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Vietnam MIAs Identified
Wednesday, November 6, 2002
United States Department of Defense

By analyzing dental records and comparing the DNA of skeletal fragments found at the crash site to that of maternal family members, the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii CILHI scientists were able to make identifications of the missing servicemen.

571-02
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The remains of three U.S. soldiers previously unaccounted for from the war in Vietnam have been identified and will be buried as a group at Arlington National Cemetery on Friday, Nov. 8.

They are Capt. Ronald D. Briggs, Philadelphia, Sgt. 1st Class Robert C. O'Hara, Lost Nation, Iowa; and Maj. David E. Padgett, Washington, Ind.

On Feb. 6, 1969, Padgett and O'Hara were crewmembers on a UH-1H Huey helicopter, flying Briggs and three other soldiers on an emergency resupply mission in South Vietnam. While enroute from a landing zone in the Quang Tri province, the crew radioed that the flight was returning due to poor weather conditions and reduced visibility. When the flight did not return, a search and rescue mission was initiated, but was unsuccessful in locating the missing aircraft.
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2002 © The United States Department of Defense.

Dan