Theodore W. Guy, Col. -ret-USAF
Vietnam Prisoner of War - March 22, 1968 - March 20, 1973, Captured in Laos
"I had the honor and the privilege of being the Commander of all the personnel captured in Laos, Cambodia and South Vietnam."
"Until mid 1991, I was a firm supporter of the USG position that all the VN POWs were home and were released during Operation Homecoming. ... My message was always the same. There are no more POWs. Those that were still classified as MIA are dead. ... As a combat veteran of two wars - Korea and Vietnam, and 26 years of service, many of which were in key command positions, I was certain that my government would not lie to me. I knew that we would never abandon any fighting man or woman if there was any doubt what so ever that he or she might be alive and missing as a result of combat. The thought that anyone was left behind was inconceivable to me."
"I could spend an hour telling you why I changed my mind, but let it suffice to say that I did. ... But the evidence to me was overwhelming. Men were left behind."
"... No one has yet returned that was captured in Laos and remained in Laos."
" ... I was amazed to see several strands of red and green wire running off into the jungle. ... I observed an individual talking on a field telephone. I traveled by jeep, truck and foot the entire length of the Ho Chi Minh Trail... then crossed into NVN. During the week that I was on the Trail traveling north, I observed communications wire along the trail both on poles and lying on the ground. At every cave and billeting area... there was a field phone. .... when my guards and I arrived at our next stopping point, I was expected. A couple of times I was even called by my Vietnamese name by my new guards prior to any conversation taking place between the old and the new."
"From what I observed, there is no doubt in my mind that Laos was wired and wired well. My movements were obviously continually reported. Communication between check-points was excellent. Based on my observations, I believe all trail activities were closely monitored - probably from Hanoi."
"During my many early interrogations at the "Plantation", the VN tried to convince me that I was captured in NVN."
"The Vietnamese kept detailed records on all POWs and summaries of these records followed the POW from camp to camp."
"... in March 1991, I had a long discussion with BGen Robinson Risner (POW 9/66-2/73) and LtGen John Flynn (POW 10/67-3/73).... Both were members of the Tighe Commission... Both firmly believed that American POWs were left behind and that there was a good possibility that some were still alive. ... on information learned from their involvement with the Tighe Commission."
"Men were left behind and worse, there had been little to no attempt to account for anyone that disappeared in Laos."
"I am convinced that with high morale and determination, the American fighting man can survive indefinitely; even under the most austere atmosphere."
"IT IS POSSIBLE TO SURVIVE FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME UNDER THE MOST SEVERE CONDITIONS. I AM CONVINCED THAT THE MAJORITY OF MY COMMAND COULD STILL BE ALIVE TODAY IF WE HAD NOT BEEN RELEASED."
WRITTEN TESTIMONY of Michael D. Benge, former civilian Prisoner of War
in South Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and North Vietnam, 1968-1973, SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD.
" ... About the shredding of pertinent POW-MIA documents in Bangkok, Thailand, March 25-29, 1993... an internal Inspector General's audit revealed that 19 files containing hundreds of documents were missing from its files. Those documents contained field reports and other information critical to any professional investigation of the POW/MIA issue."
"... We, former POWs, veterans, and family members--and POW-MIA and other organizations have little faith in the present system of accounting for our POW-MIAs. .. They seem to have to answer to no one but themselves and ignore directives of our elected representatives, receiving promotions despite evidence of misdeeds. ... Even today, tens of thousands of documents in the hands of DOD, the DIA, the CIA and other relevant agencies, ordered declassified by Presidential Directive, remain classified and/or unavailable to family members and researchers."
"I know that the 55 cases implied by Senator McCain as the only unresolved cases remaining for accounting by Hanoi is a false list. This is intentionally deceptive. The original cases given by Gen Vessey to the VN Communists were on a 'short list', culled from a much more extensive list of men the US believed might still be alive."
"The CIA and Air Force ran a joint program coded 'COLD SPOT' where electronic spy planes, and indigenous soldiers with CIA advisors conducted land-based ops to intercept NVN and Laotian communist communications. On Oct. 8, 1973, a communique from the governor of Nghia Lo to the Minister of Defense in Hanoi was intercepted confirmed the transfer of ' 112 USA PILOTS' from lai Chau, Laos. The USA prisoners 'were taken to a prison in NVN that previously held 'Thai and VN prisoners'. and 'Their snapshots were finished and I will send them to Hanoi to register with the ministry of defense... and names and ages of all will be attached.' on Nov. 11, 1973, the governor of Sontay Province reported to the Minister of Defense in Hanoi: '112 USA prisoners in prison in Sontay Province' in NVN. .... This was over 6 months AFTER the so called release of all US POWs in Operation Homecoming."
