The search for, recovery, and positive identification of a Vietnam-Era U.S. Army soldier

Abstract

In Quang Nam Province, then South Vietnam, on August 26, 1971, a convoy of United States Army armored patrol cars was returning to base at the end of the day. A rocket-propelled grenade struck one of the vehicles, and subsequently five of the soldiers were killed in action (KIA) while one was missing in action (MIA). After-action reports from eyewitnesses to the event described the MIA soldier as "vaporized" and his remains as "completely destroyed" since he had been seated on boxes of claymore mines, and the vehicle was said to contain white phosphorous as well. Search efforts nonetheless ensued for the MIA beginning 2 days after the attack and finally ending 29 years later when a U.S. Army search and recovery element (RE) discovered dental remains and a dental prosthesis which were used to identify the soldier positively.