Leadership Volunteers Team

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Cindy Stonebraker-Reed 

President

Board of Directors

cindy.reed@missionpowmia.org

Cindy is the daughter of Lt. Col. Kenneth Stonebraker, who went missing-in-action from a recon mission over North Vietnam on Oct 28, 1968.  In 2015 she was elected to sit on the Board of Directors for the National League of POW/MIA Families, in Washington DC, where she also served as the Board Secretary and Kentucky State Coordinator. In 2018 she participated in an official League Delegation trip to Southeast Asia.  During this 3 ½ week trip, they met with Government officials and spent time on a Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) excavation site, in the jungles of rural Laos. The purpose of this trip was to gain continued and expanded support, the turning over of archival documents, and access to live witnesses, to help bring our Nations Unreturned Veterans home.

She served as the Assistant Director of Programs for the Woody Williams Foundation, overseeing the building of Gold Star Families Memorial Monuments in all 50 states. She is a founding member of a Gold Star Families Services Coalition, which brought together other organizations that served Gold Star Families.  Cindy has worked with the Army’s Survivor Outreach Services and the Air Force Families Forever Advisory Council to support Gold Star Families. She has volunteered at the Gary Sinise Foundation’s Snowball Express and has participated in several Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) events across the country. Cindy is also a member of Sons in Daughters in Touch (SDIT).

Cindy initiated Kentucky Senate Bill #122, to allow Children of fallen Service Members, access to the Gold Star License Plate for their vehicle in the State of Kentucky.  In April of 2018, she received the first Gold Star Daughter license plate in the state of Kentucky.

Cindy is married to Chief Petty Officer Wesley Reed, U.S. Navy (Retired), They now reside in Newland, NC. Together they have 4 children and 2 grandchildren. She enjoys exploring the mountains of NC, reading, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

Michael McPherson 

Vice President

Board of Directors

michael.mcpherson@missionpowmia.org

Michael McPherson is a Municipal Services Consultant with the Georgia Municipal Association. He supports 70 cities in the metro-Atlanta region. He lobbied the Georgia General Assembly during 15 legislative sessions on behalf of local governments and clients in the fields of mental health, affordable housing, healthcare, higher education, and the courts. Michael is a graduate of Georgia State University, where he studied Anthropology and Political Science. He is the proud father of an 8-year-old daughter, Katherine Louise, and 6-year-old son, Winfield Alton. Michael is a board member of the Kiwanis Club of Atlanta, and as serves as the Vice-President of the non-profit Mission: POW-MIA. 

In early 1973, word came back from released American Prisoners of War that Michael’s grandfather, Tanos “Tommy” Kalil, had died in captivity in June of 1969. Tommy’s remains have yet to be repatriated, though recent research has opened new possibilities for location and recovery. Michael traveled to Vietnam in 2019 to visit sites associated with Tommy’s captivity. Michael is a former board member and volunteer for the National League of Families of American Prisoners of War and Missing in Action in Southeast Asia.  

Jeanie Jacobs Huffman 

Social Media/

Photographer/Treasurer 

Board of Directors 

jeanie.huffman@missionpowmia.org

Jeanie Huffman is the daughter of CDR Edward James Jacobs, Jr. (USN) MIA 25 Aug 1967. Piloting a RA-3B Skywarrior (Bureau No. 144835) on a night reconnaissance mission, him and his crew (LTJG James John Zavocky and ADJ1 Ronald Alan BoisClaire) disappeared from radar over the Gulf of Tonkin near Hon Me'. Their RA-3B had been spray painted flat black with rattle cans to help avoid detection from the ground. The primary mission of the unarmed aircraft was to fly low and fast taking photographs using experimental infrared technology to locate enemy targets in places such as the Ho Chi Minh trail and along the coastal areas of North Vietnam.

