Spider Bones

JPAC wasn’t always as I describe it today. When headquarters moved to Hickam Air Force Base in the early nineties, the staff included only a handful of anthropologists. Today there are more than two dozen.

And the scope of operation has expanded. In 2008, the CIL opened the Forensic Science Academy, an advanced forensic anthropology program taught under the auspices of the DoD. Department of Defense. (Yep. There’s another one.). In 2009 a U.S. Navy hydrographic survey vessel, the USNS Bruce C. Heezen, conducted underwater investigation operations in Vietnam’s territorial waters, a historic first, marking a strengthening of cooperation between JPAC and the Vietnamese government.

Change was afoot even as Spider Bones went to press. On January 29, 2010, U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Do

JPAC’s mission is daunting. Approximately 78,000 Americans remain missing from World War II, 8,100 from the Korean War, 120 from the Cold War, and 1,800 from the Vietnam War. Tirelessly, perso

A commemorative board hangs in the lobby of JPAC headquarters, engraved with words similar to those found on POW/MIA flags: Not To Be Forgotten. Tiny brass plaques bear the names of those identified since 1973. Happily, there are many plaques.

JPAC’s motto appears at the front of this book: Until They Are Home.

JPAC staff close their meetings and events by repeating the words aloud. In 2009, recovery teams deployed to sixteen countries on sixty-nine missions. JPAC scientists identified the remains of ninety-five men and women.

And they will identify many more.

Until They Are Home.

For information on the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command visit their website: www.jpac.pacom.mil.

For specific information on a missing American, call or write:Department of the ArmyU.S. Army Human Resources CommandAttn: AHRC-PDC-R200 Stovall StreetAlexandria, VA 22332-0482800-892-2490Headquarters U.S. Marine CorpsManpower and Reserve Affairs (MRA)Personal and Family Readiness Division3280 Russell RoadQuantico, VA 22134-5103800-847-1597Department of the NavyCasualty Assistance Division (OPNAV N135C)POW/MIA Branch5720 Integrity DriveMillington, TN 38055-6210800-443-9298Department of the Air ForceHQ Air Force/Mortuary Affairs116 Purple Heart DriveDover Air Force Base, DE 19902800-531-5803Department of StateU.S. Department of StateCA/OCS/ACS/EAP/SA292201 C Street NWWashington, DC 20520-2818202-647-5470

Table of Contents

Cover Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

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From the Forensic Files of Dr.Kathy Reichs