By Randy Garrison

This past weekend Lynn and I attended a family update in Birmingham for families who lost loved ones serving in the military, but whose bodies were never recovered. This time period covered includes WWII, the Korean War, the Cold War, Vietnam War, Iraqi wars and the continued war on terrorism, as well as any military action where a soldier’s life was lost and the remains were not sent home to their family.

This program, referred to as DPAA or Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has the mission of providing the fullest possible accounting for missing military personnel to their families and the nation. They have a vision to fulfill the nation’s obligation to maximize the number of missing personnel accounted for, while at the same time providing accurate and updated information to the families of the soldiers.

We became involved in this program several years ago. Lynn’s uncle, Corporal Hal E. Roberts served in the Army Air Corp during WWII. He served as a radio operator on a C46 transporting supplies to China. The route was over India and was referred to as “flying the hump.” Gasoline was one of the items that was transported in the planes. This was to keep China in the war after being attacked by Japan.

Hal was 20 years old when his mission left on the ill-fated mission. Soon after takeoff the plane disappeared. It was not known if the plane encountered engine problems or weather caused the plane to crash. The plane was thought to have gone down in a heavily forested mountain area. Searches were made but nothing was ever found of the plane or the crew. His parents were notified that he was missing and later that he had been declared dead.

Losing a son was hard enough on his parents, but the fact his body was not found made the loss even more profound. Closure was not to be for the family.

However, a few years ago, a gentleman spotted wreckage in a mountainous jungle in what is now known as Miramar. He was able to make out the last four digits of the tail number and it appeared to be a C46 with the same tail numbers as Hal’s plane. This information was passed along to the agency that works to identify ad recover remains of missing soldiers.

Lynn was contacted and was able to find out more information about her uncle and his last flight. We also met several men who served with Hal and shared stories that we had never heard. Lynn’s grandparents rarely spoke about Hal and it was great to learn more about him.

We attended a family update shortly thereafter and met many who were in the same situation. Soldiers whose lives had been lost during war times and their bodies were never able to be returned, were not forgotten, but were still on the radar. DPAA works to located possible areas where the soldiers were last seen and work extensively with locals and others to excavate to find possible remains of American soldiers and bring them home to their families.

Widows, children, brothers, sister grandchildren, nieces and nephews of those missing spoke during a remembrance ceremony Saturday morning.  

Through tears, the words from most family members were, “we just want to bring them home.”