Abandoned in Place by Lynn
M O'Shea (2014-04-18)
Paperback – January 1, 1780 · Publisher. CreateSpace
Independent Publishing Platform · Publication date.
Pakistan's top court ordered Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was
convicted of murdering Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, should be held in
custody, but Sindh High Court's has now ordered his release.
Statement by Jonathan Hoffman, Chief Pentagon
Spokesman, on Hostage Rescue Operation in Northern Nigeria
OCT. 31, 2020
Statement by Jonathan Hoffman, Assistant to the
Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs:
“U.S. forces conducted a hostage rescue operation
during the early hours of 31 October in Northern Nigeria to recover
an American citizen held hostage by a group of armed men. This
American citizen is safe and is now in the care of the U.S.
Department of State. No U.S military personnel were injured during
the operation.
We appreciate the support of our international
partners in conducting this operation.
The United States will continue to protect our people
and our interests anywhere in the world.”
U.S. Navy SEAL Team 6 rescues an
American hostage in Nigeria; Lucas Tomlinson
reports.
An American hostage
has been rescued in Nigeria by SEAL
Team 6 in a daring raid, Fox News has learned.
...The elite commandos parachuted out of a U.S. Air
Force transport plane a few miles from the target. Without suffering
any casualties, the SEALs rescued Philip Walton, 27, after killing a
number of his captors. ...
'Into the Breach' depicts the U.S. special forces
raid that led to the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
in 2019. It was unveiled at a ceremony on Thursday in Arizona,
the home state of humanitarian aid worker Kayla Mueller. The
painting was dedicated to Mueller, who was abducted by ISIS in
2013 and held captive by al-Baghdadi until her death in 2015.
The painting was unveiled by Mueller's parents, who were joined
on stage by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, Senator Martha McSally
and Army National Guard members at the Goldwater Air National
Guard Base. The event was held nearly one year on from the raid
in October 2019....
In 2006, a year after our cross-country adventure in the little
Cessna, I left the service. The first thing I did as a civilian was
to follow Glen’s footsteps (and John Zinn’s) into the world of
private security contracting. Glen, as usual, knew the right people,
and he helped get my application fast-tracked. So, that by the time
I left the service, I already had a deployment date set in the
shadowy world of private-contract security work. ...
Two US hostages held by Houthi rebels in Yemen have been
released, seemingly as part of a large prisoner exchange.
Sandra Loli, a humanitarian worker held for about three
years, and businessman Mikael Gidada, held for about one,
were freed on Wednesday, US officials said.
The remains of a third US captive, Bilal Fateen, were
repatriated as well....
...Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs
Teodoro Locsin Jr. said in a tweet Monday that Duterte had
“granted an absolute pardon” to Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott
Pemberton. Duterte spokesman Harry Roque said Monday that the
pardon “erased the punishment” but not his conviction, the
Associated Press reported....
From: Patrick ( 1 ) <patrick@patrickjhughes.org>
Sent: 18 August, 2020 10:26 To: moehog@verizon.net Subject: Re: Today is the Australian Vietnam Veterans
Day!
Moe,
Was in DC on Sunday in the rain for
ceremonies near, at The Wall.
Battle of Long Tan Memorial Service at The
Vietnam Veterans Memorial 16 August 2020
“In
1987 Prime Minister Bob Hawke designated August 18 as
Australia’s official Vietnam Veterans’ Day.
The date commemorates the [1966] Battle of
Long Tan, during which Delta Company 6 RAR fought an
‘encounter’ battle against enemy forces in the Long Tan
rubber plantation just a few thousand metres from the 1st
Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat.
Delta Company suffered 42 casualties,
including 18 dead – more than one-third of its strength –
while some 245 enemy troops were killed. Delta Company’s 105
men, and three New Zealanders from 161 Battery, Royal New
Zealand Artillery, fought for almost four hours against
soldiers of the North Vietnamese Army who outnumbered them
by ten to one.”
It's been more than 2,922 days since Austin
Tice, Marine, journalist, son and brother, was captured in
Syria. His family has worked tirelessly for eight years to
bring their son safely home. Now, they hope with a recent
public commitment from President Donald Trump, they may be
one step closer to...
Jul 6, 2020 - American
student locked in Egyptian
prison for over a year without trial is freed,
returns to US.
Mohamed Amashah spent 500 days in detention ...
Jul 7, 2020 - Mohamed
Amashah, a dual Egyptian-American national,
returned home to New Jersey on Monday after nearly 500
days in Egypt's Tora prison ...
FedEx Express pilot
Todd Hohn
released from detainment in China,
reunited with family!
Authorities detained Hohn in China on Sept. 12 when they
found pellets used in replica air guns in his bag, the Wall Street
Journal reported then. ...
Hohn, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, departed
Guangzhou on Saturday to return to his family, who live in Florida. ...
SERBIA
Rescue Story in AF
Times
Dave "Fingers"
Goldfein,
Gen USAF AF-CC, and the story of his
rescue (1999) were featured 19 June
in the Air Force Times
in an article by Stephen Losey:
"The cockpit
recording is striking for how steady
the pilot's voice remains. High
above Serbia, Lt.
Col. Dave Goldfein's F-16 has
just been hit by a surface-to-air
missile. His breathing accelerates
as warning alerts blare, but with an
even voice he informs his wingmen of
his trajectory as the Fighting
Falcon goes down. Only a brief,
frustrated expletive betrays the
pressure Goldfein feels in that
moment. And just as quickly, his
voice regains its edge as he tells
his fellow pilots that he's going to
glide as long as he can before he
bails out. Then he issues a
call: "Start finding me, boys." And
with that, the mad dash to save the
life of a U.S. Air Force pilot was
on. Read the full article
here.
Navy vet freed from Iranian prison ill, seeks transfer to
US
by: ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press
Posted:
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Navy veteran
released from an Iranian prison last week on a medical furlough says
he is sick with symptoms of the coronavirus and is requesting a
humanitarian evacuation to the United States for medical
treatment...
~~~~~~~~~~
Please, join me in offering
CONGRATULATIONSto our colleague
Edwin (Ed) Huffine!
Ed had the privilege of working with the
Argentinean Forensic Team for several years focusing on his field of
expertise – DNA - and the Teams overall effort has brought them to
the attention of the NOBEL PEACE PRIZE Nomination Committee for
2020. (Check out the link in the email below.)
Ed has been in this special business for a few
decades and his work his not gone unnoticed. Attached you’ll see
Recognition from Virginia’s Governor and the “Presidents E Award”
We will keep our fingers crossed for the team
and Ed for the final vote.
Until they ALL come home……….
moe
Sent: 30 March, 2020 22:02 in Subject: Info - Nobel Peace Prize Nomination
Moe,
FYI -
I worked with the Argentinean Forensic Team (EAAF)
for many years and helped develop/implement the
DNA testing to identify the missing for several
projects. Some of the work I did in Latin
America with EAAF been nominated for the 2020
Nobel Peace Prize. I have attached some
documents related to this as well as a photo of
us preparing to provide Congressional
Testimony. This work is part of the reason I
received the President 'E' Award and Virginia
Governor's Kompass award.
Update on the ROGER HALL, et al., versus The
CENTRAL INTELLENGECE AGENCY lawsuit.
From the desk of Tony C. , US Marine Corps, Vietnam
Combat Veteran, Advocate Extraordinaire.
moe note: the attached pdf document is a must read
. A quote from the document: “The Court is satisfied that the existence
of such records is not mere speculation.”
From: Tony C <USMC-Vietnam-Grunt@att.net>
Sent: 31 March, 2020 21:03 To: undisclosed-recipients: Subject: Judge Lamberth's one=page order denying Govt's
motionforreconsideration
From: Roger Hall
Roger, congratulations on an important
victory. It will be interesting to see what the
government's next move is. It is particularly remarkable
given the flurry of bad decisions in other of my cases
over the past few days.
I tried to find a copy of the
government's motion for reconsideration which Lamberth
denied but couldn't locate it. It will have to wait
until tomorrow or very late tonight since I've got
another urgent matter I have to deal with now. Jim
Statement of The American Ex-Prisoners of War before the Committees
on Veterans’ Affairs, U.S. Senate/U.S. House Of Representatives,
March 3, 2020
National Commander Robert G. Certain
Chief Executive Officer Cheryl Cerbone
Legislative Officer Charles Anthony Susino
Chairmen Mark Takeno and Jerry Moran, and members of the House and
Senate Veteran’s Affairs committee and guests, my name is Robert
Certain, National Commander of the American Ex-Prisoners of War.
Thank you for the opportunity to express our comments today.
Our legislative agenda has been very consistent year to year. It
is based on the earned benefits of the veteran for serving their
country, never using the word “entitlements” in the same sentence as
veteran. Its center is healthcare and fair compensation to the
veteran and their family....
Rolling Thunder Inc, National XXXIII Nationwide "Ride for Freedom"
Food, speakers, vendors, musical tribute to veterans
Joe Bean - 484-880-2012
Ed Crabtree - 908-930-1920
From: Patrick ( 1 ) <patrick@patrickjhughes.org>
Sent: 29 March, 2020 22:15 To: moehog@verizon.net Subject: Re: National Vietnam POW/MIA Monument Dedication
March 29, 2020
Friends and Supporters of the Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans
Memorial we have decided to forego the public unveiling of
the National POW/MIA Monument to those from the Vietnam War,
scheduled for noon on Sunday, March 29, at the Memorial.
To comply with local restrictions and in the interest of the
health of those who may attend, we instead will hold a “virtual”
event ceremony that will be broadcast on our Facebook page at
the same time and date, which is National Vietnam Veterans Day.
Remarks by Ralph Galati, former POW in the infamous Hanoi
Hilton. Doug Seiler is the Monument’s architect.
From the Desk of Mike Benge, POW Vietnam – 28
January 1968- 5 March 1973.
moe note: Ms. Howard was a
Gold Star Mother, country music
singer, songwriter, producer, Author and a member of the Grand Old Opry.
She passed away 28 March 2020 in Gallatin, Tennessee.
United at Last.
From: Michael Benge <bengemike@aol.com> Sent: 29 March, 2020 14:36 To: BENGEMIKE@aol.com Subject: JAN HOWARD PASSED AWAY, SHE RECORDED THIS FOR HER SON
WHO WAS LATER KILLED IN VIETNAM(1968)
JAN HOWARD PASSED AWAY, SHE RECORDED THIS FOR HER SON WHO WAS
LATER KILLED IN VIETNAM( 1968)
... Zachary
Baumel, who immigrated to
Israel with his parents from
New York in 1970, was 21
when he fought in Israel's
invasion of Lebanon and was
declared missing in action
along with two other
soldiers in the Battle of
Sultan Yacoub...
Shahini was released
on $62,000 bail in 2017 after a hunger strike. Sometime in 2017 or
2018, he left
Iran (method undisclosed) and came to the U.S. and filed a lawsuit
in federal court against the Iranian government and several senior IRGC
officials. The suit claims that Shahini’s jailers subjected
him to “sleep deprivation, interrogation, solitary confinement,
painful shackling, malnutrition, and denial of medical care.”
POW/MIA
is a key issue that we're always thinking of at
AMVETS. We think this a great event, no matter
what, we'd like to help,” said AMVETS
National ...
where Glazov got much of his information for his front page
article
From Ray Calore:
Hi Mary! I put together some info and pics to update you on
what's been happening in Kansas on POW/MIA activities.
First thing is that our past SEVEN governors have signed a
POW/MIA Recognition for the state, beginning in the late
1980's:
Cambodia’s Hun Sen: The Blood-Drenched Opportunist of
Asia
He evolved from peasant to Khmer Rouge
commander, then Khmer Rouge opponent, then an illiberal strongman
tolerated by the West. Now as a Chinese client, his tyranny looks
dynastic....
"Sadly, the
statistics don't reflect the misidentifications as well as live sighting
reports which were dismissed for no valid reason or were just ignored as
sand fell through the hourglass for years/decades.
The powerpoints
always look impressive until the questions are asked."
NAME WITHHELD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
" agree with YOU, XXXXXXXXXX.
Certain sectors of our illustrious government are
quite skilled at presenting the ‘numbers’ in a slightly bias nature.
They have been doing it for decades.
Two additional examples of the numbers game;
The 4,400
plus Unaccounted for from World War One – off the books. Gone. Why?
They were part of the original mission. Who authorized eliminating
them from the Mission? What is happening on these cases?
The current
publicized ID’s for this past fiscal year – 201 – of which only 182
were actually ‘new’ ID’s from the accounting period. The other 19
ID’s were remains that had been included in group ID’s reported in
previous years and the families had been notified and services
conducted. In essence the 19 cases have been double booked.
I find it interesting that the Congressional
numerical goal since 2015 was 200 ID’s Minimum per year and once that
number is stated publicly for the first time at the end of fiscal year
2016-17 the annual Budget for 2017-18 goes from $112 million to over
$150 million for the current year. 25 + % increase!?? Did someone
knowingly cook the books?
Bill Bell was reporting a Last Known Alive number
of over 300 cases during the Senate Select POW/MIA Committee hearings
back in 1991-92; numbers reported now are below 60 cases – little to no
explanation on how the 250 + cases were resolved or if they were
resolved.
I wonder what Paul Cole would find today if he
applied the same formula he used in the private review of the
effectiveness and the efficiency of then Joint Pacific Accounting
Command (JPAC) back in 2010-11 to the current Defense POW/MIA Accounting
Agency (DPAA)?
So, what is our plan XXXXX? What can/do we do to
combat these inaccuracies in reporting? How do we keep the ‘truth’ in
the reporting process? How do we hold management accountable to ‘the
people’?
Look forward to your response."
NAME WITHHELD
From:
Cheryl Cerbone Sent: 13 July, 2018 08:35 To: Subject: Death of our National Commander
The Directors,
Officers and members of the American Ex-Prisoners of War are saddened by
the death of our National Commander Charles Susino, Jr. on Thursday,
July 12, 2018 at his home in New Jersey.
As always, he was
surrounded by his family and their love.
There will be a very
simple one day service on Wednesday, July 18th,
2-6 pm at the Wright
and Ford funeral home in Flemington, NJ. At a later date, TBD, he will
be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Many of you know his
love and passion for veterans, his fellow ex-Prisoners of War and his
country.
If you wish to reach
out to his family, please address cards to his son, Charles Anthony
Susino, who will share them with his mother, Lillian, and his family.
The National POW/MIA Recognition Day event, The
RIDE HOME, is scheduled to kick off on September 20, 2018 and our base
of operations this year will be Warner Robins Georgia. For over 15 years
we have invited Former Prisoners of War and Families of those still
Missing in Action so we may fulfill the Commander-in-Chief’s
Proclamation:
“I call upon the people of the United States
to join me in honoring and remembering all former American prisoners of
war and those missing in action who valiantly served our great country.
I also call upon Federal, State, and local government officials and
private organizations to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies
and activities.”
Hero’s Banquet – Friday, 21 September requires a
$25 donation per plate if you wish to break bread with our Honored Guest
– information here -
http://www.theridehome.com/banquet2018.html
All Services are open to the Public.
All escort Rides gathering points to the services
will be announced on or about the 10th of September.
This is the Largest mutigenerational
gathering of Former Prisoners of War and Families of Missing in Action
in the country in response to the Presidential Proclamation, so come, be
a part of History!
If you wish to Sponsor an Honored Guest, check out
the attached Form.
Looking forward to see you in Georgia this
September!
Until they all come home……….
moe
Chairman
The RIDE HOME, Inc.
From: JOHN MOLLOY
Date: Thu, Jun 21, 2018, 08:16
Subject: Fwd: Sad News- Update - Cong Billy Hendon
To:
Dear Friends and Fellow Veterans,
Last night at about 11:00 PM Billy made his final journey to his eternal
reward.
As soon as I can find out any information regarding Billy's internment
I shall endeavor to share it.
John
May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace.
Attached is an important document from Mark
Sauter concerning the summit, hopefully to be held in the near
future, and unrecovered POWs and missing Americans in Korea.
It was presented during the National Alliance meeting in
Washington, D.C. this weekend.
The Washington Times reports that three Americans held in North Korean
prisons are preparing for their release; The three Americans — Kim Dong
Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim — were
released from a North Korean labor camp and sent to Pyongyang for
medical treatment, the Financial Times reported. […]
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject:
FW: No combat pay for Korean Army POW's
Date:
Fri, 4 May 2018 08:48:06 -0400
From:
moehog@verizon.net
To:
'Moe Moyer' <moehog@verizon.net>
From
the desk of Mary Schantag, COB, POW Network!
moe
note; I would like to personally and publicly THANK
Mary for saying what many of us were thinking. There
are many concerns surrounding this issue and if we are
to maintain an affirmative attitude to the conclusion we
must not be afraid to speak to the truth.
Thank YOU, Mary!
A couple of weeks ago we were
told the families of enlisted Prisoners of War, returned as
remains after decades in enemy soil, were denied full
military funeral honors (that is reserved for officers.)
Had not for their capture or missing status - would they
have continued their military service - perhaps to become
officers?
Then we were informed that
the Admin Building at Arlington does not fly a POW/MIA flag.
And now - once again, we find
out the Korean War POWs were shortchanged.
Maloney Announces Legislation to Fix
Historic Underpayment of Korean War POWs
Bill Would Provide Back Pay to Veterans Who Were
Short-Changed by Arbitrary Combat Pay Limits...
I validated this through Elliott Sortillo.
Didn't know this.
Elliott Sortillo. At 16, Elliott Sortillo joined the 31st Infantry Regiment and participated in the landing at Inchon, South Korea. The unit headed south to Pusan, where it boarded a ship to make another landing at Iwon in the north. When his company went to Koto-ri to join U.S. Marines and British Royal Marines for a push north, ...
Jun 29, 2014 - For Elliott Sortillo, 79, of Portage, fighting in the Korean War meant fighting for survival. He was a prisoner of war for 30 months, nearly the entire war.
We also draw your attention to several bills which we
believe have special merit ....
H.R. 27: Ensuring
VA Employee Accountability Act. All veterans in all VA
facilities deserve adequate care from VA employees.
H.R. 4369: To
amend title 38, United States Code, to codify the authority
of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to assign a disability
rating of total to a veteran by reason of unemployability,
and for other purposes
H.R. 299 and S. 422 : To
amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify presumptions
relating to the exposure of certain veterans who served in
the vicinity of the Republic of Vietnam, and for other
purposes. H.R. 303 and S.66: To amend title 10, United
States Code, to permit additional retired members of the
Armed Forces who have a service-connected disability to
receive both disability compensation from the Department of
Veterans Affairs for their disability and either retired pay
by reason of their years of military service or
combat-related special compensation.
S. 339: A bill
to amend title 10, United States Code, to repeal the
requirement for reduction of survivor annuities under the
Survivor Benefit Plan by veterans’ dependency and indemnity
compensation, and for other purposes.
