Index

Absence: presence and, 29, 200; prolonged, 14, 80, 107, 148, 182, 191, 220; response to, 7, 9, 11, 29, 30, 84, 134, 181
Accession of human remains, 64–65; provenience, 45, 65, 132; unilateral turnover, 45, 65
Accountability, in MIA accounting, 86, 89–91
Accounting. See Missing in action (MIA) accounting
Accreditation: of Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory, 247n36; of Central Identification Laboratory, 61–62, 93
Ace of spades, 256n11; Merl Allen and, 154, 156, 166; on York Island, 170
Age, biological profile and, 67–68
Agent Orange, 7
Allen, Alden “Skip,” 153; building memorial marker for son, 169–170; burial on York Island, 154, 162, 170; establishment of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and, 112, 114–115
Allen, Casey, 153, 159, 168, 183; building memorial marker for brother, 169–170; on recovery of brother’s remains, 171
Allen, Cindy. See Hawkins, Cindy
Allen, Eleanor: burial on York Island, 154, 162, 170; Jeff Savelkoul’s visits and, 153, 154
Allen, Marilyn. See Neff, Marilyn
Allen, Merlin Raye: attack that killed, 118–120, 153; burial of remains on York Island, 16–17, 18, 115, 168, 169–171, 220; considered part of group burial at Arlington National Cemetery, 210, 211–212; Duwayne Soulier and, 19, 20; homecoming, 1–4, 16–17, 21, 22, 28, 63, 107, 157–168, 171; letter on establishment of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, 109–111, 114, 159; Mary Defoe’s memories of, 105, 106; memorial marker on York Island, 154, 162; memorial service, 159, 161, 164, 165–166; military funeral service for, 167–168; nickname Merle, 153–154; photos of, 3, 155; on photo wall at Duwayne Soulier Memorial VFW Post, 182–183; process of identification of remains, 63–64; remains recovery, 65, 171; Jeff Savelkoul and, 116–117, 121–122, 153–157, 166
Allen, Michael, 39
Allen, Sean, 153–154, 160, 161, 168, 170
Allen, Sheila. See Kelly, Sheila
All Things Considered (radio program), 93
Alpha Recon Association, 170
Ambiguity / ambiguous loss, 6, 34, 148, 192, 197, 198, 206; of MIA status, 7, 10, 15, 21, 199
American Academy of Forensic Sciences, 60, 93, 99
American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), 36–37
American exceptionalism, Vietnam War and, 28, 40, 220, 229–230n6, 233–234n63
American flag: distributed at Applefest parade, 216–217; draped over coffin, 49, 52, 64, 211; at Merlin Allen’s homecoming, 1, 2, 107, 159, 167–168; at military funeral, 5, 10, 102; at repatriation ceremony, 143
American Legion (Bayfield, Wisconsin), 186, 216
American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors / Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD / LAB), 61, 93
Ancestry, 239n30; biological profile and, 67–68
Anderson, Benedict: national veneration of unknown soldier, 30–31, 40; on nation as imagined community, 218
Anishinaabe, 113–114. See also Northrup, Jim
Anthropology of MIA accounting, 63–68. See also Forensic anthropology
Apostle Islands Honor Guard, 186
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, 1, 108; establishment of, 109–114
Applefest (Bayfield, Wisconsin), 180, 215–218
Appy, Christian, 38
Arc de Triomphe, unknown soldier at, 30
Archaeology: of MIA accounting, 63–68; underwater, 86, 190
Archival analysis / investigation, recovery of remains and, 55, 64
Arlington National Cemetery, 26; burial of John House, John Killen, and Glyn Runnels at, 210, 211–212; funeral for World War II MIA, 164; homecomings for remains and, 13; military burial at, 5; mismanagement of, 90; origins of, 34. See also Tomb of the Unknowns
Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL), 25, 70–71, 74, 88; accreditation of, 92, 247n36; media criticism of science used at, 93–97; MIA accounting mission restructuring and, 91–92, 213–215; outreach program, 71, 74, 86; professional reputation of, 92–93; samples from Vietnam War Unknown Soldier remains at, 49–50
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 49
Armed Services Graves Registration Office (ASGRO), 47; review board, 59
Asia, repatriation efforts during Korean War and anxiety over Asian control of US remains, 37–38
Associated Press, 93
Autosomal (auSTR) nuclear DNA testing, 70, 71, 95, 242n47
Ayotte, Kelly, 90

“baby-killer” rhetoric, 259n14
Bacevich, Andrew, 34, 102
Bác Hùng, 131, 133
Bác Thuận “Old Man Shovel,” 124, 133, 140
Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa, 17, 112, 114
Bad River casino (Odanah, Wisconsin), 17; veterans display at, 258n7
Battle of Loos, 30
Battle of Tarawa, 214
Bayfield (Wisconsin), 1, 2; in contrast to Red Cliff, 108; establishment of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, 109–114; remembrance of those lost in Vietnam War, 16–17; title of “Best Little Town” and “Best Small Town,” 108; wartime loss and dispossession, 108–109. See also Allen, Merlin Raye
Bayfield High School: Merlin Allen memorial service at, 159, 161, 164; memorial plaque for Jimmy Hessing at, 176; Merlin Allen’s graduation from, 1; sending boys to Vietnam, 20, 111; Trollers 1965 yearbook, 105, 106
Bayfield Peninsula, 16; map of, 18, 105, 121, 167
Belcher, Bill, 62–63
Bereavement: mourning and, 159, 164; rituals of, 34, 149
“A Bill to Provide for the Establishment of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in the State of Wisconsin, and for Other Purposes,” 109–112, 114
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (Fountain), 33–34
Biological profile, 67–68; analysis of Michael Blassie’s, 47
Blassie, Michael Joseph: exhibit profiling story of identification of, 51, 52–53, 144; grave of, 24–25, 26; identification of and new expectation of commemoration and remembrance, 70, 219–220; identification of remains, 25–26, 50, 94; material evidence from crash site, 46–47; name association with remains deleted, 47; remains labeled BTB (believed to be), 47; selection as Unknown Soldier, 41, 46–48, 96, 234n70
Blassie, Pat, 49, 51–52
Blood typing, 47
Bode Technology, 94
Body count, 8, 92
Body not recovered (BNR), 6, 7, 8, 145, 177, 224n6
Bones (television series), 23, 55
Bosnia and Herzegovina: comparing MIA accounting to identification of missing persons in, 94–95; forensic scientific efforts to identify victims of genocide, 13–14, 25
Boss, Pauline, 197
Bratley Funeral Home (Washburn, Wisconsin), 1, 158–159
Bresette, Randy, 179, 180; archive on Merlin Allen’s memorial service and, 21; on demographics of Duwayne Soulier Memorial VFW Post, 185; at Duwayne Soulier’s remembrance gathering, 184; Merlin Allen’s homecoming and, 167; on stories of local men killed in Vietnam, 107, 183
“Bringing Dad Home” (Spinler), 147, 151, 164, 168, 171
Britain, Great War and commemoration of war dead in, 29, 30, 35, 39, 176
Brooks, Rosa, 102
Browns Valley (Minnesota), burial of Spinler remains in, 147, 148, 151–152, 171
Budget, MIA accounting mission, 12, 83, 89, 93, 243–244n6; apportioned for missions in Southeast Asia, 130, 255n26. See also National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010
Burial rituals, focus on body itself, 5–6, 9
Burney, Ian, 99
Byrd, John, 88, 97, 214

