A Vow to Search for the Absent September 19, 2008 Army News Service|by Gerry J. Gilmore WASHINGTON
- The U.S. Military never stops searching for servicemembers reported as captured or missing during the global war on terrorism
or those missing from past wars. "The combatant commanders that are out in the field today are working to find any servicemembers
who are missing in the current conflicts" in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Air Force Capt. Mary R. Olsen, a public affairs officer
for the Pentagon's POW/MIA Office in Arlington, Va. No U.S. Servicemembers, she said, are now listed as missing or captured
during operations in Afghanistan. One U.S. Soldier is currently listed as missing-captured in Iraq. The search continues for
Army Spc. Ahmed Altaei, who was reported as being captured in Iraq on Oct. 23, 2006. The remains of three other U.S. Soldiers
who had been reported as missing-captured in Iraq were recovered and identified earlier this year, Olsen said. Army Spc.
Alex Jimenez, of Lawrence, Mass., and Army Pvt. Byron Fouty, of Waterford, Mich., were captured in Iraq on May 12, 2007. On
July 10, the Armed Forces Medical Examiner positively identified their remains. Army Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin, captured April
9, 2004, was identified March 20. Jimenez and Fouty were part of a patrol that was ambushed by enemy forces south of Baghdad
on May 12, 2007. They were assigned to the 10th Mountain Division's 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat
Team, Fort Drum, N.Y. Iraqi police found the remains of a third Soldier who was first reported as missing in the ambush
-- Pfc. Joseph J. Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, Calif. -- on May 23, 2007. U.S. Commanders in Iraq had conducted intense
searches for the missing Soldiers who were identified this year, Olsen said. The discovery of the remains of the missing Soldiers,
she said, helped "to bring some closure to their families." Jimenez and Fouty were part of a patrol of seven Americans
and an Iraqi army interpreter when they were attacked by insurgents. At the time, the area in and around Mahmudiyah was a
stronghold of al-Qaida in Iraq. A quick-reaction force dispatched to the scene found five Soldiers killed in action and three
missing. Maupin, an Army reservist, was among two soldiers and seven contract employees reported missing after insurgents
attacked their fuel convoy west of Baghdad on April 9, 2004. Maupin was later reported as the only missing Soldier. The Army
announced March 20, 2008, that it had found and identified Maupin's remains through DNA. Modern satellite-enabled communications
devices and advanced forensics greatly assist today's recovery and identification operations, Olsen said, so that "servicemembers
don't go [on] missing." Additionally, Olsen's agency and the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command are involved in ongoing efforts
to find servicemembers reported missing from conflicts conducted decades ago. "We are showing today's servicemembers and
the families of today's servicemembers that these people that we send in harm's way will not be forgotten, if, God forbid,
something should happen," Olsen said. "We will do everything in our power to bring them home and that we will remember their
sacrifices." Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates recognized the four then-missing Soldiers at last year's POW/MIA Day ceremony
held at the Pentagon Sept. 21, 2007. "They may not be well known to the public, but within the brotherhood of arms, they
will never be forgotten or left behind," Gates said of the then-missing Soldiers Maupin, Jimenez and Fouty, and the still-missing
Altaei. "These men are the latest additions to the ranks of tens of thousands who remain missing from previous conflicts,"
the defense secretary said of the missing Soldiers. "And they are the latest additions to the ranks of those we remember today." A
Pentagon ceremony tomorrow for this year's National POW/MIA Recognition Day will feature troops from each of the military
services. The president will issue a proclamation commemorating the observances and reminding the nation of those Americans
who have sacrificed so much for their country.
U.S. Military Vows to Find Missing Servicemembers
By Gerry J. Gilmore American
Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2008 – The U.S. Military never stops searching for servicemembers reported as
captured or missing during the global war on terrorism or those missing from past wars.
“The combatant commanders that are out in the field today are working to find any servicemembers who
are missing in the current conflicts” in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Air Force Capt. Mary R. Olsen, a public affairs
officer for the Pentagon’s POW/MIA Office in Arlington, Va.
