Cambodia Repatriates 3 Possible U.S. MIA Remains
A ceremony was held in Cambodia on Wednesday to repatriate what are believed to be the remains of three American servicemen who went missing in action more than 40 years ago during the Vietnam War.
The remains, in three white coffins draped with American flags, were hoisted Wednesday into a C-17 military cargo plane for transport to Hawaii, where they will undergo DNA testing to try to confirm their identities. An honor guard of four U.S. servicemen carried the coffins.
“As the son of a combat helicopter pilot who served in Vietnam twice, I am truly privileged to be a part of this important ceremony,” U.S. Ambassador William Todd said in a speech at Phnom Penh International Airport in which he also thanked the Cambodian government for its assistance in searching for the missing.
Some 90 Americans were listed as missing in action in Cambodia from the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975, but the remains of only 37 have been recovered and identified. U.S. forces bombed the country heavily from 1969 to 1973 and staged a brief ground incursion into eastern Cambodia in 1970.
The latest remains were repatriated just two days after Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he is establishing a new Pentagon agency with more focused authority and innovative approaches to account for missing U.S. war dead.
This article appeared in print on page 3 of edition of Hamodia.
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