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130-730: Michael Scott Speicher (July 12, 1957 – unknown) was a naval aviator in the United States Navy who was shot down over Iraq during the Persian Gulf War becoming the first American combat casualty of the war. His fate was not known until 2 August 2009 when the U.S. Navy reported that Speicher's remains had been found in Iraq by the United States military. The official cause of death was "homicide by undetermined means" and DNA testing showed survival after his crash. He

260-493: A bachelor's degree in accounting and business management . While at Florida State, he met Joanne, whom he eventually married, and they had two children. Eighteen months after Speicher went missing in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, friend and fellow U.S. Navy pilot Buddy Harris married Joanne. They had two children. Speicher's father had been a fighter pilot in World War II . Speicher went on his first airplane flight when he

390-485: A 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son. Speicher was flying an F/A-18 Hornet fighter, BuNo 163484, when he was shot down by Iraqi Air Force (IQAF) aircraft 100 miles west of Baghdad , in the early hours of 17 January 1991, the first night of Operation Desert Storm . His plane crashed in a remote, uninhabited wasteland known as Tulul ad Dulaym at 33°14′35.81″N 42°21′18.14″E  /  33.2432806°N 42.3550389°E  / 33.2432806; 42.3550389 . He

520-756: A bronze Navy G-1 flight jacket and naval officer's khaki garrison cap similar to what Speicher would have worn. A memorial statue and plaque were erected on Naval Air Station Cecil Field and dedicated to him. The Naval Air Station has since been deactivated but the facility remains in operation as a joint civil–military airport. A memorial head marker dedicated to Speicher stood in Section H of Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia as of 2002. The memorial markers are erected when there are no identifiable remains for an individual whose death has been substantiated. Cemetery policy states that if remains are later recovered,

650-422: A change. In conjunction with the change in classification, Speicher was promoted to commander , in accordance with U.S. Navy practice for POWs held a long time. The 2001 CIA report stated that he may have survived by ejecting. Rumors from Iraq said that Speicher was captive, walked with a limp, and had facial scars. In July 2002, Speicher was further promoted to Captain . Speicher's possible situation became

780-609: A congressional resolution calling on North Korea to repatriate POW/MIAS and abductees from North Korea. In January 2012 it was announced that members of JPAC would go to North Korea in the spring to search for an estimated 5,000 MIAs in the Unsan & the Chosin Reservoir areas. In February 2012 talks were going ahead between the US and North Korea to resume discussions to recover US MIAs after seven years. On March 8, 2012,

910-489: A flight instructor on the F/A-18. By the early 1990s, Speicher had attained the rank of lieutenant commander and was stationed at NAS Cecil Field near Jacksonville, Florida . He was assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron Eighty One ( VFA-81 Sunliners ), deploying with Carrier Air Wing 17 (CVW-17) aboard the aircraft carrier USS  Saratoga . At the time of his deployment to the Iraq theater, Speicher and his wife had

1040-589: A flight uniform that was likely Speicher's, with his name supposedly cut out of it, but the investigators concluded it had been planted there. Other evidence led investigators to further conclude Speicher had likely ejected , and was not in the plane at the time it crashed. In September 1996, the Secretary of the Navy in a new review reaffirmed the presumptive finding of death. In 1997, a U.S. Department of Defense document leaked to The New York Times showed that

1170-549: A half million German MIAs have been buried in new graves since the end of the Cold War. Most of them will stay unknown. The German War Graves Commission is spearheading the effort. Similarly, there are approximately 4 million missing Russian service personnel scattered across the former Eastern Front , from Leningrad down to Stalingrad , though around 300 volunteer groups make periodic searches of old battlefields to recover human remains for identification and reburial. During

1300-773: A large number of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong MIAs from the Vietnam war whose remains have yet to be recovered. In 1974, General Võ Nguyên Giáp stated that they had 330,000 missing in action. As of 1999, estimates of those missing were usually around 300,000. This figure does not include those missing from former South Vietnamese armed forces, who are given little consideration under the Vietnamese regime. The Vietnamese government did not have any organized program to search for its own missing, in comparison to what it had established to search for American missing. The discrepancy angered some Vietnamese; as one said, "It's crazy for

1430-554: A more high-profile issue in the build-up to war. In March 2002, the Washington Times ran five successive front-page articles about it, National Review Online ran a long piece on it, and on 12 September 2002, President George W. Bush mentioned Speicher in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly as part of his case for war against Iraq . Senator Bill Nelson of Florida also took

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1560-569: A naval aviator. A provision in Title 10 of the United States Code requires that US aircraft carrier commanding officers and executive officers be Navy unrestricted line officers designated as either naval aviators or naval flight officers . Naval aviators who fly in space are designated naval astronauts , and are issued the naval aviator version of the astronaut badge . Missing in action Missing in action ( MIA )

1690-657: A pair of wings. Between January 1927 and October 1929, the design of naval aviation observer wings was the same as naval aviator wings, except the observer wings were silver. Observer wings after that were of a distinct design. Upon completion of flight training, a final selection process takes place in which the student naval aviators are assigned a particular fleet aircraft community (e.g., F/A-18C/D/E/F, EA-18G, AV-8B or F-35B/C for strike; E-2/C-2 for carrier AEW and COD; SH-60, HH-60, MH-60, MH-65, AH-1Z, UH-1Y, CH-53E/K, MH-53, CMV-22, or MV-22 for rotary-wing, P-8, E-6, EP-3, KC-130, HC-130, HC-144 for maritime, etc.). This selection

1820-526: A pilot remains recovery project. A number of Australian combatants and POWs have also never been recovered from Korea. Of 340 Australian servicemen killed in the Korean War, 43 are listed as MIA. Since 1996, the remains of Korean People's Army combatants recovered from battlefield exhumations across South Korea have been buried in the Cemetery for North Korean and Chinese Soldiers , the majority of

1950-596: A result, if someone was killed in action and their body was not recovered until much later, there was often little or no chance of identifying the remains unless the person in question was carrying items that would identify them, or had marked their clothing or possessions with identifying information. Starting around the time of the First World War , nations began to issue their service personnel with purpose-made identification tags. These were usually made of some form of lightweight metal such as aluminium. However, in

