Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency > Our Missing (2024)

FAQs

How many POW mia are still missing? ›

More than 80,000 American service personnel are missing from previous conflicts and 38,000 are estimated to be recoverable. The Defense POW/MIA Agency remains relentless in its mission to provide the fullest possible accounting to their families and the nation, until they're home.

History. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency was formed on January 30, 2015, as the result of a merger of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, and parts of the United States Air Force's Life Sciences Lab.

The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (often referred to as JPAC) was a joint task force within the United States Department of Defense (DoD) whose mission was to account for Americans who are listed as Prisoners of War (POW), or Missing in Action (MIA), from all past wars and conflicts.

Soldiers designated with Captive, Missing, or Missing in Action (MIA) status are entitled to receive the pay and allowances to which entitled when the status began or to which the soldiers later become entitled.

United States Army Colonel Floyd “Jim” Thompson, the longest held prisoner of war (POW) in American history, and his wife, Alyce, were products of the idealism of post-World War II America. When Thompson was shot down and captured, they began a journey that changed them forever.

In 1973, when the POWs were released, roughly 2,500 servicemen were designated “missing in action” (MIA). As of 2015, more than 1,600 of those were still “unaccounted-for.” The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) of the U.S. Department of Defense lists 687 U.S. POWs as having returned alive from the Vietnam War.

While the Committee has some evidence suggesting the possibility a POW may have survived to the present, and while some information remains yet to be investigated, there is, at this time, no compelling evidence that proves that any American remains alive in captivity in Southeast Asia.

Nearly 81,000 American service members remain missing after having served in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and other conflicts involving the U.S.

The command then decides whether to confine the member in a military jail (called "brig" or "stockade" or “confinement”). The command may also impose pretrial "restrictions" instead of confinement. For instance, the servicemember may be restricted to his post or base, pending trial.

What are prisoners of war called? ›

Also known as: POW, PW. Written and fact-checked by. Last Updated: Mar 9, 2024 • Article History. prisoner of war (POW), any person captured or interned by a belligerent power during war.

The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command's mission is to achieve the fullest possible accounting of all Americans missing as a result of the nation's past conflicts.

Rates of desertion by American troops were extremely high during the Vietnam War, with The New York Times reporting in 1974 that there had been 503,926 desertions from the U.S. military up to that point in the war.

In fact, while efforts to recover the remains of those individuals lost in action have been ongoing, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) estimates that more than 80,000 individuals never returned home.

Robert Russell Garwood (born April 1, 1946) is a former United States Marine. Often cited as the last verified American prisoner of war (POW) from the Vietnam War, Garwood was captured on September 28, 1965 by Việt Cộng forces near Da Nang, Quang Nam Province.

While the Committee has some evidence suggesting the possibility a POW may have survived to the present, and while some information remains yet to be investigated, there is, at this time, no compelling evidence that proves that any American remains alive in captivity in Southeast Asia.

Current Status of Unaccounted-for Americans Lost in the Vietnam War. Of the remaining 1,244 Americans still unaccounted for in Vietnam, 470 are in a “non-recoverable” category.

1,577 Americans are now listed by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) as missing and unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War: Vietnam - 1,237; Laos–285; Cambodia-48; Peoples Republic of China territorial waters–7.

​World War II Accounting

At the end of the war, there were approximately 79,000 Americans unaccounted for. This number included those buried with honor as unknowns, officially buried at sea, lost at sea, and missing in action. Today, more than 73,000 of those lost Americans remain totally unaccounted for from WWII.