No U.S. Servicemembers, she said, are now listed
as missing or captured during operations in Afghanistan. One U.S. Soldier is currently listed as missing-captured in Iraq.
The search continues for Army Spc. Ahmed Altaei, who was reported as being captured in Iraq on Oct. 23, 2006.
The remains
of three other U.S. Soldiers who had been reported as missing-captured in Iraq were recovered and identified earlier this
year, Olsen said.
Army Spc. Alex Jimenez, of Lawrence, Mass., and Army Pvt. Byron Fouty, of Waterford, Mich., were
captured in Iraq on May 12, 2007. On July 10, the Armed Forces Medical Examiner positively identified their remains. Army
Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin, captured April 9, 2004, was identified March 20.
Jimenez and Fouty were part of a patrol that was ambushed by enemy forces south of Baghdad on May 12, 2007. They
were assigned to the 10th Mountain Division’s 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, Fort Drum,
N.Y.
Iraqi police found the remains of a third soldier who was first reported as missing in the ambush -- Pfc. Joseph
J. Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, Calif. -- on May 23, 2007.
U.S. Commanders in Iraq had conducted intense searches for
the missing soldiers who were identified this year, Olsen said. The discovery of the remains of the missing soldiers, she
said, helped “to bring some closure to their families.”
Jimenez and Fouty were part of a patrol of seven
Americans and an Iraqi army interpreter when they were attacked by insurgents. At the time, the area in and around Mahmudiyah
was a stronghold of al-Qaida in Iraq. A quick-reaction force dispatched to the scene found five soldiers killed in action
and three missing.
Maupin, an Army reservist, was among two soldiers and seven contract employees reported missing
after insurgents attacked their fuel convoy west of Baghdad on April 9, 2004. Maupin was later reported as the only missing
soldier. The Army announced March 20, 2008, that it had found and identified Maupin’s remains through DNA.
Modern
satellite-enabled communications devices and advanced forensics greatly assist today’s recovery and identification operations,
Olsen said, so that “servicemembers don’t go [on] missing.”
Additionally, Olsen’s agency and
the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command are involved in ongoing efforts to find servicemembers reported missing from conflicts
conducted decades ago.
“We are showing today’s servicemembers and the families of today’s servicemembers
that these people that we send in harm’s way will not be forgotten, if, God forbid, something should happen,”
Olsen said. “We will do everything in our power to bring them home and that we will remember their sacrifices.”
Defense
Secretary Robert M. Gates recognized the four then-missing soldiers at last year’s POW/MIA Day ceremony held at the
Pentagon Sept. 21, 2007.
“They may not be well known to the public, but within the brotherhood of arms, they will never be forgotten
or left behind,” Gates said of the then-missing soldiers Maupin, Jimenez and Fouty, and the still-missing Altaei.
“These
men are the latest additions to the ranks of tens of thousands who remain missing from previous conflicts,” the defense
secretary said of the missing soldiers. “And they are the latest additions to the ranks of those we remember today.”
A
Pentagon ceremony tomorrow for this year’s National POW/MIA Recognition Day will feature troops from each of the military
services. The president will issue a proclamation commemorating the observances and reminding the nation of those Americans
who have sacrificed so much for their country.
"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy," [Colossians
2: 8]
National Alliance of Families For the Return of America’s Missing Servicemen World
War II – Korea – Cold War – Vietnam – Gulf Wars
April 19, 2008
Bits N Pieces
"I told them when we'd go up to the Pentagon, whether he walks off a plane or is carried off, you're
not going to leave him in Iraq like you did those guys in Vietnam."
Keith Maupin as quoted by the Associated
Press March 31, 2007 #################
Services for Sgt. Matt Maupin - The remains of Sgt. Matt
Maupin will arrive at Lunken Airport in Cincinnati Ohio, on Saturday April 26th. A procession will escort Sgt.
