#179: Bringing Home America's Green Berets - Project Recover X Green Beret Foundation

America maintains a promise to its citizens…we will never leave you behind. The realities of war and conflict challenge that foundational truth and today, regrettably, thousands of American service members remain missing in action; their stories untold, their families still waiting for answers. For most the reality that their loved one has passed has set in; but the promise to bring them home has never faded.

Project Recover is dedicated to locating, identifying, and repatriating Americans missing in action. By combining historical research, advanced technology, and field expeditions across land and sea, they maintain America’s promise to bring closure to families and honor the legacy of those who gave everything for those they will never meet.

To expand the reach of this mission, Project Recover and the Green Beret Foundation have formed a groundbreaking partnership committed to finding Special Forces soldiers still missing in action, reuniting them with their families and ensuring that the sacrifices of America’s Green Berets are never forgotten.

Live from the 2nd Annual Stars and Stripes Classic, Fran Racioppi sat down with Derek Abbey, PhD, President and CEO of Project Recover, and Charlie Iacono, President and CEO of the Green Beret Foundation, to announce this partnership and share how it’s changing what remembrance and recovery mean for the Special Forces community.

This episode is about honoring America’s promise and supporting the families of our missing Green Berets, wherever their final resting place may lie.

QUOTES

• “There’s no expiration on that promise.”
• “58+ Green Berets MIA’s in Vietnam and now less than 1,600 who are still missing, that’s a pretty significant number.”
• “We’re still working on cases related to World War II.”
• “This gets to the core essence of what Green Berets do.” 
• “The work just doesn’t end in Vietnam. I think this is just the starting point.” 
• “We always work with a sense of urgency and acknowledge time is not our friend in any of these cases.”
• “Green Berets are such incredible communicators, particularly with the populations they have worked with.”
• “When somebody goes missing, they hold on to hope.”
• “The vast majority of the American public have really no understanding that people are missing.”

HIGHLIGHTS

• 0:00 Introduction
• 1:44 Welcome to the Stars & Stripes Classic
• 3:26 GBF x Project Recover
• 6:45 MIA Recovery Process
• 9:47 Partnership Timeline
• 14:27 Bringing Closure to Families

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The Jedburgh Podcast and the Jedburgh Media Channel are an official program of The Green Beret Foundation.