JPAC Orders Remains Reburied
Developer in Saipan told that JPAC does not have a budget for the recovery of remains.
THE remains of a possible American soldier have been recovered by Kuentai-USA during an excavation in Achugao yesterday.
Kuentai-USA expedition leader Yukari Akatsuka said they finally got the permit from the Historic Preservation Office yesterday afternoon to start digging after a week’s delay.
“We started digging at 12:40 p.m. and came upon the remains of one possibly American soldier at the site,” Akatsuka said.
Kuentai-USA took the second option offered which was to locate the burial sites, take photos, record the remains and bury them again, Akatsuka said.
Professional surveyors will be called to do further investigation.
“We are expecting to find more remains of soldiers buried in the site as we dig some more and try to find as many as we can in the next few days until September 8,” Akatsuka said.
A non-government organization, Kuentai-USA has been frustrated by the lack of support from the U.S. and CNMI governments.
“It sounds like the U.S. government wants us to bear the cost of recovery for the remains of their dead soldiers. I now wonder if the Hawaii-based Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command really wants to recover the remains of fallen servicemen,” Akatsuka said.
She called someone with the U.S. Department of Defense to ask for advice and assistance, but she was told JPAC does not have a budget for the recovery of remains, and that Kuentai-USA as a non-government organization cannot get any financial support from the U.S. government either.
“This is hopeless. No wonder the remains of 43,000 soldiers who died in the Pacific have not been returned to their families yet,” Akatsuka said. said.
The other option Kuentai-USA was given was to have an archaeologist do the recovery work on behalf of JPAC and when possible remains of American soldiers are recovered, Kuentai-USA must have someone monitor the site to secure the remains during the night. It must also work with a certified professional archeologist and have him or her record the details of the findings by using the methods that JPAC utilizes.
The archeologist must remove the remains from the ground, bring them to HPO for safekeeping and wait until the forensic team from JPAC arrives to do the forensic analysis.
Akatsuka said they were also told that JPAC cannot cover the cost so Kuentai-USA must pay the archeologist $3,000 per burial.
“So we had to go with the other option because we cannot afford to pay the archaeologist that amount,” Akatsuka said.
Kuentai-USA aims to recover the remains of 16 American soldiers who have been listed as missing in action since the end of World War II.
Kuentai-Japan has already discovered four mass graves and retrieved the remains of 780 Japanese soldiers and five American soldiers in Achugao.
Kuentai-USA saw the urgency of working on the recovery mission before the construction of a resort hotel at the site begins.
For more information about Kuentai-USA, visit
www.kuentai-usa.com.
www.mvariety.com/cnmi/cnmi-news/local/68779-remains-of-one-possible-american-soldier-recovered-kuentai-usa-digs-for-moreA lengthy list of scandals regarding the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) has now been publicly exposed by NBC, CBS, NPR, Stars and Stripes, the Associated Press, and a host of other media investigative reports. Scathing official reports by multiple federal agencies painted efforts by JPAC as dysfunctional, duplicative, inefficient, wasteful and so poorly managed and led that JPAC simply could not do the job assigned to it. No matter how hard the JPAC Central Identification Laboratory (CIL) and JPAC management tried to spin the fact that only 385 identifications in seven years with an annual budget far exceeding $100 million was someone else’s fault, the American public and Congress refused to buy this hogwash.
The JPAC CIL finally admitted that it takes them an average of ELEVEN YEARS to make an identification after remains are recovered. Investigations by the Department of Defense found 600 to 1,000 sets of American servicemen's remains in cardboard boxes in the JPAC Laboratory that the CIL is incapable of identifying because their methods are antiquated and obsolete. The American public and families of MIAs who accepted the smoke and mirrors from the JPAC public relations machine for years through fraud, phony “arrival home” ceremonies, and out right lies; feel angry, humiliated, and betrayed beyond belief.