Maupin to the Union Township Civic Center located at 4350 Aicholtz Road, Cincinnati Ohio. Public visitation will begin
at 11:00 AM and end at 7:00 AM Sunday April 27th.
A memorial service beginning at 1:00 PM will be
held at the Great American Ball Park located at 201 E. Pete Rose Way, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. A private burial
service, at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, will follow the memorial service.
Our hearts and prayers are with the Maupin family. Those wishing to extend their sympathy
may send condolences to:
Carolyn
and Keith Maupin & Family c/o The Yellow Ribbon Support Center 700 S Eastgate Blvd. – Suite 430 Cincinnati
Ohio 45245
####################
What Happened to Matt Maupin - On Thursday April 17th, Pentagon officials briefed the
family of Sgt Matt Maupin. In an article for The Enquirer posted at Cincinnati.com Malia Rulon, writes;
“Keith
Maupin said that Pentagon officials told them Thursday that they would have to get a final report from the Armed Forces Medical
Examiner on exactly how and when their son died. “I was given the impression that they believe it was very early on,"
Maupin said. He said Pentagon officials told them that the June 2004 video released on an Arab television station
showing a person in a U.S. military uniform being shot to death "might well have been Matt, but we don't know for sure."
“The Army Medical Examiner's Office in Maryland has had Sgt. Maupin's remains for more than two weeks. They have
been doing forensic tests to determine when and how he was killed. Keith Maupin said they have been told that "because
of all the time that's gone by and the harsh conditions over there, there wasn't a lot of Matt left for them to examine."
The Maupins will get the report when it's finished.”
In the same article Rulon reported; “Two of
the Iraqis identified as being responsible for kidnapping and killing Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin four years ago have been sentenced
to death - though not for Maupin's death, Army officials told the soldier's parents Thursday.
The
article also stated that Keith Maupin stated the Army paid a $200,000 reward for the tip that led to his son’s recovery.
However “The Army did not comment on the reward.” #################
A Very Impressive 268 –
That is the current number of co-sponsors for H.Res 111. Unfortunately, we are still stuck in the Rules Committee.
Please DO NOT give up. Keep the pressure on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rules Committee Chairperson Louise
McIntosh-Slaughter. Send a fax to:
Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Tel: 202-225-0100 or Toll Free at 866-727-4894 Office of the Speaker
Fax: 202-225-8259 H-232, US Capitol
202-225-4188 Washington, DC 20515
And don’t forget Rules Committee Chairperson
Honorable
Louise McIntosh-Slaughter 2469 Rayburn Bldg
Tel: 202-225-3615 or Toll Free at 866-727-4894 Washington D.C. 20515
Fax: 202-225-7822
Remind them that that H.Res 111 enjoys overwhelming bi-partisan support. With 268
Co-Sponsors passage of H.Res 111 is clearly the will of the people.
Not sure if your Congressional
Representative is a cosponsor, visit www.nationalalliance.org/legis/110congress.htm If your Representative is highlighted in red, he/she is a cosponsor. And,
remember if your Congressional Representative is not a cosponsor, keep working on them! ###################### Status
of PWs in South Vietnam – We recently located an interesting memo. Both the recipient and sender are redacted.
However, the content of the memo, dated November 13, 1969 is basically un-redacted. We found this memo interesting
because it acknowledges the possibility that POW camps abandoned in South Vietnam may have been re-activated.
Unfortunately, as the memo indicates abandoned facilities were not “carried as detention facilities.”
This
concept of re-activating a once abandoned camp is one possibility DPMO refused to consider in the case of Army Captain John
T. McDonnell (Vessey 119 Discrepency Case, Project X and one of the 19 New POWs.) According to the memo;
“The
MACV Joint Prisoner Recovery Center investigates on the ground all credible reports of detention sites in South Vietnam.
In some cases evidence of hastily evacuated prison cages have been found and in one case a fatally wounded American soldier
was recovered. These sites investigated on the ground by JPRC are usually left in an unusable state and are not afterwards
carried as detention facilities. In some cases the sites may in fact have been re-used, but this is problematical.
