How did the Defense Intelligence Agency assist efforts to account for U.S. service members missing from the Vietnam War?

At the conclusion of the Vietnam War in the mid-1970s, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) took an active role in U.S. efforts to account for American service members who were missing or captured during the conflict.1

While the DIA provided intelligence support, the broader effort to resolve the status of those missing in action (MIA) and prisoners of war (POW) faced significant challenges. Because the United States did not occupy North Vietnam, it was unable to conduct searches of prisons or cemeteries, and the difficult terrain and climate further hindered recovery operations. Although the issue became a subject of intense public controversy and investigation, no credible evidence was ever produced to substantiate claims that American POWs remained in captivity after the war's end. Today, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency continues the mission of accounting for those who remain missing.2