Methodological Approaches to Search and Recovery of World War II MIAs

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

78,000 US Service Personnel are still “Missing in Action” (MIA). From World War II, they are located in both the Pacific and European theatres. History Flight, a nonprofit organization, has dedicated over 10 years to the search and recovery of these US Servicemen who are still MIAs through a transdisciplinary approach. Initial steps logically stem from archival data, including battle narratives, medical records, personal letters, aerial photography (from US and enemy files), witness interviews, and local government authority records. These normally drive the parameters for the integrated application of systematic remote sensing, including ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys, magnetometer surveys, low level Aerial surveys, and Human Remains Detection Dog (HRDD) surveys. The correlations of these data serve to focus the archaeological excavations. Through this transdisciplinary methodological approach, History Flight has successfully found and recovered over 200 US servicemen in the Pacific and Europe over the last few years. Methodological modifications are required for the location and recovery of missing servicemen from aerial disasters distinct to those for ground losses. Case examples from projects realized in the Pacific and Europe will serve as case examples to demonstrate the successful application of this transdisciplinary approach.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 29870