 My father, Richard Kibbe Sr. was, you know, he was everything to me. He was the ultimate dad. I used to kid with folks that my mom and dad were June and Ward Cleaver. My father was a pilot in the U.S. Air Force doing rescue helicopters work and had gone over the Ho Chi Minh child to pick up a pilot who had been shot down. They were hit by ground fire when it flew into the side of a cliff. I remember the day that they came to the door like it was yesterday. There was a doorbell rang. I answered the door and I saw three military men in there and I knew immediately it was bad news. That was a very difficult time as we were trying to figure out what was happening. In the first few months there was a lot of hope that something would be found. My father was in the jungle hiding along with his crew. The months turned into years and finally we were resolved the fact that he was missing in action. After about 50 years a team was looking at what they thought was my father's crash site when a villager came up to him with a small box that had dog tags in it and as well as a fragment of bone from, ultimately, it was Patrick Wood who was the pilot. Those dog tags belonged to my father. He led them to the correct crash site where they ultimately discovered the remains of all the air crew. Shortly after this second crew member was found, we got a notification that they found my father and I immediately got on the phone and notified all my uncles and my siblings that my dad was coming home. It felt like the end of a great question mark in our lives. It was not something we ever expected. We were shocked when they found the dog tags but when they actually found remains and were told we're going to bring them home we were very, very elated and pleased to see the end of that. After they had identified my father, my nephew who is active duty in the Air Force right now was going to be the official escort and he got to officially take the casket to the airport and fly back to Washington D.C. Got the full military honors at D.C. airport where the people in the airplane were looking out the windows and they brought out the casket with a case on and a formal group of people that did the flag the whole deal and put them in a hearse and took them to Arlington for the ceremony the next day. That was amazing. You see it was so amazing to see all that. You see that on TV often that somebody is found or somebody is brought in with the full military honors and to be on the tarmac myself and to watch that was just an amazing event. Being military I've seen many, many funerals and formal ceremonies but to be there and watch that and see the pageantry and the solemnness and the honor with which it's done was fabulous. The recovery has been so healing for my family it's unbelievable how much. I would not believe the difference in my uncle how he changed just at the funeral that he all of a sudden started talking about my dad and all the things I did the stories that came out of his mouth that he never would tell before because it hurt too much but between my siblings and my uncles it's been a fantastic experience to learn about everything having to do with his recovery the people that went out and were sifting through the dirt and the sand mostly Vietnamese nationals and the DPAA team that went there and recovered those remains brought them back identified them and ultimately we got the remains moved to Arlington for burial. I think the recovery of people who have been lost in war is important to both countries that are involved. After the conflict is over there are missing loved ones that need to be accounted for families need to know about them and figure out what happened to their loved ones. The DPAA effort and the Vietnamese national effort to recover U.S. Americans and as well as local nationals has been instrumental in building a bond between two countries that once weren't getting along very well. One thing I would like to add to all of this is that I have my heart felt thank you to the people at DPAA, the people who continually go over to sites worldwide to find loved ones and bring home some news that we found them and know where they are and we're going to bring them home to you. And I'd really like to put a special thanks to the Vietnamese people who spend their time and effort to care for our families and bring them home.