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Spotlight

Until They Are Home

The Search for D-Day Service Members Missing in Normandy

80 years laterDOD Team Searches for Missing WWII Airmen in France

A Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) recovery mission in France from April to May, 2024. DPAA members were searching for missing personnel lost during the D-Day invasion in France, a pivotal event of World War II. There are approximately 1,438 missing personnel from World War II in France. Play
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DOD Team Searching for Missing WWII Airmen in France - A Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) recovery mission in France from April to May, 2024. DPAA members were searching for missing personnel lost during the D-Day invasion in France, a pivotal event of World War II. There are approximately 1,438 missing personnel from World War II in France.

In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, a U.S. C-47A aircraft dropped 14 paratroopers during the D-Day airborne operation. Minutes later, the airplane was presumably shot down, and all five crew members were killed. The remains of two were later recovered, but the other three have remained missing for 80 years. Now, a team from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency is at the site of the crash in Normandy, France, to help fulfill the nation's promise to account for all of those who are missing and return them home.

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Map of NormandyMap of Normandy

Meet the Team Searching for Remains in Normandy

The team of 25 personnel include specialists with a variety of skills. Read the stories below to learn more about who they are and why they volunteer.

Search for Remains in Germany

Two men in a field using a metal detectorA Sacred Search in Germany
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Melanie Galindo, recovery noncommissioned officer, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), speaks on her personal motivations during the 24-1DE recovery mission conducted in Germany from early October to mid-November in 2023. U.S. service members from DPAA, the 76th Airlift Squadron, 86th Medical Squadron, 31st, 86th and 786th Civil Engineer Squadrons, HQ Air Mobility Command, 41st Field Artillery, 12th Combat Aviation Brigades, and 2nd Cavalry Regiment are combined as one recovery team in Germany to recover possible remains, material evidence and life support equipment. Multiple tools, methods and systems were utilized throughout this recovery mission in order to maximize time and space on site. There are believed to be approximately 1,000 missing U.S. personnel from World War II in Germany. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Morgan L. R. Burgess) Play
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SSG Melanie Galindo's Motivation 24-1DE - U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Melanie Galindo, recovery noncommissioned officer, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), speaks on her personal motivations during the 24-1DE recovery mission conducted in Germany from early October to mid-November in 2023. U.S. service members from DPAA, the 76th Airlift Squadron, 86th Medical Squadron, 31st, 86th and 786th Civil Engineer Squadrons, HQ Air Mobility Command, 41st Field Artillery, 12th Combat Aviation Brigades, and 2nd Cavalry Regiment are combined as one recovery team in Germany to recover possible remains, material evidence and life support equipment. Multiple tools, methods and systems were utilized throughout this recovery mission in order to maximize time and space on site. There are believed to be approximately 1,000 missing U.S. personnel from World War II in Germany. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Morgan L. R. Burgess)

A Sergeant's Mission Motivation

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