Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) member, joined Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) on a bipartisan letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin asking him to allow the Defense POW-MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) to proceed with immediate disinterment of the American service members who died in the 1945 Tokyo military prison fire and remain buried as Unknowns at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
“Now is the time to take action on this case in order to finally put these men to rest in the country that they died fighting so valiantly for,” the senators wrote. “We appeal to this country’s sense of honor and commitment to do what is right by America’s service members.”
In their letter, the senators explain that because these service members were originally buried together, Defense Department policy requires the DPAA have Family Reference Samples (FRSs) or other medical means of identification available for at least 60 percent of the associated remains before commencing disinterment. The DPAA currently has 37 FRSs for the 62 service members, which equates to 59.68 percent, meaning the families who have waited more than 76 years to confirm what happened to their loved ones are forced to wait on less than one percent. There are no guarantees when the DPAA will reach this threshold or that those gold star families will live long enough to get answers.
Senators Cramer and Rubio are joined on the letter by Senators Rick Scott (R-FL), Thom Tillis (R-NC), John Hoeven (R-ND), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Boozman (R-AR), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Richard Burr (R-NC), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Tina Smith (D-MN), Bob Casey (D-PA), and Joni Ernst (R-IA).