HR 1472 and S. 591: Military
and Veteran Caregiver Services Improvement Act of 2017 S.
1990: Dependency and Indemnity Compensation Improvement Act
of 2017 S. 544: A bill to amend the Veterans Access, Choice,
and Accountability Act of 2014 to modify the termination
date for the Veterans Choice Program, and for other
purposes.
Thank you for your time and attention and
most importantly your unwavering support of ex-POWs and all
veterans — deserving heroes every one.
God bless our troops
God bless America
Charles A. Susino
National Director
American Ex-Prisoners of War
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
Case against the CIA for unreleased POW/MIA
documentation to be declassified and released has
reached the point where we will be able to take
depositions of people with knowledge of withheld pow/MIA
information. The depositions are expensive and
donations have been few in the past few years. This case
needs financial ($) help in order to get the evidence
from the CIA. Many documents have been released but we
have not yet breached the wall for the documents we
seek. The only documents the CIA releases are those we have
proof exist. These depositions will provide that
information. Please donate to:
When Air Force, Marine Corps,
Navy and Army troops were captured by the North
Vietnamese or went missing in action in the late
1960s and early '70s, the government ordered
their wives and families to keep quiet. They
were told that to speak about it might endanger
the lives of their husbands, fathers ...
From the desk of Scott Ward, C-130 Corrosion Analyst/Sr. Logistician,
POW/MIA Committee member, Robins Air Force Base
-----Original Message-----
From: Scott Ward
Sent: 13 March, 2018 07:42
FYI
[Image may contain: one or more people, people standing, wedding and
outdoor]
On Sunday, April 8, 2018, former prisoners of war (POWs) from World War II,
Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and other conflicts will gather, along with
hundreds of veterans and visitors, at Andersonville National Historic Site
to commemorate the only national museum dedicated to preserving and sharing
their stories of courage, honor, and sacrifice for their country. Since
opening in April 1998, the National POW Museum has helped over 2.6 million
visitors better understand the experiences of American POWs from the
Revolutionary War to present day.
Activities will begin at 1:30 p.m. with a performance of patriotic music by
a ceremonial band from the U.S. Army MCoE. A commemorative ceremony at 2:00
p.m. will feature U.S. Representative Sanford Bishop and three former POWs.
Colonel (ret) David Eberly was a fighter pilot and the senior allied POW of
the 1991 Gulf War. Captain (ret) Bill Robinson, shot down over Vietnam and
held for over 7 years, was the longest-held enlisted POW in American
history. Sy Lichtenfeld was captured during the Battle of the Bulge and held
prisoner by the Germans during World War II. Each will share their
incredible and inspiring story during our commemorative ceremony. At the
conclusion of the ceremony, the Lee County NJROTC Armed Drill Team will
demonstrate their command of the rifle and unwavering teamwork.
Other planned activities include a presentation by Major Nicholas Holten,
Commander of the U.S. Army Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE)
School, a flyover of military aircraft, and display of a UH-1 Huey
helicopter. All activities are free and open to the public.
On April 8, 2018, former prisoners of war (POWs) from World War II, Korea,
Vietnam, Desert Storm, and other conflicts will gather, along with hundreds
of veterans and visitors, at Andersonville National Historic Site to
commemorate the only national museum dedicated to preserving and sharing
their stories of courage, honor, and sacrifice for their country. Since
opening in April 1998, the National POW Museum has helped over 2.6 million
visitors better understand the experiences of American POWs from the
Revolutionary War to present day.
Scott Ward
C-130 Corrosion Analyst/Sr. Logistician
Mandaree Enterprise Corporation (MEC)
812 Park Dr.
Warner Robins, GA 3108
02/15/18
I wanted to share the video of Mr. Johnson’s
speech during debate on H.Res. 129, and share the good news that it just
passed today by a vote of 411-0!
Feb 15, 2017
- Summary of H.Res.129 -
115th Congress (2017-2018): Calling on the Department of
Defense, other elements of the Federal Government, and foreign
governments to intensify efforts to investigate, recover, and
identify all missing and unaccounted-for personnel of the United
States.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Subject:
Will any POW/MIA families show up to ask
Mr. Lord about the secret POW/MIA for reparations deals?
Date:
Thu, 8 Feb 2018 13:51:44 -0500
From:
markasauter@gmail.com
From: Washington History Seminar [mailto:WHS@wilsoncenter.org]
Sent: Thursday, February 8, 2018 12:28 PM To: markasauter@gmail.com Subject: WHS 2/15 - Vietnam: The Kissinger-Le Duc Tho
Negotiations, August 1969-December 1973
Vietnam: The Kissinger-Le Duc Tho Negotiations,
August 1969-December 1973, an
almost 1,800 page documentary history of the
negotiations, compiled and edited by John M.
Carland, contains word searchable transcripts of
every meeting Kissinger had with the North
Vietnamese—comprised of 68 separate meetings in
27 separate negotiating rounds. The negotiations
resulted in the still controversial January 1973
Paris Peace Accords. Many of the transcripts are
accompanied by long discursive footnotes that
reference and quote from, sometimes copiously,
Kissinger’s summary memos to Nixon about a
particular meeting with Le Duc Tho, as well as
from other American documents, and also from
enemy message traffic—Le Duc Tho to and from the
Hanoi Politburo, and various memos and memoirs
from North Vietnamese side.
John M. Carland,
a historian at the Army Center of Military
History, wrote Combat
Operations: Stemming the Tide, May 1965-October
1966, official history of the Army’s
first eighteen months of combat in Vietnam
(2000).At the Historian’s Office, Department of
State, he compiled, edited, and published in
2010 two documentary histories: Vietnam,
January – October 1972; and Vietnam,
October 1972 –January 1973. In
retirement, he completed a third documentary
history for State Department: Vietnam:
The Kissinger-Le Duc Tho Negotiations, August
1969-December 1973, published in
late 2017. All three documentary histories speak
to the relationship between force and diplomacy
in a war-time setting. He has also published and
delivered numerous articles and papers on the
United States and the Vietnam War. Carland holds
an undergraduate double degree in political
science and history from the University of
Arkansas at Little Rock, an M.A. in political
science from the City College of New York, and a
Ph.D. in history from the University of Toronto.
George C. Herring has
devoted much of his career to teaching and
writing about the Vietnam War. He taught his
first class on the war in the spring of 1973, as
the last U.S. troops were coming home from
Vietnam. His book, America's
Longest War: The United States and Vietnam,
1950-1975, was first published in 1979 and next
year will go into a sixth edition--with a new
title. His books also include The
Secret Diplomacy of the Vietnam War: The
Negotiating Volumes of the Pentagon Papers (1983)
and LBJ
and Vietnam: A Different Kind of War (1994).
A native of Virginia, Dr. Herring graduated from
Roanoke College, and after service in the U.S.
Navy earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at the
University of Virginia. He taught at the
University of Kentucky from 1969 until his
retirement in 2005. In 1993-1994, he was
visiting professor at the United States Military
Academy.
Winston Lord has
led a distinguished career in international
affairs, both in and out of government. His
governmental posts have included Special
Assistant to the National Security Advisor,
Director of the State Department Policy Planning
Staff. Ambassador to China under President
Reagan and Assistant Secretary of State for East
Asian and Pacific Affairs under President
Clinton. He has also led or served many non-
governmental organizations, including as
President of the Council on Foreign Relations
and Chairman of the International Rescue
Committee. With respect to the Vietnam
negotiations, Lord attended every Kissinger
meeting with the North and South Vietnamese from
1970 through January 1973. He was also on
related trips to China, the Soviet Union and
Southeast Asia. Lord was one of the principal
drafters of the Paris Peace Accords on Vietnam,
as well as the Shanghai Communique on President
Nixon's trip to China. Lord graduated from Yale
University (magna cum laude) and the Fletcher
School (first in class),and is the recipient of
several honorary degrees and governmental
awards.
Stephen Randolph served
as The Historian of the State Department from
2012 until his retirement at the end of 2017. As
The Historian, he was responsible for
publication of the Foreign
Relations of the United States series,
the official documentary record of US foreign
policy and diplomacy. Prior to his arrival at
the State Department, he served for fifteen
years as professor, department chair, and
associate dean at the National Defense
University. Still earlier, he served as a
fighter pilot, commander, and policy advisor
through a 27-year career in the Air Force,
retiring as a colonel in 2001. He is the author
of Powerful
and Brutal Weapons: Nixon, Kissinger, and the
Easter Offensive, a study of the
endgame of the US war in Indochina. Dr. Randolph
graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1974,
and was awarded a master's degree in the History
of Science from the Johns Hopkins University in
1975 and a Ph.D. from the George Washington
University in 2005.
The Washington History Seminar is co-chaired by
Eric Arnesen (George Washington University) and
Philippa Strum (Woodrow Wilson Center) and is
sponsored jointly by the
National History Center of the American
Historical Association and the Wilson Center's
History and Public Policy Program. It meets
weekly during the academic year. The seminar
thanks the Society for Historians of American
Foreign Relations and the George Washington
University History Department for their support.
From:
Michael McDonald-Low [mailto:crossbowdelta@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2018 5:44 PM Subject: Vietnam MIA
Mission Problems
My name is Michael McDonald-Low and I'm
asking for your help in bringing attention to the problems at DPAA,
(Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency), that are inhibiting MIA recovery
efforts in Southeast Asia: Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
I am a former
Army officer who served as an infantry platoon leader and company
commander in Vietnam (D/1/20 Inf, 11th LIB, Americal) in 1967 and 1968.
In 2009, I contacted
DPMO (Defense
Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office) and JPAC (Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command)
and informed them that they were going to the wrong location in their
search for an MIA from my platoon - MIA case 1165 - Clifford Van
Artsdalen. They had sent Investigative Teams four previous times to
Vietnam in their search for 1165, without ever contacting me, his
platoon leader at the time of the incident.
After three years of
contacts with JPAC/DPMO, I was finally able to lead a JPAC Investigative
Team to the mountains of the Que Son Valley near Tam Ky, Vietnam in
2012. Our goal was to find the correct location of a soldier from my
platoon who was killed there - MIA 1165. The mission was successful,
however I am still waiting, like many others, for approval by a DPAA
Excavation Decision Board.
In September 2014,
after providing advice on other ground loss cases, I was appointed as
the first ever Southeast Asia (SEA) Veteran Liaison - the first Vietnam
infantry veteran to be officially involved in the search for MIA's in
Southeast Asia.
As the SEA
Veteran Liaison, I participate in Southeast Asia MIA case analysis by
reviewing existing DPAA background information and investigative
reporting related to unresolved ground loss cases in Vietnam, Laos and
Cambodia. I also conduct independent open-source research related to
assigned cases, including but not limited to additional Vietnam War era
veteran interviews, when applicable.
I was also invited by
Alisa Stack to join the government organized PACT (Personnel Accounting
Consolidation Task Force) when it was formed to review JPAC/DPMO
procedures and methods in 2014. I visited JPAC as a PACT representative
to review their mission procedures. I submitted a detailed report based
upon those observations. Unfortunately, all of the PACT input (and money
spent) had little effect in changing the agencies.
In 2016, my book, Unaccounted, was published
and released. It is the true story of an American infantryman MIA in one
of Vietnam's deadliest locations and the mission to find him 44 years
later. It provides a firsthand look at a JPAC (DPAA) IT mission.
Recovering Southeast Asia
MIAs is the foundation of the MIA mission, but there is something
terribly amiss at mission control - DPAA.
The search for American MIAs of the Vietnam
War has been led over the years by the government organization which has
gone by many names, most recently, JPAC, DPMO and now DPAA.
After almost 50 years, there are still over
1,600 American military personnel missing in action - and considered
unaccounted in Southeast Asia: Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. 1,450+ of
these MIA cases fall into categories of pending an Investigation
Decision Board (IDB), pending an Excavation Decision Board (EDB), or
like most - still in research. There are more than 150 MIAs who have
been approved for excavation, but are still waiting. Most of these are
not even scheduled for excavation due to a lack of funding, and in most
instances, lack of key personnel, specifically archeologists.
The priority of DPAA should be to finish the
mission originally founded by the mothers of Vietnam Veterans - POW/MIA
League of Families. These cases need to be given immediate priority over
all other MIA cases worldwide as there is a diminishing window remaining
before disintegration of all skeletal remains in the acidic soil and
harsh climate of Southeast Asia.
How the MIA mission of
DPAA is failing Vietnam Vets.
1)
DPAA Hawaii
It is refreshing to see that Mr. Kelly McKeague is the new
director at DPAA. Hopefully, under his leadership things will
dramatically change.
Department leadership at DPAA Hawaii has been all about
self-preservation of career rather than getting the job done - it is a
cult of personality. The same people, problems, attitudes, and processes
that forced the creation of DPAA still exist, even after 30 Jan 2015
(the formation date). DPAA kept the same people in the same jobs in
Hawaii, but placed them under new department names; the mission
continued as it had in the past. The disconnect between DPAA Hawaii and
DPAA in Washington, D.C. is obvious and counter-productive. A fresh
direction requires new, dynamic people and leadership at the department
level, not the same old career GS JPAC Hawaii "veterans" operating as
they have for years.
2) IDB/EDB
The IDB
(Investigation Decision Board) and EDB (Excavation Decision Board)
process is a nice example of how DPAA Hawaii serves the process rather
than the process serving the mission. People with no field experience
are voting and running through the ringer those who know what they need
to do to accomplish the mission. Policy, and External Relations and
Planning have no business being involved in any IDB/EDB. Their input is
not relevant to any decision relating to investigations or excavations.
Their job should be to review and insure all measures are being taken to
successfully accomplish the mission. To insure objectivity and
fairness, all decisions regarding IDB’s and EDB’s should be made by a
panel that consists of: DPAA J2, J2 lead investigator, IT/RT case
analyst, MIA Case Consultant / Veteran Liaison, DPAA - Washington DC
case leader, CIL (Central Investigation Laboratory), American Witness,
and headed by Director DPAA.
3)
Burden of Proof Protocols
The current recommended Burden of Proof
protocols appear overly weighted on aircraft MIA’s, metal object losses,
and are not appropriate considerations for infantry surface losses.
I believe
there should be two sets of protocols, or two sets of weighting
standards: one for aircraft losses and one for surface losses.
It is also important to note that all of the easy MIA cases have been
completed. The toughest remaining cases are for the most part infantry
surface losses.
4)
Ignorance of Battlefield, Enemy Tactics, Infantry Organization, Weapons
and Injuries
Prior to the appointment of a SEA Veteran
Liaison there were no combat veterans from Vietnam who worked on any MIA
case. Consequently, many mistakes have been made over the years by
investigators who are ignorant of basic combat tactics, weaponry,
wounds, and circumstances they have no ability to evaluate. I have seen
cases where no further action was indicated by the investigator, because
he/she couldn't identify the possibility (for example) . . . that a
human being could not be disintegrated by a 81mm mortar. And yet, that
has happened. I believe an accurate analogy would be trying to describe
the color red to a blind person.
5)
Failure to Properly Interview Veteran Survivors
Vietnam veterans, particularly infantrymen
and Marines, are a special group that deserves special handling when
you're investigating a fallen comrade. If you can't do the talk, you
certainly can't do the walk. If you're an investigator you should be
familiar with combat and all that it entails, otherwise you won't ask
the right questions or be able to identify information that may or may
not help you. In my opinion, one of JPAC's and DPMO's (And now DPAAs)
biggest oversights has been their inability to identify a credible
veteran witness and then obtain relevant information from that witness.
6)
Investigation Team (IT) / Recovery Team (RT)
The IT process needs to be more dynamic and
fused. An IT leader in the field should have the authority to be able to
run down leads in the field to closure. but the host nation, due to time
constraints and coordination, often times do not allow further pursuit
during the operation. This rigid process forces IT to visit a site at
least two or more times with approval boards at DPAA in between.
Meanwhile, years pass and hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent for
multiple trips. An average IT mission is Vietnam carries a hefty price
tag - approximately $250,000.
Ideally, IT/RT should
be combined into a single unit for investigation and recovery. When IT
successfully locates an MIA location it can be years before an RT visits
it. When an RT eventually gets to the site they are depending on field
notes and GPS to re-identify the site. This process is haphazard even
with GPS. It is absolutely necessary that the IT be involved to
positively identify the location, as well as any witness, American or
otherwise. This combined unit would have the flexibility in the field
that is needed to immediately excavate a site that has a high potential
for recovery. This could save years of waiting to return to a site
and/or could even save the loss of a site that was in danger.
Additionally, the new IT/RT teams should consist of a historian, analyst,
Geographic Information System specialist, archeologist, and an external
relations person.
7)
American Witnesses
An American Witness should always sit on the
EDB of his MIA, particularly after providing exact coordinates and
leading the team to the MIA site. Further, the input by the American
Witness to the EDB will add a sense of place, importance and legitimacy
to the proceeding. He should then always be invited to participate in
the RT to re-verify that the correct location is being excavated. In the
past there has been little transparency at DPAA particularly involving
decisions concerning excavation. This shroud should be removed and the
inclusion and participation in an EDB by the American Witness would go a
long way towards that endeavor.
8)
Central Investigation Laboratory (CIL)
The CIL's control over the use of technology
for IT needs to end. IT needs to be free to try any and all
technologically that is available. CIL needs to be focused on
identifications only and not be given any power over any other aspect of
the organization. Senior lab leadership should be removed to improve the
culture of the lab and the future version of DPAA. The archeologists
should be removed from CIL and moved into the future version of the IT/RT
organization.
9) The Center for the Investigation of the
Missing and Advancement of Geospatial Methods (CIMAG)
The CIMAG is a
program in which DPAA could have served as a nexus to help direct and
develop products by universities, NASA, and NGA to develop remote
sensing methods to search for MIAs (particularly high altitude aircraft
wreckage). The program was a low investment initiative where DPAA would
have provided the problem and coordinated with other agencies to
establish lines of research funding to solve the problem. Unfortunately,
this initiative angered the CIL scientific director and he forced it to
be cancelled.
10) Skilled Archeologists - University
Battlefields Initiative
There are usually
only one or two archeologists working for DPAA, which slows down the IT/RT
process. The University Battlefields Initiative was a proposal developed
that would focus on using university personnel to conduct battlefield
archaeology. The current mode of search and recovery used by DPAA is not
geared toward the systematic work required of complex battlefields. The
DPAA recovery model had evolved around the concept of a single location
that was defined by a burial or wreckage feature rather than the
complexities of a battlefield. The University Battlefields Initiative
would establish endowed professorships to head programmatic in-depth
archaeological studies of historic battlefields that would be chosen
based on the missing casualty densities determined by DPAA researchers.
Again, universities would be responsible for establishing their own
funding lines through grants or other public and private support under
the assumption that their affiliation with DPAA would be a benefit. When
presented to several universities, each expressed a high level of
interest.
