Finding Answers for Our Veterans and Their Families
In the United States military, it is often said “no one gets left behind.” However, these are more than just words. Our military does its best to enforce this standard, come hell or high water, yet the realities of war can understandably complicate this mission. Unfortunately and despite their best efforts, not everyone makes it back. Sometimes, we never really find out what happened to certain individuals. For instance, over 82,000 United States service members, serving between World War II and the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, remain unaccounted for. Of these brave men and women, 2,297 are Missourians.
I believe we have a responsibility to these individuals to find out what happened to them, and to bring them home if we can. Additionally, I think we have a responsibility to their families. After all, the saying goes, “when one person joins the armed forces, their entire family serves.” These more than 2,000 Missouri families have been waiting and waiting, in some cases over 70 years, to find out what happened to their loved ones. The emotional toll from waiting can be devastating. I believe we have a duty and a responsibility to give these families the opportunity to find peace and discover the fate of their loved ones.
That is why I have filed Senate Concurrent Resolution 26. This resolution calls on Missouri’s congressional delegation to support the passage of the Bring Our Heroes Home Act, which seeks to declassify POW/MIA records. This federal bill outlines an integrated process for the comprehensive declassification of records for missing Armed Forces personnel records, subject to legitimate limitations and exceptions. By disclosing additional records, it is hoped that we can give families the information they need and bring closure to the long waiting game they have been forced to play all these years.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 26 has been referred to the Senate’s Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions and Ethics Committee for a hearing in the near future. Ultimately, I believe by passing SCR 26, we can send a strong message to our elected leaders in Washington, D.C. to pass the Bring Our Heroes Home Act, and give these families the answers they deserve.
Please feel free to contact my office at (573) 751-2076. For information about my committee assignments or sponsored legislation, please visit my official Missouri Senate website at senate.mo.gov/Bernskoetter.