- Hooyah!
- (Unit) Hooyah!
- (Robert) The United States Military has a policy
that no one should be left behind.
You've probably heard that before.
But the extremes the military goes
to bring home long-missing service members
might surprise you.
- (Ed) It's very personal for every person
that's in the military because of that brotherhood.
There's so much I don't know about my Uncle Eddie.
I just wanted him back.
- (Johnie) These men have not been forgotten.
- (Jason) I'm going to find where you are.
I don't care what it is,
if it's just a little piece of you left.
I'm gonna bring you home.
(mysterious music)
- (John) Our scope of work is
just over 30,000 cases that need to be solved.
These are mostly from World War II,
Korean War, and Vietnam War.
- (Robert) Dr. Byrd runs the labs at the DPAA,
a government agency with a yearly budget of $112 million.
The agency works with non-profits and other organizations
that bring home American service members
when the trail has otherwise gone cold.
- (Ed) Somewhere out there is a family
that really wants some final answers.
- (Jason) You're looking at their official photographs
and we're trying to determine what their story is.
Often times I was the first person
to look at that file in several years.
- (John) Other countries,
they may think it's odd
that we put so much effort
into each of our missing persons,
but that's just American culture.
- (Johnie) As a matter of fact,
it was a part of American society
before we had an American society.
(snare drums beating)
- (Robert) During the French-American War,
a group of American soldiers known as Rogers' Rangers
adopted a policy to unconditionally
make sure every member of the Rangers
was accounted for.
Veterans from Rogers' Rangers ended up
leading the first Continental Army
and the idea of no man left behind stuck.
But it wasn't until the Vietnam War
that awareness of the no man left behind creed
spread beyond the military
and into the consciousness of the American public.
Wartime coverage was faster
and more widespread than ever before.
So when an American soldier was lost or left behind,
the public knew about it.
- (Soldier) We're going back in to get him!
- (Robert) Hollywood also played a big role
in amplifying the no man left behind trope.
- (Soldier) It doesn't matter, no one gets left behind.
You know that.
(urgent music)
- (Ed) We used to go to Chicago every summer for two weeks
to the house where my Uncle Eddie was raised
and there are some pictures of him there.
In March '42, he joined the Marines.
He already tried to go in the Navy first,
but they wouldn't take him 'cause of flat feet.
History might have been a lot different.
- (Robert) That's Ed McNicholas.
He gets his name from a man he never met,
his uncle, Ed Nalezak,
a soldier who went missing
after the brutal Battle of Tarawa
during World War II.
The DPAA relies on
forensics, anthropology, research,
and a little bit of luck
to return the remains of missing service members
to family members like Ed.
- (Ed) I have his Purple Heart.
It's just more reports that died of gunshot wounds.
That's all we know.
- (Johnie) With forensic identification,
you gotta have a start point.
The good news is Americans kept very good records
on each individual soldier.
- (John) You have people whose job
is compiling everything we know
about the person and the incident.
- (Robert) One crucial piece of evidence is DNA,
swabs from the service member's family.
This DNA evidence often helps
confirm the identity of the remains.
- (John) Then, we plan a field investigation.
The last thing we know is this airplane
was heading this direction, this speed.
These are possible places it could've ended up.
- (Robert) The field work is an all hands on deck effort.
Anthropologists, historians, and forensic scientists
talk to locals and study patterns
of vegetation and topography
to locate an eviction site.
The team scours each inch of soil looking for clues;
airplane wreckage, uniforms,
anything that will help locate
the missing soldier.
Once the remains are recovered,
they're brought back to the DPAA's lab for DNA testing.
- (John) If you are dealing with
somebody who dies today
and you do a DNA match,
the likelihood of being wrong
would be astronomically small.
We're not doing that.
We're taking DNA out of old bones
and we're comparing it to family members
who may or may not be close family members.
- (Robert) But despite these obstacles,
the team at the DPAA is still able
to return the remains of 200 service members
to their families every year.
- (Ed) Uncle Eddie was 27 years old when he died.
November 21st '43.
It was so many years ago.
But my grandmother did very earnestly ask,
"Will you return his remains?"
She wanted him back.
(somber music)
- (Robert) Using the techniques developed by the DPAA,
the United States was finally able
to bring Uncle Eddie home.
- (Ed) I wanted to put on my uniform
as a retiree to meet him
and this was 75 years.
It was a long trip.
- (Robert) A funeral service was held at Arlington Cemetery
so Uncle Eddie could be buried
next to his fellow service members.
- (Ed) I asked for full military honors
and my uncle was a Private First Class,
so I wasn't sure they were going to get it.
I was awestruck when we pulled up.
There was the case on with the van.
I get choked up.
He's finally here.
(gunshots) (intense music)
- (John) I think sometimes people think
well it was a long time ago, nobody cares.
But it's not true if it's your family member.
- (Jason) My only hope is that
we can provide the family
as much closure as we possibly can.
You know, the truth will set you free.
(soft somber music)
- (Robert) Hey, thanks for watching this video.
If you liked it,
share it with some friends
and check out freethink.com
for more stories of people moving the world.