Remains of Captain Speicher Discovered in Iraq

Rest in peace:

Sands hid fate of Gulf War pilot lost since ’91
Aug 2 2009
By PAULINE JELINEK and PAMELA HESS
Associated Press Writers – via Breitbart

WASHINGTON (AP) – Navy pilot Capt. Michael “Scott” Speicher was shot down over the Iraq desert on the first night of the Gulf War in 1991 and it was there Bedouins apparently buried him, hidden in the sand from the world’s mightiest military all these years.

In a sorrowful resolution to the nearly two-decade old question about his fate, the Pentagon disclosed Sunday it had received new information last month from an Iraqi citizen that led Marines to recover bones and skeletal fragments—enough for a positive identification.

Shot down over west-central Iraq on a combat mission in his FA-18 Hornet on Jan. 17, 1991, Speicher was declared killed by the Pentagon hours later. Then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney went on television and announced the U.S. had suffered its first casualty of the war.

But 10 years later, the Navy changed his status to missing in action, citing an absence of evidence that Speicher had died. In October 2002, the Navy switched his status to “missing/captured,” although it has never said what evidence it had that he ever was in captivity. More reviews followed, without definitive answers.

[...]

Family spokeswoman Cindy Laquidara said relatives learned on Saturday that Speicher’s remains had been found. “The family’s proud of the way the Defense Department continued on with our request” to not abandon the search, she said. “We will be bringing him home.”

[...]

Officials said Sunday that they got new information last month from an Iraqi citizen, prompting Marines stationed in the western province of Anbar to visit a location in the desert which was believed to be the crash site. The Iraqi said he knew of two other Iraqis who recalled an American jet crashing and the remains of the pilot being buried in the desert, the Pentagon said.

“One of these Iraqi citizens stated that they were present when Captain Speicher was found dead at the crash site by Bedouins and his remains buried,” the Defense Department said in a statement.

The military recovered bones and multiple skeletal fragments and Speicher was positively identified by matching a jawbone and dental records, said Rear Adm. Frank Thorp. He said the Iraqis told investigators that the Bedouins had buried Speicher. It was unclear whether the military had information on how soon Speicher died after the crash.
[...]

Explore posts in the same categories: Military