2080-440: 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 combatants are likely to go missing in action and never be found. However, by wearing identification tags and using modern technology the numbers involved can be considerably reduced. In addition to

2210-453: A small number of former senior enlisted personnel subsequently commissioned as line limited duty officers and chief warrant officers in the aviation operations technician specialty have also been trained as naval aviators and naval flight officers . A small number of URL officers trained as naval aviators and naval flight officers who hold technical degrees at the undergraduate and/or postgraduate level may also opt to laterally transfer to

2340-697: A soldier in Confederate uniform were recovered from, say, the Gettysburg battlefield , he would be interred in a single grave with a headstone which stated that he was an unknown Confederate soldier . This change in attitudes coincided with the Geneva Conventions , the first of which was signed in 1864. Although the First Geneva Convention did not specifically address the issue of MIAs, the reasoning behind it (which specified

2470-584: A squadron of four aircraft aboard their respective aircraft carrier. The VRC squadrons are based at either NS Norfolk, or NAS North Island, and deploy in detachments of two aircraft aboard their respective aircraft carrier. Student pilots selected for helicopter training report to NAS Whiting Field , Florida, and complete advanced training in the TH-57 Sea Ranger or the TH-73A Thrasher. Students receive over 100 hours of instruction learning

2600-597: A strong interest in the case. Speicher's status was changed again to "missing/captured" on 11 October 2002, one day after the United States Congress authorized the use of military force in Iraq . Then-U.S. Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England said, "While the information available to me now does not prove definitively that Commander Speicher is alive and in Iraqi custody, I am personally convinced

2730-418: A thorough forensic examination (including such methods as DNA testing and comparison of dental records ) the remains are interred with a tombstone which indicates their unknown status. 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

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2860-410: A thorough forensic examination. If this is achieved, attempts are made to trace any living relatives. However, it is frequently impossible to identify the remains, other than to establish some basic details of the unit they served with. In the case of British and Commonwealth MIAs, the headstone is inscribed with the maximum amount of information that is known about the person. Typically, such information

2990-561: A total of 459 have been identified as of June 2018 950 sets of remains were uncovered in South Korea; of 20 sets of remains 11 were identified. The U.S. Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (now the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency ) and the equivalent South Korean command are actively involved in trying to locate and identify remains of both countries' personnel. Remains of missing combatants from

3120-494: A week learning physiology and water survival and egress before graduating and heading to primary flight training. Following NIFE graduation, SNAs are assigned to Training Air Wing Five at NAS Whiting Field , Florida or Training Air Wing Four at NAS Corpus Christi , Texas , where they learn to fly the Beechcraft T-6B Texan II ( JPATS ). Primary teaches the basics of flying in approximately six months and

3250-517: Is a casualty classification assigned to combatants , military chaplains , combat medics , and prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire . They may have been killed , wounded , captured , executed , or deserted . If deceased, neither their remains nor grave have been positively identified. Becoming MIA has been an occupational risk for as long as there has been warfare. Until around 1912, service personnel in most countries were not routinely issued with ID tags . As

3380-750: Is also based upon the needs of the service and performance. Newly designated naval aviators (no longer referred to as "students") are then assigned to a USN or USMC fleet replacement squadron or other similar training organization under the cognizance of the US Coast Guard or the US Air Force, for training on their specific aircraft type. Currently, approximately up to 1,000 pilots are designated each year, and between 1910 and 1995 more than 153,000 naval aviators earned their "wings of gold". Student naval aviators incur an eight year active duty service commitment that begins after they receive designation as

3510-594: Is also the most recent American to have been shot down in air-to-air combat. Michael Scott Speicher was born in Kansas City, Missouri , on 12 July 1957. Scott and his sister went to Lakewood Elementary School and Eastgate Middle School before attending Winnetonka High School . When Speicher was 15, his family moved to Jacksonville, Florida , where he attended Nathan Bedford Forrest High School . After graduating from high school, he then attended Florida State University (FSU). Speicher graduated from FSU in 1980 with

3640-543: Is deduced from metallic objects such as brass buttons and shoulder flashes bearing regimental/unit insignia found on the body. As a result, headstones are inscribed with such information as "A Soldier of The Cameronians " or "An Australian Corporal " etc. Where nothing is known other than the soldier's national allegiance, the headstone is inscribed "A Soldier of The Great War". The term "Sailor" or "Airman" can be substituted, as appropriate. There are many missing combatants and other persons in service from World War II. In

3770-407: Is divided into the following stages: Upon successful completion of primary flight training, SNAs are selected for one of five advanced flight training paths: Strike, E-2/C-2 (Navy only), multi-engine, rotary, or tilt-rotor. Selection is based on the needs of the military service, an SNA's performance, and an SNA's preference. Previously, students were given the option to select tailhook and trained in

3900-426: Is identical for all three branches, as are the similar naval astronaut and naval flight officer badges. Naval aviation pilots were awarded the naval aviation pilot badge which, while considered a separate award, was identical in design to the naval aviator badge. The badge was designed by John H. Towers c.  1917 and consists of a single fouled anchor , surmounted by a shield with 13 stripes, centered on

4030-650: Is in our custody). There was a subsequent report that Maj Waraich was in a North West Frontier jail. Their current status is unknown. They are listed as missing by the Indian Government along with 52 others including a Maj Ashok Suri who wrote a letter to his father in 1975 from Karachi stating that he was alive and well. Pakistan denies holding any of the soldiers missing in action. The Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988 left tens of thousands of Iranian and Iraqi combatants and prisoners of war still unaccounted for. Some counts include civilians who disappeared during

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4160-478: Is not conspiracy theory, not paranoid myth, not Rambo fantasy. It is only hard evidence of a national disgrace: American prisoners were left behind at the end of the Vietnam War. They were abandoned because six presidents and official Washington could not admit their guilty secret. They were forgotten because the press and most Americans turned away from all things that reminded them of Vietnam." There are also

4290-747: Is often considered the last depressing, divisive aftereffect of the Vietnam War. To skeptics, "live prisoners" is a conspiracy theory unsupported by motivation or evidence, and the foundation for a cottage industry of charlatans who have preyed upon the hopes of the families of the missing. As two skeptics wrote in 1995, "The conspiracy myth surrounding the Americans who remained missing after Operation Homecoming in 1973 had evolved to baroque intricacy. By 1992, there were thousands of zealots—who believed with cultlike fervor that hundreds of American POWs had been deliberately and callously abandoned in Indochina after

