While touring Southeast Asia with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)’s Joint Field Activities (JFA) in March and April, VFW Commander-in-Chief Cory Geisler was overcome by a profound sense of compassion.
Geisler recalled every leg of his trip, from Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor across the Pacific to Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, where he met brigadier generals, DPAA personnel, foreign dignitaries and diplomats, culminating with a memorial service on April 7.
Then-VFW Senior Vice Commander Cory Geisler digs through a bucket of soil during recovery efforts at a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) dig site near Quang Binh Province, Vietnam, on April 7.Held at Bo Trach District, Quang Binh Province, Vietnam, the remembrance ceremony marked the 25th anniversary of an Mi-17 helicopter crash that killed seven Americans and nine Vietnamese during a joint search for missing U.S. service members.
Geisler, then serving as VFW’s Senior Vice Commander, was joined by VFW Director of Public Affairs and Strategic Outreach Robert Couture. They sat among a large, solemn crowd of DPAA and U.S. Embassy members, along with representatives from the Vietnamese Missing Persons Agency and the families of those killed in the crash.
“Words can’t even begin to describe what it was like to be there,” said Geisler, an Iraq War veteran who served with the Army from 2005 to 2012. “It put things in perspective, made me realize that we still have so many Gold Star families searching for that closure, for what happened to their person, if they will ever be found. I can’t imagine not knowing.”
The experience gave Geisler a quiet admiration for DPAA’s mission to account for the more than 80,000 U.S. troops who remain listed as missing in action (MIA) since World War I.
As VFW Commander-in-Chief this year, Geisler is partnering with VFW Auxiliary President Donna Mills to raise awareness and funds for DPAA and its mission to account for every MIA who donned the country’s uniform.
“Our goal is to raise money for missions to recover our MIAs, especially with the budget cuts DPAA has recently taken, which not only affect the missions out in the field, but also those where they are going out and gathering evidence,” said Geisler, a Gold Legacy Life member of VFW Post 721 in Waukesha, Wisconsin. “These cuts affect all the research and support personnel back in the States. When the budget is cut, you are not replacing those who are lost and are putting more of a burden on those left behind.”
In fiscal year 2025, DPAA surpassed its congressional mandate by identifying a record 231 MIAs. The identifications included 165 from World War II, 58 from the Korean War, and eight from the Vietnam War. Among them was the 100th service member identified from remains returned by North Korea in 2018. Despite this success, however, the agency faced an 11 percent budget cut that slashed field operations by 38 percent.
‘TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE’
An unwavering ally and advocate for recovery efforts for unaccounted-for troops dating back to 1920, VFW remains adamant about supporting DPAA in its mission. The two organizations have worked closely since DPAA’s inception in 2015. Through the JFA, VFW leaders annually participate in excavations across Southeast Asia and visit DPAA offices to assess ways to improve outcomes and strengthen diplomatic ties with countries such as Vietnam.
“I think about all those families who never got a military funeral, and though they know their person is dead, they don’t know the story of what happened,” Geisler said. “We still have over 80,000 MIAs unaccounted for, and [the recovery] window gets smaller and smaller every single year, so time is of the essence. That is why this mission is so important.”
The process of recovering and identifying remains grows significantly harder with the passage of time, from aging witnesses to the erosion of documents and materials to the inevitable breakdown of organic material due to soil acidity.
Geisler beckons fellow VFW members to continue the organization’s longstanding tradition of helping with recovery efforts, which has on numerous occasions yielded war artifacts and the locations of MIAs from both America and foreign countries like Vietnam.
“This mission is by far one of the most important missions for us as veterans, part of our warrior ethos to never leave anyone behind,” Geisler said. “It’s important that we remember there are places like DPAA that help bring our MIAs home, and I encourage you to visit DPAA and see if there is a way you might be able to help sponsor bringing someone home.”
VFW and the DPAA encourage the families of those who have gone missing to provide DNA samples to help in the recovery efforts and to help find an accurate match. The two groups also urge service members to share their recollections of events to help further pinpoint the story of what happened to unaccounted-for troops whose remains have yet to be found.
‘WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO CHIP IN?’
Another crucial part of Geisler’s mission is to help publicize the important work of the DPAA and offer hope to the families still searching for answers that will finally bring their loved ones home.
In tune with today’s sociopolitical climate, Geisler understands the importance of constant, unrelenting public advocacy that refuses to drown in the rip tides of media cycles.
“When someone is identified and brought home, VFW and other veteran organizations make a big deal about it,” Geisler said. “We show up in droves, but that is about it. The general public doesn’t always see that, so they don’t understand the importance of bringing our MIAs home.”
Geisler also encourages members to advocate on behalf of DPAA to their lawmakers and hold them accountable for every measure of support.
“This is a good opportunity for Congress to see that the VFW, representing millions of veterans and their families, cares,” Geisler said. “We need to send them a message that it is not okay to forget our fallen who have not been recovered. We want Congress to know that we care. We want to challenge them. What are you going to do to chip in?”
This article is featured in the 2026 September/October issue of VFW magazine, and was written by Ismael Rodriguez Jr., associate editor for VFW magazine.