# WWII MIA found alive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 26, 2017, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357 "2017-12-26T21:54:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357/1 "2017-12-26T21:54:31Z")
OK, saw Kong Skull Island a while ago, on cable. (small spoiler ahead) I thought of that Army Air Corps Lt, who went MIA during the last part of WWII, lived for nearly 30 years in the jungle then got to go back home. I assume he was declared dead after a while. So, what happens when he is found alive? Does he get back pay? Does he have to repay his insurance? While missing could he have been promoted? Does he get retirement? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357/2 "2017-12-26T23:19:37Z")
Quite likely he would receive back pay, and perhaps given a rank commensurate with normal advancement in service. There may not be a requirement for such, but it would be the right thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357/3 "2017-12-26T23:22:41Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Quite likely he would receive back pay, and perhaps given a rank commensurate with normal advancement in service. There may not be a requirement for such, but it would be the right thing to do. That is what I thought, but I am unsure. So, he’d be a Major or lt Col, since Col has special requirements, and isnt automatic? Or am I wrong in that? It’d be a nice check, anyway, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357/4 "2017-12-27T03:50:58Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > It’d be a nice check, anyway, eh? The IRS would certainly consider it nice, anyway. Especially as it’s all paid in one year, putting it into a high tax bracket. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357/5 "2017-12-27T09:08:54Z")
As for insurance, a brief gloss over some murky links suggests that is up to the insurance company to sue for repayment, but the chances they will do that diminish as the suspicion of fraud recedes into the distance. There doesn’t seem to be a large body of precedent on this. Every state his its own laws on death in absentia, but in the case of on duty military personnel, the federal government would prevail in defining legal death. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357/6 "2017-12-27T09:14:22Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > As for insurance, a brief gloss over some murky links suggests that is up to the insurance company to sue for repayment, but the chances they will do that diminish as the suspicion of fraud recedes into the distance. There doesn’t seem to be a large body of precedent on this. > > Every state his its own laws on death in absentia, but in the case of on duty military personnel, the federal government would prevail in defining legal death. Ah. At first I was going to say “what insurance”, then I recalled an active policy that the wife would have cashed in at some point. Poses an interesting question: when do MIA wives get to collect? What’s the timetable? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357/7 "2017-12-27T09:16:01Z")
Plus I think that active duty servicemembers have an insurance policy all their own. Whether that varies by rank or time in service, I am unsure. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357/8 "2017-12-27T09:49:09Z")
Can you give a link to any news story about any American military man who was declared MIA in World War II and then reappeared about thirty years later? The only similar story I know of is about Japanese men. I can’t find any mention of this happening to people from any other country, and one of the stories about this happening to Japanese men seems to have been a hoax: > **[60 years after the war ends, two soldiers emerge from the jungle](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/may/28/secondworldwar.japan)** > > Mystery surrounds Japanese men, both in their 80s, who say they have been in hiding since second world war. [http://www.wanpela.com/holdouts/list.html](http://www.wanpela.com/holdouts/list.html) ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357/9 "2017-12-27T10:11:48Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Can you give a link to any news story about any American military man who was declared MIA in World War II and then reappeared about thirty years later? The only similar story I know of is about Japanese men. I can’t find any mention of this happening to people from any other country, and one of the stories about this happening to Japanese men seems to have been a hoax: > > [60 years after the war ends, two soldiers emerge from the jungle | World news | The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/may/28/secondworldwar.japan) > > [Chronology of Japanese Holdouts](http://www.wanpela.com/holdouts/list.html) Aren’t there even a few, especially from Vietnam? This question is about insurance, what if your husband or wife was MIA and never recovered? Or perhaps, unknownst to you, interred in the Tomb Of Unknowns? That guarantees MIA status forever. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357/10 "2017-12-27T13:35:18Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Plus I think that active duty servicemembers have an insurance policy all their own. Whether that varies by rank or time in service, I am unsure. It’s called SGLI. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servicemembers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servicemembers)’\_Group\_Life\_Insurance In my era the first increment was paid for by Uncle Sam and was the same for everyone, private to general. Individuals could buy more if they wanted. At a real low price that was the same for everyone, private to general. AIUI that’s is still how it works today. Of course what’s affordable to a private and what’s affordable to a general differ. But the price and coverage was the same. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357/11 "2017-12-27T14:47:59Z")