Cadwell, Jeff, 147
Cain, Pam: father’s MIA status, 199; as MIA activist and daughter of MIA Oscar Mauterer, 192–198, 201; own rituals of remembrance, 198; photo of, 194; visits to Vietnam Veterans Memorial (the Wall), 200
Canik, Jim, 25–26
Care for the dead, 9, 226–227n23. See also Exceptional care; Expectations of care; Obligations of care
Carhart, Tom, 260n18
Carnes, Donna, 197
Castaneda, Eugene, 117, 118, 120
CBS News, 49, 93
Cemetery: national military, 35, 36–37, 57, 65, 66, 214, 232n42; war, 30, 219. See also Arlington National Cemetery
Center for Human Identification (Colorado State University), 59
Central Identification Laboratory (CIL), 56–58, 234n72; accreditation of, 61–62, 93, 143; media criticism of science used at, 93–98; MIA accounting mission restructuring and, 91–92, 97, 213–215; professional reputation of, 61–62, 93; shift away from mortuary practice, 56, 60; standard operating procedure at, 58–59. See also Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI); Scientific Analysis Directorate
Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI), 41–42, 234n72; allegations of unsupportable identifications and recommendations to redress issues, 59–60; external review of, 58–59; GAO evaluation of, 89; Vietnam POW / MIA cases and, 41–42; Vietnam War Unknown Soldier and, 43–44, 45–46, 47, 48, 50; World War II unnamed remains sent to, 37. See also Central Identification Laboratory (CIL); Scientific Analysis Directorate
Certainty, ethos of exceptional care and ethics of, 96. See also Uncertainty
Chain-of-custody: ceremony at DPAA, House family and, 210–211; evidence and protocol, 32, 47, 49, 142
Chain of evidence, in recovery efforts, 132
Changing of the Guard ceremony, at the Tomb of the Unknowns, 27, 218–219
Charney, Michael, 59, 68
Chest X-rays, radio analysis comparison technique and, 98–99, 102
Chicago Tribune (newspaper), 108
Chief Buffalo, 113–114, 167
Chippewa Nation, 113–114, 188, 220; Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa, 112, 114. See also Red Cliff Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa
Chippewa Reservation, 20
CILHI 0014-A-78 (Vietnam War Unknown candidate remains), uncertainty regarding unilateral turnover, 45–46
Civilian-military gap, MIA accounting and, 60–63, 238n22
Civil-military relations in post-9/11 America, gratitude and obligation defining, 33–34
Civil War: duties and debt to war dead and, 21–22, 28; missing and unknown war dead from, 7, 9; repatriation and, 11–12, 35
Clavicles, biological profile and, 67, 249n64
Clearing (consulting firm), 91–92
Clelland, W. N., 259n9
Closure, 107, 182, 197–198
Cohen, William S.: disinterment of Vietnam War Unknown Soldier and, 27, 41, 49; on DNA testing, 51; forecasting “no other unknowns in any war,” 48, 82, 219, 220
Cold War: family reference samples for missing personnel, 74; unaccounted for from, 10, 55, 87
Commemoration: collective, 12; local forms of, 180–182, 220; national, 29, 30–31, 34–35, 36–37, 218, 220. See also Tomb of the Unknowns
Commingled remains, 45, 59, 65, 70, 91, 94, 102
Communities: mapping disproportionate losses among different types of, 251n6; of mourners, 2, 19, 30, 159, 220; wartime loss and dispossession, 108
Concurrent return, 37, 58
Congress: oversight of MIA accounting mission, 57, 59, 86, 181, 213–215; US Congressional hearings, 89–91, 96, 98, 215. See also National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010
Congressional delegation to excavation and recovery site in Vietnam, 137–139
Consecration, MIA accounting and, 56
Crash site, mapping, 126–129
Credibility, science and, 60, 96, 237n9
Crossland, Zoë, 55
CSI (television series), 23, 98, 99
“CSI effect,” 249n61
Currey, Darlene, 187

Dan (high school friend of Merlin Allen), 17, 19–21
“Dealing with Ambiguous Loss” (workshop), 192
Defense POW / MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), 31, 56, 236n4; Defense POW / MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) West, 213; establishment of, 91, 97; families of WWII unknowns suing, 101–102; percent of budget allocated to operations in Southeast Asia, 130, 214
Defense Prisoner of War / Missing Personnel Office, 91; rivalry with Joint POW / MIA Accounting Command, 90
Defoe, Ken, 105–106, 208
Defoe, Mary E., 104–107, 187, 208
Delta Air Lines, 32, 157, 181
Demineralization protocol, 71, 93
Dental analysis, 68–71, 74; identification of Darrell Spinler using, 76–77; identification of Dean Klenda using, 204–205; Vietnamese and American odontologists comparing methods, 142; WWI, 240n36
Dental records, military, 69, 76, 240n36
Department of Defense (DOD) DNA Registry, 25
Department of the Interior, display about objects left at Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 14–15
Derks, Mike, 206
Diane (VFW Post 8239 Ladies Auxiliary member), 179, 216
Dioxin, 7
Discontent with public facts in American society, 100–101
Disinterment, 65, 99, 239n27; from Manila American Cemetery, 101, 214; from National Military Cemetery of the Pacific, 65, 66, 95, 214; of Vietnam War Unknown Soldier, 27, 41, 48–51, 52
Dispossession, 107, 251n7; Allen family and, 114–115, 167; creation of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and, 113, 115, 167; House family and, 211; Native Americans and, 113, 185; Vietnam War’s price of, 188; wartime loss and, 107–109, 218
DNA blood card, 240n35
DNA testing: autosomal, 70, 71, 94, 242n47; as evidentiary silver bullet, 50, 74; family reference samples, 26, 50, 71, 72–73, 86, 241n44; as gold standard line of evidence, 98; identification of REFNO 1895 using, 74–75, 76; media criticism of underuse in MIA accounting, 94–95; MIA accounting and, 50–51, 52, 68–71, 74; MIA families’ expectations and, 70; mitochondrial, 50, 70–71, 95, 241n41, 248n49; samples for, 50, 70; significance of, 25; of Vietnam War Unknown Soldier remains, 49, 50; Y chromosome, 70–71, 242n47
Dog tags: DNA as molecular, 102; left at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 14, 15; as material evidence, 65; remains trading and, 125
Dolski, Michael, 64
Dover Air Force Base, 64, 70, 135, 143
“Dulce et Decorum Est” (Owen), 29, 218, 230n10
Durkheim, Émile, 5
Duwayne Soulier Memorial VFW Post 8239, 21, 104–105, 107, 179–180, 191; Applefest and, 216–218; commemorative role played by, 181, 183–184, 209; at LZ Lambeau 2010, 207; Merlin Allen homecoming and, 157, 166–167; photo wall at, 182–183; remembrance gathering for Duwayne Soulier at, 183–189

