Recovery agency teams complete 100th Laos mission

  • Published
  • By Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Chlosta
  • Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command
HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii (AFPN) --  Four recovery teams from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command recently completed JPAC's 100th recovery mission in Laos.

"The JPAC mission is as important in our effort to account for each missing American here as it is in Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Korea and everywhere else where we have unresolved cases of Americans who did not return from previous conflicts," said William Gadoury, a planner with JPAC's Detachment 3. 

Since 1985, JPAC teams have been conducting search and recovery missions for unaccounted-for servicemembers from the Vietnam War who were lost in Laos. 

While the air war over northern Laos began in 1965, the first American losses in the country date back to the early 1960s. One of the major campaigns during the war was waged in southern Laos along the part of the Ho Chi Minh trail that passed through Laos and back into southern Vietnam. Today, there are 357 Americans missing in Laos as a result of these past U.S. military operations. 

During the 100th joint field activity in Laos, JPAC recovery teams overcame inclement weather and rugged terrain for more than a month to recover possible remains. 

Two recovery teams conducted operations in the Xekong Province, Kalum District, in southern Laos. The teams, based at Taoy Base Camp in the Xekong Province, met the daunting challenge of conducting field operations in the middle of the Lao rainy season.

During the first week of the mission, their efforts to reach recovery sites by helicopter were hampered by low clouds, storms and constant rain. 

"The weather forced us to abandon our first site on a mountain ridge and conduct operations at an alternate site at a lower elevation," said Army Staff Sgt. Luke Fortin, the team leader of JPAC Recovery Team 3.  "Fortunately we were prepared for this contingency and my team was able to collect more than seven hundred pounds of equipment from the staging area on the mountain and transport it to the alternate site in less than 24 hours." 

JPAC forensic anthropologist Paul Emanovsky then was able to brief the team about the new case and the new site location. 

"Changing cases wasn't difficult because I have several case histories with me when I travel," said Mr. Emanovsky. "The main challenge is that the sites are completely different and I have to alter my team's operational plans from recovering a servicemember lost during ground fighting to recovering servicemembers lost in an aircraft crash."

Power outages, flooding and supply delays also made life at the base camp very unpredictable for the team members. 

Their personal gear arrived a few days late because the trucks transporting the supplies for the base camp were unable to travel over the flooded roads leading to the camp. 

"Everyone has really pulled together and made the best out of this situation," said Army Lt. Col. Brandt Deck, Det. 3 commander.  "I have been really impressed by how the teams have remained motivated and how hard they're working in these extreme conditions." 

JPAC team members are motivated by their shared desire to recover the servicemembers lost during the Vietnam War and to return them to their families. During the mission, one team recovered possible human remains while another recovered life support equipment and personal effects. 

But the recovery teams wouldn't be able to do anything in Laos without Det.3, JPAC's in-country support detachment, Mr. Gadoury said.  He said they handle everything from planning to logistics for the missions in Laos. 

Det. 3 receives outstanding support from the U.S. Embassy in Laos and from local Lao contractors that makes JPAC's field work much more efficient than in earlier years, Mr. Gadoury said.

"Between Det. 3, the embassy, the Lao POW/MIA team and our contractors, we make up a well-oiled machine which has won many a compliment from team members who have deployed to Laos for [past] JFAs," he said. "Currently, we enjoy outstanding cooperation from our Lao counterparts. 

"Most of the [Lao] people I've met and talked with have enormous respect for the work we do, and are amazed that our government goes to the lengths (it does) to account for our missing," he said. 

Besides searching for clues to the past, JPAC teams also participate in present day humanitarian relief unrelated to the recovery mission. 

"Many high-level visitors in the past understand the importance of each side acknowledging and assisting the other side's humanitarian concerns," said Mr. Gadoury. 

"For the Lao, they facilitate and allow our teams access to search for our unaccounted-for Americans. For the U.S., for the past 20 years [U.S. Pacific Command] has provided funds to support the construction of clinics, schools and other assistance projects, many in economically challenged rural areas where our teams conduct their search and recovery efforts." 

According to Mr. Gadoury, all of the present and past Laos recovery team members should look back with pride on their contributions that brought their fellow comrades home. 

"One important aspect of our mission has been the hard work and dedication of so many American team members during these past 100 JFAs," he said. "Their dedication over the years has been infectious and even our Lao counterparts have been motivated by the humanitarian spirit and dedication shown by our teams. 

"When it comes down to the human element, no matter which side of the joint team base camp your tent is located, everyone understands why it's important to recover our countrymen and send them home to families with appropriate final honors," Mr. Gadoury said. 

Editor's Note: JPAC is a jointly manned unit with Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines whose mission is to achieve the fullest possible accounting of all Americans missing as a result of the nation's previous conflicts. JPAC recovery teams include a forensic anthropologist, field medic, explosive ordnance disposal technician, life support investigator and forensic photographer.

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