WEBVTT

00:00.450 --> 00:01.650
- My name is Sarah Kindschuh.

00:01.650 --> 00:04.772
I'm a forensic anthropologist at DPAA.

00:04.772 --> 00:07.230
- [Interviewer] And where are you from?

00:07.230 --> 00:09.200
- Originally from
Whiteville, North Carolina.

00:09.200 --> 00:13.044
It's a little town about 40
miles west of Wilmington.

00:13.044 --> 00:16.710
- [Interviewer] So Sarah, can
you please briefly explain

00:16.710 --> 00:18.450
what it is that we're
doing here in Vietnam?

00:18.450 --> 00:21.590
- Yeah, so we are here in Vietnam

00:21.590 --> 00:24.720
to perform an archeological recovery

00:24.720 --> 00:27.040
of a plane that went down

00:27.040 --> 00:29.120
during the Vietnam War,

00:29.120 --> 00:32.697
and the pilot of the plane
is still missing in action.

00:34.120 --> 00:36.050
- [Interviewer] Can you
describe the excavation

00:36.050 --> 00:39.280
a little bit, what was involved?

00:39.280 --> 00:42.270
Sure, so the excavation process is,

00:42.270 --> 00:45.150
it's very scientific and methodical.

00:45.150 --> 00:47.670
So we are essentially

00:49.040 --> 00:53.330
creating a giant grid of
four-by-four meter units

00:53.330 --> 00:55.350
that we are excavating

00:55.350 --> 00:59.160
about 30 centimeters deep at a time.

00:59.160 --> 01:02.610
So this particular site is fairly large.

01:02.610 --> 01:05.360
We have right now about 30 of those

01:05.360 --> 01:09.370
four-by-four meter units
that we've already dug.

01:09.370 --> 01:13.140
And we're just going one-by-one,

01:13.140 --> 01:16.103
following the evidence that's
coming out of the ground.

01:18.808 --> 01:21.566
- [Interviewer] Why is it that DPAA spends

01:21.566 --> 01:23.566
all this time and money,

01:24.739 --> 01:27.436
and energy so they can find one person

01:27.436 --> 01:28.403
from so long ago?

01:28.403 --> 01:30.162
Why do we need to do that?

01:30.162 --> 01:32.070
- Well, I think we spend
the time and the money

01:32.070 --> 01:34.381
and the energy because
it's important that,

01:34.381 --> 01:38.790
that family receives the
closure that they deserve.

01:38.790 --> 01:41.660
Their loved one never
came back from this war.

01:41.660 --> 01:46.180
They sacrificed their life
for Americans in this war.

01:46.180 --> 01:49.400
And so it's important to
bring closure to the family

01:49.400 --> 01:54.160
but also to make sure that
these guys who did not come home

01:54.160 --> 01:56.150
have the opportunity to be identified.

01:56.150 --> 01:56.983
And to be

01:58.520 --> 02:00.780
relocated back to their family

02:00.780 --> 02:03.943
so that they can be buried the right way.

02:06.499 --> 02:09.380
- [Interviewer] What does DPAA's mission

02:09.380 --> 02:11.093
mean to you personally?

02:12.419 --> 02:13.252
- Ooh.

02:14.840 --> 02:18.740
I see the mission as my way of

02:18.740 --> 02:20.760
being able to contribute something

02:21.707 --> 02:24.153
to American society in general.

02:25.830 --> 02:28.750
I feel like most people want to have a job

02:28.750 --> 02:30.723
and a career that means something.

02:31.970 --> 02:33.360
Obviously means something to them

02:33.360 --> 02:36.180
but also would like to have
an impact on other people,

02:36.180 --> 02:38.500
and so as an anthropologist,

02:38.500 --> 02:40.653
this is one of the ways
that I can do that.

02:43.380 --> 02:46.580
It's sort of my way of
making an impact on someone,

02:46.580 --> 02:48.680
even if it's just one family

02:49.590 --> 02:51.950
who I've contributed to the identification

02:51.950 --> 02:53.690
of their loved one.

02:53.690 --> 02:54.700
- Not much covering
(pickax thumping)

02:54.700 --> 02:58.493
the root there, so...
(pickax thumping)

03:04.905 --> 03:07.822
(shovels scraping)

03:11.861 --> 03:14.778
(shovels scraping)

03:23.490 --> 03:24.323
- Let's see.

03:32.090 --> 03:32.943
All right.