Jeanie is the youngest of 7. She was 2 weeks old when her dad left for Vietnam and 5 months old when he was declared missing in action. She has been an advocate for the POW-MIA mission from a young age. With the inspiration and motivation of her husband, Dave Huffman, they have been doing extensive research into her Dad’s case and have compiled information from CDR Jacobs’ letters home, accounts from sailors who served with him and information obtained from the Navy and National Archives in the hopes of persuading the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to launch an underwater search operation in the area where CDR Jacobs aircraft was lost.  

Jeanie is a full-time volunteer with Mission: POW-MIA, working on daily social media posts. With her creative talents, she has designed many posters of our fallen veterans: from the 1573 poster, which shows all of the men and women still missing from the Vietnam War; a West Point poster that is dedicated and hanging in the West Point Catholic Chapel; the United States Naval Academy poster and SOA posters.  Jeanie also created the 2025 National POW/MIA Recognition Poster for DPAA which was unveiled at the Sacramento FMU in February with Principal Deputy Director Fern Sumpter Winbush (DPAA). You can also view many other past war conflict posters on the Mission: POW-MIA's website. 

Throughout her journey, she has traveled throughout the country, and recently visited Vietnam, to help connect with our veterans and MIA families. She has driven an Abbot tank, and fired a M249 SAW fully automatic machine gun from a gunship over 71-acre mountainside. Learning to handle the weapons that our veterans were trained on, gives Jeanie more of an understanding.      

A volunteer with the USO at Norfolk International Airport, she has set up a permanent missing man table as well as providing the MMT to veterans' organizations at past and future events. Jeanie has been a professional photographer for over 30 years and photographs many events from the Gary Sinise Foundation Snowball Express, family internments and veterans' events throughout the area. Jeanie is also a member of several organizations: The Hampton Roads Council of Veterans Organization (HRCVO), the Marine Corps League, the Patriot Guard, Association for Naval Aviation , and a Life Member of Special Operation Association (SOA).

The Huffman's reside in Chesapeake and between them they have 4 sons, a daughter, a daughter-in-law, and 2 granddaughters. One son is a USMC veteran, and another is actively serving in the Marine Corps and one currently at ODU (Army ROTC) and will receive his commissioned next year. They both travel, offering their time to speak at various organizations'. They also bring a wide variety of military displays to educate our younger generations at local schools. "The Men Are the Mission" is what drives the Huffman's to continue the path forward and researching cases for families to find answers for their loved ones still missing and unaccounted-for. The family continues to hold out hope that the military will fulfill its commitment to leave no one behind and that her dad will one day be brought home. 

Kim Carlson Benner

Secretary 

Board of Directors

kim.benner@missionpowmia.org

Kim Carlson Benner is the daughter of USAF Captain John W Carlson (aka “Sam”) who was an F-5C Freedom Fighter pilot in the 10th FCS (Skoshi Tiger program) stationed at Bien Hoa Air Base in South Vietnam. On December 7, 1966, Captain Carlson was Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered during a Close/Direct Air Support mission (call sign “Tiger 43”). His record loss location is in/near Chánh Phú Hòa Ward, Bến Cát Township, Bình Dương Province in South Vietnam. Kim is also the niece of Corporal James Allan Donahue (USMC) who died in Vietnam on August 22, 1970 in Quang Nam province, South Vietnam.

In 2005, Kim attended her first Sons and Daughters in Touch (SDIT) Father’s Day event in Washington, D.C. It was the first time she met numerous Gold Star families who also lost their fathers in the Vietnam War and who weren’t sure how to honor their dads on that holiday. By connecting with other sons and daughters, as well as Vietnam War veterans that weekend, Kim finally found the courage to say her father’s full name aloud in public without weeping. In 2012, Kim attended her first DPAA Family Meeting Update in Providence, RI. It was at that initial meeting where she realized that she herself was responsible for learning more about her father’s case in order to make progress. Since that meeting, she has become much more active in the case investigation – reaching out to other Skoshi Tiger pilots who knew Sam in Vietnam, working with her elected officials and third parties to learn more about her father’s loss, and figuring out how to ask the hard questions and press for answers. She has met many people at all different levels who offer their assistance to help discover information that might locate, recover, and return her father’s remains. Kim has participated in annual war legacy, peace, and reconciliation dialogues at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) as well as multiple events supporting peace and reunification hosted by Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO), the Vietnamese Embassy, and other Vietnamese agencies. She has discussed her father’s case with DPAA staff in locations including Hanoi Vietnam, Honolulu Hawaii, and Washington D.C., continuing to ask the hard questions and press for answers.

