THE WALL OF FACES

Never forget.

Semper Fi, Marine

This photograph of MIA Lieutenant Colonel Harold Joseph Alwan, University of Notre Dame class of 1956, USMC, is from his Profile/Status Page on the DPAA website.

Harold Alwan was graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1956. Major Harold Joseph Alwan, USMC, was listed as MIA when his aircraft disappeared in South Vietnam in 1967. The Marine Corps/Navy Dept. promoted him to Lieutenant Colonel before the Presumptive Finding of Death (PFoD) in his case in 1974.

A "friend of Notre Dame" completed research on Notre Dame men who died or are MIA in Southeast Asia from the Vietnam War and those who died while on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces during the Vietnam era. Appropriately, the researcher included LtCol Harold Alwan. That information is on the ND 1969 blogspot at this link/URL:

https://notredameclassof1969blog.blogspot.com/2018/08/university-of-notre-dames-vietnam.html

The Department of Defense conducted ceremonies at the Pentagon and at Hickam AFB on Friday, 18 September 2020 in commemoration of POW/MIA Recognition Day. Deputy Defense Secretary David L. Nordquist remembered the 1,586 MIAs from the Vietnam War as well as all those still unaccounted for from WWII, the Korean War, the Cold War and other conflicts. Director (Maj. Gen, USAFR, ret) Kelly McKeague of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) also recorded a separate video message to Gold Star MIA families. Additionally, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) produced a “virtual” event on 18 Sep. Since the 2019 Ceremony, DPAA has positively identified 1 Vietnam War MIA. Lieutenant Colonel Harold Joseph Alwan, University of Notre Dame class of 1956, USMC, is one of those 1,586 MIAs unaccounted for in Southeast Asia from the Vietnam War. He is one of 10 Notre Dame men who is still MIA. The other 9 Notre Dame MIAs are: (1) Col. Kelly Cook, USAF, '47; (2) Lt. Col. James Fowler, USAF, '59; (3) LTJG Edward Brown, USN, '62; (4) Capt Richard Morrissey, USMC, '62; (5) LTJG Hans Grauert, USN, '63; (6) Capt. Joseph Adrian, USAF, '64; (7) Maj. James Egan, USAF, '64; (8) Maj Joseph McDonald, USMC, '68. Not shown on DPAA lists but lost in the crash of his AD-5W aircraft from VAW-11 Det "R," from the USS Kearsarge on 8 May 1961 off the southern coast of South Vietnam was (9) LTJG James Arseneault. USN, '58.

This is the link to the DoD/DVIDS video for the Pentagon ceremony:
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/766486/defense-officials-recognize-prisoners-war-missing-service-members-ceremony

This is the link to the DoD/DVIDS video for the Hickam AFB ceremony:
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/766491/admiral-commemorates-prisoners-war-and-missing-service-members-ceremony

This is the link to DPAA Director McKeague’s video statement:
https://vimeo.com/454474340

This is the link to the VVMF virtual remembrance: https://www.vvmf.org/POWMIA-2020/

Two Notre Dame men are former Vietnam War MIAs. Their remains have been recovered and accounted for. They are Capt. Joseph S. Smith, USAF, ’67 and LT Michael T. McCormick, USN, ’68.

According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) website at the below link, the MIA status of Lieutenant Colonel Harold Joseph Alwan, University of Notre Dame class of 1956, USMC, is ACTIVE PURSUIT:

https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt00000001UYSEA2

While in MIA status, the Marine Corps/Dept. of the Navy promoted him from Major to Lieutenant Colonel.