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Mission Statement:
The purpose of the MIA Project is to locate, identify and inter the unclaimed cremated remains of American veterans through the joint efforts of private, state and federal organizations. To provide honor and respect to those who have served this country by securing a final resting place for these forgotten heroes.

Scope:
The initial focus of the MIA Project will be a massive, nation-wide effort to locate, identify and inter the unclaimed remains of forgotten veterans. This task will be executed through the combined, cooperative efforts of members of the American Legion, other volunteer service and veteran organizations, local Funeral Homes, State Funeral Commissions, State and National Veterans Administration Agencies, and the State and National Veterans Cemetery Administrations. Local, state and national laws must be followed in the identification, claiming process and proper interment of the unclaimed remains of forgotten veterans.

This will be a lengthy project and will require many man-hours to ensure that we have done our utmost to discover every forgotten veteran and procure each a dignified resting place. This will also be a labor of love, a task of redemption, for a debt of service that can never be repaid.

The second phase of the MIA Project will be the creation of a network of individuals working with local Funeral Homes, State, and National Agencies to ensure that, from now on, the cremated remains of any unclaimed veteran will be identified, claimed and interred in a timely manner. This will be an ongoing project and will most likely be a cooperative effort between many voluntary service organizations.

The MIA Project will be a long-term project, but not a time sensitive project.

Total Funeral Homes Visited - 2,782 Cremains Found - 16,100*

Veterans Cremains Identified - 2,044 Veterans Interred - 1,854

* 3500 of these Cremains were found in one institution

*2600 more names recently received from two funeral homes in Missouri

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HOnors At Arlington Archives

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Team members please submit your preference for username and password to

sailormom@miap.us or ducpho@miap.us

Photo Submitted by Rob Finch �The Oregonian�

Missing in America Project

Veteran Recovery Program

You served your country through a war, or through peacetime. You expected to receive a military burial, recognition by our government of your commitment to our great country. You expected to have honor and respect paid to you as a result of your service to our great country. Instead, you reside on a shelf in a mortuary or a storage facility at a crematorium.

The mission of the MIAP project is to locate, identify and inter the unclaimed cremains of veterans through the joint efforts of private, state and federal organizations. These forgotten veterans have served our country and, as such, deserve to be buried with honor and respect. The impetus for our fine program began in November 2006. The Idaho State Veterans cemetery interred 21 cremains of forgotten veterans, with full military honors and the dignity these fallen heroes so richly deserved. Recently, a state hospital announced that 3500 cremains were on shelves to be identified. (The link to the newspaper article is: http://tinyurl.com/2xrx9u. On the shelf were cremains for the time span of the 1890s to 1971. It is estimated 1,000 of these cremains are veterans. This is happening in every state.

This project has just begun. We need to blanket every mortuary and cemetery in the United States and let them know there are people who desire to claim our veterans. We need to let them know it is our desire to see they are interred with the honor and respect they deserve. They served our great nation. It is now our great nation�s turn to serve them.

The veterans languishing on shelves need us. They need America to step forward and ensure they are buried with honor. They need America to show their thanks for their service. Without them, we would not have the freedoms we enjoy today.

The following is a list of contacts for the MIAP:

Executive Director

Fred Salanti ducpho@miap.us - (530) 226-9900

Operations

Linda Smith sailormom@miap.us - (573) 528-6930

Financial

Frank (Bud) Thieme Jr. bikerpapa@miap.us

Chaplain

Robert Pasero bpasero@sbcglobal.net

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