4420-559: Is the E-2 or C-2A pipeline, averaging over three years from initial pre-flight training to designation as a naval aviator. All pipelines include ground and flight training at numerous locations. Following designation as a naval aviator, all newly designated aviators report to a designated Navy or Marine Corps fleet replacement squadron (FRS), the Coast Guard Aviation Training Center at Mobile, Alabama. IFS

4550-442: Is the first step to becoming a naval aviator. After passing a medical screening, all new flight school students are enrolled in one of five civilian flight schools near NAS Pensacola . For those students requiring IFS, they will complete 2 weeks of ground training and around 14 hours of flight training in single-engined general aviation aircraft. Coast Guard students complete 25 hours of flight training. A student must solo and pass

4680-578: Is the perfect lead-in trainer for the digital / glass cockpit of the P-8A Poseidon, MV-22 Osprey, E6-B Mercury, and C-130J Hercules aircraft. High fidelity T-44C visual simulators will follow the upgrade which will enable the perfect mix of ground and air training. The naval aviator insignia is a warfare qualification of the United States military that is awarded to those aviators of the United States Navy , Marine Corps , and Coast Guard who have qualified as naval aviators. The naval aviator insignia

4810-815: The AH-1Z Viper , UH-1Y Venom ; or VMMT-204 at MCAS New River for the MV-22 Osprey. Coast Guard helicopter pilots report to the Coast Guard Aviation Training Center in Mobile, Alabama for further training, or the "T-Course", on the MH-60T Jayhawk and MH-65D Dolphin. The Navy also trains pilots from several NATO and other allied nations as military and naval helicopter pilots. Maritime multi-engine students complete their advanced training at NAS Corpus Christi , flying

4940-565: The Battle of Tarawa in 1943. Between 2013 and 2016 the remains of 37 US Marines were recovered from Tarawa. Among those recovered was Medal of Honor recipient Alexander Bonnyman . As of March 26, 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, there were still 72,104 U.S. servicemen and civilians still unaccounted for from World War II. According to official US Department of Army and Department of Navy casualty records, submitted to Congress in 1946 and updated in 1953,

5070-471: The Battle of Verdun . Even in the 21st century, the remains of missing combatants are recovered from the former battlefields of the Western Front every year. These discoveries happen regularly, often during the course of agricultural work or construction projects. Typically, the remains of one or several men are found at a time. However, occasionally the numbers recovered are much larger e.g.

5200-583: The HC-130 or HC-144 proceed directly to their assigned air station. As budget and time allow, the HC-130 pilots report to an Air Force C-130 formal training unit (FTU) at Little Rock Air Force Base , Arkansas or Dobbins Air Reserve Base , Georgia . As of 2012, VT-31 and VT-35 no longer train United States Air Force student pilots bound for C-130 duty. Coast Guard HC-144 pilots report to

5330-1115: The Laws of War . Technology and logistics had also changed. Railroads were used during the Crimean War and played a decisive role in several battles of the American Civil War and – especially the quick mobilisation of Prussian and allied forces – at the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War. Where previously there were hardly any alternatives to bury the dead close to where they fell before their bodies decomposed, now they could – if logistics allowed – be transported elsewhere for identification and proper burial. Those killed in action at sea had previously simply been thrown overboard or their bodies pickled in distilled alcohol for preservation (as happened with Horatio Nelson ). Now steamships allowed for much quicker transport than sailing or rowing vessels ever had. The phenomenon of MIAs became particularly notable during World War I, where

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5460-908: The MH-60R Seahawk or HSC-3 for the MH-60S Knighthawk (HSC) at NAS North Island; HSM-40 for the MH-60R Seahawk at NS Mayport ; HSC-2 for the MH-60S Knighthawk or HM-12 for the MH-53E Sea Dragon at Norfolk, or VRM-50 at NAS North Island for the CMV-22 Osprey. Marine Corps helicopter/tiltrotor pilots report to HMHT-302 at MCAS New River for the CH-53E/K Super/King Stallion; HMLAT-303 at MCB Camp Pendleton for

5590-627: The T-44A with VT-31, followed by CQ in the T-45 Goshawk . Following winging, they proceed to the E-2/C-2 Fleet Replacement Squadron VAW-120, NS Norfolk for aircraft qualification before assignment to a carrier air wing (CVW) VAW (E-2C Hawkeye) or VRC (C-2A Greyhound) squadron. The VAW squadrons are home-ported at either NS Norfolk, Virginia, NAS Point Mugu , California, or NAF Atsugi , Japan, and deploy as

5720-757: The United States Armed Forces , 78,750 personnel missing in action had been reported by the end of the war, representing over 19 percent of the total of 405,399 killed during the conflict. As with MIAs from the First World War, it is a routine occurrence for the remains of missing personnel killed during the Second World War to be periodically discovered. Usually they are found purely by chance (e.g. during construction or demolition work) though on some occasions they are recovered following deliberate, targeted searches. As with

5850-609: The United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York ; Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) at a number of colleges and universities across the country; Navy Officer Candidate School at Naval Station Newport , Rhode Island; Marine Corps Officer Candidates School (to include the Platoon Leaders Class [PLC] program) at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia . A smaller number were previously commissioned via

5980-604: The Vietnam War POW/MIA issue . Speculative theories were developed as to the circumstances of Speicher's shoot-down, and assuming he was still alive, why the U.S. military might not want to find him and why Iraq might not want to return him. In January 2001, the Secretary of the Navy changed Speicher's status to " missing in action ". This was the first time the Defense Department had ever made such

6110-471: The " fog of war ". Finally, since military forces had no strong incentive to keep detailed records of enemy dead, bodies were frequently buried (sometimes with their identification 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 missing combatants might not be found for many years, if ever. When missing combatants are recovered and cannot be identified after

6240-682: The 2000s, there was renewed attention within and without the U.S. military to finding remains of the missing, especially in the European Theatre and especially since aging witnesses and local historians were dying off. The group World War II Families for the Return of the Missing was founded in 2005 to work with the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and other governmental entities towards locating and repatriating

