[220112Z.OH 07/21/96] ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE ROUTINE R 220112Z SEP 93 ZYB PSN 707693P32 FM CDR JTF-FA HONOLULU HI//J2// TO SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//USDP:RSA// INFO WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASH DC RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHINGTON DC//CA/EAP/VLC/CCS/OCS// JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC//OCJCS/J5/PW-MIA/J3-JOD// USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI//J3/J30-M// USCINCPAC LO WASHINGTON DC CIA WASHINGTON DC//DEA/SEA/IB/DDO/EA/IOOG// CDRUSACILHI HICKAM AFB HI//TAPC-PED-H// RUEHBT/USDAO BANGKOK TH//PW-MIA// RUEHBT/CJTFFA DET ONE BANGKOK TH UNCLAS //N03460// MSGID/GENADMIN/CDR-JTF-FA/J223// SUBJ/INTERVIEW OF REQUESTED SOURCE, TU CUONG// REF/A/FAX/DET TWO/26JUN93// AMPN/ENTRY NUMBER 61, LIST OF 83 INTERVIEW REQUESTS// RMKS/1. BACKGROUND. ON 18 JUNE 1993 A JOINT U.S./VIETNAM PRIORITY CASE INVESTIGATION TEAM (PCIT) INTERVIEWED MR. PHO BIEN CUONG (AKA TU CUONG), A 75 YEAR OLD SONG BE PROVINCE RESIDENT. MR. PHO BIEN CUONG IS CURRENTLY RETIRED. THE TEAM MET AT THE SONG BE PROVINCE PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE HEADQUARTERS TO INTERVIEW MR. CUONG, LISTED IN REFERENCE AS A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF INFORMATION CONCERNING U.S. PERSONNEL MISSING IN ACTION (MIA) IN VIETNAM. THE U.S. CONTINGENT CONSISTED OF MSGT [XXXX][XXXX][XXXX],PCIT TEAM LEADER AND MSGT [XXXX][XXXX][XXXX]JOINT TASK FORCE-FULL ACCOUNTING (JTF-FA) ANALYST/LINGUIST. THE VIETNAMESE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT CONTINGENT CONSISTED OF PHAM TEO, MINISTRY OF DEFENSE; AND NGUYEN DUY THANH, MINISTRY OF INTERIOR. MR. CUONG HAD NOT BEEN INTERVIEWED BY A JOINT TEAM BEFORE. 2. SUMMARY. THE SOURCE MR. CUONG, PROVIDED INFORMATION CONCERNING THE DAK NHAO PRISON CAMP LOCATED NEAR DAK NHAO STREAM IN BU DANG DISTRICT, PHUOC LONG (CURRENTLY SONG BE) PROVINCE INCLUDING INFORMATION CONCERNING AN AMERICAN WHO ALLEGEDLY DIED Page 1 IN CAPTIVITY DURING 1966. THIS INFORMATION PROBABLY CORRELATES TO CASE 0054-1-01, AN UNRESOLVED CASE. MR. CUONG PROVIDED NOTHING THAT WILL, IN ITSELF. LEAD TO THE IMMEDIATE RESOLUTION OF ANY EXISTING U.S. PRISONER,OF WAR (PW)/MIA CASE. THE SUBJECT HAD NEVER SINCE 1973 SEEN OR KNOWN OF AMERICANS, LIVING FREELY OR AGAINST THEIR WILL IN VIETNAM. 