Los Angeles Times: Air Force Seeks Combat Gear

http://latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-combat-gear0712jul12.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dpolitics%2Dheadlines

Air Force Seeks Combat Gear
By JAMES HANNAH
Associated Press Writer

July 12 2001

DAYTON, Ohio -- Terri Bise didn't hesitate after hearing the Air Force needed
uniforms and equipment from the Korean and Vietnam wars to help identify the
remains of missing U.S. soldiers.

She promptly donated a pair of fatigues worn by her husband, a 26-year Air Force
veteran who served in a medical unit in both wars and died a year ago.

"During the Vietnam War, he was really interested in identifying the MIAs," said
Bise, 65. "I know my husband would have really appreciated me doing this for
him. It's an honor for me."

It is the first time the Air Force clothing office, based at Wright-Patterson
Air Force Base in Ohio, has asked for such donations from the public.

The items that are collected at Air Force bases will be compared with clothing
and equipment found at aircraft crash sites in Vietnam and Korea to help in
investigations of U.S. soldiers missing in action. Matches can help date a crash
and determine if Americans were among the victims.

"This stuff is so rare it's unbelievably hard to find," said Elton Hudgins,
chief of the Life Sciences Laboratory at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio,
Texas, where MIA material is examined.

The lab especially needs helmets, flight suits, survival vests, gloves and
boots.

Hudgins said the Air Force did not keep the gear because the material is
continually updated and officials did not know it might eventually be needed.
Flight suits, for example, have been modified at least 30 times since 1966, he
said.

Hudgins said the idea for the public appeal came after several veterans offered
to donate their clothing when they realized it could help in MIA investigations.

Clothing and equipment found at the site can help show what happened -- whether
the victims were injured in the crash or there was an explosion, for example,
Hudgins said.

When remains cannot be found, the clothing and equipment can be used to build a
circumstantial case of what probably happened.

"In a lot of cases, this is the only closure a family will have," Hudgins said.

On the Net:

Life Sciences Lab: http://www.brooks.af.mil/HSW/YA/divisions.htm
Copyright 2001 Associated Press