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Missing in action is a status assigned to a member of the armed services who is reported missing following combat. The person in question may have been killed, wounded or captured by the enemy.

US Armed Forces

The term is commonly used for an individual missing in combat. Its American abbreviation (not commonly used elsewhere) is MIA.

During the late 1970s and 1980s the friends and relatives of unaccounted for American GIs became politically active, requesting the U.S. government reveal what steps were taken to follow up on intelligence regarding last known alive MIAs and POWs. When initial inquiries revealed important information had not been pursued, many families and their supporters asked for the public release of POW/MIA records and called for an investigation. Serious charges were leveled at the George H. W. Bush administration regarding the POW/MIA issue.

The Defense Department, headed by then Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, had been accused of covering up information and failing to properly pursue intelligence about American POW/MIAs. In May of 1991, the Minority Report of the Senate Foreign Relation Committee concluded that “any evidence that suggested an MIA might be alive was uniformly and arbitrarily rejected. . .” A resolution to create a Senate Select POW/MIA Committee, introduced by U.S. Senator Robert C. Smith, was passed in the Senate months later. Senator John Kerry was eventually named chairman, and was joined on the committee by Senator and former POW John McCain, who had been a strong opponent of the creation of a Senate Select POW/MIA Committee. Six live sighting investigators hired by the committee unanimously concluded that the live sighting intelligence through 1989 showed Vietnam and Laos were still holding American prisoners

Controversy erupted when Kerry ordered the report of the live sighting investigators to be shredded along with all of their personal notes. Committee staffer Jon McCreary, on loan from the Defense Intelligence Agency, filed a memorandum on the shredding incident. Journalist Sydney Schanberg, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for some of his Southeast Asia coverage during the Vietnam War, described Kerry’s actions in a February 24, 2004 article for the Village Voice:

He gave orders to his committee staff to shred crucial intelligence documents. The shredding stopped only when some intelligence staffers staged a protest. Some wrote internal memos calling for a criminal investigation. One such memo—from John F. McCreary, a lawyer and staff intelligence analyst—reported that the committee's chief counsel, J. William Codinha, a longtime Kerry friend, "ridiculed the staff members" and said, "Who's the injured party?" When staffers cited "the 2,494 families of the unaccounted-for U.S. servicemen, among others," the McCreary memo continued, Codinha said: "Who's going to tell them? It's classified.”

Some argue that it is likely that prisoners taken by Vietnam are not alive today. They argue these prisoners would most likely have been killed and buried, to prevent their discovery. They argue that intelligence data is now out-of-date; such prisoners would be costly for the Vietnamese government to house, feed, and guard; and their existence, if discovered, would damage Vietnam's emerging economy.

Others emphasize that the United States has a responsibility to the men to determine their fate, and it should not be assumed that Vietnam executed all of the Americans. They point out that Vietnam has brought up the billions of dollars the U.S. promised in war reparations when the U.S. has asked about the fate of the missing. They feel that the U.S. government should release all intelligence related to the POWs, and that the Vietnamese government should be required to reveal what they did with the American prisoners.

The 2004 documentary Missing, Presumed Dead: The Search for America's POWs, narrated by Ed Asner, includes one scene from the committee where former Korean War POW Steve Kiba, who was held prisoner in China after the end of the Korean War, testified and asked, "Where are all the other senators?" and an embarrassed Kerry eventually rushed in. A shocking public revelation during the committee was the admission by former Secretaries of Defense from the Vietnam War era that American POWs had been left behind in Southeast Asia. See The committee disagreed about whether POWs were still alive in Southeast Asia, as is reflected in the minority and majority reports of the committee. All committee members agreed on a final report that used the words "compelling evidence," but stated that the "compelling evidence" did not prove that men were still alive in Southeast Asia.

The Vietnam trade embargo was lifted on February 3, 1994. President Clinton stated

I have made the judgment that the best way to ensure cooperation from Vietnam and to continue getting the information Americans want on POWs and MIAs is to end the trade embargo. I've also decided to establish a liaison office in Vietnam to provide services for Americans there and help us to pursue a human rights dialogue with the Vietnamese government. I want to be clear; These actions do not constitute a normalization of our relationships. Before that happens, we must have more progress, more cooperation and more answers. Toward that end, this spring I will send another high-level U.S. delegation to Vietnam to continue the search for remains and for documents.

