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In
Honor
of National POW-MIA Day
September 19, 2003
Throughout US
history, Washington County, Pennsylvania contributed its share of patriots to every
war. The third Friday in September is set aside to remember those who
never returned. The total ‘missing’ for all US wars exceeds 88,000
troops, with 78,000 from World War Two, over 8,000 from Korea and 1,883
from Vietnam.
According to
Dom DeFranco, Pennsylvania’s POW-MIA Chairman for the VFW, “101
soldiers from Pennsylvania are still listed as missing from the Vietnam
War.” Two of these men are from Washington County. In 1965, Air Force
1LT James McEwen’s RB-66 jet fighter was last spotted as a fireball in
the sky over Pleiku Province. On Memorial Day 1971, Army pilot CPT Paul
Urquhart was presumed killed when his helicopter crashed in enemy
territory. Since neither officer’s remains were recovered and
identified, both men remain listed as missing.
Dedicated
work by 170 people at CILHI (Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii)
continues to resolve the fate of service personnel from all wars. The
Honolulu laboratory section consists of 30 anthropologists and 4
forensic odontologists (dentists). Modern DNA testing techniques have
proven invaluable for older identifications since mitochondrial DNA
preserves well in bones. In today’s military, a blood sample from each
soldier is stored for possible future testing. But even with DNA
technology for blood and bones, dental X-ray comparisons continue to be
the mainstay of the identification process.
Since 1973,
CILHI has accounted for over 700 Americans previously listed as missing
from the Vietnam War. But searching a war zone in peacetime can be
as deadly as patrolling it during hostilities. In April 2001, an MIA
search team helicopter crashed in Vietnam killing all 16 aboard, 7 of
who were Americans. That same year was marked by great success when
remains of a ten-man B-24 bomber crew from a WW2 crash site in New
Guinea were identified and returned to their families for burial. 1946
war records reveal three WW2 servicemen from Washington County with
‘M’ (for missing) beside their names: 1LT Joseph Dubinsky, 2LT
Richard E. Moore and PVT Andrew W. Warco.
As the 50th
Anniversary of the Korean War passes, we remember nine more men from
Washington County still listed as missing: CPL Donald Allan, PFC Howard
Andrews, CPL Richard Fine, CPL Joseph Jaszemski, PFC Myron Johnson, CPL
Stephen Krischak, PVT Paul Shaffron, SGT Robert Shepard (all 8 from
Washington) and SGT Cleon McClelland of Canonsburg.
As Dom
DeFranco suggests, ‘Flying a POW/MIA flag serves as a reminder to all
Americans to say, “You Are Not Forgotten.”’
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