Before Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel steps down, he and the Pentagon look to establish a new POW-MIA office.
Two existing agencies will merge in the coming months to help the military locate missing war dead more efficiently, The Associated Press reported Friday.
The new office will do away with the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command, based in Hawaii, and the Defense POW-MIA Office, based in the Pentagon. A new Washington-based office will be formed in their place, AP reported.
“Finding, recovering and identifying the remains of these individuals is one of our highest responsibilities, and I believed that [the Department of Defense] could more effectively and transparently account for our missing personnel while ensuring their families receive timely and accurate information,” Mr. Hagel said, AP reported.
The Pentagon has not yet come up with a name for agency, which will be tasked with finding tens of thousands of unaccounted-for Americans from World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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