A large number of current and former employees of JPAC cooperated with these investigations because they are dismayed, disillusioned, disheartened, disgusted, and still disbelieving of what they experienced at JPAC. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, in congressional testimony, spoke for many of them when he called JPAC “disgraceful”. Despite being accused of being “vindictive and “disgruntled”, many past and present employees braved severe retaliation by the JPAC management to come forward with the truth. There are many truly dedicated men and women who work at JPAC who believe in the mission. Researchers, military recovery specialists, and field investigators who hack through jungles, climb mountains, and wade rivers only to be sabotaged in their work by a completely dysfunctional command deserve great credit for their efforts to expose JPAC’s corrupt operation.
In the final analysis, no one with any common sense whatsoever believed the excuses of the JPAC Laboratory Scientific Director and other members of the leadership clique at JPAC when their disgraceful actions became public. The Secretary of Defense finally ordered JPAC dissolved and the entire operation be “overhauled”. The changes are long overdue. Yet, even now, those who remain in command at JPAC continue to make excuses and are trying to keep their high paying jobs through their usual finger pointing, denials of responsibility, and boasts that they can “overhaul” their own severe dysfunction if Congress will just give them more millions and JPAC has succeeded in convincing the Department of Defense to extend the dysfunction of their leadership personnel until "the last phase of the planned overhaul" in 2016. Unbelievable.
It is now incumbent upon the Secretary of Defense to ensure that his pledge to the American public for a "paradigm shift" away from "outdated, institutionalized thinking" at JPAC becomes a reality. Such needed massive reform cannot be accomplished by changing the name of the organization, re-shuffling the same poor managers to new desks and titles in a brand new $70 million dollar building in Hawaii, and allowing those at fault for not keeping up with modern science such as DNA, to keep their jobs. To do so would only allow the same infectious disease of arrogance and lies to the families of American heroes to take root all over again. Everyone at any level of management and culpability in the many JPAC scandals must be removed. And removed now! The disaster at JPAC has been added to the VA Hospital, Dover Mortuary, Arlington Cemetery, and the Viet Nam Unknown debacles. We cannot allow it to happen again.
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Stone Foundation provides the following link to a series of articles involving JPAC IN THE NEWS
AP IMPACT: MIA WORK ‘ACUTELY DYSFUNCTIONAL’ By Robert Burns Washington AP July 7, 2013
PENTAGON TAKES “SECOND LOOK” AT EMBATTLED MIA UNIT By Robert Burns Washington AP July 9, 2013
PACOM COMMANDER SUPPORTS REVIEW OF JPAC by Karen Parrish American Forces Press Services July 11, 2013
US GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILTY OFFICE: DOD’S POW/MIA MISSION, TOP LEVEL LEADERSHIP ATTENTION NEEDED TO RESOLVE LONGSTANDING CHALLENGES IN ACCOUNTING FOR MISSING PERSONS FROM PAST CONFLICTS July 17, 2013
SENATOR AYOTTE TO DEMPSEY: PENTAGON MUST ADDRESS POW/MIA FAILURES July 18, 2013
