What is the reason for such interest in Gulf War veteran Scott Speicher and his connection to Iraq?
Dental records have confirmed that remains found in the desert of Iraq belong to Navy Capt. Michael Scott Speicher, a Jacksonville-based pilot shot down Jan. 17, 1991. In July, the military said in a release, Iraqi citizens told Marines stationed in Al Anbar Province that they were present when Speicher crashed in west-central Iraq. One said Speicher’s body was found at the crash site by Bedouins and buried. The Marines searched the area and recovered remains over the past week. After being flown to Dover Air Force base, the remains, which included bones and skeletal fragments, were positively identified by the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology based on dental records. The Institute is also conducting DNA testing, with results expected in a day or so. “Our Navy will never give up looking for a shipmate, regardless of how long or how difficult that search may be,” Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, said in a statement. “We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Captain Spei
The remains of the first American killed in the Gulf War have been found in Iraq, solving a mystery that has vexed the US military since his jet was shot down on the first night of the 1991 war. The Pentagon announced yesterday that the remains of Navy Captain Michael “Scott” Speicher had been identified from bone fragments unearthed in the Iraqi desert, after two Iraqi civilians contacted Marines to say that they knew where he was buried. The discovery ends 18 years of uncertainty about the fate of Captain Speicher, who left behind a wife and two young children when he disappeared. The Pentagon initially declared him killed but the lack of remains, and claims by some Iraqis over the years to have seen him in captivity, led officials to change his status to “missing in action” and later “missing-captured”. Sources: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article6736482.
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