An Open Letter to Gold Star Families of the Missing

To the families who carry a name that history has not yet brought home,

I write to you not as our organization’s president, but as someone who has spent years sitting with families like yours, hearing the stories that don’t end the way a family deserves them to end. I know that for you, “missing” is not a word from a history book. It is a chair that has stayed empty for decades. It is the questions that get asked at every holiday, every birthday, every quiet moment when the house is still. “What happened?” “Where are they?” “When will we know?”

At Project Recover, we do not think of your loved one as a statistic among the more than 81,000 Americans still unaccounted for from WWII and other conflicts. We think of him, or her, as someone’s son or daughter, brother or sister, someone whose absence has shaped your family in ways the rest of us cannot fully grasp.

Our search missions take us to jungle rivers, remote mountainsides, and ocean floors, wherever the evidence leads us. The work is slow. Sometimes it takes years, decades, before we can offer an answer. But every survey we run, every dive, every drop of sweat,every hour of research is undertaken because we believe you and your family deserve the effort.

I want you to know that you are not bearing the weight alone.. You are part of a community, a Project Recover family that includes our staff, volunteers, ambassadors, and fellow Gold Star families who understand what you are living with in a way few others can. When one family finally receives word, all of us feel it. When a case remains unresolved, we all remain committed to the individual and you.

We will keep going. For your loved one, and for every name still waiting to come home.

With respect and gratitude,

Derek Abbey
President & CEO
Project Recover