WASHINGTON – A Vietnam War soldier from Miami Beach, who had been lost since 1971, has now been accounted for.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced on Thursday that U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Sanford I. Finger, of Miami Beach, was accounted for on Aug. 23.
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On Oct. 26, 1971, Finger, 29, was a passenger in a CH-47B Chinook helicopter, when it went down in the South China Sea during bad weather while flying from Tuy Hoa to Cam Ranh Bay.
During search and rescue operations immediately after the crash, the Army said crews recovered the remains of four of the 10 soldiers on board the helicopter, but Finger was not accounted for.
For decades, the Army said investigators searched for Finger and the other missing members of his team.
The DPAA said they found possible human remains and material evidence during a June 2021 recovery mission.
To identify Finger’s remains, scientists say they used, “anthropological analysis, as well as material and circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.”
Finger’s name is on the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the DPAA plans to place a rosette next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Funeral plans have not been determined.
Loved ones and friends of Finger are urged to contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490 for more information.