I quite enjoyed the book No Surrender by Hiroo Onoda, the Japanese hold out that thought WWII was still ongoing and lived on a Philippine Island for 30 years. He did kill some police officers during that time but thought the war was still going on and was pardoned by Ferdinand Marcos. [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroo\_Onoda](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroo_Onoda) I’m not sure if he got the money he would have been owed or not but I don’t think he was promoted or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357/12 "2017-12-27T14:48:40Z")
FoieGrasIsEvil, there are now no veterans of the Vietnam War interred in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Identifying bodies is now so easy that it’s unlikely there will ever be any more bodies buried there. DrDeth, can you give us a link to the American soldier who reappeared after thirty years? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357/13 "2017-12-27T14:49:59Z")
Big tangent. I remember reading that some WW2 people discovered they were MIA decades later when they went to revieve their pension. Records not been updated. One guy (Brit) had both a discharge papers, a later post war enlistment and **commissioning** , and years of service including combat tours culminating in retiring as IIRC a Lt Col. But “sorry Gov, you been missing since Caen”. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357/14 "2017-12-27T15:36:09Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > FoieGrasIsEvil, there are now no veterans of the Vietnam War interred in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Identifying bodies is now so easy that it’s unlikely there will ever be any more bodies buried there. DrDeth, can you give us a link to the American soldier who reappeared after thirty years? He is fictional, from a film. But the question isnt really about him. It is what would happen if such a soldier came forward? Not a deserter, but a real MIA that was finally found after being declared dead. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357/15 "2017-12-27T15:41:56Z")
There have been threads and threads about the general legal situation of a missing civilian declared dead and later found to be alive. The legal principles are fairly well-established. Though once in awhile [hijinks ensue](http://loweringthebar.net/2013/10/no-youre-still-deceased.html). The specifics of military procedures for rank, back pay, etc. are more interesting. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357/16 "2017-12-27T20:11:39Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > FoieGrasIsEvil, there are now no veterans of the Vietnam War interred in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. “The remains of the Vietnam Unknown were exhumed May 14, 1998. Based on mitochondrial DNA testing, DoD scientists identified the remains as those of Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie, who was shot down near An Loc, Vietnam, in 1972. It has been decided that the crypt that contained the remains of the Vietnam Unknown will remain vacant.” -Wikipedia It is a moving [article.](https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/Tomb-of-the-Unknown-Soldier) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357/17 "2017-12-28T12:09:28Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > can you give us a link to the American soldier who reappeared after thirty years? [This story made the rounds](http://www.thejournal.ie/missing-vietnam-vet-found-john-robertson-885986-Apr2013/) - but DNA testing showed the guy to be either a hoaxer or off his nut. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357/18 "2017-12-28T18:18:09Z")
This movie is about a similar situation: [The Return of Martin Guerre - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Return_of_Martin_Guerre). It was remade in the U.S. as _Sommersby_ and given a post-Civil War setting: [Sommersby - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sommersby). The _Star Trek_ novel _Ship of the Line_, inspired by the _ST:TNG_ episode “Cause and Effect,” had a starship stuck in a time warp for several decades. When it finally emerged, its captain found himself the senior-most officer in Starfleet, with his choice (after retraining) of new ships. No mention of back pay that I remember. ---
**Author:** ![SamuelA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@SamuelA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SamuelA)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357/19 "2017-12-28T18:47:49Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > The _Star Trek_ novel _Ship of the Line_, inspired by the _ST:TNG_ episode “Cause and Effect,” had a starship stuck in a time warp for several decades. When it finally emerged, its captain found himself the senior-most officer in Starfleet, with his choice (after retraining) of new ships. No mention of back pay that I remember. You’d think that Star Fleet, of all things, would go by actual “experienced time” and not “earth time”. Given that temporal anomalies and even straight up time travel is a common occurrence in their world. Now I wonder if Wesley Crusher could be able to drink if the Enterprise spent long enough near a black hole or something so that when he gets back to Earth he’s over 21, despite still being 16. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357/20 "2017-12-28T19:06:57Z")
> [@SamuelA](#): > > Now I wonder if Wesley Crusher could be able to drink if the Enterprise spent long enough near a black hole or something so that when he gets back to Earth he’s over 21, despite still being 16. I believe there was a standing order that Worf was to summarily execute Wesley if he came near an event horizon. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-mia-found-alive/805357.md?page=2)