Kim has shared her family’s story of searching for her father with schools, local veteran groups and her community. In 2018, Kim traveled to Vietnam for the first time with the 2 Sides Project, a non-profit organization founded by Kim’s sister Margot Carlson Delogne. The 2 Sides Project connects sons and daughters whose fathers died on opposite sides of the Vietnam/American War. By finding common ground in their shared loss, these sons and daughters often find they have much more in common with each other than they ever imagined. In 2025, Kim and Margot dedicated the 14th 2 Sides Project Peace Home near their father’s crash area in honor and memory of their parents. In 2023, Kim became a Founding member of Mission: POW-MIA. Inspired by the genuine commitment of the leadership, connections with other family members, and the inspired mission of this organization, Kim became a Lifetime member.

Kim is married to Richard Benner, who has become an expert on several aspects of their case over the many years of research. Kim and Rich reside in Needham, MA and have 2 sons, John (named in honor of his grandfather) and James (named in honor of his great uncle). Kim enjoys hiking, sailing, visiting National Parks and spending time with family in Pawleys Island, SC. Kim has traveled around the world, including Vietnam, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Norway, Sweden, and most recently to Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and Scotland. In 2025, she plans to visit Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, and Finland (ancestral home of the Carlsons). In late 2025, Kim will return to Vietnam with the 2 Sides Project where she will honor her father and plans to pay her respects at his crash location in Bến Cát. Kim continues the work to ensure that the government fulfills its commitment to leave no one behind and that her father will be returned home during her lifetime. She will never give up the search… “Nemo Resideo”

Rick Holland

Board of Directors

rick.holland@missionpowmia.org 

Rick is the son of US Air Force Technical Sergent Melvin A Holland, MIA 11 March 1968. Rick said goodbye to his father on the day of his 8th birthday, October 7, 1968. The next morning, his father and mother flew out to Washington, DC, where Mel, along with the other 47 men, were “sheep-dipped”, and sent to man a radar site on a remote mountain top in northern Laos. The classified operation was called “Project Heavy Green”, and MSQ-81 radar site code named “Commando Club” would be located at a TACAN site, named LS85. On the evening of March 10th, the site was attacked and overrun. By the morning of March 11th, when a rescue operation was finally allowed, five men were rescued from the site, the other 11 men left, presumed dead. 

Rick and his mother have been working to get answers and bring Mel and the other Circuit Riders home since the day in March of 1968 when his mother Ann received the call telling her Mel was missing. After an eight-year court battle, Operation Heavy Green was finally declassified, and the names of the eleven missing men were finally given to CILHI. 

In 2003, after returning from an excavation of the site, the DPAA said they were never going back to the site again; it was too dangerous for their teams to try to excavate below the sheer cliffs of the mile high mountain top. This news devastated Ann, and she was ready to throw in the towel. But Rick wasn’t. After years of occasionally attending the DC Government briefings since the early 80’s with his mother, Rick stepped up to lead the fight for answers and the return of his father and has attended almost every Annual Government briefing since 2003.

He was an early member of the National League of Families for many years until issues caused a split in the league and many families were expelled or voluntarily left. Ann Holland became one of the founding members of the National Alliance of Families with Lynn O’Shea and Delores Alfond.  Rick has been a member of and on since the founding of the Alliance. Rick is also a member of Puyallup Valley Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 2224 and is the VFW Military Order of Cooties (MOC) Grand of Washington, POW/MIA Chairman. He is a member of Sons and Daughters in Touch, and Rolling Thunder Inc, WA-Chapter 1. In effort to educate the public and raise awareness of our POW/MIAs, Rick adopted the Rolling Thunder National POW/MIA Chair of Honor program and in the last five years has placed 10 POW/MIA Chair of Honors at different locations in Washington state; the very first one being placed at his dad’s high school in Toledo, WA. In 2024, Rick got to represent all the POW/MIA families and place the POW/MIA wreath at the Wall during the Vietnam War Veterans Memorial Day ceremony. Rick has spoken at many different events over the years and has been guest speaker at multiple POW/MIA Recognition Day events at the Washington State POW/MIA monument.

