Editing Missing in action (section)

{{short description|Military term describing someone reported missing during service}}
{{About|the military term|other uses|Missing in action (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2011}}

[[File:UnknownBritishSoldier.JPG|thumb|Grave of an unknown British combatant, killed in 1943 during the [[Battle of Leros]]. Because his identity is unknown, he is missing in action.]]
[[File:12soldiers.JPG|thumb|Grave of 12 unknown British and/or Commonwealth soldiers. Buried in [[Stanley Military Cemetery]], [[Hong Kong]].]]
[[File:Garden of the Missing in Action IMG 1290.JPG|thumb|right|The [[Garden of the Missing in Action]] in the National Military and Police Cemetery in [[Mount Herzl]] in [[Jerusalem]].]]
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Thiepval names.jpeg|thumb|right|Some of the 72,000 names inscribed on the [[Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme]]]] -->
'''Missing in action''' ('''MIA''') is a [[casualty (person)|casualty]] classification assigned to [[combatant]]s, [[military chaplain]]s, [[combat medic]]s, and [[prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] who are reported missing during [[war]]time or [[ceasefire]]. They may have been [[killed in action|killed]], [[Wounded in action|wounded]], [[prisoner of war|captured]], [[capital punishment|executed]], or [[Desertion|deserted]]. If deceased, neither their remains nor grave have been positively identified. Becoming MIA has been an occupational risk for as long as there has been warfare.