Behind the search for those who are gone but not forgotten

WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Although he was only 8 years old, Barclay Young Jr. remembers the day his mother told him and his two younger sisters that the aircraft carrying their father, Maj. Barclay B. Young, had been shot down over Laos.

Joseph Valencio, however, was only 1 year old and does not remember the day his mother received the telegram informing them that his father, Master Sgt. Cirildo Valencio, was missing in action during the Korean War.

Their fathers were laid to rest in the same week at Arlington National Cemetery. Although the services were on different days and the two sons do not know each other, their experiences of dealing with many years of haunting uncertainty are similar.

Valencio, whose remains were discovered in North Korea in 2002, was buried on Aug. 4. "It was an emotional day, but it was good to have family there," his son said.

Young's remains, which were found in Laos between 2005 and 2006, were laid to rest on Aug. 7. Young, 44, described his father's burial as "rough overall but nice to finally know."

The Defense Prisoners of War/Missing Personnel Office is the lead agency in the recovery and identification of prisoners of war and Americans who are missing in action.

The Washington office serves as an umbrella organization that oversees the many other Department of Defense groups involved in the search for POWs and personnel missing in action, including the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, which found the two men's remains.

The command serves as the operational unit, sending out investigation and identification teams consisting of military and civilian personnel, such as historians and forensic anthropologists.

While the majority of these teams are deployed to locations in Southeast Asia because of the availability of more recent historical records and access to excavation sites, occasionally some teams are sent to Europe or elsewhere based on evidence indicating the location of a crash site there.

Together, these agencies identify about 100 missing people each year, said Air Force Capt. Mary Olsen, spokeswoman for the Pentagon Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office.

There are more than 80,000 missing service members, including more than 70,000 missing personnel from World War II, she said. Among the remaining missing servicemen, about 8,000 are missing from the Korean War and more than 1,700 from the Vietnam War.

Evidence is first gathered through the analysis of the records of lost individuals and witness statements that might detail the last known contact with an individual or aircraft that crashed.

Once enough evidence has been gathered, recovery teams of eight to 12 people are deployed. These teams usually include anthropologists and sometimes explosives specialists, depending on whether there is unexploded ordnance at an excavation site. Recovery missions generally last from 30 to 45 days, depending on the conditions of that site.

The recovery teams sometime encounter logistical difficulties pertaining to the terrain and climate of an excavation site.

"Sites range from 45 degree slopes to flatlands and rice paddies," said Cullen Black, a forensic anthropologist with the command. "Every site is specific."

"Sometimes it gets really hard because of weather or people get tired," Black said. "We always try to remember names of individuals we're looking for, and that gives us a boost. We know why we're out there and are proud of the work we do and think about it a lot."

Remains are identified using skeletal analysis, dental records and mitochondrial DNA.

As technological capabilities improve, so do the chances of finding missing personnel -- a point illustrated by the decreasing number of military personnel who go missing during current operations.

Of the soldiers missing from the war in Iraq, the bodies of three have been identified and one remains missing, Olsen said. "So you can see with our capabilities and our efforts we're doing a much better job because we're able to."

"I appreciate that they keep looking for everyone," Joseph Valencio, 60, said. "They do a fantastic job."

Valencio, of Randolph, N.J., said his mother, Anna Priscl, who lives in Harrington Park, N.J., appreciates what the military has done to find her first husband, but she did not always feel that way.

"My mother had a lot of bitterness, because the Army didn't treat her well way back when," he said.

"She just received a telegram and didn't understand what it was for. She had to go down into the camp and talk to whoever was in charge to have it explained to her."

The elder Valencio, born in Carrizo Springs, Texas, enlisted in the Army and fought in the Philippines during World War II, according to his son. Afterward, he was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Calvary Regiment, 1st Calvary Division, which was occupying a position near Unsan, North Korea, during the Korean War.

On Nov. 1, 1950, the 3rd Battalion was surrounded by parts of two Chinese Communist Forces divisions. Valencio was among more than 350 servicemen unaccounted for from that battle, according to the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office.

A joint U.S.-Korean team led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command excavated a burial site south of Unsan in 2002, where they discovered human remains, including Valencio's.

His remains were identified using mitochondrial DNA provided by a family member on his mother's side, as required by the DNA protocol, and dental comparisons, according to the Department of Defense.

Representatives from the Army met with Valencio and his family in their home to explain the recovery and identification process.

"That was (the) really fascinating part," Valencio said. The casualty officer was "very passionate" about his job, he said.

It was this visit, and the treatment that he and his family received on Aug. 4, the day of his father's burial, that softened his mother's hardened attitude toward the Army.

"When the casualty officer came, they were so nice to her," Valencio said. "Between 1950 and today, for her, it was 1,000 percent better."

Barclay Young Jr., on the other hand, reported consistently positive experiences in dealing with the Air Force.

"They were very good about keeping us informed," he said.

His father, Maj. Barclay B. Young, was born in Hartford, Conn., before moving to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where he spent his youth. Young enlisted in the Air Force and later returned as an officer.

On March 29, 1972, an AC-130A Spectre gunship carrying Young and 13 other men on a reconnaissance mission over southern Laos during the Vietnam War was struck by an enemy missile and crashed, according to the Department of Defense.

The remains of nine were discovered and identified between 1986 and 1988 by joint U.S.-Laotian teams, but Young's body was not among them.

Finally, between 2005 and 2006 joint teams recovered more human remains, and this time Young was identified using mitochondrial DNA and other forensic evidence.

Young wants his father's story told to let people know that efforts are ongoing to recover and identify all missing servicemen.

"It's nice to know our military is still out there making the effort to identify people like this," he said.

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(Medill News Service)