The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from the Vietnam War, are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Air Force Col. Martin R. Scott, 34, of, Jenks, Oklahoma, will be buried September 22 in Claremore, Oklahoma. On March 15, 1966, Scott was a member of Headquarters, 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, as the aircraft commander and wingman of a two-seater F-4C aircraft in a flight of two on an armed reconnaissance mission over northern Vietnam. The lead aircraft spotted two vehicles as the flight approached the target area and the pilot of Scott’s aircraft responded that he was going to strafe the trucks. The flight leader observed an explosion in the area of the target and immediately attempted to contact Scott’s aircraft. No parachutes or emergency signals were seen, and all attempts to contact Scott and his pilot were unsuccessful. An organized search was not possible due to hostilities in the area. Scott was subsequently declared missing in action.

In November 2014, a joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) recovery team conducted recovery operations at a possible F-4C crash site in Dien Bien District, Dien Bien Province. Material evidence and possible osseous material was recovered and sent to the Central Identification Laboratory for analysis. Additional recovery operations were conducted in late 2015 and late 2016, and all recovered remains were sent to the laboratory for analysis.

To identify Scott’s remains, DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA), which matched his family, as well as dental analysis, which matched his records and circumstantial evidence.

The support from the government of Vietnam was vital to the success of this recovery.

Today there are 1,602 American servicemen and civilians that are still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. Scott’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at an American Battle Monuments Commission site along with the others unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.