6370-501: The AV-8B Harrier (USMC). Advanced strike training previously produced pilots for the now-retired F-8 Crusader (to include RF-8 variants), F-4 Phantom II (to include RF-4 variants), F-14 Tomcat , A-3 Skywarrior , A-4 Skyhawk , A-6 Intruder , EA-6B Prowler , A-7 Corsair II , RA-5C Vigilante , and S-3 Viking . E-2/C-2 students go to NAS Corpus Christi to complete multi-crew and multi-engine training (approx. 16 weeks) in

6500-470: The Americans to keep asking us to find their men. We lost several times more than the Americans did. In any war there are many people who disappear. They just disappear." In the 2000s, thousands of Vietnamese were hiring psychics in an effort to find the remains of missing family members. The Vietnamese Army organizes what it considers to be the best of the psychics, as part of its parapsychology force trying to find remains. Additionally, remains dating from

6630-723: The Association of Naval Aviation, the Tailhook Association, the Maritime Patrol Association, and the Naval Helicopter Association (the pilot wings worn by NAPs were identical in design to the naval aviator insignia worn by commissioned officers. The silver eagle title was a reflection that the rating badge on their uniform had a silver eagle). The U.S. Navy still has an unknown number of senior officers on active duty in

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6760-839: The Coast Guard aviation training center (ATC) in Mobile, Alabama for a transition course after reporting to their assigned air station. Similarly, Navy E-6 Mercury TACAMO pilots complete advanced training in the T-44C Pegasus at NAS Corpus Christi, TX. TACAMO-bound students no longer train on the T-1A Jayhawk , a militarized version of the Beechcraft 400, at the Air Force's 32nd Flying Training Squadron at Vance Air Force Base , Oklahoma as of 2012. Training Air Wing FOUR has converted analog T-44As to digital T-44Cs which

6890-513: The Coast Guard's surface cutter fleet. Until 1981, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps also had a small number of senior enlisted personnel trained as pilots. The last U.S. Coast Guard aviation pilot retired in 1979. Such individuals were referred to as "naval aviation pilots", colloquially "NAPs" or "APs". The since retired NAPs also continue to have a professional organization known as the "Silver Eagles", which remains informally aligned with other naval aviation professional organizations such as

7020-714: The DPAA "does not currently conduct" operations in North Korea. On June 24, 2016, Congressmen Rangel, John Conyers , Sam Johnson introduced House Resolution No. 799 calling on the U.S. Government to resume talks in regard to the US MIAs. On September 27, 2016, House Resolution No. 799 was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. It was not enacted. In

7150-491: The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, as of March 26,2024 there were still 126 U.S. servicemen unaccounted for from the Cold War. The 1991–1993 United States Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs investigated some outstanding issues and reports related to the fate of U.S. service personnel still missing from the Cold War. In 1992, Russian President Boris Yeltsin told the committee that

7280-909: The FAA private pilot knowledge test. IFS screens a student's flight aptitude prior to beginning the Navy training syllabus and is waived for students reporting to NAS Pensacola with a private pilot's certificate or better, or those United States Naval Academy midshipmen who have completed the powered flight program. All SNAs start at the "Cradle of Naval Aviation", NAS Pensacola , Florida . API classes consist of Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard SNAs, student naval flight officers , flight surgeons , and foreign exchange military pilots. Students receive four weeks of classroom instruction in aerodynamics , aircraft engines and systems, meteorology , air navigation , and flight rules and regulations. Following academics, students spend two weeks learning land survival, first aid, physiology, and water survival and egress. Following

7410-574: The First World War, in western Europe MIAs are generally found as individuals, or in twos or threes. However, sometimes the numbers in a group are considerably larger e.g. the mass grave at Villeneuve-Loubet , which contained the remains of 14 German soldiers killed in August 1944. Others are located at remote aircraft crash sites in various countries. But in eastern Europe and Russia, World War II casualties include approximately two million missing Germans, and many mass graves remain to be found. Almost

7540-603: The Iraqis seized him sometime after his plane went down. Further, it is my firm belief that the government of Iraq knows what happened to Cmdr. Speicher." Upon the 2003 invasion of Iraq in March 2003, a major investigation on the ground began, that also further increased public attention to the matter. In April 2003, Speicher's possible initials were discovered in a cell at Hakmiyah prison in Baghdad . Investigators did not think it

7670-420: The Korean War are periodically recovered and identified in both North and South Korea. It is thought that 13,000 South Korean and 2,000 U.S. combatants are buried in the Korean Demilitarized Zone alone and never found. In the summer of 2018 President Moon Jae-in of South Korea expressed his hopes to recover the remains of Korean soldiers from the DMZ. South Korea MIAs are believed to number 120,000. In 2018

7800-421: The Korean war-Cpl Billie Charles Driver of the 8th US Cavalry Regiment. Remains of nine sets of remains of Korean War MIA servicemen have also been discovered at Arrowhead Hill, aka Hill 281 Battle of White Horse , which is located in the Korean Demilitarized Zone , during minesweeping operations between October and November 2018. Arrowhead Hill had previously been selected for both Koreas to jointly conduct

7930-478: The Missing of the Somme in France bears the names of 72,090 British and Commonwealth combatants, all of whom went missing in action during the Battle of the Somme, were never found and who have no known grave. Similarly, the Menin Gate memorial in Belgium commemorates 54,896 missing Allied combatants who are known to have been killed in the Ypres Salient . The Douaumont ossuary , meanwhile, contains 130,000 unidentifiable sets of French and German remains from

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8060-399: The NAVCAD program in 1992, and the program was finally cancelled on October 1, 1993. Except for an extremely small number of enlisted personnel selected to attend flight school subsequent to completing the STA-21, OCS, USMMA, USNA, or USCGA programs, all student naval aviators (SNAs) must first obtain an officer commission. To become a naval aviator, non-prior service personnel must be between

8190-399: The Navy reported that Speicher's remains were found in Iraq by United States Marines from 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines. His jawbone was used to identify him after study at the Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs at Dover Air Force Base . According to local civilians, Speicher was buried by Bedouins after his plane was shot down. Senator Nelson attributed the delayed finding to

8320-435: The Navy's limited duty officer or chief warrant officer programs, but this track has since been discontinued. Coast Guard officers receive their commissions either from the United States Coast Guard Academy or Coast Guard Officer Candidate School , both located in New London, Connecticut ; or via the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY. Graduates of these programs are commissioned as ensigns in