PENTAGON AGENCY UNDER FIRE FOR REFUSING TO ID UNKNOWN WORLD WAR II SOLDIERS by Bill Dedman and Mike Taibbi, NBC News August 1, 2013
C-SPAN: SENATE COMMITTEE REVIEWS DEFENSE DEPARTMENT’S MISSING PERSONNEL OFFICES August 1, 2013
ALLEGED FRAUD AND WASTE IN MIA UNIT TO BE PROBED BY PENTAGON FOX NEWS, AP PRESS, AUGUST 1, 2013
LAWMAKERS ORDER POW/MIA OFFICE TO FIX PROBLEMS By Bryant Jordon, Military.com August 1, 2013
NAVY CONCERNED ABOUT JPAC’S EXHUMATION PLANS FOR USS OKLAHOMA UNIDENTIFIED SAILORS Navy Times, Associated Press August 12, 2013
SEARCH FOR WORLD WAR II HEROES’ REMAINS HINGES ON MAN’S RESEARCH By Mark Emmons Daily Democrat, August 14, 2013
LOST AMERICAN HERO FINALLY COMES HOME TO INDIANA By Rick Stone, Indystar.com August 22, 2013
FAMILIES EXPRESS FRUSTRATION AT JPAC’S EFFORTS TO RECOVER WAR MISSING By Matt Burke, Stars and Stripes, September 23, 2013
PENTAGON UNIT HELD “PHONY” CEREMONIES FOR MIA’S, USING PLANES THAT CAN’T FLY By Bill Dedman, NBC News, October 10, 2013
JPAC ADMITS TO PHONY CEREMONIES HONORING “RETURNING” REMAINS – Stars and Stripes, October 10, 2013
AMERICAN LEGION DEMANDS JPAC REFORMS: Fake arrival ceremonies are deceptive, not symbolic, says national commander – Business Wire, October 11, 2013
AMERICAN LEGION DEMANDS JPAC REFORMS OVER FAKE CEREMONIES – By Matthew M. Burke- Stars and Stripes October 15, 2013
SENATOR DEMANDS ANSWERS FROM PENTAGON ON “PHONY’ MIA ARRIVAL CEREMONIES – By Bill Dedman, NBC News, October 28, 2013
McCASKILL DEMANDS EXPLANATION OVER STAGED ARRIVAL CEREMONIES FOR FALLEN SOLDIERS By Barnini Chakraborty Fox News, October 29, 2013
Chicago Family Fights to Get WWII Hero’s Remains Brought Home By Jeff Herndon, Fox 32 News, Chicago, November 12, 2013
McCASKILL WANTS REORGANIZATION OF POW-MIA GROUP, By Associated Press, Columbia Daily Tribune, November 16, 2013
PENTAGON LAB, SLOW TO ID HUMAN REMAINS, HAS TIME TO SHOOT BRADLEY COOPER MOVIE, By Bill Dedman, NBC News, November 19, 2013
EX-INVESTIGATOR, CRITICS SAY JPAC IGNORING CLUES, TECHNOLOGY THAT COULD BRING UNKNOWNS HOME – By Matthew M. Burke, Stars and Stripes, December 4, 2013
SENATORS URGE AGRESSIVE FIXES FOR POW/MIA OPERATIONS – By Matthew M. Burke, Stars and Stripes, January 17, 2014
INTERNAL MEMO ALLEGES JPAC ETHICS VIOLATIONS, MISHANDLING OF MILITARY REMAINS – By Matthew M. Burke, Stars and Stripes, January 28, 2014
SEN. AYOTTE: NEED A “FULL INVESTIGATION” INTO MIA/POW AGENCY – By Todd Beamon, Newsmax, January 28, 2014
McCASKILL CALLS FOR ANOTHER JPAC OVERSIGHT REVIEW – By Matthew M. Burke, Stars and Stripes, February 12, 2014
PENTAGON AGENCY SLOW TO ID, RETURN REMAINS OF AMERICA’S FALLEN – By Chip Reid, CBS News, February 18, 2014
AFTER UNFLATTERING REPORTS, HAGEL ORDERS SHAKE-UP OF MIA ACCOUNTING AGENCIES – By Jon Harper, Stars and Stripes, February 21, 2014
JPAC MARINE FACES COURT MARTIAL FOR DEATH OF PROSTITUTE IN HAWAII - Stars and Stripes, February 21, 2014
FRENCH LAB IDENTIFIES US SOLDIER’S REMAINS AFTER JPAC REFUSES TO INVESTIGATE – By Matthew M. Burke, Stars and Stripes, February 24, 2014
NEW $82M JPAC HEADQUARTERS AND LAB BEING BUILT IN HAWAII – By William Cole, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, March 4, 2014
SO MANY QUESTIONS: BOTCHED RECOVERY MISSION DIDN’T FOLLOW JPAC’S OWN PROTOCOL – By Matthew M. Burke, Stars and Stripes, March 6, 2014