11) Search Methods - Advanced Technology
One of the biggest challenges DPAA will face
is the excavation of surface loss cases where the loss location can only
be narrowed down to a 25 meter (m) x 25m, 50m x 50m, or larger area.
Most of these sites are remote and/or lightly populated where there is
little chance of a local Vietnamese or a People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN)
soldier corroborating an American loss from 50 years ago; too much time
has passed, and the ability of a PAVN soldier or local Vietnamese to
recall dates and specific locations are questionable.
The MIA remains at a loss location sites are
typically small bone fragments or teeth (not metal). Currently, DPAA’s
only on-the-ground search tool is a metal detector. Metal artifacts (dog
tags, weapon, equipment) supporting the location of an MIA are at times
discovered, but in many instances PAVN and Viet Cong forces routinely
stripped equipment, weapons, dog tags and personal ID of any American
left behind.
A larger excavation footprint requires more
efficient search methods. Use of Ground Penetrating Radar, Sonic
Analysis, Magnetometry, micro aerial drones, and other promising
technologies would make searches quicker and more productive in finding
remains. Many companies actively involved in the development of these
technologies would rush to the opportunity to use their equipment on an
MIA mission.
•
The reality of my mission and personal work experience
with DPAA is sub-par and is probably best explained by a letter I sent
to Bob Maves, (next page), my DPAA senior supervisor in Hawaii. It
should be noted that Mr. Maves did not respond.
___________________________________
Nov. 1, 2017
Mr. Maves,
I haven't heard much from you or others at
DPAA. In the past year, I have been asked but twice to look into cases.
It's disappointing that I cannot be of more service, especially given
the limited window of time remaining to find MIA remains in Southeast
Asia.
Frankly, I don't see any change at the new
DPAA that encourages me about the MIA effort in Southeast Asia. In fact,
I'd have to say my skills have been utilized less and less since the
reorganization. In some specific cases, I provided detailed information
about an MIA that was never acknowledged nor was I given any explanation
regarding its value or contribution.
Even the very basics in computer assistance,
so I could access case files, has taken almost a year to accomplish.
My credentials expire tomorrow and if I
thought things would change, I'd renew them.
___________________________________
I appreciate any assistance you can provide.
I have also sent a copy of this letter to President Trump and many other
Veteran and POW/MIA organizations and media.
A POW/MIA flag
waves during the closing ceremony for the POW/MIA
24-hour run at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo.,
Friday, Sept. ... It was developed by Kenneth Breaux
and his team at the Houston-based M.I.A. Recovery
Network, a nonprofit that advocates for
missing-in-action servicemembers and ...
Freedom Flight POW/MIA, a group
that honors and tries to increase awareness of
soldiers missing in action or prisoners of war, is
asking for help in locating equipment worth
thousands of dollars that was recently stolen.
President Luke Cesnik said someone broke into their
trailers at the McKay's Dodge ...
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject:
FW: Army Air Corps Museum - Special Announcement - December 7,
2017
Date:
Thu, 7 Dec 2017 11:51:40 -0500
From:
Moe Hog <moehog@verizon.net>
To:
'Moe Moyer' <moehog@verizon.net>
Good Thursday Morning!
Please join us in extending our
CONGRATULATIONSto MIA Recovery Network (https://miarecoverynetwork.com/
) and its founder Mr. Ken Breaux on their recent partnership with The
Sons of Liberty Museum and The Army Air Corps Library and Museum!!
Ken and his team have created an excellent
searchable data base on our World War II Missing in Action and are able
to bring it to a public platform where Families of those still Missing
in Action will, at last, have access to it.
FYI – the Missing in Action/Unaccounted For from
World War II represent approximately eighty seven percent (87%) of the
DoD’s List of MIAs.
Keep up the GREAT Work, Mr. Breaux!
We are Blessed to have you and your team on this
Mission!
Until they all come home……….
moe
From: Kenneth Breaux [mailto:kenneth.breaux@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: 7 December, 2017 08:37 To:
Subject: FW: Army Air Corps Museum -
Special Announcement - December 7, 2017
Air Corps Newsletter - December 2017
Greetings
On
this
the
anniversary
of
the
December
7
attack
by
the
Japanese
on
Pearl
Harbor
we
want
to
make
a
special
announcement.
The
press
release
headline
reads,
"MUSEUMS
AND
RESEARCHERS
JOIN
FORCES
TO
OPEN
UP
AMERICA'S
MIA
FILES."
This
week
we
are
announcing
a
strategic
partnership
between
the
Sons
of
Liberty
Museum,
the
Army
Air
Corps
Library
and
Museum,
and
the
MIA
Recovery
Network
to
help
in
researching
and
locating
American
military
personnel
who
were
lost
in
combat.
The
information
is
now
live
on
each
website
under
the
"Projects"
section.
Read
the
complete
press
release
and
follow/comment
on
Facebook
pages:
We are very
excited
about this
partnership.
When we
loaded the
data we
found a
number of
cross
references
to material
in our honor
roll
sections and
will assist
in filling
out a
biography on
those
listed.
Since the
history and
story of the
individual
citizen
soldier is
at the heart
of the
museum's
mission it
is hoped
that
providing
this
material we
can assist
in some
small way to
help write
the final
chapter in
their story.
We've
mentioned
this
before
but it's
worth
repeating;
our
sister
organization,
the
Sons of
Liberty
Museum
is a
great
organization.
Whereas
the
AACLM
covers
the Air
Service,
Army Air
Forces
and US
Air
Force,
the
"Sons"
covers
all
branches
of
service
from
World
War I to
present
day.
The Sons
recently
relaunched
their
website
containing
over
100,000
web
pages;
they
will be
adding
more
pictures
of their
exhibits
and
collection.
We look
forward
to the
day when
both of
these
organizations
can have
a large
campus
housing
both of
their
impressive
collections
saluting
our
nation's
citizen
soldiers
and
preserving
US
military
history
one
soldier
at a
time.
(We are
currently
in the
opening
stages
of a
capital
campaign
to do
this).
We need
you !
We need
your
help to
further
our
mission
of
preserving
and
bringing
this
history
to you
and your
families.
We are
not
unlike
all
non-profits,
we
always
need
capital!
You can
make
donations
through
the
following
link. As
a
501(c)(3)
non-profit
your
qualifying
donations
are tax
deductible.
If you
have
donated
or
considered
donating
artifacts
to the
AACLM
and in
your
family
you have
items
from the
other
branches
of
service
and
service
members,
please
let us
keep all
your
family
heritage
together
by
donating
those
items to
the
AACLM
and our
sister
organization
the
Sons of
Liberty
Museum.
World
War I,
World
War II,
Korea,
Vietnam,
Desert
Storm
and
present
day
items
are
welcome
by both
organizations.
Join us
on this
journey
!
Please
follow
us on
Facebook
and
Pinterest.
Enjoy
the news
of the
Museum
and
partner
with us
to help
share
this
information
with
persons
of like
minds.
In Their
Memory,
Robert
Coalter,
Director
Jason
Weigler,
Director
Robert
Weigler,
Director
David
Contreras,
Director
Researching
A
Veterans'
Service
One
of
the
most
frequent
questions
we
receive
is
the
general
"can
you
tell
me
what
my
relative
did
in
the
service".
Unfortunately,
most
of
the
time
we
have
to
say
"no"
we
are
not
familiar
with
him
or
her
but
if
you
are
interested
we
can
give
you
a
roadmap
to
follow
and
possibly
help
you
along
the
way.
Following
is
an
outline
of
the
roadmap
that
will
help
you
get
started.
So
get
ready
to
put
on
your
detective
hat
and
let's
get
going.
In
the
beginning
you
might
be
dealing
with
a
forest
of
information
so
large
that
it
is
overwhelming,
so
we
need
to
start
a
process
of
elimination.
The
first
thing
to
do
is
gather
any
and
all
papers
and
photographs
that
you
may
possess.
These
can
provide
a
lot
of
information
and
offer
clues.
Papers
may
contain
service
serial
number,
time
in
service,
awards
and
much
more.
Pictures
may
contain
names,
places
and
dates.
Within
the
photos
may
be
clues
as
to
locations
and
units
and
if
they
contain
aircraft,
tail
numbers
and
nose
art.
There
are
a
lot
of
historians
that
have
done
exemplary
research
on
aircraft
creating
invaluable
tools.
Personnel
Records
For
decades
the
US
Government
housed
individual
servicemen/women
personal-personnel
records
at
the
NPRC
in
St.
Louis
Missouri.
These
types
of
records
are
also
referred
to
as
the
service
jacket
or
201
file.
These
would
contain
copies
of
all
documents
pertaining
to
the
individual
who
would
possess
their
own
copies.
Contained
therein
could
include
orders,
assignments,
awards
and
discharge
papers.
Like
with
many
documents
regarding
our
lives,
many
people
get
rid
of a
lot
of
excess
items
so
you
may
only
have
a
few
items
if
any.
If
you
have
been
researching
for
some
time,
you
may
have
heard
the
story
of a
fire
in
the
St.
Louis
National
Personnel
Record
Center
(NPRC)
that
destroyed
all
records.
The
fire
did
happen
in
1973
and
according
to
the
National
Archives,
the
custodian
of
this
material,
it
destroyed
approximately
16-18
million
records
of
Army
and
Air
Force
personnel.
Not
all
of
the
records
were
destroyed-burned,
many
were
water
damaged
.
You
can
and
you
should
request
to
see
what
they
have
and
if
you
have
made
a
request
in
the
past
with
no
success,
make
another
one
now
because
there
has
been
an
effort
to
recover
and
re-compile
records
using
a
variety
of
sources.
Don't
get
your
hopes
too
high
but
make
another
effort.
Even if you have a discharge paper also known as a form DD-214, it only contains the last assignment; if the veteran served overseas in a conflict, it's likely that when returned to the states, they were assigned to another organization before they were discharged, so this document will not provide everything you are looking for. However, the last set of discharge papers have a multitude of other items such as awards, time overseas and can provide a lot of clues on where to begin your research.
If you
are
searching
for an
airman
who was
Killed
in
Action
(KIA) or
became a
Prisoner
of War
(POW),
you have
another
place to
search.
Reports
called
Missing
Aircrew
Reports
or MACRs
were
created
for all
aircraft
that
went
down
behind
enemy
lines.
These
reports
contain
the
dispensation
of each
crewmember
and
often
eyewitness
reports.
All of
the
MACRs
from
World
War II
can be
found on
the
website:
www.fold3.com Award
Documents
We
need
you
!
A
continued
big
thanks
to
our
fantastic
army
of
volunteers, busy
with
our
archiving
and
digitizing
project.
But
we
have
much
more
to
go
so
if
you
can
type
and
have
a
couple
hours
each
week
we
can
use
you
!
If
you
have
any
WWI,
WWII,
Korea
and
Vietnam
award
documents,
please
send
us
an
original
or a
digital
copy!
Why
Awards? Some
of
you
may
wonder
why
we
are
undertaking
this
type
of
project.
One
of
the
most
frequent
inquiries
we
have
relates
to
'my
relative
was
<name>
can
you
tell
me
where
he
served
and
what
awards
he
received'.
Individuals'
service
records
are
stored
at
the
personnel
center
in
St.
Louis,
and
many
records
were
destroyed
in a
fire
and
unless
the
serviceman
and
family
kept
a
copy
of
his
personnel
file
those
documents
are
gone
forever.
This
was
all
before
the
advent
of
digital
record
keeping.
Of
the
Group
and
Command
records
that
have
survived
many
are
spotty
at
best,
however,
they
do
not
contain
individuals'
files.
So
we
are
piecing
together
files
with
different
types
of
documents;
these
are
the
award
documents
which
many
times
were
preserved
at
Command
level
headquarters.
We
are
just
scratching
the
surface
but
we
feel
it
is a
worthwhile
endeavor.
We
are
always
seeking
committed
and
dedicated
volunteers
to
help
us
with
this
project.
Published
data
from
this
project
occurs
on
multiple
websites
that
you
can
access
via the Honor
Roll
Section of
our
main
website.
Volunteers
We
welcome
new
dedicated
volunteers
to help
us with
this
award
document
transcription
project!
Donations
We
welcome
all
donations
of
papers,
books,
photos,
gear,
uniforms,
jackets,
medals,
ribbons,
weapons,
equipment,
scrapbooks,
biographies,
diaries,
letters,
logs,
cash
and
other
assets
for
our
general
fund
and
capital
campaign
and
much
more.
Please Contact
Us
Donations
of
Artifacts
Help Us
Grow
Another
big
thanks
to all
of you
that
have
provided
us with
donations
recently
and in
the
past.
From the
uniforms
to the
photos,
papers
and
other
items
you have
been
instrumental
in
helping
us grow
this
fantastic
collection.
We
continue
to
accept
new
items;
these
items
are
great
for
research
as well
as
honoring
the
service
of the
veteran.
Our
collection
includes
memorabilia
from the
cook to
the
clerk,
armorer,
line
chief,
gunner,
navigator,
bombardier
and
pilots.
They
all
served,
they are
all to
be
honored.
World
War I,
World
War II,
Korea,
Vietnam,
Desert
Storm
and Cold
War
donations
welcome!
Sometimes
donations
are very
large in
the
number
of
items,
others
may be
small
simple
items;
they all
tell a
story.
Thank
you
again to
all the
families
that
have
made
donations.
Mayday!
Mayday!
We
feel
the
following
message
is very
important;
so
we
will
be
repeating
it
over
the
course
of
201
and
beyond.
Attention
Website
Owners
&
Veteran
Associations
As
many
of
you
may
know,
many
WWII
veterans
organizations
are
shutting
down
or
are
being
altered
significantly
with
the
loss
of
their
founding
fathers.
A
number
of
these
organizations
had
developed
some
type
of
website,
some
with
enormous
amount
of
data
and
history.
Sadly,
many
have
not
made
provisions
for
the
website
to
be
continued
and
thus
when
the
bill
stops
being
paid,
the
website
disappears
and
all
the
work
and
information
is
then
lost.
We
want
to
help
and
we
need
you
to
help
us.
If
you
know
of a
group
that
is
disbanding
and
they
don't
have
plans
to
continue
their
website,
please
have
them
get
in
contact
with
us;
we
would
like
to
bring
their
website
and
information
under
our
wing.
If
they
want
to
continue
to
maintain
it
we
can
give
them
access
to
continue
that
as
well.
As
one
of
our
top
goals
for
2017,
let's
preserve
this
history
and
not
lose
it!
If
your
organization
has
physical
materials
such
as
uniforms,
patches,
photos
and
other
memorabilia
and
you
would
like
a
permanent
home
for
these
items
when
you
cease
operations,
we
would
be
honored
to
be
the
custodian
of
your
group's
history.
Presidential
Unit
Citation
Roster
Documents
Many
groups
received
unit
citations
during
their
particular
conflict.
When
this
occurred
the
paperwork,
in
triplicate,
would
include
a
roster
of
all
assigned
and
attached
personnel
on
the
date
for
which
the
unit
was
awarded.
We
are
actively
seeking
and
requesting
copies
of
those
roster
documents.
Please
search
your
papers,
talk
to
your
association
and
help
us
out
with
this
information
and
get
them
to
us
pronto!
Korea,
Vietnam
We
may
be
called
the
Army
Air
Corps
Library
and
Museum,
but
we
have
items
in
our
collection
from
the
days
of
the
Air
Service
and
World
War
I
all
the
way
through
the
Vietnam
War.
We
are
actively
looking
to
expand
material
we
can
offer
for
education
and
research
and
build
on
our
website
for
these
conflicts.
Should
you
or
any
association
of
which
you
are
a
member
have
material
including
roster
documents
like
we
mention
above
including
websites
and
other
items
of
memorabilia,
please
get
in
touch
with
us.
Preserve
This
History,
Honor
the
Service,
Provide
Education
For
Future
Generations.
Good Wednesday Morning, Advocates, Veterans, Families
of our Missing in Action and Former Prisoners of War!
The USS PUEBLO – you remember Her? (http://usspueblo.org/Welcome.html)
Came under attack, (while under orders) by the North Koreans. The ship and Crew were captured and the Crew was held –
tortured, starved – for eleven (11) months before being released. The North Koreans KEPT the ship and it is on public display
to this day. The US Government/DoD did NOT recognize the Crew as Prisoners of War. As a matter of fact, the USG/DoD
brought the Captain of the PUEBLO, Commander Pete Bucher, up on charges. It took 20 plus years for of legal battles to
finally clear himself and obtain the DoD Classification for his Crew as ‘Prisoners of War’.
The Crew has been engaged in this fight for over 45
years and with the Current Administration placing North Korea on the ‘State sponsors of terrorism’ list’ the Crew with the aid of some gutsy
attorneys are going after the North Koreans. If you check out the ‘go fund me’ site -
https://www.gofundme.com/USS-Pueblo - you’ll will see the funding
request is for incidentals NOT lawyer’s fees.
We hope you’ll give their request for funding support
and we respectfully ask you that you share this information with all on your
electronic lists.
Until they all come home……….
moe
From: Robert Chicca <bobchicca3@gmail.com> Date: Tuesday, December 5, 2017 Subject: Go fund me reparations site To:
Shipmates and Friends,
Hopefully, the go fund
me campaign for help raising reparations funding is set. Below is the
link, hopefully, as I am not sure what I am doing. Anyway, check it out and then forward it with a note to all of
your email contacts, post it on Facebook, twitter, etc.asking for their support and to pass it along to their contacts. If you have
been interviewed by some paper, send them the link and ask for support. If you know anyone who can help, please forward it to them.
Time is a bit of the essence here so please do what you can. There is another go fund me page that is for some help with the 50th
reunion, but the reparations one is the extra important one.
We’ll call it a “Beta” b/c this entire replacement site
literally had to be built this morning after our app threw a sprocket late
last night. So we did what veterans do and sucked it up. We’ll update you
when the next version comes along, which will allow us to process
multi-lingual information from Contributors around the world, especially
Chinese, Russian, Lao, Korean and Vietnamese (our site launches today with
all these and more languages).
The point of our
non-profit project: We know some of the answers we seek are “out there,” and
the PIP is designed to reach people who may have those answers, reach them
in their own countries and languages, and give them reasons – and the secure
ability -- to provide the answers to us. We call it a mash-up of
investigative journalism and global crowdsourcing. Our aim: Do what the US
government will not or cannot do, using tools that have never existed before
to reach people and institutions that may now, finally, be willing to open
up.
Can You
Help Us Find Missing Americans?
Можете
ли вы помочь найти пропавших американцев?
您是否能够协助找寻失踪的美国人？
누락된미국인을찾을도와드릴까요?
Bạn có
thể giúp tìm những người Mỹ mất tích không?