8450-522: The Pakistan Army on 3 December 1971 at 1835 hours. Nearly 4,000 Pakistani men attacked the Indian side with 15 tanks and heavy artillery support. The Indian commanders included Major Waraich, Major Singh's and Major Kanwaljit Sandhu, who was badly injured. Major SPS Waraich was reported captured, as were many JCOs and men as the squadrons were taken by surprise and had little time to get to their bunkers. A Pakistani radio news telecast reported (in Urdu ) that Maj Waraich hamari hiraasat mein hain (Maj Waraich

8580-409: The Pentagon had not been forthcoming with information previously requested by U.S. Senator Rod Grams of Minnesota. Senator Grams publicly accused the Pentagon of misleading him, and joined with Senator Bob Smith of New Hampshire in calling for an investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee . The Speicher case was taken up by the National Alliance of Families , which had been quite active in

8710-472: The Pentagon continue investigating what happened to Speicher. The recommendation went to Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter who had the final decision. Speicher's family believed and was worried that would change the status of Captain Speicher to KIA and declared they would oppose such action. On 10 March 2009, the Secretary of the Navy declared that Captain Speicher's status was changed from "Missing/Captured" back to "Missing-in-Action." On 2 August 2009,

8840-399: The Persian Gulf War. The plane containing his remains touched down at Naval Air Station Jacksonville at 3 p.m. Thousands of friends and family gathered for his burial. Captain Speicher's final resting place is at the Jacksonville Memory Garden located in Orange Park, Florida. On 7 September 2009, Captain Speicher was honored at the start of the Florida State University football game against

8970-447: The Soviet Union had held survivors of spy planes shot down in the early 1950s in prisons or psychiatric facilities. Russian Colonel General Dmitri Volkogonov , co-leader of the U.S.–Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs , said that to his knowledge no Americans were currently being held against their will within the borders of the former Soviet Union. The Select Committee concluded that it "found evidence that some U.S. POWs were held in

9100-413: The T-45 Goshawk. The syllabus covers bombing, air combat maneuvering (ACM), advanced instruments, low-level navigation, tactical formation flying (TACFORM), and carrier qualification (CQ) (see Modern US Navy carrier operations ). Graduates of advanced strike fly the F/A-18C/D Hornet (USMC), F/A-18E/F Super Hornet (USN), EA-18G Growler (USN), F-35B Lightning II (USMC), F-35C Lightning II (USN and USMC), and

9230-529: The T-45C before learning if they would continue in either strike or E-2/C-2. Student naval aviators selected for strike training are assigned to NAS Kingsville , Texas or NAS Meridian , Mississippi, flying the T-45C. The intermediate syllabus incorporates basic instrument flying, formation, night familiarization, and airway navigation over approximately 58 graded flights lasting approximately 27 weeks. Advanced strike students continue with approximately 67 additional graded flights lasting approximately 23 weeks in

9360-417: The U.S. Marine Corps does not have restricted line officers or staff corps officers, as does the U.S. Navy. All current USMC naval aviators and naval flight officers are unrestricted line officers, analogous to the Navy's URLs. The U.S. Coast Guard categorizes all of its officers generally, with its Coast Guard aviators also being considered "operational" officers in the same manner as its cutterman officers in

9490-640: The U.S. Navy or U.S. Coast Guard, or as second lieutenants in the Marine Corps. All individuals must pass an aeronautical screening, to include successful completion of the USN/USMC/USCG Aviation Selection Test Battery and be selected for pilot training prior to being designated as student naval aviators. Student naval aviators progress through a significant training syllabus—typically 18 to 24 months for initial winging (designation) as naval aviators via either

9620-706: The US and North Korea-claiming it couldn't guarantee Americans safety. In 2007 New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson traveled to Pyongong and returned with six sets of remains. In 2010, it was reported that the Obama administration was reversing the Bush administration's suspended talks in regard to North Korea MIAs. In 2011 the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) adopted Resolution # 423 calling for renewed discussions with North Korea to recover Americans missing in action. On July 27, 2011, Congressman Charles Rangel introduced

9750-405: The US announced it would search for MIAs in North Korea, however on March 21, 2012, US President Obama's administration suspended talks with North Korea over the recovery of US servicemen killed and missing in North Korea. In 2013 Korea War/Cold War Families Inc started an online petition to Obama to resolve Cold/Korean War mysteries. In October 2014, North Korea announced it was going to move

9880-595: The University of Miami at Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium when a flight of F/A-18s performed the missing man formation . On Memorial Day 2010, an American flag and a wooden cross bearing his name were commissioned, adding him to the Clay County Florida Parade of Flags . Speicher was married to JoAnne and they had two children (Meghan and Michael). In the early months and years after Speicher's incident over Iraq, JoAnne Speicher

10010-421: The Vietnamese government and every American government since then to hide the existence of these prisoners. The U.S. government has steadfastly denied that prisoners were left behind or that any effort has been made to cover up their existence. Popular culture has reflected the "live prisoners" theory, most notably in the 1985 film Rambo: First Blood Part II . Several congressional investigations have looked into

10140-533: The academic portion and Flight Suit Friday, SNAs will begin the IFS portion of the course, conducted with civilian flight schools at either Pensacola Regional Airport or Jack Edwards Airport in Orange Beach, Alabama. Students will complete approximately 10 hours of basic flying and will mimic the expectations needed to succeed in primary flight training. Upon completion of a check ride by a CFI, students will spend

10270-472: The advanced strike pipeline for those destined for fixed-wing aircraft such as fighter/bomber jets; the maritime pipeline for those en route to multi-engine, land and sea-based aircraft (with a slightly modified pipeline for prospective E-2 Advanced Hawkeye or C-2A Greyhound pilots); and the rotary wing pipeline for those who will fly helicopters or tilt rotor aircraft (with a slightly modified pipeline for MV-22 Osprey pilots). The longest of these "pipelines"

10400-521: The ages of 19 and 32 when entering flight training. Adjustments (waivers) can be made up to 24 months for those with prior service, and up to 48 months for those already in the military at the time of application or for Marine Corps platoon leader's course applicants with prior enlisted service. Navy and Marine Corps officers are currently commissioned through five sources - the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis , Maryland;