3. DETAILS. A. MR PHO BIEN CUONG (PHOS BIEENF CWONG), AKA TU CUONG (TW CWONG) DESCRIBED HIMSELF AS THE LEGAL OFFICE IN CHARGE OF PRISONER EXPLOITATION BETWEEN 1965 AND 1969 AT DAK NHAO CAMP, A MAIN DETENTION CAMP IN FORMER PHUOC LONG PROVINCE. THE CAMP WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1964 NEAR DAK NHAO STREAM (YU3412) IN BU DANG DISTRICT, BETWEEN BU GIA MAP (YU3437) AND BU DANG (YU4813) TOWNS. FOLLOWING HIS TOUR IN THIS DETENTION CAMP, MR. CUONG WAS PROMOTED TO DIRECTOR OF THE PROVINCE'S DETENTION CAMPS. B. DURING EARLY 1965 MR. CUONG SAID AN UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE'S ARMY OF VIETNAM (PAVN) UNIT CAPTURED AN AMERICAN MEDIC AND SENT HIM TO THE DAK NHAO CAMP. THE CAMP HAD A POPULATION OF APPROXIMATELY 45 PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, INCLUDING INCLUDING NEARLY 30 REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM ARMED FORCES (RVNAF) PRISONERS AND APPROXIMATELY 11 CAMP CADRE; HOWEVER,THE RVNAF PRISONERS WERE TURNED OVER TO REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM AUTHORITIES AFTER ONLY ONE OR TWO MONTHS OF CAPTIVITY DUE TO AN INADEQUATE LOGISTICAL CAPABILITY TO KEEP LARGE NUMBERS OF PRISONERS. HE DESCRIBED THE U.S. MEDIC AS BEING BETWEEN 20 AND 25 YEARS OLD. TALL AND THIN WITH-WHITE SKIN AND LIGHT COLORED HAIR. MR. CUONG ALSO SAID THE MEDIC WAS CALLED "[XXXX]" (XXXX) AND HAD BECOME FLUENT IN THE VIETNAMESE LANGUAGE WHILE IN CAPTIVITY. MR. CUONG RECALLED THAT THE MEDIC REMAINED IN GOOD HEALTH AND BECAME ILL ONLY ONCE DURING HIS CAPTIVITY FROM A HEAD COLD, BUT QUICKLY RECOVERED AFTER RECEIVING MEDICATION C. THE MEDIC WAS HELD IN THE CAMP UNTIL MAY OR JUNE OF 1966, MORE THAN A YEAR AFTER HIS CAPTURE WHEN DUE TO A BOMBING RAID ON THE CAMP AND A U.S. TROOP ASSAULT TOWARD BU GIA MAP HE WAS RELOCATED INTO THE JUNGLE, ALONG WITH THREE OR FOUR RVNAF PRISONERS ALSO BEING HELD AT THAT TIME. THE GROUP SET OFF IN THE DIRECTION OF QUANG DUC C00558 . HE RECALLED THAT ON THE SECOND NIGHT TRI THUONG (TRIS TRWONGF) THE DEPUTY COMMANDER, WAS KILLED BY A TIGER. ON THE FOLLOWING NIGHT THE AMERICAN WAS ALSO KILLED BY A TIGER, WHICH CARRIED THE MEDIC'S BODY AWAY. MR. CUONG SAID HE WITNESSED BOTH DEATHS. FOLLOWING THE DEATHS THE VIETNAMESE ATTEMPTED TO FIND THE BODIES BUT FOUND NO REMAINS ONLY BLOOD. AFTER THE U.S. FORCES WITHDREW FROM THE DAK NHAO AREA, APPROXIMATELY FIVE DAYS FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF THE AMERICAN MEDIC, THE GROUP RETURNED TO DAK NHAO CAMP. D. MR. CUONG COULD NOT RECALL ANY SPECIFICS REGARDING A Page 2 REPORT WHICH WAS FILED CONCERNING THE AMERICANS DEATH. HE ALSO INDICATED THAT ALL DOCUMENTATION CONCERNING THE AMERICAN PRISONER'S EXPLOITATION WAS DESTROYED IN THE BOMBING RAID. E. MR. CUONG SAID THAT DURING THE WAR AFTER THE INCIDENT OTHER CAMP CADRE WHO WOULD HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF THIS INCIDENT WERE KILLED. