Welcome To DPMO

"Keeping the Promise", "Fulfill their Trust" and "No one left behind" are several of many mottos that refer to the efforts of the Department of Defense to recover those who became missing while serving our nation.

More than 83,000 Americans are missing from World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, the Vietnam War and the 1991 Gulf War. Hundreds of Defense Department men and women -- both military and civilian -- work in organizations around the world as part of DoD's personnel recovery and personnel accounting communities. They are all dedicated to the single mission of finding and bringing our missing personnel home. The mission requires expertise in archival research, intelligence collection and analysis, field investigations and recoveries, and scientific analysis.

Recently Accounted-For

Starting in 2012, recently accounted for service members will be listed in the chronological order that they are accounted for, which means that the families have been notified. In previous years, they were listed by the date of identification. The highlighted names are linked to a more detailed news release on that serviceman's identification.

  • Pfc. Frank P. Jennings, U.S. Army, E Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment was lost near Jeon-Gog, South Korea on April 25, 1951. He was accounted for on Jan. 18, 2012.
  • Sgt. 1st Class Edris A. Viers, U.S. Army, Battery A, 555th Field Artillery Battalion, 5th Regimental Combat Team, was lost near Pongam-ni, South Korea on Aug. 12, 1950. He was accounted for on Jan. 17, 2012.
  • Cpl. William R. Sluss, U.S. Army, Service Battery, 38th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, was captured by enemy forces in late Nov. 1950, near Kunu-ri, North Korea, and died at POW Camp 5 in April 1951. He was accounted for on Jan. 17, 2012.
  • Cpl. Chester J. Roper, U.S. Army, Battery A, 503rd Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, was captured by enemy forces on Dec. 1, 1950 near Somindong, North Korea, and died in early 1951 in POW Camp 5 at Pyoktong. He was accounted for on Jan. 4, 2012.
A complete listing of recently account-for servicemembers can be found on the Recently Accounted-For page.

Briefly... February 2012

Worldwide Personnel Recovery Conference

The Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) recently co-hosted the 2012 Worldwide Personnel Recovery Conference at Quantico, VA. The conference shared information related to Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE) Training, SERE Psychology, Intelligence Support to Personnel Recovery, and Non-conventional Assisted Recovery. Two full days were devoted to discussions of personnel recovery, and support for the rescue of missing or isolated personnel.

U.S. Briefs China on Future Remains Recoveries in North Korea

On February 2, officials from the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) met with Chinese Officials to provide background information on plans for resuming investigation and remains recovery operations in North Korea. Because U.S. personnel entering the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea (DPRK) will pass through China, the Americans will need Chinese visas. The operations in North Korea are scheduled to begin this spring and will mark the first in North Korea since 2005.

Foreign Veterans Visits U.S.

In January, DPMO provided interpreters and logistical support to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) as they hosted a group of foreign veterans in Washington, D.C. The five visiting veterans representing Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan, received briefings on the state-of-the-art medical care provided to our veterans by the U.S. government, and met with senior DoD officials to discuss the POW/MIA mission. The visitors will report back to their respective governments with a goal of developing similar medical, financial, and educational services for their own veterans. DPMO's support assisted in fostering a closer relationship with the foreign veterans, which in turn helps DPMO analysts collect information relating to U.S. Servicemen missing from past wars.

DPMO Policy Director Receives Award

On January 30, Ms. Melinda Cooke, DPMO Director for Personnel Accounting Policy, received the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service. Since 2009, Ms. Cooke has worked issues that span the globe, to include playing a critical role during the negotiations that led to a signed arrangement with the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea; expanding personnel accounting activities with China; codifying long standing relations with Southeast Asia, Japan, and the Republic of Korea; and formalizing proactive WWII loss investigations in the European theater.

Russian Archives

DPMO's Moscow Office is conducting research in the Central Archives of the Russian Ministry of Defense in Podolsk, Russia to locate information from the 64th Fighter Aviation Corps (FAC) archival records on missing U.S. servicemen. These records include information such as shoot down reports, maps, photographs, and descriptions of crash site locations. The 64th FAC was the parent unit of approximately 70,000 Soviet servicemen that fought against the U.S. and United Nations forces during the Korean War.