Efficiency: Congressional concerns about MIA accounting, 89–90, 138, 181; expectation of, 6; number of identifications per year to assess, 103; restructuring of MIA accounting mission and, 92; science as metric for assessing, 83, 86
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 40
Epstein, Steven, 101
Ethical memory, 16, 166, 228n36
Ethnographic research, 9–10, 144
Evidence: analysis of forensic, 41, 99; circumstantial, 44, 50, 59; multiple lines of, 51, 55, 64, 98; trace, 61. See also Dental analysis; DNA testing; Material artifacts / evidence
Excavation, 66, 74, 94; of Team Striker helicopter crash site (REFNO 0746), 123–141
Exceptional care: ethics of certainty and, 96; ethos of, 12, 28, 41, 62, 74, 90, 96, 101, 102, 135–136, 181, 220; mortuary affairs specialists and, 135–136; tied to homecoming and local reclamation, 13, 166
Exceptionalism, ethos of, 28. See also American exceptionalism
Exhumation of Korean War airman, 31–32
Expectations of care: evolution with Vietnam War setting benchmarks for, 82, 83; families and, 77, 80; La David Johnson and, 82, 85; outsized, 23, 83; raised, 51, 101, 181, 214, 219; recalibrated by Vietnam War Unknown Soldier identification, 28, 70
Experts / expertise: American questioning of, 100–101; forensic, 12, 25, 36

Failed science narrative, 92–103, 150
Family Reference Collection Form (Family Reference Sample chart), 71, 72–73
Family reference samples, 26, 50, 71, 86, 95, 241–242n44, 242n46
Faust, Drew Gilpin, 35
Femur, biological profile and, 67
Fictive kinship, 121, 221. See also Kinship: widening bonds of
Field investigations, recovery of remains and, 64
Field recoveries / field archaeology, 65–66
First Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm), missing service members from, 244n13, 263–264n11
Fizell, Diane, 179, 216
Flags. See American flag; POW / MIA flag
Forensic anthropology, 62, 63–68, 77. See also Anthropology of MIA accounting
Forensic archaeology, 63–68; excavation of Team Striker crash site (REFNO 0746), 123–126, 128–129, 132–137, 142; map of Vietnam 1967 and 2012 recovery site, 119
Forensic Files (television series), 23
“Forensic gaze,” 249n61
Forensic genetics. See DNA testing
Forensic science: as language of memory, 6, 22, 101, 103, 182, 220; popular fascination with, 23; public understanding of, 98, 99–100
Forensic science of MIA accounting, 6, 63–68; new definition of “accounting” and, 87–88
Fountain, Ben, 33–34
Fox, Greg, 65–66, 145
France, Great War and commemoration of war dead during, 30, 39
Franklin, H. Bruce, 97
Funeral announcement for John House, John Killen, and Glyn Runnels, 210
Furue, Tadao, 58–59, 68

Gendered codes of mourning, 33, 207
The General of the Dead Army (Kadare), 67, 81
Gokee, Andy, 114
Gonzales, Vince, 49
Good Morning America (television program), 82
Gordon, Danny, 180. See also Dan (high school friend of Merlin Allen)
Gordon, Jeanette, 112
Gould, Stephen Jay, 23
Governance, over war dead and their living kin, 101
Government Accountability Office (GAO), evaluating Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii, 89, 93, 96
“Grave Science: America’s effort to bring home its war dead is slow, inefficient and stymied by outdated methods” (NPR), 93–96, 97
Graves Registration Commission (Britain), 29
Graves Registration Service (US), 36, 37
Great War. See World War I
Green, Frank C., Jr., identification of remains, 74–75, 76
Greenblatt, Stephen, 15
Greendeer, George, 207
Grief, mourning and, 121, 159, 181, 198

Hagel, Chuck, 91
Harding, Warren, 40
Hart, Anne, 59, 68, 96
Hass, Kristin, 200, 261n26
Hawkins, Cindy, 159, 163, 165, 168
Heipel, Jimmy (Duwayne Soulier’s nephew), 184–185
“Hero bike,” 15–16, 205–206
Hertz, Robert, 5
Hessing, Bill, 175
Hessing, Florence, 173, 175; archive about son Jimmy, 175–177, 178, 220
Hessing, Francis, 172, 173, 175, 177
Hessing, Gary, 173, 175, 177
Hessing, James William “Jimmy”: funeral for, 172–173; note posted on “Wall of Faces” about, 177–178; notification of death sent to parents, 172; photo of, 174; on photo wall at Duwayne Soulier Memorial VFW Post, 182–183; posthumous medals awarded to, 176; remembered with Merlin Allen and Duwayne Soulier, 182–183, 188, 217
Hessing, Joanna (Rothermund), 175
Historical investigation, 64
Hoff, Mary, 227n27
Holland, Tom: attending Dean Klenda’s funeral, 204–205; on civilian-military gap, 60–61; on credibility of science in MIA accounting, 96; on definition of “accounting,” 87–88; on dental analysis vs. DNA testing, 69–70; failed science narrative and, 97
Homecoming, 12–13, 21, 22, 28, 106, 107, 219; absence of, 181, 190, 221; Darrell Spinler’s, 147, 171, 180; Merlin Allen’s, 1–2, 17, 21, 107, 157–168, 172, 180, 186; military rituals of, 80; version of exceptional care in local, 144–145, 152; Vietnam War veterans’, 182, 205–206, 207
Honor guard at Arlington National Cemetery, 5
House, Amy, 125, 211
House, Eric, 210–211
House, John A., II: death in Vietnam, 117, 118, 120; investigation of case, 125; memorial on York Island and, 170; return and burial of remains of, 210–212
House Armed Services Committee, 88
Huffine, Ed, 25, 94
Humerus, biological profile and, 47, 67
Hương Phú commune, as possible site of Team Striker helicopter crash, 125–126

