Welcome to the first installment of the POW/MIA Corner here at Leatherneck EZine. To date, there are still approximately 78,800 unaccounted for from WW II; 8,100 from the Korean War and 1800 are still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. Not to mention Commander Scott Speicher, USN from Gulf War I and Sgt. Keith “Matthew” Maupin, USA (son of a Vietnam Era US Marine) captured April 9, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Additionally, of the 58,100 + names on the Vietnam Wall, 14, 837 are US Marines and some 300 of them are still MIA.

Obviously, this issue is a politically charged one both domestically and abroad and I would be amiss not to mention that this issue is not to be blamed on any one political party. Both parties have the blood of these men on their hands from every administration since modern warfare began.

The difficulties of this issue spawn from one paradoxical phrase, “ ... in the name of national security.” These six words serve as pallbearers for every potential flag draped coffin that has yet to come home. Files that should have been declassified years ago have been maintained in their classified status in the name of national security. The question that many ask is, could this be more a question of national pride than national security?

Meanwhile many families of these missing men have now passed the torch to the next generation as parents pass away and now brothers, sisters, cousins or nieces and nephews maneuver through the labyrinth of the DoD’s Department of Prisoners of War/Missing Personnel (DPMO). A very daunting task as the mentality to conclude that men are unable to be accounted for and the simple fact that this office is so short staffed that analyst do not do any real research on cases. It is up to the families to dig through whatever they can find in declassified documents to help find the one piece of evidence that will make DPMO stand up and take notice. To say the least, it takes someone with very thick skin and a very determined heart to weather this storm. But, as we all well know, love can endure much.

With each story I will provide you wit the link to a case summary of a Marine that is still unaccounted for. This week it is Dean W. Reiter http://www.pownetwork.org/bios/r/r111.htm .

You may be wondering what you can do or even have a buddy whose status you are unaware of. If so here are some suggestions for you.

1) Go to www.ojc.org Operation Just Cause, a POW/MIA site that allows visitors to adopt a missing, soldier, airman, sailor or Marine as well as learn more about the POW/MIA issue.

2) Find the documentary DVD “Missing Presumed Dead” a 2005 documentary about one brother’s lifelong struggle to find out the fate of his younger brother who was a POW during the Korean War. http://www.missingpresumeddead.com/

3) To find out the status of a fellow Marine who is still unaccounted for you can go to www.pownetwork.org or simply put his name in on a Search Engine and you will find Remembrance Pages/Memorial Pages made by those who have adopted him and possibly even make contact with his family.

I hope this introduction to the POW/MIA issue has been useful, next time we will look at the various family organizations that have been formed over the past decades so that families can have a collective voice when addressing the government in regard to their missing loved ones.