There are also reported sites in Cambodia and Laos. There is little point in attempting to summarize this information,
since interrogation of released and escaped prisoner indicates that the VC move the captives from camp to camp as the tactical
situation demands.”
The memo also discussed a no bomb area assigned to “one detention facility –
a cave in Laos.” We can only assume that strong intelligence reporting indicated this cave was a detention
facility for American POWs in Laos in 1969.
To view the full document, visit the Vietnam section of our website
at www.nationalalliance.org #####################
Government Acknowledges Mis-Identification of World War II Airman - “The
POW/MIA bunch (Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command, or JPAC) gave it all their spin - and boy, can they spin it. They're better
than Bill O'Reilly." Those are the words of Mary Roberts, sister of World War II airman Wesley Stuart. In
the March 15th edition of Bits we reported how one World War II family exhumed and tested remains returned to them in the
late 1940’s after the Bent Prop Project, a private group researching World War II aircraft losses, located Stuart’s
aircraft with remains inside. This information was provided to the U.S. government but no action was forthcoming.
So,
Mary Roberts took matters into her own hands, exhuming and paying for private mt-DNA testing. The test confirmed the
families long held suspicions that the remains were not those of Wesley Stuart.
On April 17th the Recorder published
a follow up to this story, written by Michael Fitzgerald. Excerpts from his story follow:
[Begin Story]
"They wanted me to go away. Trust me," said Roberts, a Stockton bar owner. "But I didn't. They don't know Irish people.
Irish people are persistent."
“This latest twist in the story of Wesley Stuart involves an admiral's apology,
an honor guard and Stuart's hope that, far away on a tiny coral island in the Pacific, recently discovered remains may really
be those of her beloved brother.”
“On Sept. 13, 1944, Wesley Raymond Stuart, a lanky, 6-foot-1, blue-eyed,
fun-loving cowboy, who rode bucking broncos in Oakdale rodeos, who played guitar and sang, flew off the deck of the carrier
U.S.S Enterprise, bound for the island of Peleliu. Stuart, 20, a turret gunner in a three-man Avenger light bomber,
never returned.”
“Civilian searchers with the Bent Prop Project found his plane's wreckage in 2005.
They conjecture Stuart's Avenger, crossing over the island's shore, took a direct hit from intense Japanese anti-aircraft
fire. Its bomb and gas tank exploded.”
“Four long years passed, and the war was over, when the Navy
notified the family Stuart's remains - skeletal fragments - had been recovered. To the Stuarts, the delay in identifying
Wesley's remains, and the thin evidence on which identification was based, raised doubts. Stuart's mother disbelieved.”
"How
she knew that, I don't know," Roberts confessed. "Mother's intuition. Something." But the family interred the
remains. "My mother took good care of him. She said, 'It's not my son. But it's someone's son.'"
“Roberts
grew up with the doubt. Long after her parents died, when forensic DNA technology evolved, she asked the Navy to test the
remains. The Navy refused.
"The POW/MIA bunch (Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command, or JPAC) gave it all their spin
- and boy, can they spin it. They're better than Bill O'Reilly," Roberts said.”
“When Stuart's plane
was found in 2005, human remains were found beneath the fuselage. "I thought, 'I have to find out. I have to know,'”
Roberts recalled. So she hired an attorney to handle the legalities of disinterment and sent remains from the mausoleum
to a lab in Pennsylvania along with a sample of her DNA.”
“The specialist called her personally.
"I didn't want your attorney to call you and tell you," she told Roberts. "The DNA didn't match." Roberts said she notified
the Navy, which changed its tune. "No more spin. They came down to earth. ... Let me tell you, it really shook them up."
“An
official from JPAC promised a letter of apology, signed by an admiral, Roberts said. The Navy is sending an honor guard and
"high-ranking official" to Park View Cemetery for a formal disinterment ceremony on April 23.”