Identification of remains: convergence of multiple lines of evidence and, 50, 51, 64, 74; individuated recovery and, 11–12, 28, 35, 38, 219; misidentification / mistaken identification, 44, 46, 47, 58, 89, 96
Inouye, Daniel, 213, 262n1
Integrity, scientific, 41, 83; addressing in MIA accounting process, 59–60, 61; CIL accreditation and, 62; CIL standard operating procedure and, 58
Intelligence gathering, 22; recovery of remains and, 64
International Commission on Missing Persons, 25, 93, 94
International Committee of the Red Cross, 93
International Organization for Standardization, 61
Iwo Jima Memorial, 106

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Blassie grave at, 24–25, 26, 52, 53
Johnson, La David, 81–83, 243n4
Johnson, Myeshia, 81–83, 85, 219, 243n3
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, 42, 56–57, 213
Joint Casualty Resolution Center (JCRC), 39, 234n72
Joint field activity (JFA), 125
Joint Forensic Review, 141–142
Joint Personnel Recovery Center (JPRC), 234n72
Joint POW / MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), 56, 234n72; Central Identification Laboratory and, 57, 88; civilian-military gap and, 62–63; exhumation of Korean War airman and, 31; External Relations Office, 78; family visits to, 77, 145, 242–243n54; as gold standard of scientific rigor, 248–249n55; media criticism of, 93–94, 97–98; recovery team at Team Striker helicopter crash, 123–124, 126–141; request for photos of Oscar Mauterer, 195; restructuring and, 91; rivalry with Defense Prisoner of War / Missing Personnel Office, 90
Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA), 61, 234n72
Judd, Michael B., 117, 210, 211–212

Kadare, Ismail, 67, 81
Kelly, Sheila, 168, 217
Kelsey, Harlan, 109
Kennedy, John F., 109
Kerley, Ellis, 59, 60, 61, 89
Killed in action (KIA), 7; debate about designation on Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 199–200; included in tabulations for unaccounted for, 224n6. See also Body not recovered (BNR)
Killen, John D., III: death of, 117; return and burial of remains of, 210, 211–212
Kinship: forged through return of remains, 147–148, 151, 152–153, 164; widening bonds of, 164, 167, 186. See also Fictive kinship
Kipling, Rudyard, 30
Klenda, Dean Albert, 200–201; burial of remains, 203–205, 220; photos of, 202, 204; sister’s gift of wheat placed at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in memory of, 200–203
Klenda, Deanna, 200; bringing wheat to leave at Vietnam Veterans Memorial (the Wall), 200–203, 209; burial of brother’s remains in Kansas, 203–205, 220; photo of, 204
Klenda, Harry, 204–205
Korean War: duties and debt to war dead and, 22; family reference samples for missing personnel from, 71, 74, 95; repatriation and, 37–38; Unknown Soldier at Alrington National Cemetery, 27. See also Concurrent return
Korean War missing and unknowns, 42, 52; burial at National Military Cemetery of the Pacific, 57; exhumation and DNA testing of remains, 31–33, 34; included in MIA accounting mission, 10, 55, 87; number of, 7; shift from Vietnam War missing towards, 214–215; unilateral turnover of remains and, 65; use of radiograph analysis comparison technique for, 98–99
Korean War POW / MIA Network, 91
Kuepfer, Butch (Alan), 106, 167, 180, 182–183, 185, 186, 188, 216, 217

Lambeau Field, welcome home event for Vietnam veterans at, 206–207
“Land comp” (compensation for land clearing and use), 130
Language of remembrance: science as, 6, 22, 101, 103, 182, 220; of Vietnam War, 90
Laos: Oscar Mauterer MIA in, 191–198; ordnance used by US forces in, 7, 254n21; time restriction on recovery missions in, 65. See also REFNO 0738 (Darrell Spinler)
Laqueur, Thomas: on care of the dead, 9, 145; on the Great War’s destruction and commemoration, 29, 30; on remains manifesting traces of events and conditions during life, 68; on work of the dead, 220
Leafblad, Dolores, 177
“Leave no man behind,” Vietnam War and, 38, 93
Lee, Ang, 33
Lee, Frances Glessner, 54–55, 99
Lee, Mary, 34
Lee, Robert E., 34
Legendary Waters Resort and Casino, 17, 19, 105, 167
Levine, Lowell, 59, 60, 62
Life Sciences Equipment Laboratory (LSEL), 90, 91, 97, 245n18
Liminal space, ritual and, 142
Lin, Maya, 15, 199, 205
Linnington, Michael, 97, 98
Little Sand Bay, 167; military funeral service for Merlin Allen at, 161, 167–168, 169
Long bones, biological profile and, 67
Lumpkin, Michael, 92
Lynch, Thomas, 41
LZ Lambeau 2010, 206–207

