Why Operation: Homecoming Exists

Operation: Homecoming began with the search for one missing serviceman: PFC Elmer D. Yochum, lost during the Second World War. As research into his case expanded, it became clear that his story was far from unique.

Today, tens of thousands of American servicemen from the war remain missing or unidentified, particularly from the Pacific Theater. Behind every unresolved case is a family left with unanswered questions spanning generations. 

The Missing of the Pacific War

Many wartime recoveries occured under extreme battlefield conditions. Emergency burials, missing records, lost evidence, combat destruction, and the passage of time complicated identification efforts throughout the war and in the decades since.

Some servicemen were misidentified. Others remained unidentified entirely. Many still lie on the battlefields where they perished, unrecovered. 

Operation: Homecoming exists to help preserve the stories connected to these unresolved cases and pursue a greater understanding of the men behind them.

Our Mission

Through Archival research, historical investigation, battlefield analysis, and preservation of wartime records, Operation: Homecoming works to better understand unresolved cases connected to America's missing servicemen.

Our Mission is not built on false promises, but on historical truth, dignity, and remembrance.

While not every case may ultimately lead to identification or recovery, every serviceman deserves to be remembered as an individual rather than reduced to a file number or forgotten record.

Looking Forward

Operation: Homecoming was founded not as a temporary project, but as a long-term effort dedicated to remembrance, historical preservation, and the pursuit of unresolved wartime history for generations to come.

Because every once in a while, history leaves someone behind.

And when that happens, somebody ought to go looking for them.