Missing in action

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This article is about the military term. For other uses, see Missing in action (disambiguation).

Missing in action is a status assigned to a member of the armed services who is reported missing following combat and may be injured, captured, or dead.

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[edit] US Armed Forces

POW/MIA flag
POW/MIA flag

The term is commonly used for and individual missing in combat. Its American abbreviation (not commonly used elsewhere) is MIA.

During the late 1970s and 1980s the friends and relatives of unaccounted for American GIs became politically active, requesting the U.S. government reveal what steps were taken to follow up on intelligence regarding last known alive MIAs and POWs[clarify]. When initial inquiries revealed important information had not been pursued, many families and their supporters asked for the public release of POW/MIA records and called for an investigation. Serious charges were leveled at the George H. W. Bush administration regarding the POW/MIA issue. (Ex-chief describes woes of POW office" Washington Times May 31, 1991) The Defense Department, headed by then Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, had been accused of covering up information and failing to properly pursue intelligence about American POW/MIAs. "Ex-Official Alleges Administration Coverup on POW/MIA Issue "The Washington Post; May 22, 1991 In May of 1991, the Minority Report of the Senate Foreign Relation Committee concluded that “any evidence that suggested an MIA might be alive was uniformly and arbitrarily rejected. . .” A resolution to create a Senate Select POW/MIA Committee, introduced by U.S. Senator Robert C. Smith, was passed in the Senate months later. Senator John Kerry was eventually named chairman, and was joined on the committee by Senator and former POW John McCain.The committee issued its unanimous findings on January 13, 1993. In response to the central question of whether any American POWs were still in captivity, it stated:

“ While the Committee has some evidence suggesting the possibility a POW may have survived to the present, and while some information remains yet to be investigated, there is, at this time, no compelling evidence that proves that any American remains alive in captivity in Southeast Asia.[31] ”

With specific regard to the "some evidence", the committee said this: "But neither live-sighting reports nor other sources of intelligence have provided grounds for encouragement,[12] particularly over the past decade. The live-sighting reports that have been resolved have not checked out; alleged pictures of POWs have proven false; purported leads have come up empty; and photographic intelligence has been inconclusive, at best."[31] Two senators, Smith and Grassley, dissented at note 12, with the report saying "they believe that live-sighting reports and other sources of intelligence are evidence that POWs may have survived to the present."[31]

With regard to the possibility that American POWs survived in Southeast Asia after Operation Homecoming, the committee said this: "We acknowledge that there is no proof that U.S. POWs survived, but neither is there proof that all of those who did not return had died. There is evidence, moreover, that indicates the possibility of survival, at least for a small number, after Operation Homecoming."[31]

During the Persian Gulf War of 1991, an American pilot named Scott Speicher was reported as MIA [citation needed]after his F/A-18 was shot down in northern Iraq. In 1997, a Defense Department document leaked to the New York Times showed that the Pentagon had not been forthcoming with information previously requested by U.S. Senator Rod Grams. Senator Grams publicly accused the Pentagon of misleading him, and joined with Senator Bob Smith in calling for an investigation by the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee. [1] In the lead up to the Second Persian Gulf War Speicher's status was changed from Missing in Action to Missing-Captured, a move that suggested he was alive and imprisoned in Iraq. [2]

In 2006, the National Alliance of Families found 1992 documents discussing the admission by Vietnam of capturing a number of missing Americans. The National Alliance contacted the families they could locate, and found that the Vietnamese admissions had been concealed from the families by the U.S. government. ( National Alliance of Families June 24, 2006 Bits 'N' Pieces Special 19 New POW Cases) The U.S. and Vietnamese governments had given every indication to the families that the men had been killed in their loss incidents. However, at least one MIA, San Dewayne Francisco was reported to be alive by a North Vietnamese newspaper which was confirmed by radio transmissions by Francisco immediately after his aircraft crashed. A bill including criminal penalties for deliberately withholding POW/MIA records in violation of the law unanimously passed the House of Representatives in the 1990s. However, as also reported by Sydney Schanberg, such penalties were stripped from the law due to the efforts of former POW John McCain. [3] May 31st, 2005 12:00 AM >[http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0523,schanberg,64705,6.html


A small number of coalition soldiers went missing in action in Iraq following the 2003 invasion. In one prominent case, a US Marine of Lebanese background, Wassef Ali Hassoun, went missing and claimed to have been captured. He later turned up in Lebanon, and was flown home to the U.S. It was soon discovered Hassoun made the kidnapping story up, and Hassoun is currently a fugitive.[4]

On October 23, 2006 US Army soldier Spc. Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie was captured by insurgents and is listed as missing-captured. He appeared in a proof of life video in February of 2007 but he hasn't been seen or heard from since. A $50,000 reward is being offered by the US government for information leading to his recovery. On May 12, 2007 a US Army observation post was overrun by Iraqi insurgents, four American and one Iraqi soldier were killed, three other US Army soldiers were captured. They were Pfc. Joseph J. Anzack Jr., Pvt. Byron W. Fouty and Spc. Alex R. Jimenez. Pfc. Anzacks' body was found in the Euphrates River south of Baghdad on May 23, 2007 bearing signs of torture. On June 4, 2007. The ISI claimed that they killed Fouty and Jimenez and also claimed that their bodies are buried and will not be returned to their families. Since the war began 4 US servicemen are still listed as MIA. On 3/30/08 the military announced the discovery of the remains of Maupin, bringing the Iraq MIA toll down to 3.

[edit] Colloquial usage

MIA is sometimes used in American English to describe difficulty finding something. "The TV remote is MIA." It is less often used in this context in UK English, where the equivalent phrase is "gone AWOL".

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ St. Petersburg Times - December 14, 1997 Senate to review gulf war pilot's fate
  2. ^ MISSING IN ACTION IN 2001, PRESIDENT CLINTON MADE A DECISION THAT PUSHED SCOTT SPEICHER BACK INTO THE HEADLINES AND SPARKED A RENEWED EFFORT TOWARD SOLVING A 10-YEAR-OLD MYSTERY. The Virginian Pilot; Jan 4, 2002
  3. ^ Senator Goes Missing Where are the soldiers? The issue the press never asks McCain about. by Sydney H. Schanberg
  4. ^ BBC NEWS | World | Americas | US marine declared deserter again

[edit] External links