MACV (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam) Form 5 and ID card, 46, 47
Madeline Island, 113–114
Manila American Cemetery, unknowns disinterred from, 214
Mann, Bob, 49, 61
Manning, Cindy, 184, 187
Maples, William, 59
Mariano, Guy “Junior”: helicopter crash and, 117, 118, 120; Merl Allen’s homecoming and, 158, 159, 166–168, 169; photos of, 161, 162
Marine Corps Casualty Office, notification Merl Allen’s remains found and identified, 156
Marshall, George C., 37
Mass fatality, DNA analysis and, 69
Material artifacts / evidence, 65, 68, 74; associated with Michael Blassie, 51–52; remains trading and, 125
Material legacy of commemoration, Vietnam War and, 14–15, 200–205, 261n26
Mauterer, Oscar: investigation of case, 195, 196–197; MIA in Laos, 192–198; photos of, 193, 194
McCaskill, Claire, 89–90, 103, 138
McEvers, Kelly, 93, 97, 98
McKeague, Kelly, 96, 98
McNamara, Robert, 8
McRae, William, 44
Media criticism of science used in MIA accounting, 93–97
“Memorial bike,” 15–16, 206
“Memorial Days” (Defoe), 104, 105
Memorial Display Room, at Tomb of the Unknowns, 52–53
Memorials, monuments and, 27, 182
Memorial service: for Merlin Allen, 1, 159, 161, 164, 165–166; for Oscar Mauterer, 195; in small towns, 23
Memory: fragmented and unstable nature of, 12, 13, 16, 123; language framing, 101; local, 12, 164–165, 181, 183, 220; national, 12, 34, 165; politics, 14, 83; site of and mourning, 16; space, place, and, 168–169
Memory of war, connection between remembering and forgetting and, 122–123
Memory work enabled by return of MIA remains, 16, 147–148, 168; fostering personalized narrative and localized ritual, 164–165, 220
Merkel Funeral Home (Bayfield, Wisconsin), 173
Metal detection, UXO clearance and, 126–127
“MIA bike,” 15–16, 206
Militarism, new American, 34, 102–103
Military burials, 5, 13, 164
Military dental records, 69, 240n36
Military funeral: for Darrell Spinler, 147; lacking for MIA, 10; for Merlin Allen, 166–169
Military ritual, 9–10, 49, 142; marking MIA absence, 10–11; of MIA homecoming, 79–80; at remembrance gathering for Duwayne Soulier, 186, 188; repatriation ceremony and, 143
Military service: celebration of at Applefest Grand Parade, 217–218; draft vs. enlistment, 11, 14, 20, 38, 106
Mills, James, 85
Mills-Griffiths, Ann, 22, 85–86, 192, 200, 215
Misidentification / mistaken identification, 44, 46, 47, 58, 89, 96
Missing in action (MIA): category and meaning of, 7–8; from First Gulf War, 263–264n11; from Iraq and Afghanistan wars, 219; number of still unaccounted for, 7; tabulated together with POWs during and after Vietnam War, 8, 224n6. See also Korean War missing and unknowns; World War II missing and unknowns
Missing in action (MIA) accounting: accountability and, 89–91; accounting-for goal, 213; adding World War II and Persian Gulf unknowns to mandate, 87; archaeology and anthropology of, 63–68; arc of, 16–21; congressional definition of “accounting,” 87–88; converging lines of evidence and, 74; criticism of leadership, efficiency, and results of, 83–84; dominant themes of, 205; finite nature of, 220–221; forensic science offering view of US government’s mission of, 22–23; forensic work of, 12; “fullest possible accounting,” 8, 12, 39–40, 80, 83–84, 86–87, 89, 91–92, 101, 164, 181, 205, 215, 219; local forms of commemoration and, 181–182, 220; mission, 22–23; restructuring of mission, 91, 213–215; two cases compared, 74–77. See also Science of accounting
Missing in action (MIA) commemorative events, 10, 182, 195, 198, 200
Missing in action (MIA) families: AFDIL’s outreach program to, 71, 74; author contacting, 144; DNA testing and expectations of, 70; expectations of, 70, 77, 80; taking custody of remains, 77–80. See also National League of POW / MIA Families
Missing in action (MIA) remains: accession of, 64–65; cleaning disinterred, 66–67; Joint Forensic Review and, 141–142; posthumous life of, 68; redefined as sacred objects, 142–143; repatriation of, 142, 143; ritual swaddling of, 79–80; sorting and classifying, 67. See also Recovery of MIA remains; Remains
Missing Man Table ceremony, 10–11, 207
Missing persons, accounting for, 13, 69, 87, 93–94, 144
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) testing, 50, 70–71, 92, 95, 241n41, 248n49
Moe, Leonard, 173
Mortuary affairs specialists, 135–136
Mortuary practice, MIA accounting and, 56, 58–59
Mourning: grief, bereavement, and, 159, 164; national and communal, 39, 40; Vietnam Veterans Memorial as site of, 200
Murder and the Making of English CSI (Burney & Pemberton), 99
Murder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death (exhibit), 54–55

National belonging, 12, 13, 30, 35, 152, 164, 205, 220
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, 86–88; effect of new provisions, 88–89, 90–91; narrowed definition of accountability in, 87–88; number of annual identifications required, 86–87; reorganization of MIA accounting, 213–215
Nationalism, 30–31
National League of POW / MIA Families, 8–9; annual meeting and US government briefing, 85–86, 190; Deanna Klenda’s activism with, 202; mission statement, 226n22; original objection to Vietnam Veterans Memorial design (the Wall), 199–200; Pam Cain and, 191, 195–196; trust in MIA accounting procedures, 98
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl), 57; disinterment of unknown remains from, 65, 66, 214
National Museum of Health and Medicine, 51
National Park Service, Vietnam Veterans Memorial and, 14
National POW / MIA Recognition Day, 196, 198, 200
National Public Radio (NPR), joint investigative piece with ProPublica on MIA accounting science, 93–96, 97, 98
National sacrifice, commemoration and notion of, 13, 27, 35, 188, 218; obligations tied to, 8, 9, 32–35, 218
Native American ritual: guiding belated homecoming events at LZ Lambeau 2010, 207–208; remembrance of Duwayne Soulier and, 188–189
Native Americans: dispossession and, 113–114, 185; disproportionate service in Vietnam War, 185–186; establishment of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and, 109–114
NBC, 93
NCIS (television series), 23
Needham, Thomas, 61
Neff, Marilyn: at hearing to create Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, 109–110, 112; Merlin Allen’s memorial service and, 159, 168; notification of brother’s remains found and identified, 156; photo of, 161; at remembrance for Duwayne Soulier, 186; Jeff Savelkoul’s story of helicopter crash and, 153
Neff, Ralph, 153, 186
Nellis Air Force Base (Nevada), 201
Nelson, Gaylord, 109
Newago, Caroline, 112, 114, 259n9
Newago, Mrs. Walter, 112–113
New American militarism, 34; science and, 102–103
New York Times (newspaper), 93, 101–102
Next generation sequencing (NGS), 95, 248n52
Nguyen, Viet Thanh: on helicopter gunship, 38; on memories of war dead and future wars, 220; on memory of war, 122–123; on true war stories, 166; on war cemeteries, 219. See also Ethical memory
Niger, ambush of US troops by Islamic State militants in, 81–83
Nixon, Richard, 8, 38, 39
Northrup, Jim, 206, 207–208, 218, 261n40
Northrup, Rodney Charles, 207–208
Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War (Nguyen), 122–123
Nuclear DNA testing, 70–71, 242n47; criticism of AFDIL’s underuse of, 94–95. See also Autosomal (auSTR) nuclear DNA testing; Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) testing
Nutshell Studies, 54–55, 99. See also Lee, Frances Glessner

Obama, Barack, 254n21
Objects left at Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 14–15, 200–205, 261n26
Obligations of care, 9, 15, 22, 24–53, 101, 215; identification of Michael Blassie remains, 24–26, 46–48, 51–53; indebtedness and gratitude, 31–35; legacy of Vietnam War Unknown, 51–53; removal of Vietnam War Unknown from Tomb of the Unknowns, 46–51; repatriation and, 35–41; selection of remains for Vietnam War Unknown, 41–46; Tomb of the Unknowns, 26–28; unknown and unnamed, 28–31
O’Brien, Tim, 14–15, 166
Odontograms, 69, 76
Odontology, 58, 77, 97
Operation Desert Storm, 263–264n11
Operation El Dorado Canyon, 263n11
Operation Glory, 37
Operation Iraqi Freedom, 219
Outer Island (navy vessel), 169
Overseas national cemeteries, 36–37
Owen, Wilfred, 29, 218, 230n10

