The remains of the only American missing in action in the first Persian Gulf war have been found, the Navy announced Sunday.
Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher, a native of Kansas City, was shot down while flying an F/A-18 Hornet over western Iraq in the opening hours of Operation Desert Storm on January 17, 1991.
A tip from local Iraqi citizens in July led the Marines to Speicher's remains.
"One of these Iraqi citizens stated that they were present when
Speicher was found dead at the crash site by Bedouins and his remains
buried," says a statement issued by the Navy. "The Iraqi citizens led
U.S. Marines to the site who searched the area. Remains were recovered
over several days during the past week and flown to Dover Air Force
Base for scientific identification by the AFIP's Office of the Armed
Forces Medical Examiner."
The Marines recovered bones and skeletal fragments from the site.
Dental records helped confirm that the remains were in fact Speicher's,
although the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology DNA Lab is also
running DNA tests on the remains.
"Our Navy will never give up looking for a shipmate, regardless of how
long or how difficult that search may be," said Adm. Gary Roughead,
chief of naval operations, in a statement. "We owe a tremendous debt of
gratitude to Captain Speicher and his family for the sacrifice they
have made for our nation and the example of strength they have set for
all of us."
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