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Helicopter accident in Vietnam |
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Repatriation ceremony honors
victims of helicopter accident |
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Photo by Navy Photographer's Mate 2nd Class
Chad McNeeley |
Photo by Air Force Tech Sgt. Paul Holcomb
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CAMP H.M. SMITH, Hawaii -- Adm. Dennis C. Blair, commander in chief, U.S. Pacific Command, speaks at a repatriation ceremony held Friday, which honored the seven servicemen who died in an April 7 helicopter crash in Vietnam. During the ceremony held at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, Blair told the families who were in attendance, "We grieve for your sons, husbands, and brothers -- our teammates. We honor their service; we renew our dedication to the cause they served -- We will never forget them." (right) An all-service repatriation team carries the remains of one of the servicemen who returned home. |
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Joint Task Force Full Accounting (JTF-FA) Facts
 Joint Task Force Full Accounting (JTF-FA) was established on January
23, 1992. Its mission is to resolve the cases of Americans still unaccounted-
for as a result of the Southeast Asian conflict. JTF-FA operations include
investigations, archival research, an oral history program and remains recovery
operations.
The task force was created in response to Presidential, Congressional
and public interest, as well as increased opportunities for case resolution.
The opportunities included an increased willingness of the governments of
Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to share information they have regarding unaccounted-
for Americans, as well as increased access to files, records and witnesses in
these countries.
JTF-FA consists of 161 investigators, analysts, linguists
and other specialists representing all four services and Department of Defense
civilian employees. The task force's operations are supported by casualty
resolution specialists and anthropologists from the U.S. Army Central
Identification Laboratory in Hawaii (CILHI), representatives of the Defense
POW/MIA office, and augmentees from U.S. Pacific Command component commands.
JTF-FA is headquartered at Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii. Detachments are located
in Bangkok, Thailand, Vietnam's capital of Hanoi, Vientiane in Laos, and
Cambodia's capital of Phnom Penh.
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