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Part 5
Colleen McCarty, Investigative Reporter
CSI Lab in Hawaii Works to Make Positive ID
July 4, 2006 07:40 PM CDT
(Scroll down for the Skivington Memorial and Freedom Tree Fund information)
A Nevada soldier has been missing for more than three decades, but his
family may soon be able to take him to his final resting place.
A team of military experts believes they've recovered remains and personal effects of Private First Class William "Skip" Skivington. Forensic scientists in Hawaii are working to make the positive identification.
A quote from Ronald Reagan hangs above the lab where forensic experts work to identify remains. It reads, "An end to America's involvement in Vietnam cannot come before we've achieved the fullest possible accounting of those missing in action."
In the heart of paradise near the harbor that lives in infamy, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command honors our nation's promise to find our missing soldiers anywhere in the world and bring them home.
Bill Skivington, Sr. has waited 38 years for this moment, for his oldest son and his namesake to return from Vietnam.
Bill, Sr. said, "It's been a long hard journey."
A journey that began on Mother's Day 1968 when the Army listed Private First Class William "Skip" Skivington missing in action after a fire fight near the Laos border.
Using a variety of resources -- including satellite images, historical
records and field interviews -- anthropologists with the Joint POW/MIA
Accounting Command excavated the mountain top battleground.
The third time brought them success.
Brad Sturm, with JPAC, said, "So, here's the area completely exposed.
Skivington's ID media was found about here; his high school class ring, a female ring, in this area here."
The team also recovered Skip's wallet, possible bone fragments and teeth along with evidence of four of his fellow soldiers.
Brad Sturm led the joint field activity. "The first thing you think about is the family's potential relief. That maybe there's going to be some genuine closure on this event they've carried with them all their lives," he said. At long last, a father has something to hold.
Scientists at the central identification laboratory will use the personal effects, dental records, and if necessary, DNA testing to make a positiveidentification. Bill, Sr. said, "I brought my wife's DNA."
Years punctuated by disappointment have taught Bill, Sr. to leave nothing to chance.
"We're trying to speed up the DNA testing on my son. So that maybe we can get him to Arlington before I die," he said.
It may take several weeks or longer before identification can be made. When all of the remains have been processed, the JPAC team will determine whether a fourth trip to Kham Duc is needed.
Bill, Sr. said, "It's a relief, but it never ends."
Anthropologists believe they may still be missing two soldiers who
disappeared that day.
There is a fund to raise money to move a tree dedicated in "PFC "Skip"
Skivington's memory. People that wish to make a donation to the tree fund can mail or drop off their checks to:
Skivington Memorial and Freedom Tree Fund
Sterling Escrow
1800 East Desert Inn
Las Vegas, Nev. 89109
Any excess funds collected will be donated to the Southern Nevada Veteran's
Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.
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