Rick has wanted for many years to visit the mountain top site in Laos, and just recently was able to make that lifelong dream come true. With a lot of luck, coincidence, and help from the DPAA and the blessing of the Laotian government, on January 24th, 2025, Rick got to stand on the mountain top site and talk to his dad. What had started to feel like a nothing but a pipedream, had finally come true.

Edward Lundquist 

Board of Directors

edward.lundquist@missionpowmia.org

Captain Edward Lundquist, U.S. Navy (Retired), is chief engagement officer of Echo Bridge LLC, in Springfield, Virginia, his own company. He served on active duty with the Navy as a surface warfare officer and public affairs officer and has a BA in Journalism from Marquette University and a master’s in journalism and public affairs from the American University. He is an International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Fellow and an accredited business communicator. Captain Lundquist is the communications chair of the Surface Navy Association and a member of the SNA executive committee. He is a founder of the National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors. He writes on naval, maritime, defense and security issues for international trade and professional journals.

Dave Huffman 

Executive Director

dave.huffman@missionpowmia.org

Mr. David “Dave” Huffman currently serves the Mission: POW-MIA Executive Director. He became involved in the POW-MIA cause at age 17 when he met and interviewed the mother of a missing USMC aviator. He has worn the POW-MIA bracelet of that aviator for nearly 40 years.

Previously he served as a Board Member, Southeast Regional Coordinator, Archival Research Committee member and on numerous other committees for the former National League of POW-MIA Families. Together with his wife Jeanie, Mr. Huffman has conducted numerous talks at Veteran Service Organizations, set up POW-MIA artifact displays for memorial events and schools, published a newsletter, and represented the organization at the White House.  The key to their success in volunteering for this mission is teamwork. 

Mr. Huffman’s background is in law enforcement. For over 30 years he served with the Norfolk Police Department. He rose through the ranks from Officer to Captain. As a Captain, Mr. Huffman served as the Commanding Officer for various divisions including the Homeland Security Division, 3rd Patrol Division, Training Division, Vice & Narcotics Division and the Office of Support Services. While in charge of the Homeland Security Division, the Special Operations Team, Bomb Squad, Traffic Unit, K-9 Unit and Harbor Patrol all reported to him. Mr. Huffman served as the officer-in-charge of all critical incidents occurring within the City of Norfolk including Hostage/Barricade situations, bomb threats and maritime search and rescue operations. On numerous occasions during his career, Mr. Huffman served as the Acting Chief of Field Operations, Acting Chief of Investigative Services and Acting Chief of Administrative Services. 

Mr. Huffman has served as the Incident Commander for a variety of special events including events of national significance. He has had extensive training in Improvised Explosive Devices, SWAT operations, Search and Rescue, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Incident Command and various leadership courses. During his tenure with the Norfolk Police Department, Mr. Huffman managed the law enforcement security component for the mass transit system within the City of Norfolk to include bus, ferry and light rail. Mr. Huffman has held Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services certifications as a General Instructor, Firearms Instructor and Defensive Tactics Instructor for over 20 years. Mr. Huffman developed the Active Threat/Shooter training and response plan for the Norfolk Police Department and was instrumental in establishing the City’s first Bicycle Patrol Unit. 

Mr. Huffman has maintained numerous outside interests including teaching multiple law enforcement classes at the local community college for 5 five years. He has served as a Cub Scout and Boy Scout leader and is proud of the 11 Eagle Scouts he helped along their journey including two of his sons. Mr. Huffman managed a law enforcement/military tactical training company and has worked as a consultant on many projects including the development and implementation of Mutual Aid/Memorandums of Understanding agreements. Other duties 

included managing large scale training events and conferences, marketing and advertising and equipment sales.

