Sign the petition

This petition will be presented to the President, the members of the House and Senate Defense Appropriations committees and the Defense Department as they consider how to implement and whether to fully fund the National Defense Authorization Act of 2010 and its instruction to increase the recovery rate of our missing servicemen from all wars by 300%.

The Petition

There are 80,000 Missing American Service Personnel worldwide. Less than 1 in 1,000 are recovered each year. In 2009 the House, the Senate and the President of Representatives began to correct this injustice by passing the National Defense Authorization Act of 2010. This bill calls on the Secretary of Defense to implement a comprehensive, coordinated, integrated, and fully resourced program to account for all of these Missing. Among the particulars are an increased in recoveries to 200 in 2015.

We believe implementation of this Act requires a committment to expeditiously recover remains that are already located or located as part of this effort, and a committment to systematically seek through arcihval and field research the location of the 25-35,000 Missing the Defense Department views as "possibly recoverable" The House and Senate must assure the Authorization is interpreted in this manner and that the 2011 Defense Appropriation fully funds this effort. Recognizing that the Defense Department will need to create the capability to recover remains outside its traditional area of expertise and realizing the passing of witnesses and surviving family members we ask that you seek immediate implemetation of any necessary pilot programs in anticipation of the completion of the 2011 Defense Appropriation. At a time of war it is essential that today’s service personnel and their families know that American honors its commitment to “leave no one behind”.

Thank you.

We ask...

• We ask the House and Senate Defense Appropriations Committees to fully fund recovery of all Fallen American Service Personnel as soon as they are located, and to fully fund systematically seeking the 24-34,000 Missing the Defense Department views as "Possibly Recoverable". In light of the 700-3,500 remains believed by the office of the Secretary of Defense to have already been reported in but not recovered, and appreciating that 100-500 more remains are located annually through civilian efforts, we ask that you recognize this effort will likely lead to more remains recovered than called for in the National Defense Authorization Act.
• We further ask that Armed Services Committees and their members work with the Secretary of Defense to assure that such a plan is developed and implemented quickly.
• We finally ask that the Armed Services Committees work with the Secretary of Defense and the Defense Appropriations Committees to assure that any necessary pilot progams are implemented that will allow for the immedatie creation of the capability to implement the recovery program; making sure that the planning and appropriations processes do not result in funding delays that further burden the aging family members who await the return of their loved ones.