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New POW/MIA Records Added!

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is an agency within the United States Department of Defense. Their mission is to recover the remains of military personnel who are listed as prisoners of war or missing in action from past conflicts. We’ve added a new collection of indexed records for the estimated 82,000 American military and civilian personnel still missing in action. The index covers multiple conflicts including WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and more recent conflicts including Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The DPAA collection is divided into two groups. Group A, which consists of 38,000 missing service members whose remains are considered recoverable; and Group B consists of 44,000 missing service members whose remains are considered unrecoverable.

One of those listed in this DPAA index is 2Lt. Charles V. Safford. He served in the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment, where his Battery suffered terrible losses in the Philippines. Of the 149 men enlisted in the battery, more than half were lost.

The Santa Fe New Mexican – November 10, 1945

Safford was captured during the fall of Bataan in 1942 and sent to Davao Penal Colony, where he and other prisoners endured extreme abuse and deprivation. In September 1944, after more than two years as a POW, Safford and 750 other American POWs were loaded aboard the Japanese cargo-steamer Shinyo Maru, bound for Manila.  

Allies intercepted messages and believed the Shinyo Maru was carrying enemy troops. On September 7, 1944, the USS Paddle fired upon the Shinyo Maru. The ship began to sink, and panicked prisoners scrambled to escape the flooding hold of the ship. Japanese guards fired upon those trying to escape. By the time it was over, only 82 POWs survived. Safford’s remains were never identified and his name is now included in the DPAA index.

Search this index to learn additional details for unaccounted military personnel, including their residence, military branch, death date, and more. Explore the new DPAA collection on Fold3® today!

20 Comments

  1. Carol says:

    This is sooo awesome for their families. Not knowing is the worst . They deserve closure!!! 🙁

    • Brenda B says:

      yes we do! DPAA contacted my sis and I ~2018 after they went to the field in France where my uncle’s plane was shot down. They did an archaeological dig and found bones and uncle’s class ring from high school! amazing They also found a 3rd person unknown so we’re waiting for them to ID that 3rd person before uncle’s remains can come home. He’s already in U.S., at least. His co-pilot also with him also MIA/KIA

  2. […] New POW/MIA Records Added!. “The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is an agency within the United States […]

  3. Lisa Boone says:

    I Pray, all 38,000 are found, returned home to their families. I also Pray of those they don’t deem to be able to find, I pray all who are in that category that still have living loved ones are found and returned. I also Pray for the rest who are lost that their families have peace, and i Pray that those who can be found,; to be found and returned home to their loved ones. I Jesus name I Pray for ALL of Our Fallen Hero’s, who gave all, to be at peace, and hope that one day their remains to be returned home. God Bless All Our Soliders and THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.

    • Jessica Blalock says:

      Thank you, Lisa. Agreeing with you in prayer, in Jesus name.
      These families suffer the worst kind of heartache
      Love and thanks forever to our best and bravest soldiers.

  4. Marion Holcomb says:

    Do you have accessed to those in Civil War? I have two great-grandfathers who were POWs , one on each side of the war who were pows.

  5. Our group SEALARK EXPLORATION INC works in the South Pacific and especially the Solomon Islands, investigating, surveying, and searching for MIAs. We conduct a great deal of research on wonderful FOLD 3 for MIAs. We have also worked extensively with the DPAA on three missions to Guadalcanal and New Georgia area of the Solomons. See also SEALARK photos on FLICKR and website below.

    Your sincerely
    Ewan M. Stevenson
    Co-Director, SEALARK EXPLORATION INC

  6. Tony Burroughs says:

    Are you going to digitize the WWII POW exit interviews?

  7. Matilde Moulton says:

    My grandson grandfather’s reminds are in a cemetery in France . Our senator doesn’t offer any hope of bringing him home.

    • Jim Briggs says:

      Matilde: you should really contact DPAA: use their website (DPAA.gov) to find the contact number for the relevant branch of service. I’ve been involved with DPAA for some 20 years in their search for my father’s crash site in the Philippines (his plane went down in January 1945), and it’s always been my understanding that if the family wants remains brought back to the US, DPAA will arrange it. Haven’t seen/heard of any cases of bringing back remains from an actual American cemetery overseas, but DPAA would give you the best answer as to whether that might be possible. Also, suggest you check the website of the American Battlefield Monuments Commission (which maintains overseas cemeteries) and search for details on your relative. Good luck. Jim

  8. […] on a Newfoundland race track thanks to DNA test 2)  New or Up to date Report Collections: *  Fold3 Adds New POW/MIA Records *  Findmypast Publishes 300,000 Historical Photos in Partnership With Francis Frith Collection […]

  9. Amy McDonald says:

    Save our Troops

  10. Darrell P Baker says:

    Closure. A family deserves it, yet would you either know the memories or the truth that due to circumstances of a most violent content all that’s left are pieces of the once vibrant human you knew. There one second, gone the next. Knowing the truth, I’ll relive the memories of life and forgo reliving the confused pain.

  11. Sharon Weagley Rice says:

    Register with “Find a grave.” future generations would have an easier time locating their ancestors.

  12. Carol Gennuso says:

    My Brother Gilbert D. Gordon in the Korean War, was a Prisoner of War and was wounded and received the Purple Heart! And you can’t find his name! He was left with many illnesses and Cancer! I will say the V.A. Hospital took good care of him in the end! BUT YOU CAN’T find his name!!!!

  13. My cousin James S. Browne, was listed as MIA on Nov 17 1942 on a China National Aviation Corporation flight from Kunming to Dinjan, India. Subsequently he was listed as KIA Body Not Recoverable. In October 2011 a search team from MIA Recoveries, Inc. found the wreckage and positively identified it as Jim’s C-47. Since then we have pushed DPAA, veteran’s orgaqnizations, Embassys and others to do a search for remains. Still, Jim’s crew of three lie on the side of Cang Shan Mountain in Dali, China. How hard do we try for difficult recoveries?

  14. Carol Mladinich says:

    Our family has a great uncle who was a US civilian held captive in Manilla during WWII. He died in the camp but we have no info on when or how he died. Are there any such records?