Carol Hrdlicka, Wife of Colonel David L. Hrdlicka, USAF
Col. Hrdlicka was known to be alive & in captivity in Laos. Col. Hrdlicka was never returned.
"David L. Hrdlicka was 33 years old and a career Air Force pilot who loved flying and believed in protecting his country. ... He believed by protecting his country he was protecting his children and their future. He trusted the government."
"On May 18, 1965... David had been shot down. .... I was also advised David had been lost in Laos which was considered to be a secret war and I should not say anything because I could cause David to be killed... they had a Presumptive Finding of Death Hearing in Nov. 1977 and declared David 'KIA'."
"I followed their direction and tried to get on with my life. Thirteen years later, in 1990, I received a letter from DIA stating a source had information that David had tried to escape in 1989. ... In July of 1990 I received another report stating a 'General Chaeng was suspected of holding D. Hrdlicka and friends.' To my shock and horror I began to realize I had been betrayed by the very government I had trusted for 25 years."
"I asked for evidence of David's dying in captivity and was told they had none. The DIA had used old reports, which they later admitted did not correlate to David, to falsify the fact he died."
"In 1992, I sent a FOIA request in on my husband, David L. Hrdlicka, asking for rescue attempts, all information, and information on an operation called 'Duck Soup'. Mr. Trowbridge of DIA, who coincidentally did the analysis on David's 1966 reports, responded -- there was no such operation as 'Duck Soup' and there had never been any rescue attempts for David. Low and behold, General Secord testified before the SSC that there were rescue attempts for David made as late as 1967 and there were a raft of cables in CIA on that operation. Just in the last few months I have received documents describing there was such a operation as 'Duck Soup' which took place in the Sam Neua area in June of 1965. ... Guess whose name is in one of the cables regarding the Same Neua area? David's."
"I have offered many times, at my own expense, to meet with any officials and go over documents they say show David died in captivity. Yet, when I have asked for evidence that David died in captivity, I am told there is no evidence."
"The DIA has been condemned by their own officials."
"I have exhausted every avenue, at my own expense, to find the truth about David's fate without the aid or assistance from the very agencies that were charged with solving his case."
"It is a known fact that the Laotians admitted they held prisoners and would not release them until US officials came to Vientiane to make arrangements for the release of the prisoners held... That meeting never took place and no one was released from Laos."
"David's constitutional rights have been violated and I need the help of the Congress to protect David's rights."
"For many years I believed in and trusted every government official. I accepted as fact everything they told me about David's case. However, after seeing the evidence, I realize my trust has been betrayed. What is even worse, the USG has betrayed their honorable servicemen. ... I've heard about the lies and the promises, yet today, I am no closer to finding the truth about David's whereabouts or fate. .... Will you do this for David and all the other honorable men who may still be waiting to some home?"
Patrick J. Cressman
brother of Peter R. Cressman, Missing In Action, February 5, 1973, Laos.
"My brother Pete is one of America's forgotten warriors, he's an MIA."
"Despite the cease-fire, Peter's squadron was ordered to continue with their highly classified airborne radio direction finding operations, as part of a larger airborne collection and reconnaissance program... Though Pete had concerns about the squadron's activities being blatant violations of the Paris Accords, he was told by the base legal office that he must continue. A draft of a letter to his congressman, which detailed the various sections of the Accords which were being violated, was returned unfinished with his personal effects."
"BARON 52, had a crew of eight men - three pilots, four electronic specialists, and a navigator. These -4- USAF Security Service men all had to possess TOP SECRET/CRYPTO clearances with access to SPECIAL INTELLIGENCE. ... The posts to which these four men were assigned prior to arrival in SEA had included airborne and ground based eavesdroppers from, quite literally, around the world, thus making these men highly sought after by foreign intelligence services. This was the environment in which these men had to work. Alone, Unarmed and Unafraid... and with a price on their heads."
"At 1:40 AM, 15 minutes after the first report of trouble, BARON 52 dropped from radar coverage. The crew of BARON 52 had joined the list of the Missing In Action.... At 6:00AM, SAR efforts officially began. All reported negative results. At 8:24 AM, the first of two intercepted NVN communications was reported indicating that and unit ... in southern Laos had captured FOUR FLIERS shortly after the loss of BARON 52, in the same general area. These intercepts were not reported to the families for FIVE YEARS. ... These messages were also withheld from the wing commander who ultimately declared all eight men dead. "
"... No multi-crew A/C were lost in the area since December of 1972, nor subsequent to the crash, leaving the back-end crew from BARON 52 the most likely candidates to be the Americans, wandering around that area of southern Laos before dawn, wearing flight attire."
"On the morning of February 9th, a search team was launched. ...The team found three bodies, the pilot, first co-pilot and second co-pilot all at their duty stations." NOTE: Because of conditions, only 1 set of remains was recovered and identified.