Pace, Stan, 186, 187–188
Paris Peace Accords, 7, 8–9, 38–39
Parsons, Tom, 25
Pascale, Joe, 180
Patriot Guard Riders: Allen homecoming and, 2, 158–159, 160, 166–167, 186; mission of, 158, 181
Pearl Harbor attack: Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and, 56; unnamed dead from, 57, 214
Pelvic bones, biological profile and, 67
Pemberton, Neil, 99
Perec, Georges, 168–169, 170
Perry, Dennis, 117, 118, 120, 170
Persian Gulf War, 87, 244n13
Personnel Accounting Consolidation Task Force (PACT), 91–92
Pezewski, Ken “Polack,” 206
Phú Lộc District, as possible site of Team Striker helicopter crash, 125
Piehler, G. Kurt, 37, 38, 165, 206
Pilloud, Marin: Dwayne Spinler and, 145, 147, 151, 171; escorting Korean War airman remains for DNA testing, 32–33, 34
Pinckney, Linda, 177
The Political Lives of Dead Bodies (Verdery), 34
Popular culture: failed science narrative and, 98–99; fascination with forensic science, 23
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Vietnam vets and, 105–106, 208
POW / MIA advocacy movement, 8. See also National League of POW / MIA Families
POW / MIA families, uncertainty and, 8, 85–86. See also Missing in action (MIA) families
POW / MIA flag, 11, 57, 227n27
POW / MIA mythmaking, politics of, 97–98
POW / MIA slogan “Bring ’em home or send us back,” 8, 15
Principle of concurrence, dental analysis and, 69
Probability, forensic analysis of remains and, 68
ProPublica and National Public Radio (NPR), joint investigative piece on MIA accounting science, 93–96, 97
Provenience, of remains, 45, 65, 132
Pubic symphysis, biological profile and, 67
Public Resolution 67; establishment of Tomb of the Unknowns, 27
Punchbowl. See National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl)

Quincy, M.E. (television series), 100

Race, in forensic anthropology, 240n31. See also Ancestry
Racism, repatriation in Korean War and, 37–38
Radiograph analysis comparison technique, 98–99, 241n37
Rankin, David, 49–50
Rank society, 62
Reagan, Ronald: Ann Mills-Griffiths and administration, 85; D-Day / Boys of Pointe du Hoc speech, 234n67; Vietnam War Unknown Soldier and recasting Vietnam War, 40, 41, 42, 48, 52, 233–234n63
Reciprocity, 140–141
Reclamation: local, 166, 182, 220; national, 143
Recovery of MIA remains: aided by Vietnamese, 123; changing practices of, 213–214; complexity of process, 64; documenting archaeological results, 136–137; during and after Vietnam War, 38–39; expectations regarding swift, 82, 219; extension of American tradition, 11–12; Joint Field Activity and, 141–142; monetary compensation and, 130; recovery mission for Team Striker crash site, 123–141. See also Repatriation of remains
Red Cliff (Wisconsin): in contrast to Bayfield, 108; remembrance of those lost in Vietnam War, 16–17, 164; wartime loss and dispossession and, 108, 185. See also Duwayne Soulier Memorial VFW Post 8239
Red Cliff Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa, 17, 113–114, 188; battle over establishment of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and, 109, 112–114
Red Cliff Band Reservation casino, 17, 19, 105, 167
Red Cliff Reservation, 111, 114
Reedy, Edward, 97
Reference Number (REFNO) 0746 (Team Striker helicopter crash): documenting archaeological results, 137; excavation and recovery of, 123–141; final photographs, 137; investigation of, 125; Joint Forensic Review, 141–142; remains recovered, 133–135; visit from congressional delegation, 137–139
Reference numbers, 242n49
REFNO 0738 (Darrell Spinler), 74, 76–77, 90, 145
REFNO 1895 (Frank C. Green, Jr.), identification of, 74–75, 76, 90
Reichs, Kathy, 55
Remains: commingled, 45, 59, 65, 70, 94, 102; different conflicts’ varied conditions of, 64–65, 214–215, 219; remains trading, 125. See also Missing in action (MIA) remains; Recovery of MIA remains; Repatriation of remains
Remembering War the American Way (Piehler), 165
Renwick Gallery (Washington, DC), 54, 55, 99, 100
Reorganization, MIA accounting agencies, 91–92, 97, 100, 213–215
Repatriation of remains: American tradition of, 12, 22, 35–41; ceremony, 142–143; Civil War, 35; Korean War, 37–38; Spanish-American War, 36; Vietnam War, 38–39, 142, 143; Vietnam War and expansion of, 12; World War I, 36; World War II, 36–37
Resolved: Advances in Forensic Identification of US War Dead (exhibit), 51, 52
“The Ride Home” (event marking National POW / MIA Recognition Day), 196
Rite of passage, 49, 143
Rituals: creation of sacred things and, 5, 6; of disinterring remains of Vietnam War Unknown Soldier, 49; helping mourning society, 5, 34; military, 79–80, 166–169, 186, 188; Native American, 188–189, 207–208; as performance, 143; science as source of, 9–10; ushering objects and people through liminal space, 141, 142
Rituals for the missing, 9–13, 164, 181, 219
Rituals of remembrance: created by Vietnam veterans, 206; for Darrell Spinler, 149; for Duwayne Soulier, 183–189, 221; local, 28, 165, 220; MIA accounting as form of, 56; military, 144; for Oscar Mauterer, 198
Robinson, Eldon, 227n27
Robinson, Larry, 227n27
Rolling Thunder, commemorative motorcycle ride, 16, 19, 111, 207
Roosevelt, Quentin, 36, 232n38
Roosevelt, Theodore, 36
Roosevelt, Theodore, Jr., 232n38
Rosary, Jeff Savelkoul’s, 125, 154, 156
Runnels, Glyn L., Jr., 117; return of remains of, 210, 211–212
“Run to The Wall,” Memorial Day commemorative gathering, 206
Russell (township in Wisconsin), 111, 115, 164, 167