“The
unknown soldier will be transported to Honolulu , where experts will try to match the remains to the military's database of
MIAs.”
“Roberts wonders if the remains beneath the fuselage are her brother's. She hopes JPAC will
investigate. But there's another possibility: Could the Navy have mixed up the other two crewmen, sending Wesley's remains
to the family of the airman who long rested in French Camp?” [End Story] ###############
Question –
Ms. Roberts had to hire an attorney, pay for exhumation, and mt-DNA testing at her personal expense ($11,000) to proved remains
returned as her brother where not his, shouldn’t the government repay her expenses?
Why does Johnie Webb
still have his job? ###################
National Alliance of Families 19th Annual Forum is scheduled for June
19th – 21st, 2008. Our forum is conducted to coincide with the Government s annual Vietnam POW/MIA Family Briefings.
We urge all family members to attend this year’s government briefing. The government will provide free airfare to two
family members to attend the government briefings. There is no charge or registration fee to attend these briefings and you
DO NOT have to belong to an organization to attend the government briefings.
This year our meeting will be held
at the Holiday Inn National Airport, located at 2650 Jefferson Davis Highway Crystal City, VA. The special Alliance
rate is $129.00 per night, plus tax. Parking rate under the Alliance is $10.00 per night. Cutoff
date for reservations is May 20th so make your reservations early. There will be no extension on this date.
To reserve your room, call 1-703-684-7200. The Alliance is an all volunteer organization. Our meetings are open to all,
without charge. At this time of year, we actively seek contributions to finance our forum. If you wish to contribute, donations
may be mailed to: National Alliance of Families P.O. Box 40327 Bellevue, WA . 98015 Remember all contributions
are tax deductible.
3472
We pray continuously for the safe return of our POW/MIAs. Although
we do so beg God that each is returned alive and whole, safe and sound, we too note within our hearts and souls that God has
His own plan that doesn't always mesh with what we want. In this manner and with this thought in mind, someone created
the graphix POW/MIA, never forgotten dead or alive. I happen to personally like the mentioned graphix for the reason
that whether or not our heroes survive the horror of their fate, whatever is God's plans for them; they will remain, forever........never
forgotten.......dead or alive. For in their memories, they will have Life Eternal. Amen.
3 missing, 5 killed in attack on U.S. patrol
POSTED: 12:04 p.m. EDT, May 12, 2007
Story Highlights
• Team of seven U.S. troops, one Iraqi, attacked before dawn •Five killed; search is on for three others • U.S. general asks for more troops in Diyala province •
Diyala province is insurgency hot spot bordering Iran
Adjust font size:
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- American troops were on the hunt in a volatile region south of Baghdad for three
members of a U.S.-led military patrol, who went missing after an insurgent attack Saturday that killed five others.
The U.S. military said attackers struck the team of seven U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi army interpreter.
U.S. forces are using all assets in their search for the missing troops, who are listed as duty status whereabouts
unknown, the military said.
Checkpoints have been established throughout the region and aircraft including helicopters, drones and jets
have been deployed in the search.
The predawn attack occurred 12 miles west of Mahmoudiya, a city south of the capital in a region that has
been nicknamed the Triangle of Death. (Map)
A nearby unit heard explosions, and 15 minutes later, a drone aircraft spotted two burning vehicles, according
to a U.S. military statement.
"Coalition Forces are currently using every means at our disposal to find the missing Soldiers, and we will
continue these efforts until all are accounted for," said a statement from military spokesman Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell.
The search is reminiscent of the hunt last June for two soldiers who were seized at a checkpoint in Yusufiya.
The two also were listed as duty status whereabouts unknown until their bodies were found three days later.
Also Saturday, two Iraqi civilians were killed and five others were wounded when a parked car bomb detonated
east of Baghdad in Mada'en, the Interior Ministry said.
Friday evening a roadside bomb explosion near a Shiite mosque in northeastern Baghdad killed one civilian
and wounded five others, the official said.
