FAQ

Q)   How many Missing Aircrew Reports (MACR) are there?

A)   There are 16,605 Missing Aircrew reports. They were begun during May 1943 and end in 1947. When they were originally microfilmed in the 1960's, 128 of the reports were not available.

Q)   What is Group Burial and how many are there?

A)   A Group Burial occurred when the individual identification of remains was impossible. These would normally be crews of ships, tanks or aircraft. From World War II there are a total of 10,068 group burials around the world.

Q)   Why build a database for WWII casualties when the American Battle Monuments Commission already maintains one on line?

A)   Look closely at their search page and the disclaimer they make. Their database only contains the names of those men and women that are buried in their cemeteries or whose names appear in the   Courts of the Missing. That is a total of 176,399 names. This total also contains civilian and Merchant Marine casualties. They employ "smoke and mirror" tactics by alluding to the fact that there were 405,399 American casualties. They actually have less than half of the names for those lost, are short even in their alluded to total and can not tell you the difference between those Missing or Buried at Sea which makes the world of difference when it comes to closure.

Q)   What information is required to search the database?

A)    We can normally figure out which individual you may be searching simply by the name. In some cases we will need additional information. For example, if all you have is the name Robert E. Lee there would be 15 possibles. Home state, branch of service, date or area of loss, unit would limit the search to the proper individual very quickly. The serial/service number is the quickest way to isolate an individual. In the military you are a number, not a name. There are identical names, but no identical numbers.

Q)     Why isn't the Tarawa Project of finding 139 Marine bodies listed on your site other than several press releases?

A)     The Group handled the research for the project but did not participate in the field survey. The Group will make no announcements concerning the issue until proof that the bodies were actually found can be established. There is a complete chapter in the upcoming book which covers the entire Tarawa fiasco.