Operation 85 Attends National POW/MIA Recognition Day at the Pentagon

On Friday, September 18, Operation 85 was honored to attend the National POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

The annual observance honors former prisoners of war, those who remain missing in action, and the families who continue to carry their memory. National POW/MIA Recognition Day is observed each year on the third Friday in September. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Operation 85 historian and researcher Danny Abell joined Executive Director Kevin Kline and his wife, Elizabeth Kline, for the ceremony.

For the Operation 85 team, one of the most meaningful moments came when the U.S.S. Arizona Unknowns and the upcoming identification project were recognized during the ceremony.

(Top Left) Secretary of War Pete Hegseth gives remarks and personally mentions our U.S.S. Arizona Unknowns identification project. (Top Right) Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine. (Bottom) Color Guard enters the Parade Field at the Pentagon.

After more than three years of family outreach, genealogy research, DNA Family Reference Sample collection, and coordination with the agencies responsible for the accounting mission, hearing the U.S.S. Arizona project discussed in that setting carried special significance.

Kevin and Elizabeth were also honored to sit alongside DPAA Director Kelly McKeague and his wife, Nancy, during the ceremony.

(Left) Kevin Kline and his wife Elizabeth Kline (Right) Kevin Kline with OP85 Historian and Researcher Danny Abell at the POW MIA Recognition Day, Pentagon Parade Field, Washington D.C.

And while Washington delivered one of its hotter September mornings, the opportunity to join POW/MIA families and those committed to the accounting mission made the heat more than worthwhile.

Following the Pentagon ceremony, Operation 85 attended a reception at DPAA Headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.

There, Kevin had an opportunity to spend time discussing the U.S.S. Arizona project with Director McKeague and Anthony J. Tata, Under Secretary of War for Personnel and Readiness. Tata serves as the Secretary of War’s principal advisor on personnel and readiness matters, including military and civilian personnel policy, force readiness, health affairs, education and training, and quality-of-life issues. War.gov

(Left) Under Secretary of War for Personnel and Readiness Mr. Anthony Tata, DPAA Director Kelly McKeague and OP85 Director Kevin Kline discuss the U.S.S. Arizona Unknowns project and Operation 85’s experience reaching the required family DNA representation threshold in less than three years. (Top Right) Kevin Kline, Director Kelly McKeague and OP85 Historian Danny Abell (Bottom Right) Kevin Kline, Under Secretary of War Anthony Tata and Danny Abell.

The conversations provided another opportunity to discuss the progress of the U.S.S. Arizona identification mission and the broader importance of partnerships that bring government agencies, families, researchers, scientists, and nonprofit organizations together in support of the nation’s missing service members.

Operation 85 also had the opportunity to speak with Vietnam’s Ambassador to the United States, Nguyễn Quốc Dũng.

(Left to right) OP85 Historian Danny Abell, Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyễn Quốc Dũng, Sr. Colonel Vu Quoc Anh and OP85 Executive Director Kevin Kline.

The discussion turned to Operation 85’s success in locating and engaging families, expanding genealogy and research capabilities, and helping connect eligible relatives with the DNA Family Reference Sample process.

The conversation also opened the door to additional discussions about whether some of the systems, processes, and lessons developed through Operation 85 could have broader value in efforts to identify missing service members beyond the U.S.S. Arizona mission.

That possibility reflects just how far Operation 85 has come.

What began with one ship, one group of families, and a determination to find answers for the U.S.S. Arizona Unknowns continues to create relationships and opportunities that were difficult to imagine when the mission began.

Operation 85 remains committed to supporting U.S.S. Arizona families while sharing what we have learned in ways that may strengthen the broader POW/MIA accounting mission.