Tours of Duty

05/16/2026

Ruck 5 miles in their boots.

Join the D-Day 82 Virtual Ruck and complete the approximate distance from Omaha Beach to Pointe du Hoc — wherever you are — alongside Tours of Duty members walking the actual ground in Normandy.

Ruck, walk, hike, or run now through June 7 to honor D-Day, raise awareness for the POW/MIA mission, and support search and recovery efforts for America’s missing servicemembers.

Participants may dedicate their ruck in someone’s name and create or join a fundraising team.

More than 72,000 Americans remain missing from WWII alone.

Five miles. One promise.
Their courage. Our commitment.

05/14/2026

For years, families were promised that reorganizing the Pentagon’s POW/MIA recovery system would finally fix the dysfunction, bureaucracy, and delays that kept them from getting answers about their missing loved ones.

Instead, many families got more of the same — and in some cases, worse.

A Stars and Stripes investigation revealed that the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), created after a major Pentagon reorganization in 2015, remained “plagued with problems” long after the merger was supposed to clean house. The report described entrenched bureaucracy, resistance to change, and leadership failures that continued to slow progress for families desperate for answers.

The Pentagon promised reform. Families got a rebrand.

No family should spend decades fighting their own government for transparency, accountability, and urgency in recovering America’s missing heroes. Yet too many still face delays, confusion, broken communication, and a system more focused on protecting itself than serving the families who sacrificed everything.

Tours of Duty is done waiting for Washington to fix itself.

We are taking action to demand accountability, elevate family voices, push for meaningful reform, and ensure that no missing service member — and no family — is forgotten in a broken bureaucratic process.

America made a promise to these families. That promise has been neglected for far too long.

And we refuse to stay silent about it.

It’s been more than two years since the scandal-plagued Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office merged to form the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency — a new U.S. government super-agency responsible for recovering America’s war dead.

05/13/2026

A new mass grave from the Khmer Rouge era was discovered in Cambodias Kampong Thom province in May 2026. Experts believe the site contains the remains of hundreds of victims from the late 1970s purges highlighting the ongoing search for justice and closure for survivors.

05/13/2026

Although JPAC has undergone reorganization, the families of the Cold War era are still without answers. Tours of Duty will continue to return to South East Asia, driven by a commitment to provide answers for over 1500 families still seeking resolution.

News Senators urge aggressive fixes for POW/MIA operations By Matthew M. Burke [email protected] Matthew M. Burke [email protected] Stars and Stripes • January 17, 2014

05/13/2026

The ripple effects of the Iran war have spread to Laos, where fuel shortages have forced the cancellation or curtailment of searches by U.S recovery teams.

05/09/2026

It is our honor to introduce Tours Of Duty Advisory Board Member, General Paul Funk ll, United States Army (Retired).

General Funk is one of the most respected and accomplished leaders in the United States Army, having served for nearly four decades with distinction, including as the 17th Commanding General of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), where he oversaw the training and development of more than 1.2 million soldiers and civilians annually.

Throughout his extraordinary career, General Funk has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to leadership, readiness, and the well-being of soldiers and their families. His dedication to developing resilient warfighters and strengthening the force aligns powerfully with the mission of Tours Of Duty.

Tours Of Duty is a veteran su***de prevention organization offering those that serve our nation: professional training, peer-based teams in civilian life, and renewed purpose MIA/POW search missions deploying to past conflict areas around the globe.

To date nearly 81K American service members remain unaccounted for. 38K are deemed recoverable.

Together, we strive to ensure The Missing never become The Forgotten. www.toursofduty.org

05/09/2026

Visit the Seven Feathers Casino Resort website Lonestar concert page benefitting Tours of Duty and watch two (in what will be a series) of interviews published on the site, personifying the importance of our mission.

MACV-SOG Gold Star son Richard Fitts Jr was 2 years old when his dad, MACV-SOG Green Beret Richard Fitts was classified Missing In Action. Over two decades later his remains would be found at a crash site in Laos, and his case declassified: Fitts was lost during classified mission Project Eldest Son. Today his remains rest in honor in his hometown of Abington, Massachusetts. Hear his story.

Fighter pilot, Col. (Ret) Lee Ellis was taken captive when his aircraft went down behind enemy lines in Vietnam. Held captive more than 5 years in the infamous Son Tay prison, Camp Faith, and Hanoi Hilton, Lee witnessed the Son Tay Raid and returned home during historic Operation Homecoming. Not all POW’s returned home. Hear Lee share his personal experience of fellow POW roommates and friends who never made it out of those prisons.

We are honored to have Richard Fitts Jr., and Lee Ellis on the Tours Of Duty Advisory Board. Together, we strive to ensure The Missing never become The Forgotten.

Follow along as additional interviews will be published in the series.

