Who runs Doughboy MIA?
Doughboy MIA is run by Robert J. Laplander and his wife, Trinie. Robert is best known for his work with the famous Lost Battalion of the 77th Division in WW1 and his book, Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legends of America's Famous WW1 Epic, is considered to be the 'bible' of that action. He has appeared in numerous print, radio, and television outlets for his work concerning the First World War, most recently being featured in the 6-hour, 3-part PBS television event 'The Great War'; part of the American Experience series. Trinie Laplander is an educator with over 20 years experience and holds a Masters of Education degree in Instructional Technology. Together they have explored the history of America's missing soldiers of WW1 for nearly 15 years now and have been on the battlefields in Europe five times. Additionally, Robert leads tours in the Meuse-Argonne area and regularly consults on burial and remains retrieval by the GRS in WW1. They live in Waterford, Wisconsin with their three children and a tall, skinny dog.
The overseas arm of Doughboy MIA is staffed by Mr. Sjoerd 'Red' Van der Ven and Mr. Peter Wever, both from the Netherlands.
Peter Wever is the team's medical/anatomical director. He is a medical doctor working as a clinical microbiologist in a general hospital in the Netherlands. He became interested in WWI after his parents-in-law permanently moved to the Meuse Department in Northern France. In 2010, he and his friends took their first guided battlefield tour, after which they regularly set out for the former trenches themselves. This sparked further interest, particularly in the activities of the U.S. Army Medical Department during WWI, which resulted in a collection of medical items from the war currently on display in an exhibition called “Wounds, Disease and Medical Care in the 1918 Meuse-Argonne Offensive” at the private museum “Meuse-Argonne 1918” in Nantillois, France.His interest in WWI has led to several published articles on medical aspects of WWI, focusing on the infectious diseases that were abundantly present during the war, as well as a treatise on the missing in action doughboys. He is currently writing a book on U.S. Army base hospitals which will be published by the U.S. Army Medical Department. On invitation, he speaks about medical aspects of WWI for service clubs and other institutions.
Sjoerd 'Red' Van der Ven, aka 'the Dutch Doughboy', is the team's battleground topographical expert. He was just 4 weeks old when he first visited the Meuse-Argonne. His parents bought a house "over there" and he grew up on the old battlefield as he went every vacation he had in his youth. As a kid he spent most of the time out in the woods and he started to find items from the Great War and learned how to 'read' the scars in the landscape which are still visible today. This started a passion that persists to this day. In 2014 he bought his first US uniform and educated the public of the Romagne 14-18 museum via his impression and at other events. His expertise is the 89th Division sector and he has much knowledge of the US involvement in World War 1 and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.
Our chief associate researcher is Mrs. Nancy Schaff of Maryland. Nancy Schaff is dedicated to honoring the sacrifices of her grandfather, CPL John Blazosky, and all the doughboys who fought in WWI. She is President of the Descendants & Friends of the 314th Infantry, 79th Division A.E.F., an organization that has held an annual Memorial Service for the past 99 years. She also serves as a Commissioner on the Maryland WWI Centennial Commission, has written a series of WWI Maker activities for youth, and co-leads the Maryland WWI Network.
Mrs. Jana Churchwell-Scott is the team's genealogical expert. Jana Churchwell Scott is a professional genealogist whose work focuses specifically in military service and records research. Inspired by the loss of her cousins and uncle in both WWI & WWII, several whose status is MIA, she has dedicated her career and time to the memory of these men and their families. Specializing in both combat and non-combat missing, she has worked tirelessly to research, document, locate, and reach out to the families of our lost soldiers. Her research involves such projects as indexing of Unknown soldier burial file information and organizing families in private support groups for military missing. She performs family investigations for U.S. military casualty offices, for aviation archaeology interest groups, and for multiple MIA non-profit organizations. She is proud to assist and be a part of the research team at Doughboy-MIA.
Our air service expert is Mr. Daniel C. Williamson. Mr. Williamson is a retired Lieutenant Colonel with over 34 years of service in the United States Army Military Police Corps. Over his career Williamson served as Provost Marshal in the Republic of Panama, an Investigator, a Military History Instructor/Assistant Professor of Military Science and an Assistance Adjunct Professor at the University of California Davis, and served two tours in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. His final assignments included commanding the California Army National Guard’s Recruiting and Retention Battalion, and as a Strategic Planner and Operations Officer within National Guard Bureau’s Installations and Environmental Directorate in Arlington, Virginia. Mr. Williamson is married to his wife Cheryl, a 28 a year Army veteran and retired Sergeant Major and they have two children, Mark who is currently serving in the USAF for over thirteen years, and Ashley who is a graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Aeronautical Engineering.
