Warbird Information Exchange

Anyone know the approx number of AAF individuals and aircraft still listed as MIA from the ETO?

Thanks,

Technically there are NO MIAs still listed from WW2.

After being missing for "a-year-and-a-day" a Courts Martial was convened in order to finalize the status of missing individuals. The legal process was called a Finding of Death (FOD).

For all practical and legal purposes the missing were declared officially deceased as of a date 'a-year-and-a-day' after the first report of their being missing. By this process the family received death benefits etc. It is also why you will find dates of death listed as KIA well past the dates when hostilities ceased. For instance many Normandy MIAs have a date of death of June 7, 1945.

The volumes of war dead do not list any person as MIA....they list them as FOD.

The boiler plate text accompanying articles regarding the discovery or identification of missing war dead gives the number of 78,000 still unaccounted for from WW2. This also includes losses at sea. If you assume that is roughly half of the total--and that JPAC budgets for 10 (ten) WW2 excavations a year--then they have enough work to keep them busy for the next 3,500 years.