Columnist Dan Rather wrote the following

In an obvious attempt to blunt criticism, President Clinton actually characterized lifting the embargo as creating the best opportunity to get the true story of what happened to America's missing. This was especially ill-advised. Because it was obvious that lifting the embargo wasn't designed to resolve doubts about the fate of the missing. It was designed to make money. It was a trade initiative, plain and simple. The people least likely to mistake it for anything else were the families of America's missing.

During the Persian Gulf War of 1991, an American pilot named Scott Speicher was reported as MIA after his F/A-18 was shot down in northern Iraq. In 1997, a Defense Department document leaked to the New York Times showed that the Pentagon had not been forthcoming with information previously requested by U.S. Senator Rod Grams. Senator Grams publicly accused the Pentagon of misleading him, and joined with Senator Bob Smith in calling for an investigation by the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee. In the lead up to the Second Persian Gulf War Speicher's status was changed from Missing in Action to Missing-Captured, a move that suggested he was alive and imprisoned in Iraq.

In 2006, the National Alliance of Families found 1992 documents discussing the admission by Vietnam of capturing a number of missing Americans. The National Alliance contacted the families they could locate, and found that the Vietnamese admissions had been concealed from the families by the U.S. government. ( National Alliance of Families June 24, 2006 Bits 'N' Pieces Special 19 New POW Cases) The U.S. and Vietnamese governments had given every indication to the families that the men had been killed in their loss incidents. However, at least one MIA, San Dewayne Francisco was reported to be alive by a North Vietnamese newspaper which was confirmed by radio transmissions by Francisco immediately after his aircraft crashed. A bill including criminal penalties for deliberately withholding POW/MIA records in violation of the law unanimously passed the House of Representatives in the 1990s. However, penalties were stripped from the law due to the efforts of former POW John McCain.

A small number of coalition soldiers went missing in action in Iraq following the 2003 invasion. In one prominent case, a US Marine of Lebanese background, Wassef Ali Hassoun, went missing and claimed to have been captured. He later turned up in Lebanon, and was flown home to the U.S. It was soon discovered Hassoun made the kidnapping story up, and Hassoun is currently a fugitive.

On October 23, 2006, US Army soldier Spc. Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie was captured by insurgents and is listed as missing-captured. He appeared in a proof of life video in February of 2007 but he hasn't been seen or heard from since. A $50,000 reward is being offered by the US government for information leading to his recovery. On May 12, 2007 a US Army observation post was overrun by Iraqi insurgents, four American and one Iraqi soldier were killed, three other US Army soldiers were captured. They were Pfc. Joseph J. Anzack Jr., Pvt. Byron W. Fouty and Spc. Alex R. Jimenez. Pfc. Anzacks' body was found in the Euphrates River south of Baghdad on May 23, 2007 bearing signs of torture. On June 4, 2007. The ISI claimed that they killed Fouty and Jimenez and also claimed that their bodies are buried and will not be returned to their families. Since the war began 4 US servicemen are still listed as MIA. On 3/30/08 the military announced the discovery of the remains of Keith Matthew Maupin.

On Wednesday July 9, 2008, the bodies of the Alex Jimenez and Byron Fouty were found in an area south of Baghdad known as the "triangle of death". The families of the victims were notified Thursday night, and the Defense Department released a statement to the public on July 11, 2008.

Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie is the only American soldier still missing in Iraq.

Remains

Until around 1914, service personnel in most countries were not routinely issued with ID tags. As a result, if someone was killed in action and their body was not recovered until much later, there was little or no chance of identifying the remains. Starting around the time of the First World War, nations began to issue their service personnel with purpose-made ID tags. Usually, these were made of some form of lightweight metal such as aluminium. However, in the case of the British Army the material chosen was compressed fibre, which was not very durable. Although wearing ID tags proved to be highly beneficial, the problem remained that soldiers' bodies could be completely destroyed (or buried) by the type of high explosive munitions routinely used in modern warfare. Additionally, the combat environment itself could increase the likelihood of missing personnel e.g. jungle or submarine warfare, and air-crashes in mountainous terrain or at sea. Finally, since soldiers had no strong incentive to keep detailed records of enemy dead, bodies were frequently buried (sometimes with their ID tags) in temporary graves, the locations of which were often lost or obliterated e.g. the forgotten mass grave at Fromelles. As a result the remains of service personnel might not be found for many years, if ever. When missing service personnel are recovered and cannot be identified after a thorough forensic examination, the remains are interred with a tombstone which indicates their unknown status.

