Scientists identify remains of six Air Force MIAs

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WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  The remains of six Airmen missing in action from the Vietnam War have been identified and are being buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Nov. 5 with full military honors.

They are: Cols. Theodore Kryszak of Buffalo, N.Y., and Harding Smith of Los Gatos, Calif.; Lt. Col. Russell Martin of Bloomfield, Iowa; Chief Master Sgts. Harold Mullins of Denver; Luther Rose of Howe, Texas, and Ervin Warren of Philadelphia.

On June 23, 1966, the crew was aboard an AC-47 Spooky gunship flying an armed reconnaissance mission over southern Laos. At about 9:25 p.m., the aircraft radioed, “We have a hot fire,” and another radio transmission was heard to order “bail out.” Witnesses reported the aircraft was on fire. It crashed into a heavily wooded area 30 miles northeast of Tchepone, in Khannouan Province, Laos. No parachutes from the crew were seen, and no emergency beepers were heard. An aerial search of the site found no evidence of survivors.

A joint team of American and Lao specialists traveled to a suspected crash site in Khammouan Province in October 1994 where a villager took them to an area where personal effects, aircraft wreckage, crew-related materials and a crew member’s identification tag were found.

In May and June 1995, a joint team excavated the site where they recovered human remains as well as identification media of other aircrew members. The U.S. recovery team members were from the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii. Laboratory scientists applied a wide array of forensic techniques to identify the recovered remains, including comparisons of dental charts and X-rays.

Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory workers performed mitochondrial DNA sequencing. The sequencing was done by lab officials whose results aided the scientists in identifying the remains.

More than 88,000 Americans are missing in action from all conflicts. Of these, 1,849 are from the Vietnam War. The Central Identification Laboratory is part of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command.

For more information, call the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office at (703) 699-1169, or visit www.dtic.mil/dpmo/.