ທ່ານ ສາມາດຊ່ອຍຊອກຫາ ຄົນອາເມລິກັນທີ່ສູນຫາຍໄດ້ບໍ່
?
Thank you to all you POW/MIA families who provided
information on their loved ones and personal messages to the current and
former foreign officials and citizens who likely have information that could
help resolve the fates of these missing heroes.
Please spread the word & send me suggestions and
corrections as we move forward. Mistakes are all mine and credit goes to our
superstar advisors, consultants and experts (see some names below and more
on the site,) plus the unnamed researchers we have working from Taiwan to
Belarus.
To the American heroes profiled on our site, the
additional POW/MIAs to be included on the site in future and all their
families: Thank you for your unmeasurable sacrifices for our country.
We remember and salute you this Veterans Day.
Mark
POW Investigative Project (PIP) Launches on Veterans Day
Innovative Site Combines Investigative Reporting & Global Crowdsourcing
(Washington, Nov. 11, 2017)
Designed to help solve some of the most controversial and enduring mysteries
in US history, the POW Investigative Project (PIP)
www.powinvestigativeproject.org launches this Veterans Day, Nov. 11th.
The multilingual site combines global crowdsourcing, investigative
reporting, international freelancers and insights from former top government
experts on POW/MIA and human rights issues.
www.powinvestigativeproject.org@POWIProj
The project invites
contributors from across the world to provide information on US servicemen
missing from the Korean, Cold and Vietnam Wars. The site launches with
information in seven languages plus English (Russian, Korean, Chinese,
Vietnamese, Lao, Polish and Spanish), with more to come. Online contributors
may volunteer to share information or, in some cases, accept paid research
assignments to resolve specific leads.
With the Pentagon now largely
focused on identifying POW/MIA remains already stored in its labs, the PIP
investigates reports of Americans secretly held by communist regimes and
never returned (alive or dead) – reports the Defense POW/MIA Accounting
Agency (DPAA) now asserts are supported by “no substantiated evidence.”
Take Cold War Navy aviators
Lloyd Smith, Jr. and William McClure. Declassified US files obtained by PIP
report the men were likely captured by communist forces after their recon
plane was shot down off Shantou, China in 1953. The family of Smith is
actively seeking information on his fate. The PIP site provides information
on the incident in Chinese and asks contributors to track down PRC
government records, photos, local newspaper reports or other evidence that
could help resolve the fates of Smith and McClure. As part of its mission,
the PIP also fights to declassify US intelligence records (some decades old)
on American POW/MIAs, including Top Secret and Secret records held back
earlier this year related to US prisoners in North Korea and other locations
(The family of a POW featured on the PIP site is suing the US government for
files on Americans taken to the USSR.
goo.gl/fQuuwc)
PIP advisors and consultants
include:
Garnett “Bill” Bell:
Widely-regarded as among America’s top experts on Vietnam POW/MIA
issues, Bell served as Chief of the U.S. Office for POW/MIA Affairs in
Hanoi;
Chuck Downs: Expert on
North Korea, former Executive Director of the US Committee for Human
Rights in North Korea and ex-Deputy Director in the Pentagon’s East Asia
office;
Norm Kass: Leading expert
on the involvement of the Soviet Union with US POW/MIAs, Kass served for
18 years as the US Staff Director of the Presidentially-mandated
US-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs;
Eric Longabardi: A
national-award winning TV producer and investigative journalist with
expertise in national security issues; and
John Zimmerlee: Known for
his unmatched databases on cases of specific POW/MIAs from the Korean
War, Zimmerlee is the son of Capt. John H. Zimmerlee, an Air Force
officer missing in Korea.
A nonprofit company, the PIP
was founded by Mark Sauter, who serves as its president and investigative
correspondent. An author and former award-winning investigative reporter and
online news executive, Sauter’s research on unrepatriated US POWs has been
widely cited by major media organizations. He is also a former Army officer
with service in the DMZ between South and North Korea.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said
Thursday he will retaliate against a U.S. halt on the
issuing of most visas to senior foreign ministry officials and their families by suspending missions by U.S.
military-led teams searching for the remains of Americans missing in action from the Vietnam War.
Cambodia's pro-government Fresh News website
reported that Hun Sen said cooperation with the United
States on the MIA search would be suspended until the two countries resolve
several issues, especially the visa ban. Government
spokesman Phay Siphan confirmed the report...
To our Family Group, Veteran Service Organization, and Military Service
Organization Partners,
I am humbled and honored to have been entrusted to lead the dedicated DPAA
team in dutifully and attentively serving this sacred humanitarian mission.
I'm also privileged to again be able to partner with you and your
organizations.
In my first message to the DPAA team, I reinforced that accountability to
the families of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and are missing must guide our words and actions. To abide as such, my teammates and I must
apply a personal sense of responsibility and be resolute in accomplishing our duties.
The resources and will the Department of Defense devotes to this vital
mission is the result of a moral imperative that also defines us as
Americans. I pledge to you to be a servant-leader of consequence and
to strive to make a difference to the DPAA team, this mission, to you, and
most importantly, to the families. I look forward to reconnecting with
you at next Friday's POW/MIA Recognition Ceremony, or our Oct 6th update to
all of you.
The Pentagon announced retired Maj. Gen. Kelly
McKeague, a 1977 Damien Memorial School graduate, is the new director of the Defense
POW/MIA ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOT NEW to the position!! McKeaque was
in command when the sham ceremonies were held on the tarmac with remains from the lab shelves. He was appointed again to fill
the position - to the disgust of many in the POW/MIA community. So much for progress.
Oct 10, 2013 - The Department of
Defense unit charged with recovering servicemembers' remains abroad has been holding phony “arrival ceremonies”
for ...
Oct 10, 2013 - The Pentagon admits that
most remains in the 'arrival ceremonies' had been ... Sham:Ceremonies like the one
pictured have been revealed as having ... following
a chaplain's prayer — the remains are returned to the lab.
Please see the ....August 2017 DPAA Field Operations Summary.
We hope you will find this information helpful in keeping our families and your membership apprised of our efforts to account for our missing.
... according to the Lincoln Journal Star, but
the 8th Circuit's decision focused on the 2011 funeral of
26-year-old Caleb Nelson, a Navy SEAL. Despite ..
....Nearly half a century after having accepted his brother’s fate, Bob
Moore received a package from the Air Force on July 19, 2002, containing a startling revelation. An enclosed
letter read that it was “possible that Capt. Harry C. Moore survived his shoot-down incident and may have been
interrogated by Soviet officials. His fate afterward remains unknown,” according to The
Seattle Times. Years went by without further information, and the government has refused to disclose files that
remain classified to this day. Bob Moore, who married his brother’s widow, is now 91 years old and said
he’s more determined than ever to figure out the truth.
“We’re gonna sue them and demand they release the information,” Bob Moore
told Newsweek....
Wieneke petitioned the agency now known as the
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to
disinter the remains — buried under the ID
“X-5867 ...
....No match.
Instead, a DNA analysis found
they were the remains of Pfc. Reece Gass,
20, who also died when the tank exploded. Gass was subsequently buried on
June 10 in his hometown of Greeneville,
Tennessee......
What military officials forgot to
do, though, was tell the Wieneke family. Jerry
Wieneke learned of the identification months later through a
reporter......
08/05/17
moe note: After the
Senate Select Committee in 1991-92, the Senate passed a Bill and President
Bush signed it. It dealt with the declassification of personal files
pertaining to Prisoners of War and Missing in Action from the Vietnam War.
The following three (3) Presidents, Clinton, Bush (2), Obama all signed
Executive Orders pertaining to the Declassification of files related to
Prisoner of War/Missing in Action. Roger
Hall filed this Lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency in 2004
seeking records concerning
Prisoners of War and Missing in Action from the Vietnam War. The attached
will provide you the latest opinion From Judge Lambeth in the on-going
action.
In the meantime 80,000
plus American Families wait for answers about their Missing in Action
Service member.
Please, someone
explain how Military Files from 45 to 75 years ago can have a negative
effect on our National Security.
From: Roger Hall
The following is the most resent activity in the CIA Foia
Litigation. There is an
attached file
court decision that should be read of what will happen next.
Roger, Judge Lamberth handed down an
opinion today which is partially favorable. Have
not yet had a chance to read it carefully. We've
probably won on Exemption 6 (personal privacy), although
it remains to see what the CIA does on re-processing,
and, more importantly, on photographic imagery.
Lamberth has ordered the parties to
consult about scheduling a status conference for the
week of August 21st. This is bad for me, since I
have a brief due in the Court of Appeals in the Morley
case on August 28th, which also happens to be my 49th
wedding anniversary, but I may have to go with a date in
the early part of the week, anyway.
His theme for his year is “Service not Self,” and
his goals are to end sequestration, to fully fund the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, to demand ...
The Defense POW/MIA
Accounting Agency, with a budget of $112 million, has the bulk
of its operations based out of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, ...
...The Pentagon has tapped
Navy Rear
Adm. Jon C. Kreitz to be the next deputy director for operations
of the agency that searches for, recovers and identifies missing
American war dead from around the world....
.....However, thanks to a new tool developed by Kenneth Breaux
and his team at M.I.A. Recovery Network, a nonprofit that advocates for missing-in-action servicemembers and their families, there is a renewed sense of
hope that at least one of the men could soon be identified.
Breaux — a retired Navy officer with experience in data analysis
— and his team have developed a database of unknown World War II-era U.S.
soldiers buried in American cemeteries. After plotting the Military Grid
Reference System location of each recovered unknown from the European theater and entering details — service branch, last-seen location, date of
death, height and dental work — the team can search unit records for
matches......
Brad Jacobsen suspects the remains are his Uncle Jerry
and wants to bring him home but he has become frustrated
with the Defense POW/MIA ...
moe note;
A tip of the hat to Jed Henry. After battling numerous countries, multiple USG
Agency he was able to locate and identify PFC Gordon and brought him home to his family in 2014. After a first hand experience of the
joy of reuniting a family and their soldier, he was hooked. We want to wish him nothing but success on these new missions.
Two Green Beret associations are frustrated that only
one veteran listed as missing from the Vietnam War has
been publicly announced as accounted ...
Two Green Beret associations are frustrated that only one veteran listed as
missing from the Vietnam War has been publicly announced as accounted for since June 9. They expressed bitter disappointment that a new director
hasn’t been appointed to the DoD’s Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action
Accounting Agency (DPAA) since the sudden departure of Director Michael
Linnington eight months ago.
In October, knowledgeable sources told SOFREP that a replacement for
Linnington was selected, but before any formal announcement of that
candidate’s
name—another Army general—was publicly made, that man withdrew from
consideration. This further clouded the DPAA top leadership selection
process
for an agency formed over two years ago to bring together three separate
federal organizations to improve U.S. efforts to account as fully as
possible for U.S.
servicemen and designated civilians still missing from the Vietnam War....
If
the remains are adequate, we need to be utilizing nuclear DNA testing. If
the data base is available – take the samples – move on to the next set of remains and repeat.
No matching results – fall back to forensic and circumstantial evidence.
Take a few minutes and view the video.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please share this link, this is about the Marines that were
recovered One year ago on Tarawa.
Why did it take ONE entire year to bring them Home????????
But in recent days, the Defense
POW/MIA
Accounting Agency said it is now "taking the
steps to send out inquiries and conduct
archival research" to try ...
Jan 2017 And when you are done with the "Last Battle" story -
do not miss
this families story: http://pownetwork.org/bios/b/b120.htm
American soldiers’ remains in North Korea lost in
political limbo
On 2/27/2017 7:26 AM, wrote:
Yes, very sad. The one that kills me
is the new dam they are building in North Korea
and the locals are digging up the bones of
Americans,
putting them in sacks and repairing them above
the damn line, and we can't get them. So many
families could have answers.
No wonder our families die fighting
for the truth.
On 2/26/2017 wrote:
Koh Tang
- Did you know when the
helicopters were sold for
junk and they lifted them
out of the water more
remains washed up on
shore with no one there to
collect them....
The link above is the home site for the recently
released CIA files.
The Number of total files is in the millions – but – they
have made it searchable by word or phrase!
A number of files that came up when searched for Prisoner
of War (POW) & Missing in Action (MIA). Several files were specific to Korean POW Camps. There appears to be a ton of
files specific to Vietnam as well as WW II.
“The military ordered the
POW/MIA wives
and their families to adhere to a 'Keep Quiet' policy,”
Lee said. “At the start of the Vietnam conflict, the
wives ...
“The League of Wives: Vietnam's
POW/MIA
Allies & Advocates” will tell the story of the military
wives who founded the organization, which would
later ...
PSAM.ORG click Museum -
click Displays. New POW/MIA Bracelet display archives and
honors the story, the history, the men and those that wore the band of metal. 2017
In order to provide more transparency for families of
POW/MIAs and support their efforts to bring
their loved ones home, the legislation would create
a ...
As Advocates for those that are being/have been held as
Prisoners of War (POW) and for those who carry the master classification
Missing in Action (MIA) next to their name, our job is "to educate the public".
To do that effectively and efficiently we must make sure
that we are knowledgeable on all aspects of the POW/MIA topic.
Please - open the link above - there is enough
documented information on this site that you could create a college course that
would fill a
semester at least on the topic of COLD WAR and Korean War POW/MIAs.
Pass this link on to all your advocate friends as well
as your Veteran friends and when you have confidence with your knowledge on the
topic,
send it on to your elected representative - State & Federal - let them know that
contrary to popular/their opinion - you and your fellow advocates
have
NOT Forgotten those left behind in Korea and other
communist countries.
Someone must stand for those that are not able to stand
for themselves – let that someone be you.
Marine veteran and Luzerne County
native Ed Zimmerman intends to return to Vietnam this
summer, he said, to assist a U.S. recovery team in its
hunt ...
Obama ignored the history again especially when it came to the topic of
human rights in Cuba much less war crimes.
Fidel gets a pass by the White House and the whole Obama front team.
JudicialWatch: Cover-up on American POWs in Cuba? Seventeen
U.S. airmen captured during the Vietnam War may have been flown to
Cuba, held captive in a prison noted for holding political prisoners,
and used for medical experiments on torture. We don’t know for sure,
because
the Obama Pentagon is balking at requests for records. This week we
filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department
of Defense to obtain records about American POWs who may have been held
captive by Cuban government or military forces on the island of Cuba.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia (Judicial
Watch v. U.S. Department of Defense (No. 1:16-cv-00151)).
We filed this suit after the Defense Department failed to comply with a
June 1, 2015, FOIA request seeking:...
(Washington, DC)–
Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense to obtain records about
American prisoners of war (POWs) who may have been held captive by Cuban
government or military forces on the island of Cuba. The lawsuit was filed
in the U.S. District
Court for the District of Columbia (Judicial
Watch v. U.S. Department of Defense(No.
1:16-cv-00151))....
According to the US Defence POW/MIA
Accounting Agency (DPAA), more than 1,600 Americans who
served during the Vietnam War never returned ...
03/17/2016
Hello All,
Attached in PDF form is the first issue of Abandoned in Place
- The Newsletter. We hope you all find it insightful
and thought provoking. It should be available later this evening at
this link as well. (http://case0358.com/index.php/news/)
As some may have heard, I have resigned from my position with
the National Alliance of Families to pursue my personal
research and continue the legacy of research of the incomparable Lynn
O'Shea, Director of Research for the National
Alliance. Lynn requested that I continue her research after her death,
a responsibility that I take very seriously as well as proudly.
I am here, just as Lynn was, to help where I can. I
look forward to working with you all in that capacity.
A coalition of veterans' families has helped push for a
change in congressional legislation to protect efforts
to find the remains of missing POWs and ...
Mar
5, 2013 -- DETROIT The family of a retired U.S. Marine detained
in Iran on espionage charges is begging for his freedom a year after his
death sentence was overturned ....Amir
Hekmati
It is with heavy hearts, we here at the National
Alliance of Families share with our members and followers the news
of the passing of our Director of Research, Lynn O'Shea. As many of
you know, Lynn has been battling cancer for the past year and
finally succumbed to this ugly disease in her sleep Friday
evening/Saturday morning. Services for Lynn will be this Wednesday,
December 9th on Long Island with Visitation Hours at from 2 pm to 4
pm and 7 pm to 9 pm at James Funeral
Homes, 540 Broadway, Massapequa, NY 11758, (516) 541-4000. The
Funeral Mass in honor of Lynn will be on Thursday, December 10th at
Maria Regina Church, 3945 Jerusalem Ave, Seaford, NY 11783.
Lynn's family as graciously requested that in
lieu of flowers, you consider sending a donation to the National
Alliance of Families. Donations can be sent to the Alliance at
2528 Poly Drive Billings, MT 59102 or through our website using
PayPal. The Alliance is an IRS recognized 501(c) 3 organization
EIN 94-3146805. Contributions are Tax Deductible.
Lynn will be greatly missed. Her keen eye for
research and tenacity in seeking the truth will be
irreplaceable. We will be dedicating our next issue of Bits
N'Pieces to Lynn and ask that you all keep her family in your
thoughts. If you would like to send a private message to Lynn's
family, please feel free to email
maryann@nationalalliance.org and we will make sure they are
forwarded to her family.
Lynn is now at peace and no longer in pain.
Those who went before her will welcome her with open arms to end
her journey to finally know the truth. Never Forget!
There are no words to describe the depth of this loss for the POW/MIA
community. Our heartfelt prayers go out to her family, the
National Alliance family, and all of those whose lives she touched.
Sad - yet Joy knowing
she is no longer in pain and I hope walking a walk
with those who went before her who finally have an answer to many
questions
that just were not to be answered here on earth.
Joe Oliver
Words can not describe this loss, Lynn was such a good person and
her heart for the return of the POWs was huge, Lynn will be
missed by all of us.
John Bates
VietNow National
That's a big loss. Sorry to hear this and she's no longer in pain.
Barb
We were so saddened to hear that Lynn had passed away. Her
contributions to the POW/MIA family were priceless.
We will hold her friends and family in our prayers.
Jerry and Sandy
REST IN PEACE !!
Semper Fidelis,
Dane
So very sorry to hear this. Lynn and I explored the TTU archives
together. She will be greatly missed.
Donna
SOUTH PORTLAND (WGME) -- Family members of unaccounted soldiers met in South
Portland on Saturday to look for answers and closure.
Around 200 families from10 states joined the conference with the
Department of Defense, which has a program that accounts for missing
soldiers.
It's called the POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
"The Department of Defense spends roughly in excess
of about
$115 million every year,"
said Mike Fowler of the POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
"Last year we made
80 identifications
so we brought home 80 people."
The department still has remains that have not been
identified. It says there are
five active recovery missions
worldwide.
The Grubers fault the Joint POW/MIA
Accounting Command (JPAC), saying the agency charged
with identifying the missing until recently was
inept ...
