Vietnam Gives 16 Remains to U.S. MIA Officials
Vietnamese officials Wednesday handed over the presumed remains of 16 American servicemen missing from the Vietnam War.
The repatriation was the final stage of the 17th mission of Vietnamese and American experts, who have combed the country for clues to the fate of the 2,260 Americans still missing.
The remains were flown to Hawaii for identification. Other remains thought to be those of U.S. servicemen killed in Laos were also aboard the aircraft, said a U.S. military spokesman in Bangkok, Thailand.
The next searches in Vietnam are expected to take place later this month and in June.
Ho Xuan Dich, director of the Vietnam Office for Seeking Missing Persons, said 532 sets of remains have been returned to the United States since American troops withdrew from Vietnam in 1973.
Most of the missing were known to have been killed or lost at sea, and their bodies were never recovered.
In a brief but dignified ceremony, the remains were put aboard a U.S. Air Force C-141 transport jet that arrived at Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport.
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