GRAVE SCIENCE: AMERICA’S EFFORT TO BRING HOME ITS WAR DEAD IS SLOW, INEFFICIENT AND STYMIED BY OUTDATED METHODS – By Kelly McEvers, National Public Radio (NPR), March 6, 2014
DATED METHODS MEAN SLOW RETURN FOR FALLEN SOLDIERS – OR NONE AT ALL – By Audie Cornish, KQED News, All Things Considered, and Kelly McEvers, National Public Radio (NPR), March 6, 2014
FAILING THE FALLEN: THE MILITARY IS LEAVING THE MISSING BEHIND – By Megan McCloskey, ProPublica Investigations , March 6, 2014
U.S. GRAVE SCIENCE MARKED BY RISK AVERSION AND BUREAUCRACY – By Melissa Block and Audie Cornish, KQED News, All Things Considered, and Kelly McEvers, National Public Radio (NPR), March 7, 2014
FAMILIES GATHER IN HOPES OF FINDING MISSING SERVICE MEMBERS – By Pam Kelley, Charlotte Observer , March 15, 2014
JPAC FACES LAWSUIT FOR FAILURE TO ID REMAINS OF AMERICAN SOLDIERS - By Chip Reid, CBS News , March 31, 2014
HAGEL ORDER OVERHAUL OF POW/MIA IDENTIFICATION AGENCIES - By Nick Simeone, American Forces Press, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE , March 31, 2014
PENTAGON OVERHAULS EFFORT TO IDENTIFY ITS MISSING - By Megan McCloskey, ProPublica Investigations and Kelly McEvers, National Public Radio (NPR), March 31, 2014
PENTAGON REORGANIZES EFFORT TO ID MIA’s AFTER NBC NEWS SERIES - By Bill Dedman, Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube, NBC NEWS, March 31, 2014
HAGEL ANNOUNCES RESTRUCTURING OF POW/MIA REMAINS OFFICES - By Chris Carroll, Stars and Stripes, March 31, 2014
HAGEL ACTS TO IMPROVE POW/MIA ACCOUNTING EFFORT - By Robert Burns, ABC News and Associated Press, March 31, 2014
AFTER 70 YEARS, FALLEN WWII SOLDIER WILL FINALLY COME HOME IN SPITE OF JPAC - By Megan Towey, CBS News , April 7, 2014
BIG REVAMP OF PENTAGON’S TROUBLED MISSION TO FIND MISSING SOLDIERS LOOKS A LOT LIKE OLD REVAMP: Without Change of Leadership Throughout, Meaningful Change Could Be Elusive, Critics Say - By Megan McCloskey, ProPublica Investigations, April 16, 2014
DOCUMENTS REVEAL SOUTHEAST ASIAN REMAINS BURIED WITH U.S. VET AT ARLINGTON – By Matthew M. Burke, Stars and Stripes, April 21, 2014
HAWAII BASED JOINT POW MIA ACCOUNTING COMMAND UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR PAPUA NEW GUINEA ROAD: Cost and value of road trigger probe - By William Cole, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, May 27, 2014
AFTER 7 DECADES, REMAINS OF WWII GI COULD SOON BE COMING HOME – By Megan Towey and Patricia Alulema, CBS News, July 1, 2014
PENTAGON FINALLY DECIDES TO DIG UP REMAINS OF LONG LOST SOLDIER – By Megan McCloskey, ProPublica Investigations, July 1, 2014
PENTAGON REPORT FINDS LITANY OF PROBLEM WITH EFFORT TO RECOVER MIA’S – By Megan McCloskey, ProPublica Investigations, July 14, 2014
SOME TROOPS KILLED IN WWII STILL HAVEN’T BEEN BROUGHT HOME - By Chip Reid, CBS News , July 16, 2014
Related International articlesPentagon faked repatriation ceremonies of US war dead – The Telegraph, United Kingdom, October 13, 2013
MIA Search Botched: Report – By Daniel Pye, The Phnom Penh Post, Cambodia, February 5, 2014
‘They’re not going anywhere': Pentagon under fire by Congress for slow progress identifying unknown soldiers – By Ashley Collman, The Daily Mail, United Kingdom, August 1, 2013
Remains of one possible American soldier recovered, Kuentai-USA digs for more : JPAC Orders Remains Reburied – By Raquel Bagnol, Marianas Variety, September 4, 2014