August 15, 2015 Bits N Pieces Page 1 of 11
... The National Alliance of Families Mourns the Passing of – Rod
Utech, longtime POW/MIA activist. Rod
spent the last 15 years as either producer or host of POW Radio
a weekly internet show. The show ended in
February 2015 but Rod continued his efforts on behalf of our
POW/MIAs. To his wife Karen and the entire
Utech family we offer our deepest sympathy.
Rod was a dear friend from "home." We appeared on his show many
times, and he visited Skidmore during Freedom Fest in years past.
Another gone way too soon. Our deepest sympathy to his family.
P.O.W. NETWORK
Divers to
receive POW Medal, 30 years after hijacking
Six Navy divers held captive for 17 days in Beirut, Lebanon, by
jihadists in 1985 will be awarded the Prisoner of War Medal by
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus at a private, late April ceremony in
Washington, D.C.
During
the US campaign in Vietnam, over a thousand service members were
classified as prisoners or war (POW) or missing in action (MIA.
Generally, those who went missing were killed or captured by the
North Vietnamese.
But in
a few instances,
as Robert Beckhusen
recounts at War is Boring,
Americans were captured or went MIA when their planes were shot
down in or near Chinese airspace. Beijing's role in the conflict
is becoming increasingly apparent as the NSA releases signals
intelligence (SIGINT)
documents from Vietnam and Southeast Asia.
For
instance, on September 20, 1965, US Air Force Captain Philip E.
Smith
accidentally
flew over the Chinese island of Hainan after his navigation
equipment stopped working and he became lost in heavy cloud
cover. A Chinese MiG-19 intercepted and shot down Philips due to
his violation of Chinese territory. ...
As the Defense Department attempts to identify
World War II remains exhumed in the Philippines in August,
questions have surfaced about the identification years ago of
four sets of remains that were returned to families and buried.
The revelations are the latest in theJoint
POW/MIA Accounting Command sagato
identify 14 servicemembers and Navy employees who died at the
hands of Japanese captors on Nov. 19, 1942, at the Cabanatuan
prisoner of war camp in Luzon and were buried in communal grave
717.
After the war, remains of four of the men in that
grave were allegedly identified and sent home to their families.
What were thought to be the remains of 10 others were moved to
the Manila American Cemetery and buried as unknowns...
Related
The Defense Department’s accounting agencies have agreed
to disinter and conduct DNA testing on the remains of 10
World War II servicemembers
who were buried as unknowns in the Philippines, after
years of fighting against unearthing the bodies. But now
the relative of one veteran believed to
be buried there might block the exhumation.
Families of the missing and Joint Prisoners of War, Missing
in Action Accounting Command whistleblowers believe modern
technology and the analysis
of war and post-war documents can easily identify a great
number of these World War II unknowns but say JPAC has
chosen to ignore them.
A Connecticut senator prodded
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Thursday for
specifics on when and how the exhumed remains of
sailors who died
on the USS Oklahoma in 1941 would be returned to
their families.
On 13 July 1992, the Senate Select Committee
on POWIMIA Affairs levied a task on NSAlCSS to review SIGINT reporting
for relevance
to the Vietnam POW/MIA issue and possible correlation to individual
POW/MIA cases. NSAlCSS provided the Committee with three
Correlation Studies, produced in August 1992, September 1993, and
September 1996. Most of the information mentioned in these studies is
chronologically organized by Reference Number (ReiNo), which is listed
as case #, and includes the incident date. The Department of Defense
assigned ReiNos to each incident in which there was the potential loss
of life or capture. There are some entries without a ReiNo or
case #, but do have the incident date. The earliest incident
is dated 1951 and the last 1988.
Over the next several months, NSAlCSS will
post over 1600 additional documents related to POW/MIAs in Vietnam and
Southeast Asia.
The documents are NSA field site reporting, NSA end product, summary
reporting, memoranda, watch officers notes, and analyst communications.
For ease of searching, those documents will be accessible under links
posted for each ReiNo for which they contain pertinent information.
The correlation studies and the documents
related to the incidents have been previously released under the FOIA in
the past, but they have never
before been posted together, facilitating access to families and
historians. In addition, the documents have been reviewed using the most
current guidance,
making this release the most complete of any prior releases.
The National Alliance of Families Mourns the Passing of long time POW/MIA
advocate Michael Van Atta. Mike passed on July 14, 2014
of Agent Orange related non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Many will remember Mike for
his fine research and publication “The Insider.” To his wife
Luna and the Van Atta family we offer our deepest sympathy.
-- Lynn
Lynn O’Shea
Director of Research 718-846-4350
National Alliance of Families
For the Return of America’s Missing Servicemen
World War II + Korea + Cold War + Vietnam + Gulf Wars + Afghanistan
.....Shortly after the end of World War II – on 26 September 1945 –
an American soldier was killed in Vietnam. He was the first US citizen
to die at the hands
of communist Vietnamese forces.
His name wasLTC A.
Peter Dewey, US Army. He was the son of US Congressman Charles S.
Dewey. He was also a distant relative of Thomas A. Dewey,
who would be a candidate for POTUS in 1948.
LTC Dewey was a member of the OSS. He was serving a
post-World War II assignment to Vietnam at the time as his demise.
LTC Dewey was killed while returning to Saigon from what is today
Tan Son Nhut International Airport (then Tan Son Nhut Airfield) in a Viet
Minh ambush.
The Viet Minh afterwards claimed it was a case of mistaken identity, and
that they mistook LTC Dewey for a French soldier. (Dewey spoke French,
and
had indeed yelled in French at three individuals near the ambush site
immediately before the ambush occurred.) The other US officer
accompanying him was not injured.
At the time he died, LTC Dewey was awaiting transportation to leave
Vietnam. The aircraft on which he was originally to depart Vietnam
that day had been
delayed. He was returning from Tan Son Nhut to the OSS villa in Saigon
for lunch when he was ambushed and killed.
LTC Dewey’s body was never recovered. Vietnamese historical
accounts indicate it was dumped by the Viet Minh in a nearby river.
At the time, the French were US allies. The Viet Minh were
then communist-led rebels opposing the French.
LTC Dewey was killed in the line of duty, by forces hostile to a US
ally, in Vietnam. We later fought those same hostile forces ourselves.
But because his
death occurred prior to the “official” start date of the US Vietnam War Era,
he is not listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, nor is he officially
recognized
as a US war casualty in Vietnam.
Rest in peace, my elder brother-in-arms. Rest in peace....
A retired Camp Lejeune marine is back home after a
month-long mission to bring home missing in action
troops from World War Two. It's all part of the ...
Pentagon
agency slow to ID, return remains of America's fallen
ARLINGTON, Va. – There are 83,000 Americans missing tonight.
They are troops who have never been accounted
for in wars, from World War II to the present day.
A Pentagon agency called the Joint POW-MIA
Accounting Command, or JPAC, is in charge of finding, identifying and
returning their remains.
But CBS News has found this solemn mission has
been undermined by lapses in management.
In 2012, for example, JPAC spent $100 million, but
identified only 80 of the missing. ....
... But Lt. Fenstermacher's remains were not found
by the U.S. government. They were discovered by one of the private groups
that have
stepped in where the Pentagon's JPAC has failed.....
Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., has co-authored a letter requesting Pentagon
officials grant the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command's Central
Identification ...
In this photo from 2010, Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and
Vietnamese workers excavate a 4x4 meter unit at a recovery site in
the
Thua Thien-Hue province, Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Stars and Stripes|Feb 21, 2014|by Jon Harper
WASHINGTON -- In the wake of numerous reports of misconduct and poor
management practices by personnel charged with recovering and
identifying the remains of missing servicemembers from past conflicts,
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has ordered the Pentagon to come
up with a plan to consolidate all Defense Department assets into a single,
more accountable entity that will manage all personnel accounting
resources, research and operations.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Feb 22, 2014
UN Report Confirms North Korea Kept South Korean POWs after the War, But
Gives Short Shrift to US
POWs Also Held, Even
Though They Were Lost While Fighting Under the UN Flag
[UN also mentions RoK POWs taken from Vietnam to North Korea; there is some
evidence same thing
happened to some Americans]
JPAC admits to phony ceremonies honoring
‘returning’ remains
WASHINGTON — The Department of
Defense unit charged with recovering servicemembers’ remains abroad
has been holding phony “arrival ceremonies” for seven years, with an honor
guard carrying flag-draped coffins off
of a cargo plane as though they held the remains returning that day from old
battlefields...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Principles collide in captive soldier's case
ByMatt SmithandBarbara Starr, CNN
updated 6:44 PM EST, Tue February 18, 2014
(CNN)--
"No negotiating with terrorists" versus "Leave no soldier behind."
With the long war in Afghanistan winding down, the plight ofArmy
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahlhas
left the U.S. government
trying to reconcile those two longstanding credos in a bid to win
the freedom of the only American solider held as a captive.....
Abandoned in Place, The Men We Left Behind and the Untold
Story of Operation Pocket Change the Joint Special Operations Command
Planned Rescue of American POWs Held in Laos Six Years After the End of the
Vietnam War
by Lynn O’Shea – is
scheduled for release in mid-May to early June 2014. Using documents never
seen publically detailing Operation Pocket Change, O’Shea put together the
events leading up to the aborted rescue mission. While telling the story of
men left behind, men who survived their loss incidents and into captivity.
Commenting on the manuscript, former Senator Bob Smith
wrote, When I received your manuscript, I fully intended to "skim through
it" and then get back to you with a short statement about my reaction to
what you wrote… However, when I started to read, I could not stop. I
actually read every single word and sometimes went back and re-read certain
passages.
I want you to understand that what I am about to say here is
not to flatter you or "blow smoke" at you. I have no reason to do either. I
sincerely mean it, when I say that you have put together the best chronology
and in depth analysis of the POW/MIA issue that I have ever read! As I read
this, I basically re-lived the 25 years of frustration and heartache that I
faced as I worked on this issue. Your 25 years of research and your
excellent portrayal of the facts have been skillfully combined to create a
document that will withstand historical scrutiny on this issue...
Abandoned in Place has a
Facebook Page.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 00:45:07 -36000 Subject: Re:
Bracelets: Returning the favor
Frank you are right on. In 1981, when
stationed at Bragg, I was involved with some very compartmentalized
planning to rescue POWs held in Laos under Vietnam control. It had the
blessing of the President. We had privy to radio intercepts , satellite
photos, humint, and much more . The scale mock up was updated weekly.
The operation was abruptly ended in early 81. Based upon what I saw and
heard there were people left. GB Scotty
The Pentagon's Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command found
time earlier in November 2013 to allow a Hollywood movie to
shoot scenes for a movie starring the ...
McCaskill's remarks come several months after an Associated Press
story revealed an internal Pentagon report that was harshly critical
of the Joint POW-MIA...
McCaskill's remarks come several months after an Associated Press
story revealed an internal Pentagon report harshly critical of the
Joint POW-MIA Accounting ...
Tens of thousands of U.S. service members missing, Wisconsin
veterans official says
To remember prisoners of war and members of the military missing in
action, state Veterans Affairs Secretary John Scocos issued astatementon
Sept. 20, 2013 -- nationalPOW-MIA
Recognition Day.
The statement included this claim:
"There are still tens of thousands of missing service members from previous
and current conflicts that our nation is working to find and repatriate."
“In 1979, I was looking at a picture of the colonel, and I had asked
him what the Silver Star was for,” Hal Barker said of his
father. “He said, 'None of your ...
Award-winning documentary
reveals an
unprecedented American tragedy
Watch Online for FREE
Spotted on the Government Attic web site
Records relating to the Defense POW/MIA Office (DPMO) contract with
Analytical Services Inc.
to study restructuring of the DPMO mission and an overall change in the
DoD handling of
missing in action/prisoner of war - MIA/POW issues, 1998-2000 - [PDF 52
MB 19-Aug-2013]
This is a large file; 53 Megabytes http://tinyurl.com/mby59ny
W. Montague Winfield, deputy assistant secretary
of defense for POW-MIA policy, said that
in addition to the investigation by the
Pentagon's watchdog, officials ...
Subject: TRAITOR ALERT - DON'T WATCH THE MOVIE. Please pass this
on to every Veteran, Active Military you know!
"The Butler" is a new film about a person who served in the White
House during several administrations. Unfortunately, whoever cast
the
movie selected one of the most vile and unrepentant traitors of the
Vietnam War, "Hanoi Jane" Fonda, to play former First Lady Nancy
Reagan.
Until such time as "Hanoi Jane" prostrates herself before God,
Country and surviving Vietnam Veterans and, the families of those
killed or
wounded in Vietnam, she should not be supported in any way. Please
help pass this to everyone who cares!
Two senators on Thursday warned senior leaders
responsible for bringing home the remains of
troops lost in America's wars that funding may
be cut unless they ...
W. Montague Winfield, the deputy
assistant secretary of defense for
POW-MIA policy, said that in
addition to the investigation by the
Pentagon's watchdog, ...
In this file photo,
military members of the
Joint Prisoners of War,
Missing in Action
Accounting Command work
a World War II crash
site in June 2011 near
St. Vith ...
Someone on the Internet probably has the
linguistic skills to match those names to the
official POW/MIA list and determine if
they are real. A captured North ...
Hudner's heroic attempt would earn him a
Medal of Honor, but it would not save ...
A Concord resident, Hudner is the oldest living
Medal of Honor recipient from ...
Navy vet fails to make it to N. Korea
war site -Hudner had hoped to find remains of friend
who was Navy's first black aviator
PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA ? A
decorated Korean War veteran from Massachusetts left North
Korea on Monday without fulfilling his mission: to travel to
the Chosin Reservoir battleground where he was hoping to
locate the remains of a friend who was the Navy?s first
black aviator.
Retired Navy Capt. Thomas Hudner was visiting Pyongyang in
hopes of following through on a promise made to wingman
Ensign Jesse Brown in December 1950 as Brown lay dying in
his crumpled plane.
?We?ll come back for you,? he told Brown after crash-landing
his own plane in a bold but unsuccessful bid to try to
rescue his friend.
The Associated Press conducted what is being
called an exhaustive investigation into the
military's Joint POW/MIA Accounting
Command and found it to be ...
07/23/2013 11:01 AM CDT
Mission Fulfills Sacred
Pledge, POW/MIA Official Says
By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, July 23, 2013 -
No matter what it takes, no matter how long
it takes, the nation must continue to
fulfill its sacred pledge to account for its
missing warriors, the deputy assistant
secretary of defense for prisoner of war and
missing personnel affairs said today.
"We honor the sacrifices of
our missing and the sacrifices of their
families," W. Montague "Q" Winfield told
attendees at the Veterans of Foreign Wars
national convention in Louisville, Ky.
Winfield, also the director
of the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office,
leads the national effort to achieve the
fullest possible accounting of the more than
83,000 warriors lost while serving the
United States. He also is responsible for
limiting the loss and capture of Americans
serving abroad in current operations.
In the last year, Winfield
said, the Joint Prisoners of War, Missing in
Action Accounting Command has accounted for
64 missing warriors -- seven from World War
II, 40 from the Korean War and 17 from the
Vietnam War.
Additionally, the White
House recently approved the charter for a
joint U.S.-Russia commission. "This is a
wonderful, wonderful advancement," he said,
"because it will allow us to increase our
bilateral relationship with our Russian
counterparts as we seek to get more access
to their archives."
One of the most important
aspects of his job is meeting with family
members of missing service members, Winfield
said. One of those family members recently
showed him a letter written from Vietnam in
late 1970 by Army Sgt. George C. Green Jr.,
a radio operator in the 5th Special Forces
Group.
"In the last paragraph of
what was to be his last letter home to his
mom, he wrote, 'If I am killed, no one will
ever recover my body, because I don't want
anyone to risk their life for this worthless
piece of clay,'" Winfield said.
In December 1970, Green's
reconnaissance patrol in Laos was engaged by
an enemy force, and he was killed during the
firefight.
"Because of the intensity of
that firefight, his team had to leave his
remains behind," Winfield said. "Like
thousands before him, Sergeant Green
answered the call to duty. Like thousands
before him, Sergeant Green was a humble
soldier. Like thousands before him, Sergeant
Green laid down his life for his brothers in
arms. Like thousands before him, Sergeant
Green paid the price for our freedom with
his life.
"Sergeant Green may have
felt that he was a worthless piece of clay,
but to us, he was and is an American hero,
deserving our nation's highest priority and
enduring effort," Winfield continued. "He is
not forgotten."
A widow once told him that
people don't appreciate a funeral until
there isn't one, Winfield said.
"The men and women of the
accounting community are dedicated [and]
committed to doing everything humanly
possible to account for America's heroes --
those who are still missing. We believe in
that mission," he said.
WASHINGTON – The
Pentagon's effort to account for tens of thousands of Americans
missing in action from foreign wars
is so inept, mismanaged and wasteful that it risks descending from
"dysfunction to total failure," according to an internal
study suppressed by military officials.
Largely beyond the public spotlight, the
decades-old pursuit of bones and other MIA evidence is sluggish,
often duplicative
and subjected to too little scientific rigor, the report says.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of
the internal study after Freedom of Information Act requests for it
by others were denied.
The report paints a picture of a Joint
POW/MIA Accounting Command, a military-run group known as JPAC and
headed by a two-star
general, as woefully inept and even corrupt. The command is digging
up too few clues on former battlefields, relying on inaccurate
databases and engaging in expensive "boondoggles" in Europe, the
study concludes.......
From Salem-News.com
Watch the special program Saturday, April 20, noon EST; repeat
airing Sunday, April 21, 11 a.m. EST on cable C-SPAN stations.
(NORFOLK, Va.) - C-SPAN will break story April 20 about “An American
in the Basement”, a investigation Into What Happens to
Americans Missing in Action and/or Prisoners of War, Framed by the
Real-life Story of Captain Scott Speicher
Author Amy Water Yarsinke, a veteran author of more than 55
non-fiction books on American history, military and current affairs.
She is
known as “the POW Hunter” due to her experience in military
intelligence.
An American in the Basement is an expose about the betrayal of
Captain Scott Speicher and the cover-up of his death, according to
the author.
C-SPAN will explore this detailed investigation for the first time,
as author Amy Yarsinke warns that this story is for every parent,
family member
or enlisted person about the promises made by the U.S. Forces to
search, locate, assist and recover all alive prisoners of war and
missing in action.
“The public has been shielded from the ugly truth of the Speicher
case and others like it,” said Ms. Yarsinke. “This book bares the
truth in a way
that Washington has actively tried to prevent.”
The story of navy Captain Michael Scott Speicher begins when he
became the first American service man shot down in the 1991 Iraqi
conflict. The
book documents what happened, from beginning to end, with new
documentation and eyewitness accounts that confirm Speicher was
alive and
captured during that war, but “forgotten” and left to behind to die.
The book also examines in great detail the war of words used by the
armed
services to define those it will bring home, and those it will
choose to ignore.
