Spider Bones

Through Tempe, I’ve tried to convey the feelings I experienced while examining the files of men and women killed long ago and far from home while serving their country. The maps, photographs, correspondence, unit histories, and medical and personnel records made each case painfully real.

But my time with CILHI wasn’t all sad. When not focused on work my colleagues and I had fun. I remember when Hugh Berryman, P. Willey, and I splashed in the Waikiki surf, giggling like kids. And the trip Jack Kenney blew multiple traffic signals and earned the enduring nickname “Red Light.” Or when Mike Finnegan and team posed as my undercover security unit and literary manager at a book signing. Through both work and play, I forged bonds that will last a lifetime.

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 Donna L. Crisp relinquished command of JPAC to Army Major General Stephen Tom. (Had to scramble to include that update.)

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, personnel continue to interview, search, dig, analyze, measure, and test.

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 Army

U.S. Army Human Resources Command

Attn: AHRC-PDC-R

200 Stovall Street

Alexandria, VA 22332-0482

800-892-2490

Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps

Manpower and Reserve Affairs (MRA)

Personal and Family Readiness Division

3280 Russell Road

Quantico, VA 22134-5103

800-847-1597

Department of the Navy

Casualty Assistance Division (OPNAV N135C)

POW/MIA Branch

5720 Integrity Drive

Millington, TN 38055-6210

800-443-9298

Department of the Air Force

HQ Air Force/Mortuary Affairs

116 Purple Heart Drive

Dover Air Force Base, DE 19902

800-531-5803

Department of State

U.S. Department of State

CA/OCS/ACS/EAP/SA29

2201 C Street NW