10530-742: The bachelor's degree normally required for entry into the flight training program) and were accessed only through the now-defunct Aviation Officer Candidate School (AOCS) program. Upon completion of AOCS, NAVCADS would enter into flight training and upon successful completion of training and designation as a naval aviator would be commissioned as officers with a reserve commission in an active-duty status. After completion of their initial operational flying tours, they would receive an assignment to complete their bachelor's degree. NAVCADs who failed to successfully complete flight training were contractually obligated to enter fleet service as undesignated enlisted personnel. The last civilian applicants were accepted into

10660-499: The case of the British Army the material chosen was compressed fiber, which was not very durable. Although wearing identification tags proved to be highly beneficial, the problem remained that bodies could be completely destroyed (ranging from total body disruption to outright disintegration), burned or buried by the type of high-explosive munitions routinely used in modern warfare or in destructions of vehicles. Additionally,

10790-410: The centuries have created many MIAs. The list is long and includes most battles which have ever been fought by any nation. The usual problems of identification caused by rapid decomposition were exacerbated by the fact that it was common practice to loot the remains of the dead for any valuables e.g. personal items and clothing. This made the already difficult task of identification even harder. Thereafter

10920-423: The combat environment itself could increase the likelihood of missing combatants. The odds of a combatant being declared MIA could be increased by scenarios such as jungle warfare , submarine warfare , aircraft crashes in remote mountainous terrain, or sea battles. Alternatively, there could be administrative errors; the actual location of a temporary battlefield grave could be misidentified or forgotten due to

11050-462: The combined possible total of missing service personnel worldwide is closer to approximately 6600 and probably considerably fewer. Significantly, DPAA continues to list as "unaccounted for" the five Sullivan brothers —arguably the single most accounted-for group of WWII casualties ever recorded. Since DPAA alone designates such WWII personnel as the entire crew of the USS ; Arizona and most of

11180-635: The crash. A covert American operation to inspect the site was considered, but rejected by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , General John Shalikashvili , as too risky. In December 1995, working through the International Committee of the Red Cross , investigators from the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army 's Central Identification Laboratory went to Iraq and conducted an excavation of the crash site. Bedouin nomads gave investigators

11310-568: The crew of the USS  Oklahoma as both "missing" and "unaccounted for" it is likely that DPAA records keeping is irregular and prone to opinion rather than fact. The US Department of Defense DPAA gives dates for the Korean War from June 27, 1950, to January 31, 1955. Between June and October 1950, an estimated 700 civilian and US military POWs had been captured by the North Koreans. By August 1953 only 262 were still alive; one of

11440-405: The culture of the locality: "These Bedouins roam around in the desert, they don't stay in one place, and it just took this time to find the specific site." Speicher's family expressed gratitude that the Defense Department had stayed with the case and that closure was now available. The Christian Science Monitor termed the case "a veritable saga punctuated with hope, uncertainty, and despair for

11570-477: The dead were routinely buried in mass graves and scant official records were retained. Notable examples include such medieval battles as Towton , the Hundred Years' War , The Battle of Alcácer Quibir where King Sebastian of Portugal disappeared, the later English Civil Wars , and Napoleonic Wars together with any battle taking place until around the middle of the 19th century. Starting around

11700-477: The earlier French colonial era are sometimes discovered: in January 2009, the remains of at least 50 anti-French resistance fighters dating from circa 1946 to 1947 were discovered in graves located under a former market in central Hanoi. As of March 26,2024, according to the U.S. Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, US Military and Civilian personnel still unaccounted for number 1,577. According to

11830-516: The end of academic instruction, API students hold a social event known as Flight Suit Friday at the Mustin Beach officers club. From that point onward, the students are authorized the wear of flight suits (with service-specific garrison cap) as their daily uniform instead of Navy service khakis, Marine service Charlies or Coast Guard tropical blue. Prior to its disestablishment, Aviation Officer Candidate School (AOCS) at NAS Pensacola incorporated

11960-589: The entire API syllabus into the nominally 15-week AOCS curriculum. AOCS students were commissioned only after they completed API requirements. In November 2020, The Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) combined IFS and API into a singular program. As of today, NIFE is the new first step to becoming a naval aviator. All prospective SNAs begin the course with the API academic instruction, involving aerodynamics, flight rules and regulations, meteorology, navigation, and aircraft engines and systems. Following successful completion of

12090-577: The fate of U.S. service personnel still missing from the Korean War. In 1996, the Defense Department stated that there was no clear evidence any of the U.S. prisoners were still alive. As of 2005 , at least 500 South Korean prisoners of war were believed to be still detained by the North Korean regime. That same year the U.S. suspended talks with North Korea over the recovery of MIAs; the George W. Bush administration had broken off relations between

12220-430: The first US-South Korean Joint repatriation service was held: U.S. received the remains of 1 of 6 U.S. soldiers to be repatriated; South Korea received remains of two of 68 ROK Soldiers to be repatriated. On February 22, 2023, the second US-South Korean Joint repatriation service was held: U.S. received from South Korea the remains of 1 U.S. Soldier. On June 25, 2023, the third US-South Korean Joint repatriation service

12350-566: The former Soviet Union after WW II, the Korean War and Cold War incidents," and that it "cannot, based on its investigation to date, rule out the possibility that one or more U.S. POWs from past wars or incidents are still being held somewhere within the borders of the former Soviet Union." In the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 , two companies of the Indian Army's 15th Punjab (formerly First Patiala) were attacked by four brigades of

12480-649: The head marker will be interred with the coffin. In effort to honor Speicher, a former Iraqi air base in the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit was renamed COB Speicher . A U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet on display outside the Naval Aviation Schools Command at NAS Pensacola, Florida, was dedicated to the Speicher family in May 2009. The aircraft was painted in the markings of United States Navy squadron VFA-81 "Sunliners" and USS  Saratoga , which

12610-555: The humane treatment of wounded enemy soldiers) was influential. The Geneva Convention was in part inspired by the experiences of Henri Dunant after the Battle of Solferino in 1859 where 40,000 wounded soldiers had lingered in agony for lack of care, facilities and logistics to ameliorate their condition. Dunant also founded the Red Cross (in 1863), an organization dedicated to reduce the suffering of wounded in war and to ensure humane treatment of POWs. Summary executions of POWs (or in