BBC News - Soviet war veteran found in Afghanistan after
33 years
A Soviet soldier who went missing in Afghanistan nearly 33 years ago
has been found living with Afghans in the western province of Herat.
The soldier is semi-nomadic, has the adopted Afghan name Sheikh
Abdullah and practices herbal medicine, Russia's RIA news agency
reports.
An ethnic Uzbek, he was found by ex-Soviet veterans of the war. He
was wounded in battle in 1980, only months after the Soviet
invasion, and
was rescued by local Afghans.
The head of the official veterans' committee, Ruslan Aushev, said
Sheikh Abdullah - real name Bakhretdin Khakimov - was tracked down
in
Shindand district after a year-long search. He had served with a
motorised rifle unit.
The committee lists 264 Soviet soldiers as still missing in
Afghanistan, half of them Russians. In the first decade after the
Soviet withdrawal in
1989 the committee found 29 missing soldiers - and 22 of them
decided to return home, while seven opted to stay in Afghanistan,
RIA reports.
The committee says it is determined to track all of the missing men
down. Sheikh Abdullah was married but his wife died and he has no
children.
The committee's deputy chairman, Alexander Lavrentyev, said Sheikh
Abdullah bore the scars of his war wounds - a shaking hand and
shoulder
and nervous tic. The ex-soldier, from the city of Samarkand, was
able to name his former place of residence in Uzbekistan and the
names of his
relatives, Mr Lavrentyev said. He understood Russian but spoke it
very poorly.
In 2009 the BBC's Lyse Doucet interviewed two ex-soldiers from
Ukraine, now Muslims and living with Afghans in northern
Afghanistan. Some
15,000 Red Army soldiers and more than a million Afghans were killed
in a decade of fighting between a Soviet-backed government in Kabul
and
mujahideen fighters armed by the West and Islamic neighbours.
http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=34188#more-34188 A bit over 45 years ago – on 23 January 1968 – the USS Pueblo was
seized in international waters by North Korean forces. It
was only the
second US Navy ship to be captured by enemy forces since the War of 1812
(the river gunboat USS Wake was captured by Japanese forces on
8 December 1941). It remains on the roster of US Navy ships today.
......
The
government is considering reviewing the legal status of former South
Korean soldiers who have been listed here as killed in action
during the 1950-53 Korean War, but were found to be still alive in
North Korea........
In the closing days of the 2008
presidential campaign, I clicked an ambiguous link on an obscure
website and stumbled into a parallel universe.
During the previous two years
of that long election cycle, the media narrative surrounding Sen.
John McCain had been one of unblemished
heroism and selfless devotion to his fellow servicemen. Thousands of
stories on television and in print had told of his brutal torture at
the hands
of his North Vietnamese captors, his steely refusal to crack, and
his later political career aimed at serving the needs of fellow
Vietnam veterans.
This storyline had first reached the national stage during his 2000
campaign, then returned with even greater force as he successfully
sought the
2008 Republican nomination. Seemingly accepted by all, this history
became a centerpiece of his campaign. McCain’s supporters touted his
heroism as proof that he possessed the character to be entrusted
with America’s highest office, while his detractors merely sought to
change the subject.
.......
Ron Unz
is publisher of The American Conservative.
Read Sydney Schanberg's
exposé "McCain and the POW Cover-Up"
here.
And read Schanberg's
account of how this story was buried by the mainstream media
here.
Silent Treatment
American Conservative
Magazine
Yet his explosive 2008 essay 'McCain and the POW
Cover-Up' was stonewalled by .... acknowledged that
their paper or magazine or TV network had “blind
spots. ...
07/23/2010
My name is xxxxxxxxxxx, my husband
xxxxxxxxxxxxx was a SK on board the USS Hooper DE 1026, 1966-1968.
He never talked much about Viet Nam
or the war. I do know he and others were put on shore to do body
counts. Before he died of cancer he told me of this:
He was there, WEST PAC, when they were
searching for a downed US fighter jet & pilot they were in a small
boat, they had found a wing off the jet, then
they found the pilots body floating in the ocean.
The captain would not allow them to pick
up the body, but ordered it run over and sunk by the boat. My
husband hated that captain, the captain would not
allow them to even get the dog tags off the body. I'm sorry to tell
you this now, I wish I had more information. My heart aches for the
family of the pilot,
never knowing what happened. If the captain, or other crew members
of the Hooper, were contacted maybe they could help with identifying
this hero.
Sincerely
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
widow of xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx USN
Updated: Fri., Apr. 9, 2010, 10:03 AM
Mobster POW scam took LI pol for 18G By JANON FISHER
Last Updated: 10:03 AM, April 9, 2010
Posted: 4:12 AM, April 9, 2010
A mobster pleaded guilty yesterday to a bizarre scheme to
defraud a former Long Island congressman out of $18,500 in
exchange for bogus
information about Vietnam POWs.
Charles Guiga, 38, admitted that within the last year he'd sent
letters supposedly written by a Russian mobster and giving the
locations of 75
prisoners of war supposedly being held in the former Soviet
republic of Belarus.......
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:55:51 -0500
From: Irene Mandra <imandra@optonline.net>
Subject: FW: New IMO
IN MY OPINION February 2010
Another year has passed… one more year without answers, only more
questions.
One more year, without access to North Korea, only political
stonewalling.
One more year, without open discussion between the US and the former
Soviet Union, China and Vietnam about POWs.
One more year, that the men who survived may have died, yet no
substantive action has been taken to address continued live-sighting
reports.
One more year that Congress has done nothing on the issue of
Prisoners and Missing, not even allowing an up or down vote on
Hearings, yet
rushed thousands of pages of pork-barrel laden health care
Legislation through 2 bodies, without fully reading or comprehending
what they were voting on.
One more year that yet another President has done nothing to
reach-out to his global counterparts as a humanitarian issue and
bring answers and
closure to the families of the men and women who never came home.
So, that leaves us with a new year. And that means we should
seriously evaluate how to go forward in order to insure we get the
most out of our
appointed and disappointing officials.
America is the greatest nation on the earth. Nowhere, has there been
such remarkable bravery, selflessness, sacrifice and charity - for
others. If you
do not believe that, then simply look at the endless list of names
of combat casualties who died for the freedom of OTHER countries and
people.
Look at the number of Missing, Prisoner and Presumed Dead from WW I
- fighting for the freedom of EUROPE, WW II - fighting for the
freedom of
EUROPE and the PACIFIC, Korea - fighting for the freedom of SOUTH
KOREA, the Cold War - fighting for the freedom of the WORLD, Vietnam
-
fighting for the freedom of SOUTH VIETNAM, Persian Gulf War -
fighting for the freedom of KUWAIT, Persian Gulf II - fighting for
the freedom of Iraq….
and let us not forget the numerous other conflicts that cost
American men and women their lives.
When there is a disaster, be it man-made or an act of nature, we are
the first to give… men, materials, money, technology… whatever is
needed,
we give. When the Christmas Tsunami struck, our own JPAC put all
activities on hold while they worked against the clock to help those
in desperate
need. Around the world, at word of the slightest tragedy, we pour
millions of dollars into the area to assist those most in need.
When all hell broke loose in Haiti this month, it is the US men and
women in uniform, who are on the scene, making runways out of rubble
and directing
the flow of millions of tons of aid, our floating hospital city off
the coast, unable to dock, yet flying thousands of injured to her
sanctuary of healing. The
donations of millions of Americans filling the coffers of Aid
agencies and organizations to bring hope and healing to this
battered island nation.
But, when will it be our turn? When will someone in Congress or the
White House say, let's help these POW-MIA families get some answers?
Why is it
that our government is so quick to throw all manner of assistance at
someone else's problems, but stands in the way of our need to find
answers?
Why is it that Congress will vote on and pass resolutions for some
of the most stupid and self-aggrandizing notions, yet, do everything
in their power to
prevent a simple Yes or No vote on POW-MIA Hearings that have been
sought for more than a dozen years.
Why is it that the State Department and this Administration will
support former President Clinton's foray to North Korea for 2
wayward journalists, yet do
nothing to allow recovery and excavations with the same nation?
Why is it that we allow China to be our largest creditor and
manufacturer, dumping trillions of dollars of trinkets into this
Country, yet we do not demand
the answers on known POWs and MIAs or the brutal camps the Communist
Chinese ran.
In this New Year, when we evaluate what needs to be done and how to
do it, we need to remind our government and ELECTED officials that
their priorities
are askew. The days of favoring foreigners over Americans are over.
That protecting the rights of illegals and criminals over the rights
of tax-payers and voters
is a thing of the past.
And, most importantly, that men and women in uniform are not
disposable government issue, but the very thing that makes us truly
American… a people
willing to sacrifice for someone else, but not willing to be
abandoned by a country and a government that has lost its focus and
backbone.
..... A total of 74,213 U.S. service members remain missing from World
War II, with 19,000 deemed recoverable. There are also 127 missing from
the Cold War, 8,034 from the Korean War, and 1,723 from the Vietnam War,
according to the command's latest figures.....
Thirty-six Veterans Days have passed since the official release of our
Vietnam prisoners of war, yet to this day we are left with clashing
verdicts
on the crucial issue of whether numerous prisoners were knowingly left
behind.
But if all
living American prisoners of war were returned that year, why did an
Air Force general maintain that intelligence experts felt "shock
and sadness" that so many known prisoners were clearly left behind?
Why did a congressman and former high-level aide to President Ronald
Reagan reportedly claim that Reagan privately admitted that hundreds
of abandoned American prisoners were still languishing in Vietnam at
the
end of his eight-year tenure? ......
Springs man, famous for POW flag
design, dies
Newt Heisley was 88
May 16, 2009 - 5:22 PM
ANDREA BROWN
THE GAZETTE
The Colorado Springs man who designed
the black and white POW/MIA flag flown everywhere from federal
buildings to Harley-Davidson
fenders died Thursday at his home.
Newt Heisley was 88.
.....
INFORMATION
Every year,
by proclamation, the President of the United States declares April 9th as
"National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day." This
date
honors those that CAME HOME along with the missing. In the past decade, an average of TWELVE
returnees have died EACH DAY.
National
POW/MIA Recognition Day is by law, the 3rd Friday in September every year.
This date honors those men and women STILL HELD in enemy
hands or buried
on foreign soil.
On August
10, 1990, the Congress passed a bill recognizing the black and white,
POW/MIA flag as "the symbol of our Nation's concern and commitment
to
resolving as fully as possible the fate of Americans still prisoner,
missing and unaccounted for in Southeast Asia..."
In 1997, bills passed
the House and Senate mandating the POW/MIA flag be flown on specific
holidays. The 1998 Defense Authorization act noted that the flag MUST be
flown on: Memorial Day, Armed Forces Day, Flag Day, Veterans Day,
Independence Day, POW/MIA Recognition Day.
In 1998, the Veterans
Administration noted the flag will fly EVERY day at their
facilities.
Why is it so difficult to understand the difference between Veterans Day
and Memorial Day?
The original reason for the two days of remembrance have been obscured
if not forgotten.
Veterans Day came from the 11-11-11 Armistice of the Great War (WW I)
and celebrated World Peace until 1954 when Armistice/Remembrance Day was
changed to Veterans Day to honor also those who served in WW II, and now
honors those who served in the Armed Forces at any time. (Those still
serving
are honored on Armed Forces Day in May.)
Memorial Day [end of May] (originally Decoration Day for honoring fallen
Union soldiers of the Civil War and also celebrating the Grand Army of
the Republic)
has a rich history toward honoring the fallen Union, and
later Confederate soldiers of the Civil War, and then the fallen of WW I
and later casualties of all wars,
and also deceased family who never
served in the Armed Forces.
MILITARY
CASUALTIES:
ALL POW/MIAs lost prior to Jan 1, 2013 are now noted as PFOD
(presumptive finding of death)
28 KIA 2003 (as of 05/20/03) (Does not
include losses from air crashes WITHIN U.S.) DOES include
Philippines (10 - some KIA/BNR), Afghanistan, Med Sea.,
Puerto Rico. Includes bombing in Saudi Arabia 05/2003...
The
Department of Defense has recently released updated casualty statistics
for Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq) and Operation Enduring Freedom
(Afghanistan).
* Department
of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information
Operations and Reports
The
missing
The
remains
of
approximately
100
U.S.
troops
listed
as
missing
are
recovered
each
year.
World
War
II
78,000
still
missing
20,000
to
30,000
potentially
recoverable
Korea
8,100
still
missing
5,400
potentially
recoverable
Cold
War
126
still
missing
20
potentially
recoverable
Vietnam
1,800
still
missing
1,000
potentially
recoverable
1991
Gulf
War
3
still
missing
1
potentially
recoverable
Source:
Defense
Prisoner
of
War/Missing
Personnel
Office
06/2008
4,500 servicemen were either missing or Prisoner of
War after WWI. (Funk and Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, 1975)
World War I
PLEASE NOTE THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE MIAS - ONLY
KNOWN CAPTURED
Captured and Interned
4,120
Died while POW
147
Refused Repatriation
0
Returned to US Military Control
3,973
Alive as of Jan1, 1998
5
(Ex-POW Bulletin, February 1998)
World War II had 406,872 Killed in Action / 78,750
Missing in Action or Prisoners of War. The State Department knew of more than 5,000
American prisoners in the hands of the Soviets and their European satellites.
(New York Times, January 5, 1954)
On May 19, 1945, British Intelligence told U.S.
officials that Soviet Marshall Tolbukhin had in his possession at Odessa, nearly 16,000
American and 8,000 British ex-POW's. (National Archive copy of Cable)
"...a lot of documents that, taken together,
indicate that Moscow imprisoned 20,000 or more American and several thousand British
soldiers at the end of World War II. The record further shows that U.S. officials knew it
and let it happen." (Bill Paul, Wall Street Journal, August 13, 1987. Documents in the National Archives
in Washington, D.C. )
A 1972 Senate Judiciary Committee study on Communist
treatment of POW's disclosed that captives freed by the Soviet Union had provided evidence
"that several hundred thousand of the missing persons (from WWII) were still being
held forced laborers or prisoners" in the 1950's. (Army Times, October 13, 1986)
World War II
PLEASE NOTE THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE MIAS - ONLY
KNOWN CAPTURED
Does NOT include Merchant Marines -
4,780 MIA, 882 Dead (including 37 POWs) and 572 released from captivity.
201 alive as of 01/01/2002.
Captured and Interned
130,201
Died while POW
14,072
Refused Repatriation
0
Returned to US Military Control
116,129
Alive as of Jan 1, 1998
52,531
(Ex-POW Bulletin, February
1998 and 2002)
Prisoner of War. "Whereas 944 soldiers of the
United State are now Prisoners of the Chinese Communist forces in Korea... " (Congressional Record, June 29, 1954, Rep. Thomas O'Neill Jr.)
"Approximately 78,750 Americans were unaccounted
for following World War II... Another 8,177 of our comrades in arms are still missing in
action and 389 known prisoners of war unaccounted for nearly 35 years after the end of the
Korean Conflict...."
(Col. Charles D. Cooper, USAF Ret., "The Stars and Stripes, May 9, 1988)
Korea
PLEASE NOTE THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE MIAS - ONLY
KNOWN CAPTURED
Captured and Interned
7,140
Died while POW
2,701
Refused Repatriation
21
Returned to US Military Control
4,418
Alive as of Jan1, 1998
2,814
(Ex-POW Bulletin, February 1998)
Vietnam War had 57,685 Killed in Action - at least
2,459 Missing in Action or Prisoner of War.
Vietnam
PLEASE NOTE THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE MIAS - ONLY
KNOWN CAPTURED
Captured and Interned
772
Died while POW
144
Refused Repatriation
0
Returned to US Military
Control
658
Alive as of Jan1, 1998
625
(Ex-POW Bulletin,
February 1998)
"The Pentagon lists six prisoners and 311 men
missing in Laos, but officials believe that the number of prisoners held by the Pathet Lao
guerrillas is substantially higher." (New York Times, 1/29/73)
"The number of Americans still alive is claimed
to be 100-500. There are approximately 2,500 Americans officially acknowledged by our
government to be missing or killed in action. There are another 2,000-2,500 men that our
government will not admit were lost because they disappeared on secret missions, which
helps explain the high number of live sightings of Americans in captivity in Vietnam and
Laos even in 1986. (The New American, Yvonne Becker, 7/14/86)
In 1965, Marine Robert Garwood was captured by the
enemy in Vietnam. In October, 1973, he saw 15/20 American POW's. In March,
1975, he saw 20/22 American POW's. In July , 1975, he saw 6 American POW's. In July ,
1977, he saw one American POW. In December, 1977, he saw 20/30 American POW's. In
December, 1978, he saw 6/7 American POW's. In 1979 Private First Class Robert Garwood,
came home after 14 years as a Prisoner of War. He was charged with wartime desertion,
enemy collaboration, and other crimes. He was found not guilty on all charges except
collaboration. He was not debriefed on his knowledge of LIVE POW's until 1985, six years
after coming home. During his trial, his lawyer said "Bobbies biggest crime was that
he survived." As it is, Bobby Garwood was a major embarrassment to two government:
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, for their claiming no living Americans remain
involuntarily in their country, and to the U.S. for believing them.
In 1988, a former officer of the Royal Lao Army,
stated that he was held captive with Live Americans in 1978 in Laos. Somdee escaped from
prison in 1984 and came to the U.S. In 1988, Somdee went before the House Subcommittee on
East Asian and Pacific Affairs, where Congressman Stephen Solarz refused to allow him to
testify. (U.S. Veteran News and Report, June 29, 1989)
"Look, the Nation knows they (the POWs)are there,
everybody knows they are there, but there's no groundswell of support for getting them
out. Certainly you are not suggesting we pay for them, surely not saying we could do any
thing like that with no public support?"
(William "Bill" Casey, Former Director of the C.I.A., October 7, 1986)
"I do think there has to be...there have to be
live Americans there. (Robert "Bud" McFarlane, Former National Security Advisor to President
Reagan, October 9, 1985)
"I am convinced today that Americans are being
held against their will by the Communists in Southeast Asia.....There could be 50-60 in
Vietnam, maybe more."
(Lt. General Eugene Tighe, former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, During
Congressional Testimony.)
In 1981, just weeks after President Reagan took
office, the new administration learned that Vietnam wanted to sell to the U.S., an
unspecified number of Live POWs still in Southeast Asia for the sum
of $4 billion dollars...it was decided the offer was indeed genuine. (The Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, August 19,1986)
The United States Government recognizes only Col.