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF DIEU SET (DIEEUF SETS), AN ETHNIC S'TIENG. HE COULD NOT RECALL THE NAMES OF THE RVNAF PRISONERS PRESENT DURING THE AMERICAN'S DEATH, CITING THE SHORT PERIOD OF RVNAF PERSONNEL CAPTIVITY AS REASON FOR THIS. F. AFTER HIS PROMOTION TO THE PROVINCE LEVEL, MR. CUONG NEVER HEARD ANY REPORTS OF OTHER AMERICAN PRISONERS IN PHUOC LONG PRISON SYSTEM. ACCORDING TO MR. CUONG IT WAS NOT UNTIL AFTER 1970 THAT THE DAK NHAO PRISON CAMP WAS CALLED CAMP T52. MR. CUONG ALSO DESCRIBED THE K6 DISTRICT AS A FRONT LINE AREA LOCATED NEAR BU DOP (YT1886), WITHOUT PRISON CAMPS. ADDITIONALLY, HE RECALLED THAT DURING 1965, A SMALL TEMPORARY HOLDING CAMP WHICH HAD BEEN ESTABLISHED NEAR DONG XOAI (BS4377) WAS BOMBED KILLING THE CAMP COMMANDER. MR. CUONG WENT ON TO SAY THAT THERE WERE NO PW'S HELD IN THIS CAMP AT THE TIME OF THE BOMBING G. MR. CUONG WAS AWARE OF EFFORTS TO FIND THE REMAINS OF U.S. PERSONNEL MISSING SINCE THE WAR AND HAD HEARD Of LOCAL PEOPLE ATTEMPTING TO HELP. HOWEVER, HE HAS NEVER ACTUALLY MET ANYONE INVOLVED IN THIS ENDEAVOR. H. IN RESPONSE TO MSGT [XXXX] QUERIES MR. CUONG STATED THAT HE HAD NEVER SINCE 1973 SEEN OR HAD KNOWLEDGE OF U S. PW'S IN VIETNAM. NEITHER HE CLAIMED HAD HE SEEN OR BEEN AWARE OF U.S. "STAY-BEHINDS" IN VIETNAM SINCE 1973. I. WITH NO FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR MR. CUONG, THE JOINT TEAM AGREED TO CONCLUDE THE INTERVIEW. 4. CORRELATIONS TO EXISTING POW/MIA CASES. A. MR. CUONG'S STATEMENTS PROBABLY CORRELATE TO CASE 0054-1-01 AN UNRESOLVED CASE BASED ON THE TIME FRAME OF CAPTURE LOCATION, AND PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE MISSING INDIVIDUAL. B. ELEMENTS OF MR. CUONG'S STATEMENTS THAT DO NOT MATCH THE ACTUAL CIRCUMSTANCES IN CASE 0054 ARE: (1) "[XXXX]", THE NAME THE CAPTORS IN CUONG'S STATEMENT // MSGI D/GENADMIN/CDR JTF-FA/J223// SUBJ/INTERVIEW OF REQUESTED SOURCE, TU CUONG// RMKS/ USED FOR THE U.S. MEDIC IS NOT PHONETICALLY SIMILAR TO THE NAME OF THE MISSING INDIVIDUAL IN CASE 0054. THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY THAT "[XXXX]" MAY HAVE BEEN SOME SORT OF NICKNAME. (2) THE SOURCE DESCRIBED THE INDIVIDUAL AS TALL, WITH PAGE 3 LIGHT COLORED HAIR. THE MISSING INDIVIDUAL IN CASE 0054 WAS 66 INCHES TALL AND HAD BROWN HAIR. 5. POTENTIAL LEADS. A. MR. KHOAT ALSO ENTRY NUMBER 61 IN REFERENCE AND LISTED AS A POTENTIAL WITNESS FOR CASE 0054. ACCORDING TO MR. CUONG IS CURRENTLY LIVING IN HANOI WORKING FOR A BRANCH OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERIOR. B. DIEU SET (DIEEUF SETS) AN ETHNIC S'TIENG, MR. CUONG RECALLED WAS A CAMP CADRE AND MAY BE STILL ALIVE TODAY. HE SAID THAT DIEU SET WOULD PROBABLY BE IN HIS LATE FORTIES TO EARLY FIFTIES, AND HE KNOWS DIEU SET WAS ALIVE AS LATE AS 1973 OR 1974. BT DLVR: CDR JTF-FA HONOLULU HI(1)...ORIG J3(1)...INF0 FOR USCINCPAC HONOLULU H(14) J30-M(1) 00-01-04 1 MDT 1 LRN061PCMT(1) J52(I) J51(1) J2(1) J1(1) J032(3) J03 1 CDO 1 *** MDU office codes that have received this message: *** MDUOPR Page 4