12740-573: The issue, culminating with the largest and most thorough, the United States Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs of 1991–1993 led by Senators John Kerry , Bob Smith , and John McCain . Its unanimous conclusion found "no compelling evidence that proves that any American remains alive in captivity in Southeast Asia." This missing in action issue has been a highly emotional one to those involved, and

12870-458: The mass grave at Fromelles (excavated in 2009) which contained the skeletal remains of no less than 250 Allied soldiers. Another example is the excavation which took place at Carspach ( Alsace region of France) in early 2012, which uncovered the remains of 21 German soldiers, lost in an underground shelter since 1918, after being buried by a large-calibre British artillery shell . Regardless, efforts are made to identify any remains found via

13000-537: The mechanized nature of modern warfare meant that a single battle could cause astounding numbers of casualties. For example, in 1916 over 300,000 Allied and German combatants were killed in the Battle of the Somme . A total of 19,240 British and Commonwealth combatants were killed in action or died of wounds on the first day of that battle alone. It is therefore not surprising that the Thiepval Memorial to

13130-551: The medical corps, or an even smaller percentage of "dual designator" naval flight surgeons who are selected to be student naval aviators (SNAs) and underwent pilot training as medical corps officers. The vast majority of naval flight surgeons, although they are on flight status, are not dual designated and are not naval aviators. All U.S. Marine Corps officers are line officers, either unrestricted line, limited duty, or warrant officers, eligible to command MAGTF units commensurate with their grade, designation, and occupational specialty;

13260-419: The men involved survived their shootdown and, if not, efforts to recover their remains. POW/MIA activists played a role in pushing the U.S. government to improve its efforts in resolving the fates of the missing. Progress in doing so was slow until the mid-1980s, when relations between the U.S. and Vietnam began to improve and more cooperative efforts were undertaken. Normalization of U.S. relations with Vietnam in

13390-408: The mid-1990s was a culmination of this process. Considerable speculation and investigation has gone to a theory that a significant number of these men were captured as prisoners of war by Communist forces in the two countries and kept as live prisoners after the war's conclusion for the United States in 1973. A vocal group of POW/MIA activists maintains that there has been a concerted conspiracy by

13520-602: 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. However, many of these identifying procedures are not typically used for combatants who are members of militias, mercenary armies, insurrections, and other irregular forces. The numerous wars which have occurred over

13650-516: The over 770 burials are unknowns. Following the Paris Peace Accords of 1973, 591 U.S. prisoners of war were returned during Operation Homecoming . The U.S. listed about 1,350 Americans as prisoners of war or missing in action and roughly 1,200 Americans reported killed in action and body not recovered. By the early 1990s, this had been reduced to a total of 2,255 unaccounted for from the war, which constituted less than 4 percent of

13780-464: The past 18 years." Florida State University named its tennis center after Speicher, an avid player. The $ 1.2 million Scott Speicher Tennis Complex was completed in 2003. In 2018, FSU President John Thrasher joined members of Speicher’s family to unveil a new memorial honoring Speicher. The memorial, located at the entrance of the tennis facility named after him in 1993, features a bronze Navy pilot’s helmet and oxygen mask and will eventually include

13910-420: The past their abduction into slavery or human sacrifice ) are another common cause for casualties to become missing in action. The Hague Convention of 1899 was the first piece of codified International law to explicitly outlaw such collective punishment as it banned " no quarter ". Now any execution of POWs would require a formal court martial creating a paper trail — at least for armed forces that followed

14040-476: The regular navy or serving in the navy reserve who were originally accessed as naval aviation cadets (NAVCADs). These individuals entered service via the NAVCAD program during the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s when the program was reinstated following a hiatus of over 20 years. NAVCADs were non-commissioned cadets who were required to have a minimum of 60 college credit hours to enter flight training (rather than

14170-563: The remains of 1 North Korean were repatriated to North Korea from the U.S. On Sept 27, 2018, the remains of 64 South Korean soldier MIAs were repatriated to South Korea from the United States. On June 25, 2020, the remains of 147 South Korean soldier MIAs were repatriated to South Korea from the United States. In July 2020 it is reported that 50,000 South Korean POWS were never repatriated from North Korea in 1953. The 1991–1993 United States Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs investigated some outstanding issues and reports related to

14300-556: The remains of Americans lost in the conflict. The president of the group said in reference to the far more publicised efforts to find remains of U.S. dead from the Vietnam War , "Vietnam had advocates. This was an older generation, and they didn't know who to turn to." In 2008, investigators began to conduct searches on Tarawa atoll in the Pacific Ocean, trying to locate the remains of 139 American Marines , missing since

14430-538: The remains of about 5,000 U.S. combatants en masse in an apparent attempt to force the U.S. to restart MIA recovery. North Korea also gave a warning that "... North Korea blamed the United States 'hostile policy' for causing the remains recovery missions to end. The statement warned that "remains of American soldiers would soon be lost", as they were being "carried away en masse due to construction projects of hydro-power stations, land rezoning and other gigantic natureremaking projects, flood damage, etc…" As of December 2015

14560-567: The restricted-line (RL) as aerospace engineering duty officers (AEDOs). AEDOs are frequently test pilot school graduates and retain their flying status, with most of their billets being in the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIRSYSCOM). An even smaller number of naval aviators are in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps , primarily as naval flight surgeons . These are either former URL officers previously designated as naval aviators who later attended medical school and transferred to

14690-478: The shoot-down, Speicher was placed on MIA status. On 22 May 1991, after the end of the Gulf War, Speicher's status was changed to killed in action , body not recovered (KIA/BNR). Navy Commander Buddy Harris, who was a friend and fellow naval aviator of Speicher's, became a strong advocate for searching for Speicher, often meeting with U.S. officials. In December 1993, a military official from Qatar discovered

14820-687: The survivors was Private First Class Wayne A. "Johnnie" Johnson, who secretly documented the deaths of 496 US military and Korean/European civilian POWs. Johnson would later be awarded the Silver Star medal for valor in 1996. In August 1953, General James Van Fleet , who had led US and UN forces in Korea, estimated that "a large percentage" of those service members listed as missing in action were alive. (Coincidentally, General Van Fleet's own son Captain James Alward Van Fleet Jr