Mr. Huffman has traveled extensively including a missionary trip to Nicaragua and studying Homeland Security in Israel. Mr. Huffman is proud to have responded to “Ground Zero” following the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. He led a small team of officers to the attack site where they assisted other First Responders in rescue and recovery efforts in New York City. 

Mr. Huffman is a graduate of St. Leo University holding a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice with a minor in Homeland Security. He is presently in the process of working on an MBA. He is a graduate of multiple leadership schools including the West Point Leadership School and the FBI National Command College. 

Mr. Huffman’s leadership style is that of a mentor and a coach. He does not ask those to do things he is not willing to do himself. He believes in positive reinforcement and rewarding those who excel and helping those who need assistance in their growth. He is always willing to lend a hand and encourages others to do their best. 

During his law enforcement career, Mr. Huffman has been awarded several commendations including the Distinguished Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Police Commendation Award, World Trade Center Bar and Master Pistol Ribbon. Mr. Huffman has been honored by multiple cities and community organizations for his law enforcement service. He was recognized by the American Legion in 1993 as Police Officer of the Year for the City of Norfolk. In 1994 and 1995 he was presented with the Police Officer of the Year award by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. In 2005 he received the Police Officer of the Year award from the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. 

Mr. Huffman is currently the Chief of Police at a mid-sized hub international airport. He is married to Jeanie Jacobs Huffman, MIA daughter of CDR Edward J. Jacobs, Jr. USN MIA 25 AUG 1967. Jeanie serves as a Founding Board Member of Mission: POW-MIA as well as manages the social media and website. They reside in Chesapeake and between them they have 4 sons, a daughter, a daughter-in-law, and a granddaughter. One son is a USMC veteran, and another is actively serving in the Marine Corps. Mr. Huffman served in the Virginia Army National Guard and attended ROTC Basic Camp at Fort Knox, KY many years ago. 

Anh Nguyen

Advisor/Senior Member

info@missionpowmia.org

Early Life: 

·Anh’s a Vietnamese American. 

Born and raised in Hue City of South Vietnam. 

· From a family of 10 children.

Immigration to United States: 

· Arrived in the U.S. late 1974 through a sponsorship by Mr. William Fleming (U.S. State Dept. Sr. Economic Advisor & Brother-in-Law)

· May 1975, classified as a Vietnamese Refugee (after the fall of Saigon in April 75). Soon after, Anh obtained US’s Permanent Residency and Social Security No. 

Moved to Philadelphia, PA and lived with the Fleming family.  

First Job was at MAACO Auto Painting & Body Works and started full-time at Bucks County Community College, then at Penn State University

v Spring 1979. as a junior at Penn State, started at The Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co. as a Janitor (Hired by J. Kolb Jr. – VN Vet Marine)

The American Dream:

· Became US’s Citizen in 1980. Mom and Dad Fleming attended the ceremony

· Graduated with B.S degree in “Food Science & Technology” from Penn State in 1981 

· Enrolled as a “Management Trainee” at The Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co. He rapidly assumed greater responsibility as Supervisor in Supply Chain Operations. Promoted to Production Manager (Bottles & Cans) in 1993. Plant Manager 1994. 

· Spring 1994. Transferred to join F&N Coca-Cola Company in Singapore and Indochina as the Coca-Cola’s US Representative for the first Coca-Cola/Vietnam Joint Venture and successfully built and operated the first Coca-Cola plant in Ha-Noi Vietnam.

· Early 1999, transferred to Coca-Cola North America – Fountain Division as Quality Assurance Manager before becoming General Manager for Portland Oregon & Honolulu, Hawaii.  Additional roles included Manufacturing Manager – Coca-Cola North America Commercial Products Supply (CPS) and Coca-Cola FreeStyle Operations. In 2014, retired from The Coca-Cola Co. (after 33 yrs. with the Coca-Cola Company and its system).

