Welcome To DPMO

US Honor Guard member at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery

The Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) is responsible for establishing and overseeing policies on the rescue of living Americans and the recovery of the remains of those who are missing in action from foreign battle fields.

Vision: The fullest possible accounting of those who become missing due to hostile action while pursuing U.S. national objectives abroad.

Mission: Establish the most favorable conditions and conduct operations to account for persons missing in past conflicts, and prepare to account for those who remain missing following current and future conflicts.

DPMO is joined in this mission by many ofther Department of Defense Agencies. You may easily find their websites by clicking on the "DoD Links" menu item at left.

Recently Accounted-For

Sgt. John P. Bonnassiolle, U.S. Army Air Forces, 392nd Bombardment Group, was lost April 29, 1944, near Hannover, Germany. His remains were identified June 14, 2010.
Cpl. Frank H. Smith, U.S. Army, 5th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, was lost on July 25, 1951, in South Korea while under enemy attack. His remains were identified on May 25, 2010.
Capt. Clyde W. Campbell, USAF, 602nd Special Ops Sq., was lost on March 1, 1969 while flying his A-1J Skyraider over targets in Houaphan Province, Laos. His remains were identified on May 18, 2010.
1^st Lt. Paul G. Magers and Chief Warrant Officer Two Donald L. Wann, U.S. Army, Company D, 158th Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division, were lost June 1, 1971, while flying in an AH-1G Cobra helicopter over South Vietnam. Their remains were identified on March 22, 2010.
1^st Sgt. George H. Humphrey, U.S. Marine Corps, 6th Marine Regiment, lost Sept. 15, 1918, during the first U.S.-led offensive of World War I, under the command of Gen. John J. Pershing, near St. Mihiel, France. His remains were identified on March 2, 2010.

A complete listing of recently account-for servicemembers can be found on the Recently Accounted-For page.

Briefly... mid-August 2010

Laos operations

DPMO recently hosted Karen Stewart, U.S. Ambassador-designate to Laos, to highlight the accounting mission in Southeast Asia. Additionally during semi-annual technical talks with the country's officials, Aug. 10-12, discussions focused on past and future operations in Laos.

Korean War Analysts Meeting

Korean War analysts from DPMO and JPAC met in late July to review completed South Korea investigations and future operations, in preparation for the Korea-Cold War annual government briefing to be held Aug. 26-28 in Arlington, Va.

NASA Visit

DASD Robert Newberry met with Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator, Aug. 9 to solidify support for the development of space-based personnel recovery technologies.

Guangdong Update

A JPAC team in Guangdong Province, China, investigating the 1950 loss of a U.S. Navy PBM5 received information from local witnesses to assist with the crash site investigation. DPMO and PLA archival researchers have exchanged information on the case since 2008.

Highlights

Warning to Families

The Department of Defense and other government agencies have received reports of an individual or individuals who have approached MIA families with personal information about their missing loved one. Using several aliases, this person or persons report that they have interviewed numerous MIAs from the Korean War, the Vietnam War and Desert Storm. They have reportedly asked for money from family members. It appears that individuals tell the family members that their loved one is alive and describe the circumstances under which they met. Much of this information has been confirmed as a fabrication. In many cases, the "live" POW has actually been accounted-for years ago through the identification of his remains. Often, a family member is shown a photo with a known Asian person impersonating an American POW. Family members are urged to avoid these individuals, and report any contacts to their service casualty offices (see "DoD Links" on left panel), to DPMO at 703-699-1160, or to the FBI.

New 2010 Poster Unveiled

The new 2010 POW/MIA poster was unveiled at July's 41st annual meeting of the National League of Families and Annual Government Briefings. The electronic image of the poster may be seen here, and copies may be ordered from the link to the left "Ordering Posters." The poster commemorates the observance of National POW/MIA Recognition Day on Friday, September 17, 2010.

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 (see links below) 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.