National Security Commission hears DPAA update, military recruitment challenges

On Feb. 21, 2021, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of U.S. Navy Seaman First Class John Russell Melton, who was killed while serving aboard the USS West Virginia that sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941. Melton was laid to rest in his hometown of Liberty, Miss., on July 9 thanks to the efforts of Legionnaires and Legion Riders.

“From the family, the Department of Mississippi, all Legionnaires, I want to thank you and your agency for everything that you all have done and continue to do,” said Murray Toney, Department of Mississippi Alternate National Executive Committeeman, to DPAA Deputy Director Johnie Webb who addressed the Legion’s National Security Commission at the organization’s 103rd National Convention in Milwaukee on Aug. 27. Toney shared that the service for Melton, who is the second servicemember from the small town of Liberty whose remains have been identified, was standing room only. “It was very moving. But that’s what we’re here for is to bring them home. Leave nobody behind.”

Toney asked Webb if he would sign a book for Melton’s family that had details of his recovery and his service. “I would be honored to do that,” Webb said. “It truly is an honor to be a part of bringing these men back home who gave their life for this great country, for our freedom.”

From World War II to present, there are 82,500 servicemembers who are unaccounted for. “The DPAA believes about 37,500 are recoverable and can be brought back home,” Webb said to the commission. And about 10% of the 82,500 unaccounted for are “buried as unknowns around the world in American cemeteries. So we have been in the process of disinterring a number of those unknowns after a lot of research, a lot work, to find out if we can identify them. A big project we undertook was with the USS Oklahoma.”

There were 388 unidentified remains from USS Oklahoma attack in Pearl Harbor buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. “We realized we had a large number of remains that we could identify if we took on that project.” It took six years of the five projected to complete. “But this past December, they are all now accounted for.”

Webb said the DPAA is looking at identifying the remains from other ships such as the USS California and the USS West Virginia, as well as undertaking “another big project which is one of the ‘hell ships’ where (American) POWs were transported.”  These were Japanese merchant vessels that were turned into prison ships for transporting U.S. and allied prisoners of war to slave labor camps.

Of those unaccounted for, “recovering those lost in the Vietnam War is our No. 1 priority,” said Webb, who shared that there are 15,082 POW/MIAs from the Vietnam War – two were just identified this week. “The reason for this is two-fold: there are still, in Vietnam, first-hand witnesses that have knowledge of Americans lost during the war; and secondly, you’ve heard me say this before, the soil of Vietnam and parts of Laos is very acidic, so the remains are being eroded away at a very rapid pace. If we don’t get there and get them recovered soon there’s not going to be anything left to recover.”

There are about 7,500 still missing from the Korean War with 5,300 of those in North Korea “which we do not have access to,” said Webb, and something he doesn’t foresee the DPAA having access to in the near term. In 2018, North Korea sent the United States 55 boxes that contained the remains of 250 different individuals. Of the remains, Webb said 100 are Americans with 84 of them having been identified.

A scientific advancement that helped DPAA identify the remains without DNA was through isotope analysis of the bone. “Isotope has allowed us to make some big leaps in forensic science,” Webb said. “You know how they say you are what you eat? We could determine by looking at the bone, the isotype, what was your diet. Americans had a strong corn diet. Asia had a strong rice diet. We can determine that from doing the isotope testing of the bone.”

Another non-DNA scientific advancement used to identify the remains of World War II and Korean War servicemembers is the matching of clavicles. “Our clavicles, our collarbones, are very unique to each and every one of us,” Webb said. “Almost unique as our fingerprints.”  During World War II and Korea, tuberculosis was very prevalent so servicemembers got chest X-rays. The DPAA had those X-rays restored and digitized. “Now if remains come in, and if the collarbones are there, we can do an X-ray of the bones and superimpose them over the chest X-ray.”

Besides identifying the remains of POW/MIAs, Webb said the DPAA has the responsibility of communicating with family members. To help address this, agency field reports on remains identified or are in search of will be available on the DPAA website, https://www.dpaa.mil/. Additionally, family members and the public will have access to all previously published reports. “This will be a great asset to the families.”

Before closing, Webb reminded National Security Commission members that Sept. 15, National POW/MIA Recognition Day is approaching. “We need each and every one in your post to get the word out,” he said. “We need to bring attention to the American public about our POWs and MIAs. We refer to them as POWs and MIAs but what are they? They are unreturned veterans. They are veterans just like you and I; they just haven’t been able to come back home.”

Military challenges

A military recruiting challenge visible right now is a disinterested youth market, said Thomas Constable, Department of Defense Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, to the National Security Commission. Military favorability, military trust, positive impression about the military and belief that military service is valued by the American people “are all on a decline. That says something right? What it says is that we just need to keep at it, we need to really reach out to young people and bring more in. Right now our most reliable source of new recruits, no surprise, is military families.

“We really have to let them know that military service is available to them, that it’s a viable option for their future. If I was going to have one ask today, it would never miss an opportunity to make sure any eligible young person knows that military service is a good choice; it’s a choice available to them.”

Constable carries around his Army values card that he received during his time in service. He is hoping to have a similar card created soon that Legionnaires and others can carry around with them to show the value of military service and be ready for that conversation when they speak with a youth about life after high school.

In a PowerPoint slide, Constable also broke down why 77% of youth ages 17-24 are disqualified from military service. A few of those factors include being overweight, drug abuse, medical reasons and mental health. “There’s the challenge – 23% of that target group is qualified without a waiver. We look at this and think, how can we turn this around? We work very closely with other departments, with other entities, to try to promote healthier lifestyles to try to let people know that there is a benefit to taking care of themselves so that they are eligible for this service because at the end of the day let’s not forget, military service is a pretty great deal,” said Constable, adding in the benefit of the GI Bill. “There are many financial reasons to join the military, there’s many non-financial reasons to join the military. But sometimes those are hard to convey to somebody that hasn’t lived the life yet.”

Besides recruiting, retaining servicemembers is an area that Constable is spending time focusing on. Military childcare is one area of retainment. “When people don’t have good childcare available to them at a duty station, they don’t re-enlist. They have to take care of their families,” said Constable, adding that the DoD is working with communities nationwide to identify qualified childcare providers that’s not a Child Development Center on posts. “We will supplement them, we pay them to take military families in so that the military family pays the CDC rate and we pay the difference to the provider. We are trying to find more childcare providers. We look for as much help as we can get within the communities to distribute this need and like I say, The American Legion is always really helpful in such things. I just want to make you aware of that thing.”  

In support of military childcare, at its 2022 Spring Meetings the American Legion passed Resolution No. 27, Support establishment of 24-hour child development centers on all military installations. The resolution calls for the DoD and Morale Welfare and Recreation “to establish affordable 24-hour Child Development Centers or equivalent services to authorized family members at all installations worldwide, to eliminate scheduling and financial hardships facing dual-military couples.”

“This is an example of something that falls under Tom’s portfolio, and we are now going to lobby Congress to do something with that,” said National Security Commission Chairman Steve Brennan. “You guys matter. Posts matter. Legionnaires matter.”