon receipt, incoming reports are immediately analyzed.  Reports are compared to literally thousands of documents and records developed over the years.  In most cases, the reports can be correlated to documented POWs, Westerners known to be living, working, or imprisoned for various offenses at established locations in Indochina, or Asians with slightly Western physical characteristics.  There were, however, additional reports of sightings for which corroborative or clarifying data was lacking, and these remained unresolved.  Prior to the 1990s, options for investigating these reports were limited by lack of access to most of the locations in Southeast Asia where sightings were alleged to have taken place.

One tool available since 1991 is the Live Sighting Investigation (LSI).  This investigative mechanism provides for short-notice inspections, by U.S. officials, of specified sites, including prisons, in Southeast Asia.  Stony Beach investigators from the Defense Intelligence Agency, accompanied by host government representatives, are permitted to tour select areas, review documents and interview the local populous in an attempt to determine the authenticity of alleged, first-hand live sighting reports.  Over the years, live sighting investigations have been used to look into a wide range of reports, from live sightings
to alleged evasion symbols.  To date, none of the 119 LSIs (97 in Vietnam, 12 in Laos, and 10 in Cambodia) conducted have generated any credible evidence of American POWs being held in Southeast
Asia after 1975.  On the contrary, LSIs have aided in the resolution of a number of POW-related scams and/or located individuals in Vietnam who had been incorrectly identified as POWs.  The last LSI was
closed in June 2000 after investigators located the Hungarian ethnologist that was the basis for a large body of live sighting reports.

The LSI mechanism was never envisioned to be a replacement for previously employed methodologies, and is not employed automatically with every reported sighting.  Rather, LSIs are used, only if necessary, to supplement traditional methods of case resolution.  The Vietnamese and Lao have expressed they will not support what they deem as frivolous investigations, and DPMO has been very careful to exploit all other available means before requesting an LSI from either country.
Counter