‘You are not forgotten’ Published May 14, 2012 By Jon Hanson Air Force Personnel, Services and Manpower Public Affairs JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas -- Four simple words for years have defined the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action mission. "You are not forgotten" symbolizes the Department of Defense intention to bring home service members who are unaccounted for from past wars and conflicts. The members of the Air Force Missing Persons Branch at the Air Force Personnel Center serve as the liaison between government agencies and families of Air Force service members who are still unaccounted for from the Korean War to present day. "One of my goals is to stay involved with our families," said Sandra Kolb, Air Force Missing Persons Branch chief. "I remind them we are committed to looking for their family member and bringing them home. Every December I send out an annual letter letting them know about the family member updates planned for the calendar year and update them on any new accountability efforts." The DOD POW/Missing Personnel Office, or DPMO, annually conducts as many as eight regional family member updates at different locations around the country to reach out to unaccounted-for service members' families without forcing them to incur travel costs, explained Vincent Fonner, AFPC Casualty Matters Division Chief. During the meetings, the Air Force Missing Persons Branch and DPMO analysts meet one-on-one with Air Force family members to discuss the details of each case. The update meetings are crucial to helping the service casualty offices establish a strong relationship with the families, Fonner said. "One of the key components of our mission is to foster trust and transparency so family members know what is being done to bring unaccounted for Airmen home. Open, viable, continuous interaction with the families is how we develop that relationship," he explained. Daily contact The Air Force Missing Persons Branch interacts daily with family members answering case questions. They also frequently gain new information from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, or JPAC, and DPMO and provide the updates and information to the family. When not interacting with family members, the three person staff continues to work on cases to stay current on requests for data. The branch also coordinates with Air Force Mortuary Affairs on memorial services and burials when remains are identified. Properly recognizing those service members "Our office works closely with the AFPC Awards and Decorations office to ensure all earned awards and decorations are presented to the primary next of kin during a ceremony," said Staff Sgt. Danielle Harris, an AFPC Missing Persons Branch liaison. "Our office also works with the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records and congressional inquiries related to POW/MIA status, and we are the point of contact for requests to add Airmen to the Vietnam Veteran Memorial." Recently, during a family member update in Dallas, Harris presented the National Defense Service Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal and Air Force Longevity Service Award to the daughter and primary next of kin of one missing service member. "It was very touching and hit the heart hard," Harris said. "I had been working with her and other offices for several months to obtain these decorations so she could honor her dad. All of us in the Air Force Missing Persons branch were able to put the biggest smile -- and happy tears -- on the family's faces." POW/MIA bracelets "We also receive requests from private citizens who have POW/MIA bracelets they want to pass on to family members of those still missing, or give them to the returned POW to let them know they have not forgotten," Harris said. "These letters to the families and former POWs are very touching." This mission can be a very humbling experience. "When you go to these meetings and talk to the families it's reinvigorating," Kolb said. "You are reminded that a family at the end of the case file is still waiting, still hoping for resolution for their case. It is a great way to remind us why we are here and why this mission goes on." These feelings are shared by other branch members. "This is the best job I have worked in my 10 years in the Air Force and definitely the most rewarding and heartfelt job," Harris said. "Every day we touch lives and hearts of our family members and honor the service of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation."