SAN DIEGO — The remains of a Navy pilot shot down at the onset of the Persian Gulf War -- the first U.S. combat casualty of the 1991 conflict -- have been recovered by Marines in western Iraq and identified by military specialists.
The findings, based on dental records, appear to finally bring to an end the mystery of just what happened to Navy Capt. Michael Scott Speicher.
Then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney had announced that Speicher was the first U.S. serviceman to die in the war, but the military's inability to locate his body resulted in unceasing speculation and controversy. Over the years, Speicher's official status was changed from "missing in action" to "missing in action/body not recovered" to "missing in action/captured."
Successive presidents, secretaries of Defense and secretaries of the Navy wrestled with the mystery and a paucity of information. Some politicians in Washington expressed exasperation with the military and CIA.
At one point, rumors circulated that the father of two was alive and being held prisoner by Saddam Hussein.
The uncertainty led some of Speicher's friends as well as several powerful politicians to assert that the military had broken its promise to never leave a fallen comrade behind.
Finally, nearly 15 years after the wreckage of Speicher's plane was found in the desert west of Baghdad, Marines got a tip leading them last week to the remains, which had apparently been buried by Bedouin tribesmen.
The remains were flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where they were identified on Saturday as those of Speicher by specialists at the military mortuary.
"The teeth are a match, both visually and radiographically," the military said in a statement Sunday.
Speicher's family in Jacksonville, Fla., released a statement thanking the Navy for not abandoning the search. "We will be bringing him home," they said.
The family also said they believe the controversy has led the military to be more vigilant about searching for soldiers' bodies: "Although nothing can fill the void left by Capt. Speicher's death, we find some solace in having transformed the search process, so that no serviceman or woman is ever, ever, left behind again."
President Obama called the news about Speicher "a reminder of the selfless service that led him to make the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom."
