Defense Department agency helping families identify veterans’ remains missing in action
May 4, 2025, 9:23 AM
The Defense Department is helping families identify remains of veterans who went missing in action. (Courtesy KIRO-7)
(Courtesy KIRO-7)
BELLEVUE, Wash. — Jennifer McDaniel’s family didn’t speak often about her late uncle Pete.
She knew he died during his service in the Army Air Guard during World War II. She knew it happened around Easter, so the family avoided Lilies during the spring holiday because of the pain it brought her great-grandmother. The story the family was told was that he died when his plane crashed into the ocean during the war.
“There were no pictures of him, you just didn’t talk about it. My family just accepted that he was lost in the war.” McDaniel said. “He was one of seven siblings in total, and several who served during the War or in Korea. He was the only one who didn’t return.”
Uncle Pete’s real name was Donald Raymond Vogel, and recently, more facts have come out about how he may have died that inspired Jennifer to seek answers. Answers she didn’t know she could even search until this week, when the Defense Prisoner of War & Missing in Action Accounting Agency met with the Washington State Veterans Affairs office ahead of the weekend’s Family Information Meeting.
“It was just something that was serendipitous,” McDaniel said.
New information McDaniel found pointed out that her uncle was actually flying from India to China when his plane crashed, likely somewhere in the vast Himalayan mountain range. Part of a deal between the then-Biden Administration and Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2023 will allow the DPAA to search for potential crash sites to find the remains of missing service members. McDaniel gave a DNA sample on Saturday to help
“It was amazing,” McDaniel said of finding out she could help, “It was very emotional because there is that moment—of course, you want to do something, I want to do something because it’s not just a family member, that’s another service member.”
McDaniel herself served five years in the Army during Desert Storm, discharging as a specialist in the 90s.
“You’re there and you’re serving your country and you’re doing these things that not everybody does and not everyone is willing to do.” McDaniel said, “You’ve put yourself out there and sacrificed for your country and your family. Then, the worst-case scenario has occurred, and you need to know that someone appreciated you, someone remembers you, someone is looking for you, and they’re going to bring you back.”
The DPAA’s mission stems from the promise made to service members when they enlist, it’s the last line of the Warrior Ethos: “I will never leave a fallen comrade.”
The remains of dozens of family members of Washingtonians have been found and identified. The tools at the DPAA’s disposal keep growing. The agency is the largest employer of forensic anthropologists, using clues in bones, teeth, and other remains to determine what region a person is from. Forensic Dentistry helps identify remains as well. DNA and genealogy technology have been improving. Sometimes, it’s the families themselves, according to Sean Everette, a spokesperson for DPAA
“What we have are service records,” Everette said, “Families have stories or even newspaper clippings about their service member outside of the military. The ones who have been able to keep that memory alive and know a little bit more about their personal lives and some of the things that give us clues that may be able to help us find them when [the remains] are found.”
Everette reflects on the example of a unique gold watch found among the remains of service members. The DNA wasn’t as helpful, but they matched the watch with a picture from the family to be able to identify who the person was.
“It’s almost like you’re doing a thousand-piece puzzle and you put in the last piece, but it’s heightened because it’s people and you got the last piece of the puzzle to find this person and know you’re going to be able to bring them home,” Everette said.
DPAA hosts meetings for families four times a year across the country, with other smaller events occurring more frequently. There are still 1,324 service members who are unaccounted for from Washington who served in World War II. Since 2015, 31 have been accounted for, and Everette says events like this help broaden the reach to help families, maybe not find closure, but at the very least find answers.
“Our whole mission is to find you and bring you home. I know when I was a service member and was in uniform, it brought comfort to know that someone was going to come after me and find me.”
McDaniel is embarking on this mission for her uncle, yes, but for the mission, other veterans, and her grandfather, Uncle Pete’s brother. Suffering from Alzheimer’s as he died, McDaniel’s grandfather’s memory was fading. He couldn’t remember McDaniel’s name, but he could remember the pain of losing his brother in a war that he had survived.
“He could remember his brother was gone and his brother could not be found, and so it’s important that if these service members don’t return, it’s important that they are remembered,” McDaniel said.
For families looking to start the process or identify a loved one, or checking in on their family’s case, can go to dpaa.mil.
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