In Green Bay this weekend, a government agency is helping those families uncover details of their loved ones death or last known whereabouts to uncover mysteries unknown for decades.
Trying to track done a loved veteran who died overseas or who never came back is a huge task. Fortunately we have resources like few other countries do to provide the answers and sometimes closure that can be nearly impossible to find on your own.
Stretching from World War II to the Gulf war’s there's been over 80-thousand veterans who never made it home. 2nd Lt. John Starich was just one of them. Today NBC26 met his little brother Bill Starich who was just 16-years old one his idol went to World War II.
"He was a role model and I've always thought a lot of him and all those years it was in the back of my mind… I just didn't know. He was missing in action," says Bill Starich.
A telegram stating that his brother was missing in action is all his family really knew or talked about regarding his untimely departure from them.
"I’m just sitting in limbo all these years," adds Starich.
That is until today when Bill showed up to Green Bay to meet with government specialists on POW/MIA issues. He presented them with a DNA sample some time back but didn’t know what it would amount too.
"We take that step to try to find and account for those individuals via DNA via scientific analysis and a lot of research and investigation and bring those missing war hero’s home," says Major Craig Cherek of the US Air Force.
"The United States is one of the few nations that put such an effort into finding our past fallen," adds Dr. Alice Briones the Chief Medical Examiner and Director of DOD DNA Registry.
The POW/MIA Accounting Agency managed to determine through the help of a simple DNA swab test that Lt. Starich died in the Battle of the Bulge. They even know where he fell, where his remains are today and the date of his death.
"It really cured my ills to know what happened," says Starich.
All of these details were shared with Bill for the first time today.
"At least I know what happened. I am the only one. I am the last one in the family. 87 years old."
And while bringing our soldiers home can be as difficult as locating them, for one family at the least today, they can put a story to the man, uncle, brother and son that was finally found.
If you want to learn more about putting your DNA into a data base so that a veteran in your family can possibly be identified or even brought back home we've included a link to the POW/MIA Accounting Agency which is posted below.
Here’s a link to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency website for additional details: www.dpaa.mil
It’s also recommended that you contact your local Causality Officer for additional information.
