Wanted to share something I was honored to be a small part of.
A little backstory, I was in the 535th Airlift Squadron for the last 4 years and one of the most rewarding missions are “DPAA” (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency). Usually the mission takes us out to Vietnam & Loas, but in March of 2019 we got a drop down to Myanmar and I was lucky enough to be on it.
So, once we arrived in Myanmar we realized that the DPAA crew had found remains. We ask the crew about their findings and the lead says they found “wings” (all aircrew wear wings on their uniform, but back in the day, they were actually metal like what you would see on modern Blues) with the remains. Which means they likely found an American pilot.
Obviously this already feels pretty special, but once we get back to Hickam and go through the full “repatriation ceremony” it really just drives home how special this mission is. Just a truly moving experience.
But now that we are back at Hickam, this is when DPAA sets out to identify the remains. This is a long process and rarely do we ever find out who we carried. Well because this is one of the few missions into Myanmar, I was able to keep track.
And that pilot turned out to be a man named LT. John Heffernan who went down during WWII. Beyond happy for the family to be able to finally have some closure and truly honored to have been able to bring him home. I’ll link the full story for anyone interested.
TLDR: Hit the link.
A little backstory, I was in the 535th Airlift Squadron for the last 4 years and one of the most rewarding missions are “DPAA” (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency). Usually the mission takes us out to Vietnam & Loas, but in March of 2019 we got a drop down to Myanmar and I was lucky enough to be on it.
So, once we arrived in Myanmar we realized that the DPAA crew had found remains. We ask the crew about their findings and the lead says they found “wings” (all aircrew wear wings on their uniform, but back in the day, they were actually metal like what you would see on modern Blues) with the remains. Which means they likely found an American pilot.
Obviously this already feels pretty special, but once we get back to Hickam and go through the full “repatriation ceremony” it really just drives home how special this mission is. Just a truly moving experience.
But now that we are back at Hickam, this is when DPAA sets out to identify the remains. This is a long process and rarely do we ever find out who we carried. Well because this is one of the few missions into Myanmar, I was able to keep track.
And that pilot turned out to be a man named LT. John Heffernan who went down during WWII. Beyond happy for the family to be able to finally have some closure and truly honored to have been able to bring him home. I’ll link the full story for anyone interested.
Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Heffernan, J.)
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Air Forces 1st Lt. John J. Heffernan, Jr., 24, of Brooklyn, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Nov. 2,
www.dpaa.mil
TLDR: Hit the link.