Charles. E. Shelton, USAF, as a Prisoner of War from the Vietnam War. "...was
reported as missing in action on 29 Apr 65. Sufficient evidence was received on 24 May 65
to warrant placing him in a captured status." His "Duty Status", as of 18
Feb 89 was "Active Duty - On Duty", a battle casualty, in a captured status, in
Laos. (On October 4, 1990, his wife Marian, committed suicide) (DD Form 1300, Dept. of the Air Force, Report of Casualty)
A Joint Casualty Resolution Center cable, dated
January 1988, states that during the August "Vessey visit to Hanoi, the
Vietnamese people were prepared to turn over seven or eight live American P.O.W.'S
if Vessey told them what they wanted to hear...all the prospective returnees were
allegedly held in a location on the Lao side of the border..."
A Buddhist Monk, released on January 20, 1989 from
captivity in a Vietnamese prison camp, had been held with Live American POW's. He had
firsthand knowledge of at least 10 Americans. "Yoshida" is a graduate of Sophia
University, one of Tokyo's International Schools. (June 7, 1989, the Reuters Wire Service)
American POW cell mates had nursed him to health. (The Washington Post, June 10, 1989)
Alabama Senator and Ex Prisoner of War, Jeremiah
Denton says "The greatest motivation I have for me to believe there are
Americans there, is Communist insistence that they are not."
"...Milliner is [sanitized]
and can be brought to the Thai border.... interested in returning him
to the US in exchange for a reward" (JCRC cable OCT 89 from Thailand to Hawaii office.)
A Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Interim
Report concluded that despite public assurances in 1973 that no POWs remained in the
region, the Defense Department"... in April 1974 concluded beyond a doubt that
several hundred American POWs remained in captivity in Southeast Asia..... The executive
branch...has profoundly mishandled the POW/MIA problem.... participants in covert actions
(now MIA) have never been publicly identified... information reviewed provides enough
corroboration to cast doubt on the U.S. G. statement that no evidence exists that
Americans are being held against their will... there is insensitivity on the part of the
Executive Branch of the U.S.G. in providing complete and accurate information to the
next-of-kin..... DOD has allowed its procedures to be dictated by a preconceived policy
finding." (October 1990 Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Interim Report on POW/MIAs in
Southeast Asia)
"Last month, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Thach in
fact confirmed to the United States that his county still held as many as ten U.S.
POW/MIA's. (letter from Senator Jesse Helms to Secretary of State Baker, November 13, 1990)
Colonel Millard Peck, Chief of the Pentagon's Special
Office for Prisoners of War and Missing in Action, resigns in protest of being ordered by
policy makers in the POW/MIA Inter-Agency Group not to investigate live-sighting reports
of American POWs! (Millard Peck, letter of Resignation, February 1991)
Senator Bob Smith addresses the Senate and reveals
that, of more than 1,400 eyewitness sightings of live POWs, NONE has ever received an
on-site investigation! (April 25, 1991):
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee's concludes
that the U.S. has ignored thousands of American POWs, and left them to rot in Soviet slave
labor camps and North Korean and Vietnamese prisons. "Any evidence that suggested an
MIA might be alive was uniformly and arbitrarily rejected." (May 23, 1991 Examination of U.S. Policy Toward POW/MIAs)
Summer of 1991: A flood of new evidence of live
POWs pours from Southeast Asia: pictures, handwriting samples, hair samples, blood
samples, fingerprints, footprints, maps and other physical proof. The Bush administration
disregards the evidence and attempts to discredit it by rumor and innuendo. Some of the
photos are scientifically validated -- and have never been scientifically disproven!
"Until we can account for every person missing, we have to run down
these leads to prove that nobody is held." (August 2, 1991: President Bush)
... from Garnett E. Bell, chief of the government's
POW/MIA office in Hanoi. Asked whether any American POWs or MIAs were alive in
Vietnam after Operation Homecoming, Mr. Garnett said yes, perhaps as many as 10.
Although the number is much higher (hundreds of airmen lost in Laos never came
home), the statement was the first acknowledgment of its kind. (Washington Times, Nov 11, 1991)
Somalia
PLEASE NOTE THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE MIAS - ONLY
KNOWN CAPTURED
Captured and Interned
1
Died while POW
0
Refused Repatriation
0
Returned to US Military Control
0
Alive as of Jan1, 1998
1
(Ex-POW Bulletin, February 1998)
WASHINGTON -- Somali "entrepreneurs" are
holding several US soldiers in Mogadishu and are prepared to "sell them to the
highest bidder," senior US officials say...... But at least 6 others are unaccounted
for since the raid, in which 12 US personnel were killed and 75 wounded. Administration
officials told UPI today that as many as 5 of the missing are "believed to be
held"
by Somalis with no real connection to Aidid. "We now believe that these
entrepreneurs are holding some Americans in hopes they can sell them to the highest
bidder," a senior US official monitoring the situation closely said under condition
of anonymity. (PRODIGY October 08, 93)
Persian Gulf
PLEASE NOTE THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE MIAS - ONLY
KNOWN CAPTURED
Captured and Interned
23
Died while POW
0
Refused Repatriation
0
Returned to US Military Control
23
Alive as of Jan1, 1998
23
(Ex-POW Bulletin, February 1998)
POW/MIA Returns from Death - Army MSgt. Mateo Sabog
served 24 years. ....... "In late February 1996, Mateo Sabog used his correct
name and social security number to apply for veteran's benefits. When computer records
indicated the application was being made in the name of a man who was officially
classified as dead, fingerprints were compared and they proved Sabog was who he
claimed to be. In early March 1996, Mateo Sabog was returned to active duty so he could be
admitted to the Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Fort Gordon, Georgia for evaluation and
any needed medical treatment. According to an Army spokesman he's been somewhere for the
last 26 years. But he served his country honorably. We will treat him with dignity." (Washington Times, March 7, 1996)
Newly declassified documents show the U S. lied about
the fate of hundreds of Vietnamese commandos it sent into North Vietnam in the 1960's,
declaring them dead when many survived The U.S. government deliberately declared the
secret agents dead, lied to their families and covered up the matter during the Vietnam
War. Nearly 200 of them survived capture, torture and prison and are alive in the U.S.
today.
(16 June 1996: Reuter's Wire Service)
More than 1400 pages of
recently declassified documents from the National Archive were posted on the
Internet. The documents show that the United States and the Republic of Vietnam have
withheld vital information from family member s for decades. Not only do the documents
show a meticulous method of record keeping by the enemy, but they spell out intent to
capture, hold, document, trade, and lie to the United States on the subject of live
captured American servicemen. (P.O.W. NETWORK, June 19, 1996, Operation "Smoking Gun")
Over the last several months, in separate
conversations with the National Alliance of Families New York State Director, Lynn O'Shea,
one casualty officer assured her there was no cover-up or conspiracy in the P.O.W. issue.
In his words there is "Just a lot of incompetence." While speaking with a
Senator's aide, on a specific case, we were told, "If the government purposefully
went out to hire stupid people to handle this case, they could not have done a better
job." (09/08/96 National Alliance of Families, Bits N Pieces Newsletter.)
In his native Russian, General Volkogonov wrote of his
efforts to help resolve the fate of American POWs. "I am not certain that we
have fully clarified everything. I know that quite a few documents were destroyed.
However, one document, probably sensational, is still in storage. I
have a copy of it. It's content is as follows: at the end of the 1960s the KGB
(external foreign intelligence) was given the task of "delivering informed Americans
to the USSR for intelligence gathering purposes."... General Volkogonov's notes
continued: "History, especially Soviet history, is full of secrets, and very
often evil. With the exception of this incident, I can say that I have done something in
order to raise the mysterious curtain from them...." On November 9th, 1998, in an
article by Bill Gertz, the Washington Times broke the story of the document's existence.
According to the article, "Moscow is refusing to turn over a secret KGB
document suggesting captured Americans were taken to the Soviet Union in the late 1960s
for "intelligence-gathering purposes..." The article continued, "The
Russian government has told U.S. officials the plan was never carried out, and Moscow
recently turned down U.S. government requests to study the intelligence document, saying
it is classified and will not be released, the officials said...." (Bits and Pieces November 11, 1998)
... The POW issue is now the subject of scrutiny
and debate following recent parliamentary testimony by two former prisoners of war who
related their miserable plight in North Korea. Even today, 45 years after the end of the
Korean War, there are more than 100 South Koreans being held captive in the Communist
North.Chang Mu-hwan and Yang Sun-yong, both in their 70s, appealed to the government to
bring back the South Korean prisoners of war held in the North. Both were believed to have
been killed in action, but they returned to the South separately in September and December
after escaping from North Korea where they toiled away, year after year as forced
laborers. They are among the three South Korean POWs to have escaped the North in four
years; the first was Cho Chang-ho who arrived here in 1994. (The Korea Herald, November 26, 1998)
TOTALS FROM ALL WARS -- Includes
Gulf, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo
PLEASE NOTE THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE
92,000 MIAS - ONLY
KNOWN CAPTURED
Captured and Interned
142,232
Died while POW
17,004
Refused Repatriation
21
Returned to US Military Control
125,207
Alive as of Jan 1, 1992
93,029
Alive as of Jan 1, 1998
55,999
Alive as of Jan 1, 2001
46,417
Alive as of Jan 1, 2002
42,781
(Ex-POW Bulletin,
June 2001, Feb 1998, March 2002)
Not all POWs who died in captivity are buried at home.
Many are buried in foreign cemeteries, some with only a cross for a name to mark their
sacrifice. In some instances, no grave site or burial site is known.
ONE
serviceman
is still noted by the United States Government as being a "Prisoner of
War" (POW) or "Missing in Action" (MIA) or MISSING
CAPTURED. Presumptive Finding of Death
hearings have been held on each and every one of the rest, as mandated by the Missing
Service Personnel Act. The result has been status changes from POW and MIA
to Killed in Action/Body not Recovered (KIA/BNR) or Presumptive Finding of
Death (PFOD). Included in these status changes, were the 324
servicemen in the Vietnam conflict that were "last known alive." All posted biographies will state the status as of 1973,
prior to many PFOD hearings, and promotions at the time of the hearings. Most
family members and concerned citizens still refer to the ORIGINAL status of
their loved ones -- using POW or MIA.
Serb TV early today showed pictures of three American soldiers it said its forces captured near the
Macedonian border. The men were identified as Sergeants James Stone and Andrew
Ramirez and Specialist Steven Gonzalez. The patrol, a unit from the U.S. Army's 1st
Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, was part of a NATO force put in place to secure
Macedonia's border with Kosovo, a province of Serbia, Yugoslavia's dominant republic. The
soldiers were named on television are thought to be held in the Kosovo capital, Pristina.
The vice-president of Yugolslavia, Vuk Draskovic, said: "Nothing wrong will
happen to them. We are respecting the enemy. We will be sticking to the terms of the
Geneva Convention. You can be sure of that." However, he then warned: "They are
going to face Serb justice." Pentagon and NATO officials said alliance forces
and Macedonian police mounted an urgent air and ground search for the soldiers, who were
last reported on a civilian road in Kumanovo, about 10 miles (16 km) from Skopje, the
capital of Macedonia, and less than 3 miles (5 km) from theKosovo border. The last
words heard from them were "help, help, SOS."
[NOTE: As these men were part of "peace-keeping" forces, status as Prisoners of
War, protected under the Geneva Convention, was uncertain.] (Compiled from news clips (AP, UPI, London Times, New York Post, ABC 04/01/99)
...Preston's son Terry
is very matter-of-fact in his expression of disappointment toward the handling
of his father's case. "I either want to see him walk through the door alive...
Or I want someone to show me a body that will prove to me that he isn't."
Neither the Preston family nor the families of the seven others who were lost with
him have been given either such means of closure.
In May 1999, the U.S. government presented each family with a highly inconclusive
report signed by Dr. Thomas D. Holland, Scientific Director of the Central
Identification Laboratory, Hawaii, which claims that 23 small, non-mt-DNA-tested bone
fragments "may" be those of one or all of the crew members. The remains were
highly fragmented, rendering individual assessment impossible....
Nonetheless, on December 13, 1999, despite the inconclusiveness of the "group
identification" and the lack of mass graves, the Pentagon released its official,
public announcement that all members of this crew of U.S. military service personnel are
now "accounted for."... {Amanda Y. Kidd is a Georgia freelance journalist and a relative of
CMSgt. James Arthur Preston - Missing In Action - Laos. January 24, 2000) POW
MISSION OF HOPE - The James Preston Case
... In December 1998, the National Alliance of Families was
provided with a set of briefing slides outlining the long term plans of DPMO... Notably
absent, at year 2004, is any funding for the Joint Task Force - Full Accounting
(JTF-FA.)
Folks, those are the guys that, in DPMO's own words
"conducts operations, to include, analysis, investigations, archival
research, and recovery of remains." Quite simply, no JTF-FA, more
information, and no more remains recoveries. This impacts our World War II -
Korean And Cold War - Vietnam - and Gulf War families and the overall POW/MIA issue....
Our fears were again confirmed, by a statement
contained on page 4 of a DPMO booklet titled "POW/MIA Accounting," dated 1999.
The statement, under the caption "VISION" reads; "By the end
of the year 2004, we will have moved from the way the US government conducts the business
of recovery and accounting to an active program of loss prevention, immediate rescues,
and rapid post-hostility accounting."
There it is folks, in black and white, in DPMO's own
words "By the end of the year 2004, we will have moved from the way the US government
conducts the business of recovery and accounting to an active program of loss prevention,
immediate rescues, and rapid post-hostility accounting."
The government is planning to go from what they
consider their active mode to a passive mode. This means investigations will be made
only if Vietnam, North Korea, China, or Russia decide to provide information. Since
all of the nations cited continue to withhold information, what makes anyone think that
they will decide to provide information when we stop asking?
We were further disturbed by the contents of the
January 14th, 2000 DPMO Weekly Update describing an "Extensive Study" that
"Addresses Recovery and Accounting." The update reads; " The Defense
POW/Missing Personnel Office has initiated a broad study to examine the worldwide mission
of POW/MIA personnel recovery and accounting."
"The Department of Defense is charged by law
with responsibility for policy and oversight of the full range of recovery activity, from
pre-combat training, to combat search and rescue to remains recovery. In light of
the evolving missions of the Department of Defense, this effort will help ensure that the
most effective use possible is made of DoD resources."
"The analysis, called the Mission Area Analysis
(MAA), is to help implement the best use of money, resources and technology across the
wide range of DoD's responsibilities in personnel recovery and accounting."
[Our comment: this means JTF-FA.]
"It will examine the entire range of personnel
recovery, to include diplomatic, military, and other means of recovering isolated
personnel. The examination will address recovery operations throughout the spectrum
of conflict from small-scale contingencies to major theater war and peacetime
operations, both at a tactical and strategic level."
"The study will analyze the forces dedicated to
personnel recovery as well as the structure of the organizations which carry out this
mission."
"It will identify deficiencies and pinpoint
where any changes are necessary in doctrine, policy, organization or technology.
Interagency coordination (between the military and other branches of this
government, and other nations) is a critical element of effective planning for personnel
recovery, and the MAA will examine all aspects of this coordination process."
"In the area of personnel accounting and remains
recovery the MAA will analyze all facets of this mission from operational activities to
diplomatic effort to achieve the fullest possible accounting of past and future
unaccounted-for Americans."
"It will look closely at the missions and
structure and budgets of the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office; the U.S. Army Central
Identification Laboratory Hawaii; the U.S. Army Casualty and Memorial Affairs Operations
Center; the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory; the U.S. Air Force Life Sciences
Equipment Laboratory; and the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting; and highlight areas where
the Department can most effectively employ its resources to better accomplish the
mission."
"The study began in late 1999 and is scheduled
for completion in late 2000."
It is our opinion that this study will eventually
provide the justification to end POW/MIA investigations, as we know them. While we
have never been happy with the methods used to investigate and resolve POW/MIA cases, we
can not allow DPMO to shift their methods of operations when so much more needs to be
done.
The U.S. government has mishandled the POW/MIA issue
since 1945. We left men in North Korea, China, the former Soviet Union, Vietnam, Laos and
Cambodia. We mishandled every opportunity to gain information and gave away everything in
our grab bag of incentives. These incentives, such as aid and trade, may have gained us
our live POWs or valuable information on the fate of others...
Are we prepared to allow the United States
government, represented by DPMO, to complete the abandonment of men like Charles Shelton,
David Hrdlicka, Roger Dumas, Richard Deseautels, John McDonnell and the others like them?
################
What about John McDonnell - In the September 11th,
1999 edition of Bits N Pieces we carefully outlined the facts leading to the inescapable
conclusion that John McDonnell was alive in a Ba To prison camp, in late February 1973. He
was alive, folks! When the freedom birds were leaving Hanoi, John McDonnell was
still in the jungles of Vietnam and, he wasn't alone. DPMO has labeled all the
sightings of McDonnell as fabrications. They aren't.
Are we prepared to allow the USG to complete the
abandonment of John McDonnell? We're not done with this case. We've found
other information that may correlate to this case. We've also found one live
sighting that if not related to John McDonnell is a coincidence beyond statistical
probability... Yet, DPMO refuses to request access to, or locate, the witnesses who saw
and spoke with John McDonnell, at Ba To.
If we can't mount this last ditch
effort
to insure ongoing investigations, we all better get used to the idea that
the
governments' active participation in POW/MIA investigation will end in 2004,
and
perhaps sooner.....
Speaking of the truth - The following also appeared
in the DPMO weekly update of January 14th "Since the end of the Vietnam War, the
remains of 552 servicemen have been recovered, identified and returned to their families
for burial with full military honors."
The remains of 552 servicemen, recovered,
identified and returned to their families.... Not
by our count.... The following servicemen were NOT recovered, NOT identified and NOT
returned to their families for burial.... James Preston, William L. Madison; Kenneth D.
McKenney; Lavern G. Reilly; Marshall L. Tapp; George W. Thompson; James E. Williams;
Jacob Mercer; Richard Nyhof; Robert Wilson; Leon A. Hunt; Larry J. Newman;
Paul F. Gilbert; Stanley Lehrke; Robert Harrison; Donald H. Klinke; Richard M. Cole;
Gerald F. Ayres; Charles Rowley; Ronnie Hensley; Robert Ireland; Stephen Harris; Donald
Lint; William Brooks; Charles B. Davis; Donald G. Fisher;
John C. Towle; Thomas Adachi; Peter Matthes; Joseph Matejov, Dale Brandenburg, and Todd
Melton. Yet, all are included in the number 522
This list was compiled off the top of our heads.
There are others. This list does not include the 1/2 tooth identification of Peter
Cressman, or the one and two teeth id's of Mark Danielson, Robert Simmons or others...
Nor did we include the crew of Specter 17,
Thomas Hart, Rollie Reaid; George D. MacDonald; John Winningham; Francis Walsh;
James R. Fuller; Robert T. Elliott; Robert L. Liles; Harry Lagerwall; Paul Meder; Delma
Dickens; Stanley Kroboth; Charles Fenter. Of the thirteen
"identifications" only two were based on acceptable scientific practices.