Family Update in Tampa, Florida

On Jan. 28, government officials from the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO); the Pacific Command's Joint POW/Missing Personnel Accounting Command (JPAC); the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL); the military Services' Casualty Offices; and the Air Force's Life Sciences Equipment Laboratory (LSEL) went to Tampa, Fl., and conducted DoD's 150th Family Update for 139 attending family members of MIA servicemen. There were 64 first-time attendees who participated in the event. Throughout the day, family members were presented information by DoD experts on current U.S. Government policy, DNA identification processes, and life sciences equipment technology. Attending family members were provided an opportunity to meet, 1-on-1, with DoD officials and systems experts to review the specific details of their MIA serviceman's loss case. Family members can click HERE to register for the next Family Update, scheduled for Feb. 25, in Dallas, Texas.

Research at The National Personnel Records Center

In January 2012, DPMO conducted a research trip to the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis. Researchers obtained copies of morning reports, patient rosters, unit rosters, and official personnel files of unaccounted-for service members. They also gathered records from living former service members, which may assist with collecting information on those that are missing. NPRC is the only government facility outside of the Washington, D.C. area that contains this particular information. The results of the trip provided information that was requested by family members, service casualty officers and DPMO analysts. From this trip, 18 sets of morning reports and nine personnel records were copied and dispatched to interested parties.

U.S and Vietnam Discuss Last-Known-Alive Cases

On January 10, analysts from DPMO, JPAC, and the Defense Intelligence Agency (Stony Beach) met in Hanoi, with analysts from the Vietnamese Office for Seeking Missing Persons from the Ministry of Defense, to discuss the status of 36 Last-Known-Alive (LKA) cases. Of the LKA cases, 23 are Vietnam cases, 10 are Laos cases, and 3 are Cambodia cases. The discussions clarified requirements for future investigations in Vietnam, and identified challenging cases that will require assistance from the Vietnamese to resolve. The meeting also helped prioritize LKA investigation planning for the year. The cooperative discussions resulted in next steps for every LKA case reviewed.

Remains Recovery Operations in Laos

JPAC operations are temporarily suspended in Laos due to JPAC's decision not to renew the contract with the Lao company providing helicopter support to its operations there, and the Lao Government's subsequent rejection of JPAC's request to move the teams by vehicle. The decision not to renew the contract was prompted by safety concerns created when the Lao company began using helicopters not meeting Department of Defense safety standards for the JPAC mission. The Lao denied the subsequent JPAC request to move teams by vehicle, claiming road safety and security issues. If JPAC is able to renegotiate a helicopter contract with the Lao company for only those helicopters meeting U.S. Government safety standards, they may be able to resume operations later this spring. Alternately, Lao approval to move teams by vehicle will enable JPAC to resume limited operations in the country. The rugged terrain and lack of road network in areas where Americans went missing during the war make helicopter support to the JPAC mission in Laos critical. U.S. Ambassador Karen Stewart is fully engaged in these discussions with Laos, and the issue will be on the agenda during the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue with Laos, scheduled for February, in Washington.

2011 POW/MIA Recognition Day Poster

Electronic images of the 2011 poster are still available on the DPMO web site at: http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/pow_day/. Additionally, a "high-res" version may be downloaded for large printing jobs.

Previous years' posters are also available for download on the DPMO web site at: http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/posters/

POW/MIA Bracelet Inquiries

Members of the public often contact DPMO requesting information on servicemen for whom they wore a Vietnam War POW/MIA bracelet. They usually wish to contact the person or his family so they can send them the bracelet that they wore. Since we cannot provide the public with private addresses we have on file, we recommend forwarding a postage-affixed letter to the respective serviceman's casualty office with a cover letter explaining the request.

If the service casualty office has a current address, they will forward the letter to the serviceman or his family. At that point, the serviceman or family member may choose to contact the concerned citizen and provide them with an address to send the bracelet. There is no guarantee that this process will work. Many of the former POWs are no longer in contact with their service casualty office and this also applies to the families.