Separately, the U.S. military said coalition forces arrested three insurgents and destroyed a car bomb Saturday
morning during a raid in Baghdad's sprawling Sadr City.
The troops were targeting an bomb network and found bomb-making materials.
"The individuals have suspected ties to a secret cell network in the area known for facilitating the transport
of weapons and EFPs from Iran to Iraq, as well as bringing militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training," the military
said.
The military also announced on Saturday that "several insurgents" attempting to plant roadside bombs in a
southern Baghdad neighborhood were interrupted by U.S. soldiers and Iraqi security forces earlier in the week.
General asks for more troops
Friday, the U.S. military commander in charge of northern Iraqi operations on Friday said more troops are
needed to stem rising insurgent violence in Diyala province.
"I do not have enough soldiers right now in Diyala province to get that security situation moving," said Army
Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, commander of the 25th Infantry Division.
Mixon's comments came as a political battle was being waged in Washington over whether funding for U.S. forces
fighting in Iraq should be tied to a deadline for their withdrawal.
In Washington on Thursday, the U.S. House passed a bill that would tie war funding beyond July to a progress
report. The bill faced an uncertain future in the Senate, however, and President Bush vowed to veto it. (Full story)
Mixon did not specify whether more U.S. or Iraqi forces were needed. He made his comments during a news briefing
from Iraq via teleconference at the Pentagon.
"We have plans to put additional forces in that area. ... We have put additional forces in there over that
last couple months, an additional Stryker battalion, but I'm going to need additional forces in Diyala province to get that
situation to a more acceptable level." (Watch Mixon lay out his need for additional troops)
About 3,500 U.S. soldiers, 10,000 Iraqi soldiers and several thousand police officers are stationed in Diyala.
More than 3,000 additional police are needed, he said.
The level of violence has increased in Diyala, Mixon said, because the forces are increasing their offensive
operations against the insurgents, many of whom have left Baghdad during the recent security crackdown, and because al Qaeda
in Iraq has made Diyala a focus.
Other developments
America's top military commander in Iraq sent a letter to troops challenging them to "occupy the moral high
ground" after a Pentagon survey showed some service members were reluctant to report the "illegal actions" of fellow personnel.
In the letter, dated Thursday, Gen. David Petraeus wrote he was "concerned" with the poll's findings. The survey of ethics,
released last week, assessed the mental health and ethical attitudes of more than 1,300 soldiers and nearly 450 Marines last
year. (Read the report)
Twenty-two people were killed and 60 were wounded Friday in two southeastern Baghdad bombings, an official
with the Iraqi Interior Ministry told CNN. Two suicide bombs -- one in a car and another in a fuel tanker -- exploded in quick
succession in the predominantly Shiite Zafaraniya district, each targeting an Iraqi police patrol. A bridge over the Tigris
River was substantially damaged.
CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq and Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report.
Remains Identified as Navy Captain Michael Scott Speicher
Sun, 02 Aug 2009 05:26:00 -0500 IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 571-09 August 02, 2009
U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/Releases/
Media Contact: +1 (703) 697-5131/697-5132 Public Contact: http://www.defenselink.mil/faq/comment.html
or +1 (703) 428-0711 +1
Remains Identified as Navy Captain Michael Scott Speicher
The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) has positively identified remains recovered in Iraq as those
of Captain Michael Scott Speicher. Captain Speicher was shot down flying a combat mission in an F/A-18 Hornet over west-central
Iraq on January 17th, 1991 during Operation Desert Storm.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with Captain Speicher's family for the ultimate sacrifice he made for his country,"
said Ray Mabus, Secretary of the Navy. "I am also extremely grateful to all those who have worked so tirelessly over the last
18 years to bring Captain Speicher home."
"Our Navy will never give up looking for a shipmate, regardless of how long or how difficult that search may
be," said Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations. "We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Captain Speicher and
his family for the sacrifice they have made for our nation and the example of strength they have set for all of us."
