I was reading Tim Bishop's memoir. He was with 12th Lancers, a recon unit and there are a number of times that cars and crews go missing on patrol. The men of course are posted MIA until their fates are determined. What I'm wondering is how the army pay office handled this? Were fellows still paid until death was confirmed? If so, were any repayments sought if a man turned out to be KIA? Given MIAs numbered in the many thousands there must have been a policy of sorts?
I came across something similar or another forum. It appears pay did stop if a soldier was MIA. I don't know if he got back pay if he turned up again though.
I don't know about WW2, but as late as the Korean War, pay was stopped when a soldier was MIA or captured, until the fact that he was still alive was confirmed.
My dad told me of a fellow from his home town was reported MIA and presumed dead on Bataan in 1942. His family received the Purple Heart (posthumously) and Army life insurance policy sometime afterwards. After the surrender, he was found alive (barely) in a POW camp in either Japan or Manchuria. There was no attempt by the government to retrieve the insurance policy paid 3 years earlier. He did get back pay prior to being sent home, in the amount of $1.00 a day of incarceration.
