Soldier Missing from Vietnam War Identified
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Capt. Charles R. Barnes of Philadelphia, Pa., will be buried May 2, in
Arlington National Cemetery. On March 16, 1969, Barnes and four other service members departed Qui Nhon Airfields bound for
Da Nang and Phu Bai, in a U-21A Ute aircraft. As they approached Da Nang, they encountered low clouds and poor visibility. Communications with the aircraft were lost, and they did not land as scheduled. Immediate search efforts were limited due to hazardous weather conditions, and all five men were list as missing in action.
From 1986-1989, unidentified human remains were turned over to the United States from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) in several different instances. None of the remains were identified given the limits of the technology of the time.
In 1993, a joint U.S.-S.R.V. team, led by the
Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), conducted investigations in
Quang Nam-Da Nang, and Thua Thien-Hue Provinces. They interviewed a local Vietnamese citizen who supplied remains and an identification tag bearing Barnes’ name, which he claimed to have recovered from an aircraft crash site.
In 1999, another joint U.S.-S.R.V. team interviewed additional Vietnamese citizens about the crash and they were led to the crash site. In 2000, a joint U.S.-S.R.V. team excavated the site and recovered human remains and material evidence.
Scientists from the JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used circumstantial evidence, and forensic identification tools such as mitochondrial DNA -- which matched that of Barnes’ sister -- in the identification of the remains.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, call 703-699-1420 or visit the DPMO website at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo .
DoD
---
Remains identified of Philly-born GI who vanished in 1969 in Vietnam
By Peter Mucha
What happened to a Philadelphia-born Army captain who disappeared in Vietnam in 1969 is a mystery no more.
The remains of Charles R. Barnes have been identified, the Department
of Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced
Monday.
He will be buried with full military honors Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery.
On March 16, 1969, Barnes and four other service members were flying
toward Da Nang and Phu Bai when communications contact with their
aircraft was lost. Hazardous weather made a thorough search difficult
after their plane failed to land. All five were listed as missing in
action, and Barnes is the first whose remains have been identified, said
DPMO spokeswoman Jessica Pierno.
Barnes, nicknamed “Sonny,” was raised in Fullerton, Lehigh County,
and graduated from Whitehall High School in 1960, according to an
obituary in the Allentown Morning Call. He is survived by a son,
Charles; a grandson; and a sister.
Pieces of the puzzle have taken decades to put together.
Remains turned over by Vietnam in the late 1980s could not be identified at the time.
In 1993, a joint U.S.-Vietnamese investigative team located a
Vietnamese citizen “who supplied remains and an identification tag
bearing Barnes’ name, which he claimed to have recovered from an
aircraft crash site,” according to Monday’s announcement. In 1999, more
interviews led investigators to the crash site, where remains and other
evidence were recovered in 2000.
Scientists “used circumstantial evidence, and forensic identification
tools such as mitochondrial DNA — which matched that of Barnes’ sister —
in the identification of the remains,” the Defense Department said.
Contact staff writer Peter Mucha at 215-854-4342 or pmucha@phillynews.com.
Washington Time
Kabul Time
London Time