· Member of Board of Directors, and an Officer of Coca-Cola Alumni Association supporting The Coca-Cola Company efforts on Community Outreach and Alumni’s Accelerator programs. Anh actively volunteers with nonprofit organizations for fundraising, partnering special needs children, and Visiting Speaker, Keynote Speaker at local high schools, governments and various Vietnam Veterans Associations from his life experiences “Vietnam War, American Journey & Coca-Cola”. 

· Anh Nguyen's selected by the Coca-Cola Alumni Association to receive the 2014 - Bill Ross Community Service Award. The Bill Ross Community Service Award recognizes outstanding alumni who have given their time, energy and financial resources to improve communities around the world. The work Anh has done for The Coca-Cola Company - Clean Water Initiative in Vietnam has impacted many communities and lives of thousands of Vietnamese people.

· Member of Board of Director, Joe & Gracie Galloway Foundation. A Non-profit Organization serving the American Veteran community with scholarship opportunities to transition from a military.

· Married to wife Anna and have two successful children, Peter (Project Manager – US Automobile Co.) and Sophie (V.P, Assistant General Counsel – Banking & Financial Institution).

Natalie Rauch

Advisor/Founding and Life Member

info@missionpowmia.org

Natalie began her life as an Air Force brat in Selfridge AFB Michigan. Her father was an F4 pilot whose aircraft was lost over North Vietnam 26 April 1966. COL Warren Leroy Anderson is still one of our Unaccounted-For service members. 

Natalie spent most of her school-age years in Sumter, SC. After college, Natalie taught Middle School and High School Math for 13 years. 

She married Harry Rauch who had recently finished four years in the Navy. He then served as an Army Chaplain for 29 years. Natalie is now a Surviving Spouse after losing her husband to cancer. Her daughter lives in Berlin teaching English as a second language. 

Natalie lives in Honolulu and continues to serve Military families through her volunteer work in the Hawaii Garrison Chapel community and as a Gold Star daughter. 

Brian Hanson

Advisor/Founding Member

info@missionpowmia.org

Brian is married to Jayne Hanson, the niece of USAF Capt. Warren Sanderson whose reconnaissance plane was shot down by Russian MIGs over the Sea of Japan on July 29, 1953. Of the 17 crew members there was one confirmed survivor. This RB-50 was one of several shoot downs that occurred during that time.

Russian trawlers were seen in the area immediately after the shoot down and it is believed that Warren was one of several surviving crew members that were picked up by the Russians. Reports found in Russian archives confirm Border Guards sighting of 7 parachutes descending after the shootdown.

Their archives searched in 2000-2002 reveal 7 life jackets were found in one area on Russian shoreline. The exact number of survivors is unconfirmed to this day.

Brian has been actively involved in the search for answers to the question of Warren's fate since meeting Jayne while both were still in high school. Warren's family has worked tirelessly for over 7 decades for any information that would provide some closure for those he left behind.

Brian has spent countless hours of research trying to put the pieces of a very complicated puzzle together. He has become one of the nation's most knowledgeable persons relating to the Korean Cold War. He has been successful in finding many answers but continues his search for information specifically for the families of Warren's Crew.

Brian has selflessly shared the knowledge he has acquired in decades of searching for credible information. His efforts aren't just for his family. They aren't just for the Korean Cold War families. He has helped others that are looking for answers relating to WWII and Vietnam veterans and their families as well.

At the time of the shoot down Capt. Sanderson was married with a 2-year-old son. That son grew up to fight in Vietnam. He died from the effects of agent orange.

Capt. Sanderson was excited that he and his wife were expecting a second child. That child, another son, was born on the day of the shoot down. The birth occurred at almost the exact moment of the shootdown. The young mother was informed of the shootdown of her husband 's aircraft while lying in a hospital bed holding her newborn son. Capt. Sanderson never knew he had another baby boy.

Brian completed undergraduate and graduate degrees in Microbiology and Pharmacology at N.D.S.U. in Fargo, N.D. The analytics involved for research in these areas has also powered his archival activities. As he completed his degrees while working nights at United Parcel Service, he attained a managerial capacity that led to a lengthy career. He enjoyed improving methodology thus increasing productivity and minimizing cost while never sacrificing good service. He was proud to be selected as one of ten managers to plan, train, hire and develop the logistics for package delivery service in West Germany which was the site of UPS' first venture into the international delivery area.