Sacred: Arlington National Cemetery and Tomb of the Unknown as, 25, 26, 27, 218; creation of “new sacred things,” 5, 12, 102; missing as, 11; objects made, 11, 12, 142–143; science and, 6, 56, 102, 221; war dead as, 34
Sacrifice: national, 13, 27, 35, 188, 218; obligations tied to, 8, 9, 32–35, 218; ultimate, 35, 218; what results from, 218–219
Sampley, Ted, 48–49
Sand Bay (Wisconsin), 109, 111
Savelkoul, Jeff: ace of spades cards and rosary found at crash site and, 125, 154, 156; Allen memorial service and, 159; on attack in Vietnam that killed Merl Allen, 116–122; awarded bronze star, 156; bond with Allen family, 164, 171; escorting Merl Allen’s remains home, 156–157, 165; meeting Merl Allen, 116; Merl Allen’s military funeral and, 167–168; photo of Vietnamese prisoners and, 122, 123; photos of, 161, 162; public talks about Vietnam, 121, 165; visiting Allen family after Merl’s death, 153–154; on what MIA absence means for veterans, 152–158
Scavenging, in Vietnam, 124, 125, 128, 138–139, 253n14
Schneider, Kimberly, 60–61
Science: advances in and changing modes of remembrance, 4, 6, 16, 27, 50; disjuncture between heightened expectations of care and limitations of, 83–84; generating “new sacred things,” 11, 12; as language of remembrance, 6, 22, 101, 103, 182, 220; new American militarism and, 102–103; portrait of “outdated,” 92–94, 98; public skepticism of, 84, 97, 102; as response to war’s defeat, 6, 12; rising expectations of, 28, 86; as socially embedded activity, 6, 23; as source of ritual for the missing, 9–10, 11; as yardstick of accountability and efficiency, 86
Science of accounting, 6, 54–80; archaeology and anthropology of MIA accounting, 63–68; civilian-military gap and, 60–63; dental records vs. DNA testing, 68–71, 74; encounters with and expectations of families of MIAs, 77–80; from mortuary to laboratory, 56–60; National Public Radio / ProPublica piece criticizing, 93–96, 97; two cases compared, 74–77. See also Congress; DNA testing; Failed science narrative
Scientific Analysis Directorate, 97, 213
Scientific authority, 101; in conflict with military authority, 62–63
Scientific expertise: disappointed expectations of, 84; public distrust of, 101
Scientific knowledge, public reckoning with, 100–103
Scientific Working Group for Forensic Anthropology (FBI), 93
Scientists, failed science narrative and “risk-averse,” 84, 92–93, 96, 97–98, 100
Self-references, DNA testing and, 70–71
Senator Daniel K. Inouye Defense POW / MIA Accounting Agency Center of Excellence, 213
Sex, biological profile and, 67–68
Short tandem repeat (STR) technology, 71
Sixty-Fifth Ordnance Company, 127
Skull, ancestry estimations and, 67
Smithsonian Magazine, 108
Sociotechnical imaginaries, 244n7
Soulier, Cindy. See Manning, Cindy
Soulier, Darlene. See Currey, Darlene
Soulier, Duwayne “Wotsy,” 19, 173, 217; circumstances surrounding loss, 182, 187–188, 191, 192, 259n9; enlisting in marines, 191; family as guardians of memory, 209; Mary Defoe’s memories of, 105, 106, 107; Merlin Allen and, 20; mother’s statement at congressional hearing, 112, 114; photo of remembrance gathering cake, 185; on photo wall at Duwayne Soulier Memorial VFW Post, 182–183; remaining MIA, 21; remembrance of, 183–189, 209, 221. See also Duwayne Soulier Memorial VFW Post 8239
Soulier, Larry “Bootin,” 19–20, 21, 220; Duwayne Soulier Memorial VFW Post and, 180, 184, 198; photo of, 190; remembrance for brother and, 186–187, 189, 191–192, 209, 220
Soulier, Rose, 184, 185, 189, 191–192
Soumis, David, 178
South Shore Property Owners Association, 114
Souvenir collecting on recovery sites, 139
Space, memory and, 168–169
Spanish-American War, repatriation and, 36
Species of Spaces (Perec), 168–169
Speicher, Scott, 263–264n11
Spinler, Darlene: enduring grief and eventual suicide after loss of husband, 149–151; letters exchanged with husband, 149, 152; photo of, 146; private rituals of remembrance, 149
Spinler, Darrell John: homecoming for, 147, 168, 180, 181; identification of remains, 76–77; MIA status, 145, 192; photo of, 146; recovery of remains, 151. See also REFNO 0738 (Darrell Spinler)
Spinler, Darrell John, II, 152
Spinler, David, 152
Spinler, Dawn, 145, 152
Spinler, Dwayne: “Bringing Dad Home” essay, 147, 151, 164, 168, 171; burial of father’s remains and, 151–152; effect of mother’s enduring grief and suicide on, 149–151; loss of innocence with “initial” funeral service in 1967, 148–149; on mourning’s generative effect, 164; photo of, 152; on presentation of flag at father’s funeral, 168; on recovery of father’s remains, 171; sharing memories of MIA father, 145; taking custody of father’s remains, 145, 147; waiting for news of father as child, 148, 201
Srebrenica genocide, forensic scientific efforts to identify victims of, 13–14, 25, 78–79
Stack, Alisa, 92
Standard operating procedure (SOP), MIA accounting and, 57–58, 61, 63, 236–237n8
Stature, biological profile and, 67–68
Stephan, Carl, 98–99
Stephanopoulos, George, 82
Stevenson, Adlai E., 106
Storytelling, narrative of missing war dead, 12–13, 52–53, 165, 205

Taphonomy, 68
Taylor, Zachary, 113, 114
Team Hawk, 154
Team Striker: attack that killed members of, 116–121, 156, 211; excavation and recovery of remains from helicopter crash, 123–141; Jeff Savelkoul visiting families and graves of, 154; member Mariano “Junior” Guy, 158, 159; memorial on York Island, 170; recovery mission to locate remains of dead from, 118, 119
Teeth: baby as source for DNA sample, 71; biological profile and, 67; significance of recovery, 134. See also Dental analysis
Tet Offensive, 38
The Things They Carried (O’Brien), 14–15, 166
Third Reconnaissance Battalion (US Marine Corps), 109, 117, 154. See also Team Striker
Third US Infantry Regiment (Old Guard), 27, 49, 188
This Republic of Suffering (Faust), 35
Thompson, Bob “Hogman,” 206
Tomb of the Unknowns, 26–28, 144, 188, 218; adding Vietnam War Unknown Soldier to, 39–40, 59; racial subtext of belonging and, 235n75; storytelling of, 52–53. See also Vietnam War Unknown Soldier
Tradition: American of caring for war dead, 11, 22, 28, 38; burial, 30, 35; military, 24, 86, 186; Native American, 186, 188, 207, 220
Transparency: CIL accreditation and, 61–62; CIL standard operating procedure and, 58, 84; scrutiny regarding in MIA accounting mission, 138
Treaty of La Pointe (1854), 113–114
Tribal rights, establishment of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and, 109–114
Trotter, Mildred, 37
Trump, Donald, 81, 243n3
Trust: lack of, between government agencies and MIA community, 86; MIA families’ in mission, 84, 86, 96, 98, 102; new American militarism and, 102–103; in scientific integrity of recovery and identification process, 58, 59, 83

