Colonel Claude H. Davis III, USMC
Deputy Commander, JPAC
(Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command)

Saturday, July 10, 2004, 1:30 PM

Gentlemen,
During the Popasmoke Reunion in Reno, on Saturday, July 10th, at 1:30 PM, in the Hilton Pavilion, we will have the privilege of listening to an expert on the location and recovery of our MIA and POW brothers. Col. Davis' presentation, sponsored by HMM-262, will be especially interesting to us because, although most of our brother's remains have been returned home, there are several whose whereabouts and/or location of remains are still unknown. The remains of Sgt. Harry T. Wilson ( KIA/BNR), a HMM-262 Crew Chief, are still resting in southern Laos. However, in recent years, JPAC team members located the crash site and positively identified it as that of Sgt. Wilson's aircraft. We will be given a more recent update and hope that the excavation of this site will take place in the not too distant future.
The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) is located on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. Its mission is to achieve the fullest possible accounting of all Americans missing as a result of our Nation's past conflicts. JPAC evolved from merging the 30-year-old "Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii" (CILHI)and the 11-year-old "Joint Task Force - Full Accounting".
JPAC, commanded by a flag officer, has more than 425 civilians and military combined, with the military coming from all branches of service. The laboratory portion of JPAC is the largest forensic anthropology lab in the world and is called the Central Identification Laboratory or "CIL". JPAC has the task of accounting for Americans still missing and unaccounted-for from our previous wars. The approximate numbers are: three from the Gulf War, 1,800 from the Vietnam War, 120 from the Cold War, 8,100 from the Korean war and 78,000 from World War II. JPAC's highest priority is to bring home any Americans who may be alive and held against their will.

Joe "Jake" Jacobs

JosephEJacobs@aol.com