Acting on information provided by an Iraqi citizen in early July, US Marines stationed in Al Anbar Province
went to a location in the desert which was believed to be the crash site of Captain Speicher's jet. The Iraqi citizen stated
he knew of two Iraqi citizens who recalled an American jet impacting the desert and the remains of the pilot being buried
in the desert. One of these Iraqi citizens stated that they were present when Captain Speicher was found dead at the crash
site by Bedouins and his remains buried. The Iraqi citizens led US Marines to the site who searched the area. Remains were
recovered over several days during the past week and flown to Dover Air Force Base for scientific identification by the AFIP's
Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner.
The recovered remains include bones and multiple skeletal fragments. Positive identification was made by comparing
Captain Speicher's dental records with the jawbone recovered at the site. The teeth are a match, both visually and radiographically.
While dental records have confirmed the remains to be those of Captain Speicher, the Armed Forces Institute
of Pathology DNA Lab in Rockville, Maryland is running DNA tests on the remains recovered in Iraq and comparing them to DNA
reference samples previously provided by family members. Results will take approximately 24 hours.
March, 2008
missing-captured to deceased
Contact lost with sailor lost off Chile
POSTED: 10:03 a.m. EST, January 4, 2007
NEWPORT BEACH, California (AP) -- A U.S. sailor adrift in his storm-damaged boat off the tip of South America can
no longer use his satellite phone, his girlfriend said.
Cathy Chambers, girlfriend of sailor Ken Barnes, 47, said Barnes' most recent phone call at 8:26 p.m. ET Wednesday would
likely be his last because his phone had run out of battery power.
The calls helped ease concerns as an intense search-and-rescue effort continued off the coast of Chile, with hopes that
help would reach Barnes by Thursday evening. (Watch how race in on to save sailor)
Officials said his life was not in immediate danger as the boat was not sinking. Barnes, who had been trying to circumnavigate
the globe, also was wearing a survival suit, Chambers said.
"He's shaky, scared, but I think he's hopeful now that he's seen the plane and he knows they've located him. He's scared.
He just wants them to get him out," she said.
Ron Vangell, a family friend, said a commercial fishing vessel was expected to reach Barnes by 8 p.m. ET Thursday.
"He's just in a tin can getting smacked around. He's a good sailor, but you need something to sail," Vangell said.
Barnes set off from Long Beach, California, on October 28 in a 44-foot ketch called the Privateer.
He first called Tuesday to report he was in trouble. He said he had lost engine power and steering and had two broken masts
and broken hatches, Chambers said. The Privateer was also taking on water in 40-knot winds and 25-foot swells, he reported.
The U.S. Coast Guard and Chilean maritime officials picked up signals Tuesday afternoon, when he was believed to be about
500 miles off the Pacific coast of Chile.
On Wednesday morning, a Chilean navy search aircraft had flown over the area where Barnes' boat was believed to be, but
clouds and rain kept the plane's crew from spotting it the yacht, navy press officer Paula Paredes said by telephone.
Barnes told his girlfriend he had heard planes overhead until the pre-dawn hours Wednesday.
Paredes said the navy also dispatched a tugboat to the western entry to the Straits of Magellan on the tip of South America,
and ordered a trawler and a merchant boat already there to join the search. None of the boats was expected to reach Barnes
before the weekend, however.
According to Barnes' Web site, he "continue(d) to ride out the storm with disabled Privateer" on Wednesday and anticipated
that the Chilean navy would drop communication and support equipment to him.
"We need someone out there right away to get to him. He has supplies, but I don't know how many of them are good and how
many aren't because now there's water in the boat," said Chambers, who was keeping vigil in the couple's Newport Beach home
with Barnes' family.
Barnes first reported his emergency to the U.S. Coast Guard, which contacted the Chilean navy.
"I do know from reviewing his Web site that he was well-equipped for the journey he was making. He had all the survival
gear on board," Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Tim McGhee said.
One U.S. soldier is missing and another is currently listed as captured as of December 20,
2006. The list below reflects the names officially listed as Prisoners of War or Duty Status - Whereabouts Unknown by the
Pentagon.
