My favorite story of the year was one I did on the changes in the nature of missing-in-action troops the military has for decades been hunting, bringing back to the United States, and identifying.
These efforts began in the 1970s as part of a national movement to determine what happened to those who went missing during the Vietnam War
I've covered the issues surrounding these recoveries of and on for more than 20 years now, and I've seen the emphasis shift from bringing back remains from Southeast Asia to now, almost entirely those of troops who went missing in earlier conflicts 鈥� World War II and the Korean War.
In the earlier cases, there usually were wives, sons, daughters, even parents who were often hugely grateful to have answers. But nearly all the missing that can be recovered in Southeast Asia have been. So the machinery, the labs, search teams, and forensic experts 鈥� the bureaucracy 鈥� created to find them, continues on.
There are good reasons for the shift in who's brought home, but also some notable ramifications, including that in most cases now no one remains alive who actually knew the missing soldier, sailor, or airman.
I told the story of one of those, Staff Sgt. Robert Ferris Jr., whose plane was shot down over France in 1942, and talked with people who came to his funeral 鈥� in many cases because they felt it a kind of civic duty 鈥� despite not ever having met him.
