PRESS RELEASE

June 24, 2009

United States Holds Its 110th Repatriation Ceremony

Today, the U.S. Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), with the Vietnam Office for Seeking Missing Persons (VNOSMP) held its 110th Repatriation Ceremony at Da Nang International Airport.  During the ceremony, Vietnamese officials officially transferred custody of remains believed to be those of U.S. personnel missing from the Vietnam War and recovered by joint U.S.-Vietnamese recovery teams during the recently-completed 95th Joint Field Activity.

Deputy Chief of Mission Virginia Palmer represented the US Government in receiving custody of the remains. The U.S. military honor guard from JPAC then transferred the remains to a United States Air Force aircraft for repatriation to the United States.

To date, 883 Americans have been identified since 1975 including 627 from Vietnam.  There are 1,763 Americans still unaccounted-for from the war in Southeast Asia, including 1,353 in Vietnam.  Seeking the fullest possible accounting of Americans is a matter of the highest national priority for the United States.