Another Returns

DPMO has announced the identification of a US MIA from Southeast Asia.

SP5 John L. Burgess, formerly of Sutton Bay, MI, B Company, 227th Aviation Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, US Army, was lost in action on 30 June 1970.  SP5 Burgess was crew chief on a UH-1H that was hit by enemy fire, crashed, and burned near the Vietnam-Cambodian border in Phuoc Long Province, South Vietnam.  Also killed in the crash were 1LT Leslie F. Douglas, Jr.; 1LT Richard Dyer; and SFC Juan Colon-Diaz.  A fifth crew member – PFC John Goosman – was thrown clear of the wreckage, survived, and was rescued.

Remains for Douglas, Dyer, and Colon-Diaz have been previously identified and individually interned.  However, until recently no remains belonging to SP5 Burgess had been definitively identified.  Subsequent investigations conducted between 1992 and 2012 recovered additional remains that were later identified as belonging to Burgess.

Remains representing Dyer, Colon-Diaz, and Burgess were buried in a single-casket ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on 2 July 2013.

Welcome home, my elder brother-in-arms.  Rest in peace.

. . .

Over 73,600 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,900 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,640 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.  If you are a relative of one of the individuals listed here (World War II – critical need), listed here (Korea), or listed here (Southeast Asia) – please consider reading this link to see if you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample.

If you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample, please submit one.   By submitting a mtDNA sample, you may be able to help identify US remains that have been recovered and repatriated but not yet positively identified.

Everybody deserves a proper burial.  That’s especially true for those who gave their all in the service of this nation.

Category: No Longer Missing