The U.S. Department of Defense announced that the remains of Staff Sgt. James L. Van Bendegom, age 19, missing in Cambodia from the Vietnam conflict were identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors on November 11, 2014 in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

On July 12, 1967, Staff Sgt. Van Bendegom was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, as a member of a patrol that was overrun by enemy forces near the Cambodian border. Staff Sgt. Van Bendegom was captured, and returning American prisoners of war (POWs) later reported that he died in Cambodia from wounds sustained during the attack.

On March 12, 1986, a Vietnamese national in a refugee camp in Thailand turned over to U.S. custody the remains of what were purported to be an American service member. At the time, the information provided by the Vietnamese national did not correlate with any unaccounted-for American service members.

Thanks to advances in technology, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) re-examined the remains and determined that there was a possibility for identification. The remains were then identified as belonging to Staff Sgt. Van Bendegom.

In the identification of Staff Sgt. Van Bendegom, scientists from JPAC and the U.S. Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used circumstantial evidence and two forms of DNA analysis – mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome Short Tandem Report DNA (Y-STR) – which matched with his family members.

Today there are 1,639 American service members who are still unaccounted-for from the Vietnam conflict.....

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https://cambodia.usembassy.gov/mobile//112814_pr.html

Interesting. What I'd like to know is how that vietnamese guy brought over remains to Thailand. I assume by remains they mean a lock of hair or something... And they also needed something else with his DNA to compare it to. A late closure for his family, but better late than never.

Which country developed these advances in technology so they could ID him?...
they must be great a body of men from wherever they come from..must be like the USA or France yeah

Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote:Interesting. What I'd like to know is how that vietnamese guy brought over remains to Thailand. I assume by remains they mean a lock of hair or something... And they also needed something else with his DNA to compare it to. A late closure for his family, but better late than never.

Kind of a big container for a lock of hair - eh ? I guess 4 honor guards carrying a Baggie or something the size of a ring box would look a bit foolish.

bargaining chip. Bet that guy is in the US or got some dough for it. Might be just a collection of small bones.

NOW... the topic title...so this place is the Daily News? or some tabloid? the REMAINS of a US soldier DAMN. There will come a day SOON when Khmers will speak English as well as born English speakers, as standards for such have apparently gone into the toilet and are waiting the second flush.