Thousands of miles away from home and years away from battle, a specialized military and civilian crew digs for answers in the middle of the Vietnam jungle, hoping to find remains of life and put to final rest one of the 84,000 Americans still missing in action. The process can be tedious and in some cases dangerous, as some sites are wedged into the sides of mountains, while others are still littered with unexploded ordinances.

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Called ‘the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command or JPAC’, about 300 men and women travel around the world to recover the missing from past wars. Split into 18 recovery teams on site, they are comprised of a forensic anthropologist, a sergeant, linguist, medic, life support technician, forensic photographer, a communications technician/operator and an explosive ordnance disposal technician…among others experts who are needed depending on the terrain and locale. Once the recovery has been completed and that process can take many weeks, the team holds a ceremony and the remains are then brought back to the laboratory in Hawaii.

Audrey Meehan works in the lab on Oahu and tells us, “I’m a mother, I have children, and I can’t imagine my children going off to war and never knowing where their remains ended up.” JPAC member Carrie brown agrees, “This is one of those jobs where every single day, I go home and know that I’ve done something important.”

By most accounts, about half of the 84,000 missing (most from WWII) can be recovered and brought home to a final rest, but the process is delicate and can take years. A team has to first research a site or battle location, then get approval from the country involved, once arriving the team needs to carefully excavate the ground that can in some cases still contain explosives and amongst terrain that is rarely flat and easy to get to. Once back at the lab at Hickam AFB, the remains are then analyzed by a host of scientists to ensure an exact match, in some cases using just a few fragments of bone.

Closure comes after the long and precise process of identification is complete and then the Mortuary Affairs office personally notifies next-of-kin family members. As we talk with the specialists here in Hawaii about this process, including the commanding officer General Stephen Tom, they all express such a sincere dedication and emotion that should warm every military heart waiting for an answer. These men and women are using every means necessary to bring our heroes home.

Captain Jason Murray tells me, “Being on these missions brings back memories of being deployed to Iraq or wherever and it’s good to know that if I were ever to die or something like that, that, you know, someone would be there to bring me back.” He continues, “Because we don’t leave anybody behind.”

Captain Murray’s words couldn’t be more true when you walk into the lab here on Oahu. From the outside massive glass panels keeps most of the outside world and air from coming in. Etched next to an American flag, the POW/MIA insignia and through the etching I see table after table of remains. Each one representing an excavated site…each one representing at least one fallen soldier soon to find a home. This is one of those stories that has captivated our crew and our emotions, as we walk amongst the tables I want to know every story and comfort every family.

As the search goes on and plans are being made for Poland, Germany and more areas in the South Pacific, JPAC is getting a brand new laboratory and facility here on Oahu; built by the Navy. In these tough budget times, it should be noted that the Navy did not cut the project, stuck with the expenditure and plans are moving forward. Congress has signed-on, but budget approvals come late and contracts need to be signed earlier. The team battles all this and the task of diplomacy and research. A return to North Korea could also be in the cards, but the regime expects to be paid for access and their continued saber rattling doesn’t make Washington feel an easier.

Calvin Coolidge once said, “The nation which forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten.” That motto and the desire to provide answers and closures for families that have waited a lifetime, drives JPAC and the men and women who serve it. While it’s solemn and sad when a flag draped coffin from a past conflict gets set into the ground, there’s comfort in knowing the final rest will be on American soil.