Through court action, the Defense Department, rescinded the identification of
Tom Hart and George MacDonald. Yet, all are included in the number of 522....... (National Alliance of Families
For
The Return of America's Missing Servicemen
World War II - Korea - Cold War - Vietnam)
NETWORK NOTE: Biographies for EACH of the above named men are available.
Former Soldier Flees to South Korea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- A
former South Korean soldier who was captured during the 1950-53 Korean War
has returned home after fleeing the North, the government
said Saturday......
The latest defectors brought to 497
the number of North Koreans who have fled to the South this year. Last
year, 312 North Koreans defected to South Korea, up from 148 in
1999......
11/24/2001 04:05
APO
Tue, 12 Mar 2002 00:45:07 -36000
Frank you are right on. In 1981, when stationed at Bragg, I
was involved with
some very compartmentalized planning to rescue POWs held in Laos
under
Vietnam control. It had the blessing of the President. We had privy
to radio
intercepts , satellite photos, humint, and much more . The scale
mock up was
updated weekly. The operation was abruptly ended in early 81.
Based upon
what I saw and heard there were people
left.
GB Scotty
10/24/02]
Navy Changes Gulf War Pilot Status
By MATT KELLEY
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. Navy has changed the
status of Gulf War pilot Scott Speicher from missing in action to
missing-captured, Sen. Pat Roberts said Friday.
A defense official confirmed that Navy Secretary
Gordon England had approved the change in status, which had been in the
works for months......
National Alliance of Families For The Return of America's Missing
Servicemen
World War II - Korea - Cold War - Vietnam - Gulf Wars
Dolores Alfond -
425-881-1499
Lynn O'Shea --- 718-846-4350
Web Site http://www.nationalalliance.org
email lynn@nationalalliance.org
Jan. 8, 2005 Bits N
Pieces
[clipped]....
WHO WANTS TO TELL MATT MAUPIN HE'S NOT
A POW?
POW Status - For the last several years, we have written
about the fact that the Department of Defense (DOD) quietly eliminated the
designation/status Prisoner of War as it applies to captured American
service personnel. DOD representatives, specifically those from the
Defense POW/MIA Office (DPMO) have told us we are wrong. They say the POW
status still exists. We've asked representatives of DPMO, on more than one
occasion, to provide us with a copy of the controlling directive governing
and describing the conditions under which a member of the Armed Forces
would be listed POW. Needless to say, they have been unable or unwilling
to provide this directive. This leads us to believe, in spite of their
statements to us and the media, that there is no directive under which a
member of the Armed Forces would be listed as POW.
DOD Controlling Directive 1300.18, issued Dec. 18, 2000,
does not provide for a Prisoner of War designation/status. Under this
directive, the most a captured service member can hope for is the
ambiguous designation/status Missing/Captured or MIA-C.
Section E2.1.1.24. of the Directive reads, in part
"Missing. A casualty status applicable to a person who is not at his
or her duty location due to apparent involuntary reasons and whose
location may or may not be known...."
Subsection E2.1.1.24.3 deals with captured personnel
stating "Captured. The casualty has been seized as the result of
action of an unfriendly military or paramilitary force in a foreign
country."
Thus the new status "Missing-Captured" or
"MIA-C.) No where in the December 20, 2000 directive will you find
the phrase Prisoner of War or its acronym POW.
When the Navy changed Capt. Scott
Speicher's status from Missing to Missing/Captured, then Secretary of Navy
Gordon England wrote, "This category denotes that a service member
has been seized as the result of action of an unfriendly military or
paramilitary force in a foreign country..... if the government of Iraq is
holding Captain Speicher he is entitled to Prisoner of War status under
international law and the Geneva Convention..... Although the controlling
missing persons statute and directives do not use the term "Prisoner
of War," the facts supporting a change in Captain Speicher's category
from Missing in Action to Missing/Captured would also support the
conclusion that, if alive, he is a Prisoner of War."
In other words if the status existed,
the Secretary of Navy would have designated Capt. Speicher a POW.
We realize that our enemies violate the rules of
international law and the Geneva Conventions regarding the care and
treatment of captured American Service Personnel. Terminology will not
change that. Terminology does change world perception regarding the value
we place on our captured personnel. In the eyes of the enemy, doesn't it
downgrade the worth of a battered American service member, displayed on
television worldwide, for the Department of Defense to designate him or
her Missing/Captured rather than Prisoner of War?
The status Missing/Captured fails to provide this
nation's service members the moral dignity and international recognition
provided by the Prisoner of War status.
###############
Call To Action - We're asking
your help to get the Prisoner of War status reinstated. DOD isn't going to
do it. Elimination of the POW status is part of their overall plan to end
the POW issue. With no POW status, they will never again leave a POW
behind.
We're asking all who read this to contact their Senators
and Congressional Representative, informing them that the POW status has
been eliminated and state your opposition to this move by the Dept of
Defense. We're betting that most if not all Senators and Congressional
Representatives are unaware of this.
We've set up a web site listing all Senators and
Congressional Representatives along their addresses, phone and fax
numbers. There are also samples of two letters that you can download, to
send to your representatives. You can also adapt these letters to send to
your local newspapers. This issue needs to be brought to the attention of
all Veterans groups and the public at large.
We can't do it without you. For the list of Senators,
Congressional Representatives, and sample letters visit http//www.nationalalliance.org/powstatus.index.htm
##############
Why Is This Important -
Neither International Law or the Geneva Conventions recognize the status
Missing/Captured. Our captured service personnel must be designated with a
status recognized by the International community and it's conventions.
Those of us involved in the POW/MIA issue have often
stated that one of our goals is to make sure that no POW is ever left
behind, again. With the elimination of the Prisoner of War status, the
Dept of Defense has taken care of that, the easy way. They simply
eliminated the designation/status Prisoners of War.
We're going to make the issue of the elimination of the
Prisoner of War designation/status a priority for 2005.
However, we can't do it alone. We need every POW/MIA and
Veterans Group and each individual to write the letters. Once the letters
are written, we need follow-up. We can not let the Dept of Defense strip
our captured service personnel of the designation/status POW and the legal
and moral protection that status implies.
##################
A Little Late But Here It Comes
- In early 2000, we obtained a copy of DPMO briefing slides detailing long
range plans and goals. List among DPMO goals was the plan to
"Transition the accounting process from active operations to reactive
efforts triggered by new information by FYE 2004."
We created quite a stir with our statements that DPMO
was preparing to end recovery operations. DPMO even accused us of
spreading misinformation, until we posted the briefing slides on our web
site. Well, we are now in FYE 2005 and unfortunately more and more cases
are being categorized "No further Pursuit."
This past week we received an email from Chris Rich,
husband of Diane Moore. Diane is the daughter of confirmed POW, CMS Thomas
Moore. Chris informed us that DPMO is ready to declare this case "No
Further Pursuit."
Thomas Moore, Samuel Adams, Charles Dursing and Jasper
Page were captured by the Viet Cong on October 31, 1965. Two days later,
on November 2nd, while being transferred to detention camp, the four
attempted escape. Only Page succeeded. When the war ended, the Vietnamese
government listed Moore, Adams and Dursing as having Died in Captivity.
In recent years investigations conducted led to
excavations in an attempt to recover remains. Unfortunately, the
excavations were unsuccessful.
There is no question that the three were Prisoners of
War. There is no question that the fully cooperating Vietnamese government
know what happened to these men. They admitted in 1973 that the three died
in their custody. Yet, they have failed to lead investigators to a
successful recovery of remains.
If cases of confirmed POWs are now being declared
"No Further Pursuit" what chances do other case have as we
approach the DPMO goal to "Transition the accounting process from
active operations to reactive efforts triggered by new information
...."
A letter to President Bush is needed asking how we can
continually certify the Vietnamese government as "fully
cooperating" on the POW/MIA issue when they have failed to account
for men they admit died in their custody.
##################
Candlelight Vigil - Friends
Working to Free Scott Speicher will mark the 14th year since the shootdown
with a Candlelight Vigil. The Vigil will be held on Monday, January 17th,
2005, at 730pm at Lake Shore United Methodist Church, 2246 Blanding
Boulevard, Jacksonville, FL 32210. The group will also remember PFC Matt
Maupin during the Vigil. Scheduled speakers include for MIA-C Ron Young,
(Who wants to tell Ron Young he was never a POW) and Carolyn & Keith
Maupin, parents of PFC Maupin.
If you are in the Jacksonville area, please come out and
show your support for Capt. Speicher and PFC Maupin, while remembering all
our POW/MIA's from World War II, Korea, the Cold War, and Vietnam.
For more information contact Georgia Davis at Georgiand@aol.com
If You Can't Make It to Jacksonville - Make a call to
the White House on Monday January 17th and let the President know we
haven't forgotten Scott Speicher. Call the White House Comment Line at
202-456-1111 between the hours of 9 AM and 5 PM EST.
[clipped].....
Sunday, 23 October
2005
Press Conference Set to Discuss Upcoming Screening for Congress
of New Documentary on American POWs
WASHINGTON, DC, (NAMC) - Congressman Ron Paul will conduct a press
conference Friday, Oct. 28th at 12 noon announcing plans to
distribute the documentary film, "Missing, Presumed Dead: The
Search For America's POWS," to all the members of Congress
and the Senate.
This effort is being made to aid the passage of House Resolution
Bill, HRes 123, that will create a Select Committee to investigate
all the unresolved matters relating to any United States personnel
unaccounted for from the Vietnam Era, the Korean Conflict, World
War II the Cold War Mission, or Gulf Wars, including MIAs and
POWs.
Representatives of POW/MIA and veteran organizations will speak
briefly followed by an introduction to the documentary by
filmmaker Bill Dumas. The film will then be screened for the press
and House members/staffers in Rm. 122 of the Cannon House Office
Building.
“Missing, Presumed Dead” focuses on Bill Dumas and his
family’s search for Bob Dumas, a U.S. Soldier who served in the
Korean War but was declared MIA by the U.S. Government. But the
Dumas family has solid evidence and eyewitness accounts that Bob
Dumas, along with other American soldiers, are still being held by
North Korea.
Choices, Inc will release “Missing, Presumed Dead” on DVD. In
addition to the film, the DVD will contain a director’s
statement, additional scenes and teacher resources.
Bill Dumas will be available for interviews in Washington D.C.
from October 24th until October 29th. To arrange an interview,
please contact him at (213) 948-9998.
An Enormous Crime: The Definitive Account of American POWs
Abandoned in Southeast Asia, by Bill Hendon and Elizabeth A.
Stewart
(Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press)
In the Twentieth Century the United States fought three wars in
Asia: World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. In all three, thousands of
Americans were captured and became prisoners.
The fate of live American POWs in World War II was comparatively
easy to establish, because the Japanese were vanquished, they
surrendered unconditionally, and virtually all the territory they
had occupied came under American or allied control. After the
surrender, there were few, if any, places the Japanese could hide
live American prisoners of war, nor any reason they would want to.
Not so in North Korea, China, and the Soviet Union......
Shoreham family waited decades for information on missing POW
By Addison Independent
Created Nov 10 2008 - 2:42pm
By POOJA SHAHANI
SHOREHAM — Rita Davis, 73-year-old cousin of deceased Army
sergeant Richard Desautels, will always remember her cousin as a
lively and vibrant young boy.
“He was full of energy,” recalled Davis, who was only 14
years old when Desautels left their native Shoreham for a tour in
the U.S. Army in the Korean War. “His family had this small
tractor and he’d come down the hill. He would push the clutch in
and come tearing down that hill with the dog right behind him. I
remember my stepfather having a royal fit.
“He was just being a boy. That was Richard.”.....
PRESS
RELEASE For
Immediate Release September
16, 2009
POW/MIA
Recognition Day
On September 18th 2009,
America
pauses to honor and remember our unaccounted for Prisoners of War
and Missing in Action, our husbands, brothers, sons, and fathers.
On this day it is appropriate we share some of our memories: "As of now, I can come to no other conclusion."Former Secretary of Defense and CIA Director James Schlesinger
before theSenate Select Committee on
POW/MIA Affairs, when asked directly if the United States left
men behind in Southeast Asia.
"There are too many live sighting reports; specifically
observations of several Caucasians in a collective farm by Romanians
and the North Korean defectors' eyewitness of Americans in DPRK to
dismiss that there are no American POW's in
North Korea
." Background Paper prepared, in 1996, by I.O.
Lee, analyst Defense POW/MIA Office (DPMO). "Americans, including American servicemen, were
imprisoned in the former
Soviet Union
...." The Gulag Study 5th Edition issued Feb. 11,
2005 - compiled by the Joint Commission Support Directorate (JCSD),
the investigative arm of the U.S/Russian Joint Commission on
POW/MIAs. AAshley and
four crew members, (Turner, Olsen, Shaddick, and Ishida) were known
to be alive in Communist hands as of the close of the Korean
conflict, Jul 53.@
Escape and Evasion Section of the 6004th Air Intelligence Service
Squadron, report dated Oct. 19th, 1955.
“There is evidence, moreover, that indicates the possibility of
survival, at least for a small number, after Operation
Homecoming...."Conclusion of the Senate
Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, January 1993
“
U.S.field teams in
Vietnam
since 1989 have uncovered evidence that more Americans were
in fact taken captive than officially recorded.”(“The
Universe of Possible POWs: 1973 versus 1992” by Sedgwick D.
Tourison, investigator, for the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA
Affairs 1991 - 93.)
Too many reports to dismiss…There is
evidence…. The possibility of survival…. More Americans were in
fact taken captive than officially recorded….. These
are not our words.These are the words of
government officials taken from official government documents and
reports.
These words haunt our memories as we continue to asked; what of the
men known, some by name, to be alive in enemy hands at wars end.
What happened to these men and how many, like their South Korean
counterparts, survive today decades after the end of the Korean/Cold
War and the War in
Southeast Asia
.
We cannot dismiss the possibility of survival for unaccounted for
POWs, based simply on the passage of time. The
release, over the last 15 years, of more than 60 South Korean
soldiers from the Korean War held as POWs in
North Korea
proves that.
Isn’t it time we find out what happened to these men?
##
National
Alliance
of POW/MIA Families
For the Return of America’s Missing Servicemen
World War II –
Korea
– Cold War –
Vietnam
– Gulf Wars -
Afghanistan
Dolores Alfond --- 425-881-1499
Lynn O’Shea ----- 718-846-4350
The October 12th edition of
FrontPageMag.com contains a piece by Jamie Glazov title “The POWs
We Left Behind.” This article is an interview with the
National Alliance of Families Director of Research. The
link below will take you directly to the article.
Army Orders Probe at Arlington National Cemetery, Releases
Investigation Findings
Secretary of the Army John McHugh announced today that he
has ordered an investigation into allegations of lost
accountability of some graves, poor record keeping and other
issues at Arlington National Cemetery.
"This is the place where valor rests, a place of
reverence and respect for all Americans," McHugh said after
signing an order directing the Army's Inspector General to begin
an investigation into allegations regarding cemetery operations."As the final resting place of our nation's heroes,
any questions about the integrity or accountability of its
operations should be examined in a manner befitting their service
and sacrifice."
McHugh's order comes on the heels of revelations that
cemetery workers inadvertently buried cremated remains at a
gravesite already in use.The error was discovered in May 2008, and cemetery
officials immediately took corrective measures, moving the
cremated remains to another gravesite and remarking the original
grave.Since then,
questions have been raised over whether cemetery officials used
proper procedures to correct the mistake, including notifying the
next of kin.
McHugh's announcement of the probe follows completion of
separate internal investigation by the Military District of
Washington (MDW) - which the Army released today - over the
discovery of an unmarked grave.Cemetery officials conducted an extensive search of both
internal and Department of Veterans Affairs records, followed by
the MDW investigation and additional efforts by the cemetery,
which employed ground penetrating radar and a team of
geoarchaeologists.
"Cemetery
records, the MDW investigation, and the non-invasive geophysical
analysis of the grave sites strongly indicate that a husband and
wife, who died years apart and should have been buried in the same
gravesite, were instead buried in adjacent graves," said MDW
spokesman Col. Dan Baggio.
Cemetery officials have ordered new grave markers for the
site.While exhuming
the remains and conducting DNA testing would provide a 100 percent
assurance of the cemetery's findings, the family has declined
taking such invasive action.The Army is abiding by their wishes.
While the unmarked grave was first discovered in 2003,
cemetery officials took no action until 2009.McHugh is now directing the Inspector General to examine
accountability and policy issues in that case.The Inspector General is also in the midst of a management
review of Arlington National Cemetery, begun under former Army
Secretary Pete Geren, to make overall recommendations on how
better to operate the facility, including possible changes in
policy, procedures and regulations.
"A thorough investigation, and transparency in its
results, can help correct whatever may be wrong, and ensure
America's confidence in the operation of its most hallowed
ground," McHugh said, adding, "We will take appropriate
action as the facts dictate."
An alleged errand boy for a jailed Colombo
gangster was charged Thursday with scamming an ex-congressman out of
$18,500 in a phony scheme to rescue American POWs.
John LeBoutillier, a wealthy blue blood Republican who was elected to
Congress in 1980, has been on a personal crusade to locate dozens of U.S.
prisoners of the Vietnam
War he thinks are held in Belarus.......
09/2012 Nam- Pows Cited for Life Time
Achievements
The Air Force Association celebrating the 65th anniversary of
the USAF at The Gaylord on the Potomic in North Harbor MD,
16Sep2012, honored the entire body of Nam-Pows for their
Lifetime achievements for our nation. Attending that annual AFA
convention were four Nam-Pows with their wives: Col. Carlyle S.
Harris, Col. Elmo Baker, LTC Richard E. Smith and LTC Orson
Swindle.
Several individuals and four groups were cited during the formal
ceremonies at the well attended final banquet. When the four
Nam-Pows mounted the stage, Col. Smitty Harris accepted the
Crystal trophy on behalf of the Nam-Pows. Col. Harris delivered
a powerful , moving speech of acceptance. His remarks include:
"In the prisons of North Vietnam another type of
war was fought by the American warriors. The enemy
attempted to exploit us for propaganda; attempting to force us
to condemn our government and to urge other warriors to
cooperate in their efforts. We refused to cooperate regardless
of the punishment and coercion. Armed with our national
patriotism, the Code of Conduct, our person integrity and
our unanimous commitment to 'Return with Honor', we defeated the
captors attempt to propagandize us. WE WON THAT BATTLE!"
At that moment the entire audience stood and applauded in an
extended ovation. Among those attending were the SECDAF,
Chairman of the JCS, The Chief of Staff of the AF, AFA Chairman
of the Board S. Stanford Schitt as well as countless other high
ranking officers and civilian dignitaries.
As the foursome descend the steps of the stage, we were greeted
the in-coming and out going Chairman of the JCS in frozen salute
until we passed and made our way to our seats.
GB
Mo Baker
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