Photo By Tech. Sgt. David Owsianka | Edward Burton, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) historian, right, speaks to...... read more read more
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After its establishment more than two centuries ago, the U.S. military has been involved in various conflicts worldwide, during which thousands of personnel did not return home. Since then, their family members have waited for answers, hoping to be reunited with their loved ones and provide them with a proper burial.
One family received an unexpected symbol of hope during a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) Family Member Update (FMU) event in Portland, Maine, on Nov. 2, 2024. Fred Simms Jr. and his wife, Orla, received the identification tag of Fred’s uncle, U.S. Army Air Forces Tech. Sgt. John Halloran, during a case summary briefing at the event. The identification tag was found during a World War II recovery mission and returned to the family approximately 81 years after Halloran went missing.
“We are very excited to have received my uncle’s identification tags,” Fred said. “We did not expect this coming into the briefing. This is not only a great moment for me but for my mother as well, who is John’s younger sister.
“This will be something special for her because she will be able to physically touch and hold something that was on him when his plane went down after he was missing for all these years,” he added. “I’m excited for when DPAA will be able to go back to the crash site to find his remains and those of the other members who are still missing so their families can have some closure as well.”
On Aug. 17, 1943, Halloran served as a radio operator on a B-17 Flying Fortress bombardment mission over Germany during World War II. The aircraft was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and attacked by enemy fighters, causing it to crash. Finding Halloran’s identification tags has brought the DPAA team one step closer to recovering and identifying his remains.
DPAA’s mission is to provide the fullest possible accounting of missing U.S. personnel to their families and the nation. The agency accomplishes this through historical research and analysis, field investigations and excavations, data collection, and other capabilities.
“The feeling of giving the family the identification tags is indescribable,” said Fern Sumpter Winbush, DPAA principal deputy director. “This is indicative of hope because we know now that we are in the right place. We just need to get him, and the next step in the process is to bring him home.”
Sumpter Winbush stated that she was pleased to have been able to give Halloran’s family the identification tags during the FMU. It allowed her to share this success with other attendees who are also waiting for answers and may draw hope from seeing the process yield results in real time.
“It makes it easier for me to relay to other families how important it is to continue to stay connected, share information with us, and, most importantly, to maintain hope,” she added. “A family never knows when they will receive a phone call with an update or come to an FMU and be provided with something of their loved one.”
The FMU provided a variety of information, such as news on individual cases, DPAA’s mission to account for missing personnel, and the technologies used to identify remains. Family members of approximately 81,100 missing personnel from past conflicts can attend FMUs that DPAA holds throughout the year. These events also include presentations, question-and-answer sessions, and one-on-one discussions with government officials.
“This agency is a fantastic organization, and everyone we have interacted with who has provided us with updates has been very helpful and friendly,” Fred said. “We know that the agency will never give up and will never leave a man behind. It’s great to know that even after 80 years of my uncle being gone, they have found his identification tags and plan to return to continue working to find him.”
FMUs are held annually in various U.S. cities to ensure DPAA personnel can provide updated information to as many family members of missing personnel as possible. At this FMU, 288 family members attended, and DPAA personnel provided 165 case updates.
“Being able to return the identification tags during a family member update is very special because they are among other families who are experiencing the same pain, grief, and hope,” Sumpter Winbush said. “I hope that the Simms family will be able to connect with other family members who are experiencing the same generational grief because their loved one also never came home.”
| Date Taken: | 11.02.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 11.12.2024 13:21 |
| Story ID: | 484684 |
| Location: | PORTLAND, MAINE, US |
| Web Views: | 49 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Identification Tag of Missing WWII Soldier Returned to Family, by TSgt David Owsianka, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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