Noteboom The Law Firm

Missing Soldiers: Has the DoD Done Enough to Find Our Veterans?

The U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs was established in 1992 with the intention of tracking down and discovering the whereabouts of "Americans who disappeared behind the Iron Curtain." The DoD's efforts in actually tracking those Americans down has come under attack recently by a coalition of various groups advocating on behalf of veterans and missing soldiers and civilians.

The Joint Commission grants U.S. investigators the right to only Russia's central military archives. Further, the investigators are allowed to interview eyewitnesses regarding U.S. soldiers rumored to have died in either the former Soviet Union, or on the land of any of its allies covering multiple time periods, to include:

 

• The Korean War;
• The Vietnam War;
• The Cold War; and
• World War II.

 

According to the coalition, DoD senior officials have spent the last 9 months breaking promises. The coalition charges the DoD with unnecessarily interfering with, and jeopardizing mission success, by redirecting funding and transferring linguistics and researchers.

There are about 78,000 unaccounted-for Americans from World War II; 8,000 from the Korean War; 1,680 from the Vietnam War; 120 from the Cold War; 1 from Afghanistan, and 1 from Iraq. The coalition believes the only way to find the missing Americans is to throw 100% support behind the coalition, which the DoD is not doing.

The DoD countered the coalition's allegations by claiming not only has the funding for this effort been increased over the last 6 years, but there are no plans to cut any funding to the Joint Commission efforts. Finally, the DoD claims to be doing everything possible to ensure the commission is given the "appropriate support."

If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, a South Florida disability attorney from LaVan & Neidenberg is ready to help. To learn if you are entitled to certain programs and benefits contact our veterans disability rights firm today - 1-888-234-5758.