Photo By Staff Sgt. Cole Yardley | U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael Chilcote, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)...... read more read more
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FLORENCE, Italy — A Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) recovery team visited the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial, June 4, 2024. According to the American Battle Monuments Commission, the cemetery is the final resting place for 4,392 American personnel, representing 39% of the U.S. Fifth Army burials originally conducted between Rome and the Alps after during and after World War II. This visit served as a reminder that, despite having just completed a recovery mission, there is still work to be done to bring home every service member who paid the ultimate sacrifice in past conflicts.
“The work we conduct at DPAA crosses so many physical spaces; we do archival research and incident analysis, we do investigation and recovery missions globally across all sorts of terrain, we disinter unknowns from cemeteries across the world, and undertake lab analysis to identify the missing,” said Dr. Clive Vella, DPAA scientific recovery expert. “When visiting a cemetery like this one, you feel a fuller weight of our mission. In some ways, it can be easy to be so focused on identifying incident sites, excavating there, and recovering evidence that you miss that feeling of humility you get here.
“The sacrifice of over 4,000 buried here and over 1,400 on the Wall of the Missing is overwhelming,” he added. “We should absolutely feel that it is imperative that we do this mission and feel honored.”
Rows of pure white headstones bore the names of service members lost in World War II, many inscribed with a single quote: "Here rests in honored glory, a comrade in arms, known but to God." Following the gentle slope of the cemetery hill, the Tablets of the Missing contain the names of service members missing in action and stands as a solemn monument to those whose remains were not recovered after the end of hostilities in Europe.
“The ultimate sacrifice borne by the MIA and their families can never be paid back in a lot of ways,” said Vella. “For instance, we have spent the last two months in Italy working on an aircraft incident from eighty years ago. Eighty years removed from these losses and our efforts to locate the missing is a wonderful thing. It is service to our country. It is service to the missing and their families."
The DPAA recovery team, supported by short term individual augmentees (STIAs) from the 173rd Airborne Brigade's 54th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 18th Military Police Brigade, 480th Fighter Squadron, 724th Special Tactics Squadron, and 86th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, recently completed a mission to excavate the site of a World War II aircraft crash. Partnerships with local units in Europe, such as the 173rd Airborne Brigade, are crucial to the DPAA's success in recovery missions across the Europe-Mediterranean region. These partnerships allow recovery teams to utilize local personnel and leverage STIA expertise on site operations.
Team members worked daily on the site conducting recovery operations, but visiting the cemetery allowed them to see the final result of the recovery process: providing the fullest possible accounting of our missing personnel, even in overseas cemeteries.
“Visiting the cemetery allowed me to take a step back and reflect on those that served before us that gave the ultimate sacrifice,” said U.S. Army Capt. Jordan Smith, DPAA recovery team leader. “It allows me to truly appreciate the importance of the agency’s mission of fulfilling our nations’ promise. It’s an honor and privilege being part of the agency and something I am grateful for each and every day.”
There are approximately 72,000 missing personnel from World War II. DPAA continues its search for the remaining missing personnel, fulfilling its mission to provide the fullest possible accounting of our nation’s missing from past conflicts to their families and the nation.
For further information on the DPAA's ongoing efforts, visit www.dpaa.mil.
| Date Taken: | 06.04.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 06.14.2024 19:35 |
| Story ID: | 474053 |
| Location: | FLORENCE, IT |
| Web Views: | 147 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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