NAME
AGE
UNIT
HOMETOWN
DETAILS
Sgt. Keith M. Maupin
20
724th Transportation Company, Army Reserve
Batavia, Ohio
Maupin was originally listed as missing after a fuel convoy was attacked near Baghdad International Airport by Iraqi insurgents
using rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire on April 9, 2004. A videotape broadcast by Al-Jazeera on April 16 showed
Maupin being held hostage by Iraqi insurgents, and the Pentagon later changed his status to captured. Maupin was promoted
in absentia on May 1, 2004, from private first class to specialist. On June 28, 2004, Al-Jazeera reported that it had received
a statement and a videotape from militants who claimed to have killed Maupin. U.S. officials, however, were unable to identify
the man as Maupin and he remains listed as captured. He was promoted to sergeant in April 2005. (Full story)
Spc. Ahmed K. Altaie
41
Army reservist assigned Provincial Reconstruction Team Baghdad
Ann Arbor, Michigan
On October 23, 2006, Altaie was categorized as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown when he allegedly was kidnapped while on
his way to visit family in Baghdad, Iraq. The Pentagon changed his status to missing-captured on December 11.
Spc. Edgar Hernandez
21
507th Maintenance Company
Mission, Texas
Was missing after an Iraqi ambush at Nasiriya on March 23, 2003. Rescued April 13, 2003, north of Baghdad.
Spc. Joseph Hudson
23
507th Maintenance Company
Alamogordo, New Mexico
Was missing after an Iraqi ambush at Nasiriya on March 23, 2003. Rescued April 13, 2003, north of Baghdad.
Spc. Shoshana Johnson
30
507th Maintenance Company
El Paso, Texas
Was missing after an Iraqi ambush at Nasiriya on March 23, 2003. Rescued April 13, 2003, north of Baghdad.
Pfc. Jessica Lynch
19
507th Maintenance Company
Palestine, West Virginia
Was missing after an Iraqi ambush at Nasiriya on March 23, 2003. Rescued April 2, 2003, by U.S. troops from Saddam Hospital
in Nasiriya.
Pfc. Patrick Miller
23
507th Maintenance Company
Walter, Kansas
Was missing after an Iraqi ambush at Nasiriya on March 23, 2003. Rescued April 13, 2003, north of Baghdad.
Sgt. James Riley
31
507th Maintenance Company
Pennsauken, New Jersey
Was missing after an Iraqi ambush at Nasiriya on March 23, 2003. Rescued April 13, 2003, north of Baghdad.
Chief Warrant Officer David S. Williams
30
Company C, 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment
Florida
Captured after his AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter was shot down near Karbala, Iraq, on March 24, 2003. Rescued
April 13, 2003, north of Baghdad.
Chief Warrant Officer Ronald D. Young
26
Company C, 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment
Lithia Springs, Georgia
Captured after his AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter was shot down near Karbala, Iraq, on March 24, 2003. Rescued
April 13, 2003, north of Baghdad.
DISCLAIMER
Fun Graphix is a non gain, non profit group for sharing purposes only.
DO NOT contact the Owners or Members over copyright issues. All shares are done under the FAIR
USE Act with out any gain or profit & therefore is not a crime .
No Members claim to have made any of the graphics that they send to this lis/websitet. The
graphics come from a wide variety of web sources & are therefore deemed to be public domain. As far as they are aware
they are licensed for personal use only, & are by their respective artist. Any infringement of said copyright is non intentional. The
tubes/mists/graphix are for Non-Profit use ONLY any other use is prohibited. All respected rights go back to the original
creator
The webmistress supports Feel Free Graphix. You are more than welcome to right click on any
graphix and "save as" name you decide and save to your computer.
Please spread the word of our Prisoners of
War and our Missing in Action. There are STILL Americans who don't know anything about them! There are Americans who don't
know the true meaning of POW/MIA! TEACH THEM. NEVER FORGOTTEN!!
