(Editor’s note: A previous version of his article inaccurately reported that a Maine man’s remains had been identified. The remains of John Henry Ralph Brooks have not been identified. It was a reporting error.)

Zelwood Gravlin grew up in New Vineyard and went to school in Phillips and Bethel.

On June 16, 1942, he enlisted in the Army Air Force, and on Aug. 1, 1943, he was rear gunner on one of 177 B-24 Liberators on a bombing raid known as Operation Tidal Wave.

His plane was one of 51 that did not return. It would be more than 80 years until his remains were identified and he was laid to rest in Avon.

The work of identifying the remains of the tens of thousands of servicemen and women who have gone missing in action since World War II falls to the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency, a part of the U.S. Department of Defense.

On Sept. 18 in Jay, the public will have an opportunity to hear about the process of finding, identifying and returning remains to families from Stephanie Makin of the agency’s Vietnam War Branch.

The presentation will be held at 7 p.m. in the Spruce Mountain High School cafeteria at 33 Community Drive in Jay. It will be hosted by members of the Frank L. Mitchell VFW Post 3335, Lane Dube AMVETS Post 33, both in Jay, and the George Bunten American Legion Post 10 in Livermore Falls, and their respective auxiliaries.

“I think as Americans, we often forget to take pause of our daily lives to remember the sacrifices and service of those who were prisoners of war, and those missing in action, and most importantly, their families,” Jim Manter, of Livermore, one of the organizers and a 38-year veteran of the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserve, said in an email. He holds offices in the local VFW and AMVETS posts.

“Every day, rain or shine, those families with loved ones that are MIA have to think of those they have lost,” Manter said.

“As a community, we should consider it a duty to come together for National POW/MIA Recognition Day, to show our support and admiration for our local friends and families, who have sacrificed so much,” he said.  “Until the last POW/MIA is returned, we will be their voice to let our nation know we have not forgotten them.”

Having the defense agency come to the community, to share the process, dedication and efforts the country is doing to recover missing servicemen and women, is so important, he said.

“It is a non-political effort that every American should be able to get behind and support in today’s crazy public events.  It’s an opportunity for family, veterans, and the community, to learn what great efforts our country is making, and be reminded most importantly that we, as Americans, will never forget them,” Manter said.

The local veterans’ organizations will hold their annual remembrance ceremony of National POW/MIA Recognition Day at 6 p.m. on Sept. 19 at the monument on Riley Road in Jay, adjacent to the Ski Depot.

The most recent success in Maine was returning the remains of U.S. Army Cpl. Oscar L. Sprague of Milbridge to his family Sept. 3 . He was killed in the Korean War, Manter said. The family received word in April that his remains had been identified.

And hundreds of people turned out in Rangeley in 2015 to welcome home the remains of Lt. Neil Taylor, who was 25 when his plane was shot down during the Vietnam War.

Some families are still waiting, including loved ones of John Henry Ralph Brooks, who was born in 1949 in Lewiston and grew up in Peru and moved to Bryant Pond as a senior in high school.

The U.S. Army staff sergeant was part a crew chief for the UH-1H “Huey” helicopters. On May 13, 1969, Brooks’ aircraft was hit and crashed in South Vietnam. His body was the only one of the Americans involved that was not recovered, and his remains have never been identified.

The remains of 18 military personnel from Maine who served in the Vietnam War are still not accounted for, Manter said.

There are 71,853 personnel unaccounted for from World War II, 7,398 from the Korean War, 1,566 from the Vietnam War, 126 from the Cold War, and seven from the Gulf War and Libya operations, according to the agency’s website.