The issue of missing service personnel has existed for as long as there has been warfare, but became particularly notable during World War I where the mechanised nature of modern warfare meant that a single battle could cause astounding numbers of casualties. For example, the Thiepval Memorial in France bears the names of 72,090 soldiers, all of whom went missing in action during the Battle of the Somme, were never found and who have no known grave. Similarly, there are many missing service personnel from other conflicts such as World War II and the Korean War etc

The development of genetic fingerprinting in the late 20th century means that if cell samples from a cheek swab are collected from service personnel prior to deployment to a combat zone, identity can be established using even a small fragment of human remains. Although it is possible to take genetic samples from a close relative of the missing person, it is preferable to collect such samples directly from the subjects themselves. It is a fact of warfare that some service personnel are likely to go missing in action and never be found. However, by wearing ID tags and and using modern technology the numbers involved can be considerably reduced. In addition to the obvious military advantages, conclusively identifying the remains of missing service personnel is highly beneficial to the surviving relatives. Having positive identification makes it somewhat easier to come to terms with their loss and move on with their lives. Otherwise some relatives may suspect that the missing person is still alive somewhere and may return someday.

Colloquial usage

MIA is sometimes used in American English to describe difficulty finding something. "The TV remote is MIA." It is less often used in this context in UK English, where the equivalent phrase is "gone AWOL".

See also

• KIA – Killed In Action
• WIA – Wounded in action
• POW – Prisoner Of War
• DUSTWUN – Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown, a recently-introduced temporary status for servicemembers who have been missing in action for ten days or less
• Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command

Notes

1. Ex-chief describes woes of POW office" Washington Times May 31, 1991
2. Ex-Official Alleges Administration Coverup on POW/MIA Issue "The Washington Post; May 22, 1991
3. Did America Abandon Vietnam War P.O.W.'s? Village Voice 2004-03-02
4. When John Kerry's Courage Went M.I.A.
5. "Nixon Defense Secretaries Say U.S. Left POWs in Vietnam Los Angeles Times, 1992-09-22.
6. Report of the Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs
7. National Review April 4, 1994
8. St. Petersburg Times - December 14, 1997 Senate to review gulf war pilot's fate
9. MISSING IN ACTION IN 2001, PRESIDENT CLINTON MADE A DECISION THAT PUSHED SCOTT SPEICHER BACK INTO THE HEADLINES AND SPARKED A RENEWED EFFORT TOWARD SOLVING A 10-YEAR-OLD MYSTERY. The Virginian Pilot; Jan 4, 2002
10. Senator Goes Missing Where are the soldiers? The issue the press never asks McCain about. by Sydney H. Schanberg May 31st, 2005
11. BBC NEWS | World | Americas | US marine declared deserter again
12. Detroit Free Press, Saturday July 12, 2008
13. Bodies Of Missing Soldiers Found In Iraq : NPR
14. Bodies of 2 missing US soldiers are found in Iraq - Yahoo! News
15. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4374611.stm
16. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4755183.stm
17. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4198304.stm
18. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/7745635.stm
19. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/174121.stm
20. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/193380.stm

External links

• A look at John McCain on the POW/MIA Issue
• Brothers-in-Cover-up When Kerry worked with Cheney on Vietnam P.O.W.'S
• Current status of MIA's from the Vietnam War
• Report of the State Senate Committee on POW/MIA Affairs at the Library of Congress
• U.S.-Russia Joint MIA/POW Commission
• UK and Australian MIA soldiers in forgotten mass grave at Fromelles

• Military terminology
• Military personnel
• War casualties
• Vietnam War POW/MIA issues