“Unaccounted for,” category of, 6, 224n6
Uncertainty: surrounding MIA fate, 8, 10, 166, 192, 199; Vietnam War POW / MIA families and, 85–86
Unilateral turnovers, 44, 45, 65
Unknowns, buried from: Civil War, 34; Korean War, 27, 57, 65; World War II, 27, 36–37, 65
Unknowns, disinterment of: from Manila American Cemetery, 214; from National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, 65, 66, 214; Vietnam War Unknown Soldier, 27, 41, 48–51
Unknown soldier: monuments to, 39; national veneration of, 30–31
“Until They Are Home” (motto), 90
USS California, 214
USS Oklahoma, 239n27, 263n5
USS West Virginia, 214
UXO (unexploded ordnance), disposal of, 126–127, 136, 254n21

Verdery, Katherine, 34
Veterans: obligations of state toward, 35, 181, 209; World War II, 180. See also Vietnam War veterans
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) posts, 179, 180; rituals for MIAs at, 10. See also Duwayne Soulier Memorial VFW Post 8239
Vietnam: chemical agents used in, 7; map of Vietnam, 119; normalization and, 39, 233n57; number of dead from war with US (“American War”), 7, 225n10; number of missing from war with US (“American War”), 7, 123, 141, 225n13, 260n20; ordnance used by US forces in, 7, 126, 254n21; Paris Peace Accords and, 38–39; reparations and, 39, 233n56; US pressure on regarding MIA accounting, 246n29
Vietnamese laborers at Team Striker crash site excavation (REFNO 0746), 123–124, 129–133, 137–139, 140–141; age and divisions among, 133; gifts exchanged between American team and, 139–141; relations between US field recovery workers and, 131–132, 137–138, 139–141
Vietnamese Office for Seeking Missing Persons (VNOSMP), 128, 130, 131, 139; Joint Forensic Review and, 141–142
Vietnam Veterans Memorial (the Wall), 199–205; criticism of design, 199–200, 260n18; forms of commemoration at, 182; Hero Bike and, 15–16, 205–206; objects left at, 14–15, 200–205, 261n26; as site of ritual, 200; Soulier family visit to, 191; thirty-fifth anniversary of dedication of, 199, 205
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, 14; “Wall of Faces” website, 177–178, 200
Vietnam War: dental analysis of remains from, 69; disparity in US and Vietnamese losses in, 7, 123, 141, 225n10, 260n20; duties and debt to war dead and, 22; expanding tradition of individuated recovery, 11–12; family reference samples for missing personnel, 71; federal government and alienation of those who fought, 165; language of remembrance and, 90; material legacy of commemoration and, 14–15; repatriation of remains and, 38–39, 142, 143; shift of focus to Korean War and World War II unaccounted, 214–215; uneven losses among different types of communities, 185–186, 251n6; unilateral turnovers of remains, 65; women unaccounted for, 260n23
Vietnam War Unknown Soldier: controversy over adding to Tomb of Unknowns, 39–40; decision to disinter, 40–41; disinterment of, 48–51; identification of, 24–26; selection of, 41–48. See also Blassie, Michael Joseph
Vietnam War veterans: alienation after returning from war, 165, 206–207; “baby-killer” rhetoric and, 195, 259n14; demand that state fulfill its obligation to MIAs, 8, 181; meaning of MIA absence for, 152; PTSD and, 105–106, 208; sense of national belonging and, 205–206; significance of MIA accounting for, 13; welcome home event in Wisconsin in 2010, 206–207
Visitation for Merl Allen’s homecoming, 159

wahbegan (Northrup), 207–208
Walker, Scott, 159
the Wall. See Vietnam Veterans Memorial (the Wall)
“Wall of Faces,” Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund website, 177–178
Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 49
War cemeteries, 30, 219. See also Cemetery
War dead: Great War and new era of commemoration of, 29; as repositories of national memory, 34; symbolic power and social contract between US government and survivors, military, and general public, 35, 36; work of remembrance and, 121
Warfare: high precision, 84, 102; industrialized and WWI, 28–29
War Graves Commission (Britain), 29
War poets, 28–29
“The War’s Not Over Until the Last Man Comes Home” (pledge), 90
War stories, true, 166
Washington Post (newspaper), 41, 93
Webb, Johnie, Jr.: acquiescence to demand for Vietnam War Unknown Soldier, 48; External Relations Office and, 78; Ellis Kerley and, 60; memo arguing against selection of Vietnam War Unknown, 42–43, 44, 45–46, 49
Westboro Baptist Church, 158, 257n20
Westminster Abbey, unknown soldier at, 30
Whitman, Walt, 7, 23
“Why We Must Know” (opinion editorial, Lynch), 41
Wilmot, Amanda, 157, 168
Winter, Jay: on commemoration of war, 28–29; on communities of mourning, 223n2; on fictive kinship, 121; on language framing memory, 101; on local forms of commemoration, 181; on mourning, 159, 164; on work of remembrance, 121
Wisconsin, map of northern, 18
Wisconsin Farmers Union, 111
Wisconsin MIAs, 1, 15–16, 19, 21, 206
Wisconsin Public Television, 206
Wold, James W., 125
Women: service in Vietnam War, 38, 233n54; among Vietnam War MIAs, 260n23
Women of Srebrenica, 19, 78
Work of remembrance, 121; Tomb of the Unknowns and, 218. See also Memory work enabled by return of MIA remains
“Work of the dead,” 220
World War I: care for war dead from, 29–31; commemoration of, 28–31; dental analysis and, 240n36; repatriation of American remains and, 36; war poets, 28–29
World War II missing and unknowns: adding to MIA accounting mandate, 87; families suing Defense POW / MIA Accounting Agency, 101–102; family reference samples for, 73; MIA funeral at Arlington National Cemetery, 164; number of, 7; repatriation and, 36–37; shift from Vietnam War missing towards, 214–215
World War II veterans, founding of VFW Post 8239 by, 180

X-15 (Vietnam War Unknown candidate remains), 43–44
X-26 (Vietnam War Unknown candidate remains), selection of, 47–48. See also Blassie, Michael Joseph
X-32 (Vietnam War Unknown candidate remains), 44–45

Y-chromosome (Y-STR) nuclear DNA testing, 70–71, 242n47
York Island: Allen family property and, 11, 109, 115; burial of Merlin Allen’s remains on, 17, 157, 168, 169–171, 183, 220; memorial marker for Merl Allen on, 154, 156, 162, 169–170; memorial to deceased members of Team Striker, 170; memorial tributes left on, 163
“You are not forgotten” (MIA pledge), 8, 11, 90, 165

Zimmerlee, John, 91