"In the rear... where the navigator and enlisted crew were stationed, neither they, their parachutes & vests, nor their electronics gear was found. The emergency exit 'kick-out' door was not at the site. These findings are significant since it was SOP at the time to destroy the equipment with a fire ax and/or jettison it so that it would be destroyed and strewn along the ground, preventing it from falling into enemy hands intact."
"Another intercept... on February 17th, stating... 'The people involved in the South Laotian Campaign have shot down one aircraft and captured the pilots.' NO OTHER US A/C WERE LOST in that area during the same period ... On February 22, without the benefit of any new evidence, the entire crew was declared Killed In Action -KIA."
"Dr. Roger Shields, former head of the POW-MIA Affairs fro the DOD, had discussed his objections to the decision of the acting SECDEF William Clements, to have these men stricken from the list of personnel we expected the NVN to account for. And further to declare these men KIA.... Dr. Shields told the mother of SGT Joseph Matejov, 'I'm sorry, I dropped the ball.' ... During 1983, Dr. Shield told Col and Mrs. Matejov that four men from the EC-47Q were among the KNOWN LIVE CAPTURED AMERICANS."
"On February 9, 1994 , Air Force Mortuary Affairs came to present families of SGT's Cressman and Matjov with the results of an excavation allegedly performed at the crash site of BARON 52. The results were quite remarkable, and would actually border on amusing except for the gravity of the issue."
"Remarkably, in this thorough investigation, NO remains were found belonging to the 3 bodies were in the wreckage in 1973. ... the only 'remains'... were a handful of bone fragments which CILHI admits cannot even be proven to be human. As well as a PIECE of a single tooth which they equate to my brother... .we were advised that the DOD considers this material to be the commingles remains of all eight fliers, and further that they were planning a 'Group Burial' of the crew."
"We have repeatedly asked for DNA confirmation of this alleged 'ID', at our own expense, only to be told this will not be permitted because DNA testing is a destructive procedure. After 22 years, I am sure that my mother would prefer having a small sack of tooth particles that definitely came from my brother, versus a small portion of unidentified tooth."
"The deception continues."
Mary Louise Hall, wife of Capt. Harley Hall, USN
POW- January 27, 1973, Quang Tri Province.
"In response to the recent recovery (1993) of three of Capt. Harley Hall's front teeth from the site of his downing and capture on 1/7/73 in Quang Tri Province, I would like the following to go on record:
While I acknowledge these to be three of my husband's correctly identified teeth -confirmed by a dental expert- I OBJECT MOST STRENUOUSLY to the inference that they constitute evidence of death, and I BY NO MEANS ACKNOWLEDGE OR ACCEPT THEM AS AN ACCOUNTING of the person Harley H. Hall, A such, they represent not only insufficient evidence for case closure, but more importantly, BLATANTLY CONTRADICT ALL UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT ASSERTIONS & INTELLIGENCE ON THE HARLEY HALL CASE. Specifically, various US Agencies have consistently maintained that he COULD NOT POSSIBLE HAVE DIED AT THAT SITE, an inference drawn from multiple references of CAPTIVITY ELSEWHERE."
"Naval Intelligence informed me two weeks after his downing that Harley had been captured - an absolute certainty based on first hand sensitive intelligence. It was the USG itself that had the information to change his status to CATEGORY I: CAPTURE CONFIRMED. ... -Captain Hall remained in POW status for a full seven year 1973-1980, until all cases except Charles Shelton, USAF, were altered to PFOD."
"I was personally told by Dr. Roger Shields that Harley's was 'one of the most compelling, if not THE most compelling case of capture he had ever reviewed.' ' They are holding your husband, Mrs. Hall, one way or another, and they can answer for him and NEVER settle for anything LESS.'"
"NSA files have subsequently revealed that Capt. Hall was tracked from battalion to battalion to a particular PRISON CAMP ON THE VIETNAMESE/LAO BORDER."
"This summer I returned to Washington, DC, to review all pertinent files including classified material... This reinforced my previous conclusion and added the STUNNING NEW REVELATION that Harley Hall had been INTERROGATED BY THE SOVIETS -which I hasten to point out, could NOT have happened had he 'died' in the area where his teeth were allegedly lost and recovered 20 years later!
"Be assured that my protest does NOT stem from 'wishful thinking', hoping against hope, or reluctance or refusal to accept death as an inevitable, probable outcome. For years I have imagined, longed for and even dreamed of the day when I could hold a proper memorial service for Harley, when his earthly remains could rest in US soil. Then his children and I could experience the peace of knowing, and begin to close the long chapter of grief. But to grant burial with full military honors and a full size coffin to three front teeth would not only be ridiculous, but represent acquiescence in a lie."
"This is the least you owe to the men who served and those of us who have paid so high a price."