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Author: RIP_10
Surnames: Chambers
Classification: death
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.chambers/4165/mb.ashx
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On the Web:
http://www.defense.gov/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=13596
***SEE LINK FOR COMPLETE RELEASE
IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 479-10
June 10, 2010
Airmen Missing From Vietnam War Identified
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today
that the remains of nine U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have
been accounted-for and returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
Lt. Col. Jerry L. Chambers, Muskogee, Okla.;
were buried as a group today in Arlington National Cemetery. The individually identified
remains of each airman were previously returned to their families for burial.
On May 22, 1968, these men were aboard a C-130A Hercules on an evening
flare mission over northern Salavan Province, Laos. Fifteen minutes after the aircraft
made a radio call, the crew of another U.S. aircraft observed a large ground fire near the
last known location of Mason's aircraft. Search and rescue attempts were not
initiated due to heavy antiaircraft fire in the area.
Analysts from DPMO developed case leads with information spanning more
than 40 years. Through interviews with eyewitnesses and research in the National
Archives, several locations in Laos and South Vietnam were pinpointed as potential crash
sites. Between 1989 and 2008, teams from Laos People's Democratic Republic and the
Vietnam, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, pursued leads, interviewed
villagers, and conducted 10 field investigations and four excavations in Quang Tri
Province, Vietnam. They recovered aircraft wreckage, human remains, crew-related
equipment and personal effects.
Scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory
also used mitochondrial DNA - which matched that of the crewmembers' families - as
well as dental comparisons in the identification of the remains.
Since late 1973, the remains of 927 Americans killed in the Vietnam War
have been accounted-for and returned to their families. With the accounting of these
airmen, 1,719 service members still remain missing from the conflict.
For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to
account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at
http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call
703- 699-1169.
*****Not related posted for genealogical purposes only.
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