14950-470: The time of the Crimean War (1853-1856), American Civil War (1861-1865), and Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), it became more common to make formal efforts to identify individual soldiers. However, since there was no formal system of ID tags at the time, this could be difficult during the process of battlefield clearance. Even so, there had been a notable shift in perceptions e.g. where the remains of

15080-423: The total 58,152 U.S. service members killed. This was by far the smallest proportion in the nation's history to that point. About 80 percent of those missing were airmen who were shot down over North Vietnam or Laos, usually over remote mountains, tropical rain forest, or water; the rest typically disappeared in confused fighting in dense jungles. Investigations of these incidents have involved determining whether

15210-723: The twin-engine T-44A/C Pegasus . Particular emphasis is placed on single-engine flight in varying conditions and instrument flying. Upon receiving their wings of gold, Navy pilots report to VP-30, the P-8 Poseidon FRS, for further training in the P-8A. Marine Corps pilots report to the Lockheed KC-130 FRD at either MCAS Cherry Point or MCAS Miramar . Previously VMGRT-253 served as the KC-130 FRS until its deactivation in 2006. Coast Guard pilots destined for

15340-590: The unique characteristics and tactics of rotary-wing aviation. Students progress through several phases of training including basic helicopter familiarization, tactics, basic and radio instruments, visual, instrument, and low-level navigation, formation, night familiarization (including use of night vision goggles ), and search and rescue. Upon completion, students will receive their wings of gold and are designated naval aviators. Once they receive their wings of gold, Navy helicopter pilots report to their respective fleet replacement squadron (FRS) for training: HSM-41 for

15470-514: The wake of the June 2018 meeting between U.S. President Trump and North Korean leader Kim, the U.S. received 55 boxes of MIA remains on July 27, 2018—the 65th anniversary of the Korean War truce. As of September 28, 2021, 77 Korean War MIAs have been identified from these 55 boxes. As of April 1, 2022 82 remains have been identified from 55 boxes; the total of remains recovered from 1996 to 2005 are 612 of whom 16 are yet unknown. On September 22, 2021,

15600-439: The war, that there was a vast conspiracy within the armed forces and the executive branch—spanning five administrations—to cover up all evidence of this betrayal, and that the governments of Communist Vietnam and Laos continued to hold an unspecified number of living American POWs, despite their adamant denials of this charge." Believers reject such notions; as Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Sydney Schanberg wrote in 1994, "It

15730-435: The wreckage of a plane in the desert, which was subsequently identified as Speicher's aircraft. The canopy was a good distance from the rest of the aircraft, suggesting Speicher had tried to eject. In April 1994, a U.S. satellite photographed apparent human-made symbols on the desert floor near the wreck's location, which might possibly be Speicher's E & E (Escape and Evade) sign, suggesting that Speicher might have survived

15860-546: Was MIA from a United States Air Force mission over North Korea April 4, 1952.) The total number of Korean War MIAS/remains not recovered was 8,154. In 1954 during Operation Glory , the remains of 4,023 UN personnel were received from North Korea, of which 1,868 were Americans; of the recovered US remains, 848 could not be identified. Between 1982 and 2016, 781 unknown remains were recovered from North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan, and Punchbowl Cemetery in Hawaii, of which

15990-583: Was Speicher's squadron and ship when he was shot down. A front-page story in the 7 August 2009 issue of the Naval Air Station Pensacola newspaper Gosport describes how Speicher's remains were discovered and identified after 18 years. The story has a photo of Speicher's children talking with a member of VFA-81 next to the plane. On 13 August 2009, the remains of Captain Speicher arrived in Florida 18 years after having been shot down in

16120-455: Was alive and might have been written either to provide an accounting of former Iraqi POWs or to confuse the U.S. military. Over time, as the U.S. occupation increasingly gained control over Anbar Province , the Pentagon said that Speicher probably was not captured. On 5 January 2009, the U.S. Navy held a review board to consider officially closing the case. The review board recommended that

16250-485: Was at 28,000 feet and travelling at 0.92 Mach (540 knots) when the front of the aircraft suffered a catastrophic event. The impact from the R-40 missile threw the aircraft laterally off its flight path between fifty and sixty degrees with a resulting 6 g minimum load. A pilot on the same mission stated: "I'm telling you right now, don't believe what you're being told. It was that MiG that shot Spike down." The day after

16380-551: Was five years old. Speicher was a cadet member of the Civil Air Patrol as a teenager. Upon graduation from FSU, Speicher joined the U.S. Navy and attended Aviation Officer Candidate School at Naval Air Station Pensacola , Florida. After flight training at various bases, he was designated as a naval aviator and spent several years as both a fleet squadron aviator in the A-7 Corsair II and F/A-18 Hornet and as

16510-565: Was held: South Korea received the remains of 7 ROK soldiers of whom 1 was identified; previous repatriation ceremonies in 2012, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2021 have returned over 200 ROK remains to South Korea. As of October 1,2024, according to the US Department of Defense the total of working number of MIA U.S. service members is 7,453. As of September 9,2024 the US Department of Defense has accounted for 700th Missing in Action soldier from

16640-452: Was significant because a similar carving of "MJN" was found directly above the "MSS" scrawl. Subsequent tests on hair found in the cell's drain did not match Speicher's DNA. Senator Nelson went to Iraq to visit the prison personally. Speicher's name was also found on a document in Iraq, dated January 2003, that had the names of prisoners being held in the country. Officials stated that the 90-page document offered no evidence of whether Speicher

16770-495: Was supported by Speicher's friend, "Buddy" Harris. Eventually, the two became a couple and married. Harris took her two children as his own, then they had two children (Madison and Makenzie) of their own. Harris was a significant voice for action to settle the details of Speicher's death, and has been an ongoing voice for POWs and MIAs. Naval aviator (United States) In the U.S. Navy, most naval aviators are unrestricted line officers (URLs), eligible for command at sea, but

16900-457: Was the first combat casualty for American forces in the war. The U.S. Navy maintained in a 1997 document that Speicher was downed by a surface-to-air missile . However, an unclassified summary of a 2001 CIA report suggests that Speicher's aircraft was shot down by a missile fired from an Iraqi aircraft, most likely a MiG-25 , flown by Lieutenant Zuhair Dawoud, 84th squadron of the IQAF. Speicher

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