Thank you to Seven Feathers Casino Resort for hosting the LONESTAR concert, benefitting Tours Of Duty and funding the search for The Missing. Thank you for preserving these heroic accounts, and spotlighting the mission to Leave No One Behind. For tickets to the concert, visit this link:

About The Lonestar Concert Saturday, June 20 at 7:30PM Outdoor benefit concert in the South Parking Lot.Open to all ages. General Admission $60 Standing room only, first come – first […]

05/05/2026

Some men come home from war. Some come home from hell.

Lee Ellis did.

Shot down over Vietnam, Colonel (Ret.) Lee Ellis spent more than five years as a POW in the infamous Son Tay prison, Camp Faith, and Hanoi Hilton. He endured captivity, isolation, pain, and uncertainty — and came home with a voice that still carries the weight of every man who did not.

Lee is a member of the Tours of Duty Board of Advisors, and his story is deeply personal to our mission.

Because the Vietnam War is not over for the families still waiting.

There are still Americans who never came home. Still loss sites that have not been fully investigated. Still witnesses disappearing with time. Still answers buried in jungles, archives, crash sites, and prison camp reports.

Tours of Duty goes back for them.

We listen to men like Lee because they carry the truth of what captivity cost. We go into the field because remembrance is not enough. And we fight for answers because every missing American deserves more than a name on a wall.

Thank you to Seven Feathers Casino for sitting down with Lee and helping preserve a story every American should hear.

Take a few minutes to watch this interview. Listen closely. Then share it for the men who came home — and the men we are still trying to bring home.

05/01/2026

Only 9 limited edition [D-Day Bourbon] Missing Man Sponsorships left!

At Chateau de Bernaville, (historically known as Germany’s headquarters on D-Day), during the 82nd Anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, France one chair will remain empty.

Tours Of Duty will reserve The Missing Man Chair in honor of America’s POW/MIA’s, the service members who never came home, and the families who have waited decades for answers.

For one company, foundation, or mission-aligned supporter, this sponsorship is an opportunity to stand behind a promise, inviting you to name The Missing Man Chair in honor of a name of your choosing: perhaps the courageous D-Day warriors (Rangers, Airborne, Navy, OSS, USMC, a Missing In Action service member, a POW, a veteran, etc., ) or in honor of someone special.

The Missing Man Chair will honor America’s POW/MIAs, the more than 81,000 service members still unaccounted for, and the families still waiting for answers.

This sponsorship pairs that solemn tribute with a rare D-Day bourbon matured aboard the historic C-47 warbird Placid Lassie during the D-Day 80 commemorations - the only bourbon ever matured in a warbird.

Your sponsorship helps fund Tours Of Duty’s veteran-led POW/MIA search and recovery missions. Of the 81K American service members remaining Missing In Action, nearly 72K are from WWll alone.

One chair. One promise. Help bring them home.

At Château de Bernaville during D-Day 82, one chair will remain empty.The Missing Man Chair will honor America’s POW/MIAs, the more than 81,000 service members still unaccounted for, and the families still waiting for answers.This sponsorship pairs that solemn tribute with a rare D-Day bourbon ma...

04/27/2026

One chair will remain empty in Normandy.

At D-Day 82, Tours of Duty will reserve the Missing Man Chair at Château de Bernaville to honor America’s POW/MIAs — and we are opening this tribute as a sponsorship opportunity to help fund veteran-led POW/MIA search and recovery missions.

Paired with the honor is a rare D-Day bourbon matured aboard the historic C-47 warbird Placid Lassie during the D-Day 80 commemorations — created through the generosity of To***co Barn Distillery and Admiral Scott Sanders to support the mission to bring America’s missing home.

Together, the chair and the bourbon tell the story we refuse to let fade:

The men who never came home.
The families still waiting.
The promise that remains unfinished.

We are inviting a limited number of companies, foundations, and mission-aligned supporters to stand behind this moment at Normandy 82 — and help carry the mission forward from remembrance to action.

Comment MISSING MAN or message us for sponsorship details.

04/27/2026

The story of D-Day did not end on June 6, 1944.

In 2024, a rare D-Day bourbon flew aboard the historic C-47 warbird Placid Lassie throughout the D-Day 80 commemorations in Normandy — becoming the only bourbon ever matured aboard a warbird.

Created through the generosity of To***co Barn Distillery and Admiral Scott Sanders, this bourbon was never just about commemoration. It was created to help fund Tours of Duty’s POW/MIA search and recovery missions.

As we prepare for D-Day 82 in Normandy, that story is taking on new meaning.

Tours of Duty will return to Normandy with a mission bigger than remembrance: to raise awareness for the more than 81,000 American service members still missing from past conflicts, including more than 72,000 from WWII, and to support the veteran-led research and recovery work still ahead.

Over the coming days, we will be sharing several unique opportunities for mission supporters to stand with us at D-Day 82 — including ways to honor America’s missing, support our field missions, and help carry the promise forward.

Watch the story of the D-Day Bourbon and Placid Lassie below.

A warbird.
A bourbon.
A promise unfinished.

More coming soon.