Welcome To DPMO

"Keeping the Promise", "Fulfill their Trust" and "No one left behind" are several of many mottos that refer to the efforts of the Department of Defense to recover those who became missing while serving our nation.

More than 83,000 Americans are missing from World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, the Vietnam War and the 1991 Gulf War. Hundreds of Defense Department men and women -- both military and civilian -- work in organizations around the world as part of DoD's personnel recovery and personnel accounting communities. They are all dedicated to the single mission of finding and bringing our missing personnel home. The mission requires expertise in archival research, intelligence collection and analysis, field investigations and recoveries, and scientific analysis.

Recently Accounted-For

Starting in 2012, recently accounted for service members will be listed in the chronological order that they are accounted for, which means that the families have been notified. In previous years, they were listed by the date of identification. The highlighted names are linked to a more detailed news release on that serviceman's identification.

Pfc. Arthur W. Hopfensperger, U.S. Army, Company B, 32^nd Infantry Regiment, 7^th Infantry Division, 31^st Regimental Combat Team, was lost on Nov. 28, 1950, near the Chosin Reservoir. He was accounted for on Sept. 12, 2012.
Capt. James M. Johnstone, U.S. Army, was lost on Nov. 19, 1966, when his OV-1A Mohawk aircraft crashed in Attapu Province, Laos. He was accounted for on Sept. 6, 2012.
Col. Wendell R. Keller, U.S. Air Force, was lost on March 1, 1969, when his F-4D Phantom II aircraft was shot down in Khammouan Province, Laos. He was accounted for on Sept. 6, 2012.
Maj. James. L. Whited, U.S. Army, was lost on Nov. 19, 1966, when his OV-1A Mohawk aircraft crashed in Attapu Province, Laos. He was accounted for on Sept. 5, 2012.

A complete listing of recently account-for servicemembers can be found on the Recently Accounted-For page.

News Releases

October 4, 2012 - U.S. Soldier Missing in Action from Korean War Identified (Hopfensperger)
October 4, 2012 - Marine Missing in Action from Vietnam War Identified (Jacques)
October 2, 2012 - U.S. Soldier Missing in Action from Korean War Identified (Brown)

A complete listing of News Releases can be found on the News Releases page.

Briefly... 2012

POW/MIA Recognition Day

Sept. 21 was National POW/MIA Recognition Day, a day to pause and remember those who have given so much in service to our country. The Department held a POW/MIA Recognition Day Ceremony at the Pentagon and invited more than 600 families, veterans and veteran organizations in the local area, every "3-star" equivalent or higher and key foreign Ambassadors to attend. ADM James A. Winnefeld, Jr., The Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, gave opening remarks, followed by remarks from Dr. Ashton Carter, Deputy Secretary of Defense, and the key note speaker was former Senator Chuck Hagel. As a community, we can be proud that so many people, military and civilians, are taking time to honor service members who were prisoners of war or missing in action.

Research in Korea

From Sept. 5-15, two research analysts from DPMO traveled to Seoul, South Korea to coordinate with the Korean Ministry of National Defense Archives about access to records related to U.S. losses in the Korean War. The researchers also augmented JPAC's Korean Field Element at two investigation sites.

Technical Talks in Vietnam

On Sept. 13, representatives from JPAC and DPMO participated in semi-annual technical talks with Vietnamese government counterparts in Hanoi, Vietnam. Topics discussed included a review of recently completed joint field activities, a review of proposed Fiscal Year 2013 activities, and other matters affecting the accounting mission in Vietnam. A highlight was Vietnam's turnover of another set of long requested archival documents, which summarize annual activities of the unit responsible for the security and maintenance of the Ho Chi Minh Trail during the war. Vietnam also agreed to continue searching for other documents previously requested by the U.S. The talks were conducted in an atmosphere of good will and friendship.

WWII Accounting in Japan

From Sept. 12-14, DPMO and JPAC representatives met officials from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) of Japan, U.S. Embassy and military personnel in Tokyo, Japan. During the meetings with MHLW officials, DPMO and JPAC representatives shared plans for World War II personnel accounting activities of both countries for 2012 and beyond. DPMO and JPAC representatives emphasized the importance of notifying the U.S. immediately if the Japanese suspect that they may have located U.S. remains during their recovery operations.

WWII Accounting in India

Due to the recent escalation of ethnic violence in northeast India, the government of India has officially postponed all JPAC operations in India until spring 2013.

WWII Accounting in Indonesia

On Sept. 18, DPMO, in coordination with JPAC, provided a policy level briefing on remains recovery and the prospect of operations with the Indonesian Ministry of Defense during the annual Indonesia-United States Strategic Dialogue hosted at the Pentagon. The briefing was very well received, and the Indonesian delegation pledged their full support and assistance for our mission.

A complete listing of the 2012 brieflies can be found on the Brieflys Page

POW/MIA Bracelet Inquiries

Members of the public often contact DPMO requesting information on servicemen for whom they wore a Vietnam War POW/MIA bracelet. They usually wish to contact the person or his family so they can send them the bracelet that they wore. Since we cannot provide the public with private addresses we have on file, we recommend forwarding a postage-affixed letter to the respective serviceman's casualty office with a cover letter explaining the request.

If the service casualty office has a current address, they will forward the letter to the serviceman or his family. At that point, the serviceman or family member may choose to contact the concerned citizen and provide them with an address to send the bracelet. There is no guarantee that this process will work. Many of the former POWs are no longer in contact with their service casualty office and this also applies to the families.