MIA teams leave for Laos
 

Hawaii-based MIA teams leave for Laos


Associated Press


HONOLULU ? A group of 50 military experts, mostly based in Hawaii, left Tuesday for Laos to search for remains of missing American servicemen.
Four recovery teams and one investigation team from the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting and the U.S. Army?s Central Identification Laboratory will be joined by technical representatives from the Laotian government.

Recovery excavations are scheduled at five primary sites in two Lao provinces, the task force said in a statement. The investigation team is scheduled to look at nine cases in four provinces during the 30-day field activity.

This is the 74th joint field activity mission, the statement said.

The investigation and recovery teams include Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps personnel and Department of Defense Civilians.

Since 1973, the remains of 732 American servicemen, formerly listed as missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, have been identified and returned to their families. A total of 1,908 Americans are still missing or unaccounted for from the war in Southeast Asia.