Brian is also a past member of the board of directors of a Minnesota Tri County Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault non-profit group.

Brian and Jayne have been advocates for improving access to mental health care in general with an emphasis on the availability of care for veterans and victims of sexual violence.

Having lost a daughter to suicide after becoming a victim of sexual assault, they are both adamant about being available to educate and support organizations dedicated to those issues.

Brian and Jayne are always available to discuss the impact of issues possibly affecting Gold Star families especially in the areas of generational grief, sexual assault, and suicide.

Susan Crosby

Advisor/Founding Member

info@missionpowmia.org

Susan Crosby has been involved with veteran organizations and POW/MIA concerns for more than a fifteen years. She was a volunteer and a Board member with the former Veterans Tribute & Museum in Kissimmee, FL, currently is a honorary member of Vietnam Veterans of America, CH 124 Asheville, NC, member of TLC Brotherhood (Thailand Laos Cambodia Brotherhood), member of American Legion Auxiliary Unit 96, Murphy, NC. Her interest in POW-MIAs evolved from the POW-MIA bracelet she has had for more than 50 years with the name Lt. Col. Carter Luna and date 3-10-69 inscribed on it. For more than a decade she had been researching the circumstances of Colonel Luna, who she did not know, becoming MIA in Laos. As an investigative researcher she also researches losses of other MIA service members in Laos during the Vietnam War. In 2024 she founded Missions in Laos- past ~ present ~ future to formalize her ongoing research efforts, keep informed of investigative and recovery efforts of MIAs, assist family members of POW-MIAs in traveling to Laos, make presentations to veteran and other organizations, and offer humanitarian aid to the remote village of Kok Mak, Laos. In furtherance of her research as of March 2025 she has made 5 trips to Laos and 1 trip to Ha Noi Vietnam.

A 25-year career in law enforcement has provided her with skills and knowledge to facilitate the in-depth investigative research of MIAs. Her law enforcement career began in 1984 as a uniform patrol officer with the South Miami Police Department in Miami - Dade County FL. She also served as a background investigator, training coordinator and accreditation manager reporting directly to the chief of police. In 1989 she became a detective with a State of Florida law enforcement agency now known as Division of Investigative and Forensic Services- Bureau of Insurance Fraud in Miami, FL. As a detective she conducted overt and covert felony investigations, served as a field training officer and acting lieutenant. Most of the cases that she investigated during her 20-year career with the bureau were complex organized fraud rings requiring the ability to critically dissect information and evidence to develop cases for state or federal prosecution. In addition to conducting investigations at the local and state level she also participated in federal task forces with the FBI, ICE, US Attorney's Office. For many years she was the agency's representative to the Regional Organized Crime Information Center (ROCIC) networking with law enforcement agencies nationwide. She transferred to the Orlando Field office in 1998 as a detective/acting lieutenant and was then promoted to the rank of lieutenant. In this capacity she was the field office supervisor of sworn and non-sworn personnel covering six counties in central Florida. Some of her responsibilities were: investigative case assignments and supervision, personnel management, fleet/evidence/equipment management, recruiting and background investigations, interacting with local news media, responding to natural disasters, overseeing the office budget. In 1996, former Senator and Florida Insurance Commissioner Bill Nelson said of Susan when presenting her the Treasurer's Award for Sustained Superior Achievement... “Susan has always taken a proactive approach towards law enforcement duties and has displayed initiative in representing the Department in intelligence gathering”. 

After retiring to the mountains of western North Carolina Susan became a licensed real estate broker and was the sole proprietor of her real estate firm. After ending a 10-year real estate career she has more time to be exclusively committed to investigative research of MIAs which includes traveling to Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. Susan also continues to photograph wildlife, nature and occasionally life events. She enjoys her travels to visit her son, daughter, and four grandchildren in the U.S. and Southeast Asia.