No Home For Heroes

Episode 5 discusses of the case of Private First Class Alfred Edwards from Oklahoma.  PFC Edwards was one of over 500 MIA's from the Battle of Tarawa in 1943.  His family requested an investigation by the Chief Rick Stone and Family Charitable Foundation regarding his fate and, thanks to a federal lawsuit filed by the Foundation under the Freedom of Information, documents were found that provided the last remaining piece of the puzzle to solve the mystery. And, in an incredible surprise bonus, Foundation investigators can now pinpoint the exact location of PFC Edwards' remains...but you'll never be able to guess where!

This episode explores the case of Lieutenant Commander Edward Henry "Butch" O'Hare who was lost during a night fighter mission on 26 November 1943.  LCDR O'Hare was a Medal of Honor recipient credited with destroying five Japanese aircraft in a single battle a year before he was lost.  When O'Hare's Hellcat fighter was last seen he was over the Pacific Ocean about 60 miles from Tarawa; however, he is officially considered an "Unresolved" casualty from the Battle of Tarawa in the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency's database.  Debate rages to this day whether LCDR O'Hare was shot down by a Japanese aircraft or he was a victim of "friendly fire".  In any case, this hero is one of almost 73,000 MIA's from World War II.

Episode 2 described the Battle of Tarawa fought between Japan and the United States during World War II.  Over 1,000 U.S. servicemen were killed during the battle but the bodies of only 532 were recovered from 41 different cemeteries on Tarawa after the war, including 282 who were initially unidentified and classified as "Unknown".  The episode discusses the continuing efforts to locate, recover, and identify over 500 missing American servicemen from this battle including the efforts of the Chief Rick Stone and Family Charitable Foundation to help identify over 100 "Unknowns" from the Battle of Tarawa who are buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (also known as the "Punchbowl") in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Episode 3 describes the investigations into eight Marines who were officially listed as "Missing In Action" by the Department of Defense from the Battle of Tarawa in 1943. The cases were resolved by Chief Rick Stone in 2011 by determining that the MIA Marines were never missing in the first place.  One case involved a Marine who survived the battle and sought assistance by the Veteran's Administration in 1977 only to be told that he could not be helped because he had been killed in action in 1943!  Unbelievable, but true!

Episode 1 describes Chief Rick Stone's appointment to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) as a member of the Department of Defense, Department of the Navy, Intelligence Directorate.  JPAC's mission was to locate, recover, and identify missing American service men and women from our past wars.  Other items of discussion in this podcast: 1) Use of the Random Incident Statistical Correlation System (RISC) to compare those buried as "Unknowns" with MIA's 2) Primary investigative responsibility for the Battle of Tarawa, Pearl Harbor, and other losses 3) Government investigations into JPAC managerial and leadership dysfunction 4) Whistleblower activities 5) Concept of Ethics 6) Continuing MIA investigations by the Chief Rick Stone and Family Charitable Foundation