b.Log

Commentary 2004 - 2006

July 27th, 2006 :: Once again, we are sitting in stunned silence at the unimaginable level of stupidity and shocking lack of historical knowledge by those empowered to or vested with the responsibility to help others.

The excellent article "Detainee Abuse Charges Feared - Shield Sought From '96 War Crimes Act" by Washington Post Staff Writer, R. Jeffrey Smith, discusses a possible move by the USG with respect to Shield Legislation and current Global War on Terror activities.

It is an outstanding article that must not be missed, as it offers the layman an understanding of political, social, legal and humanitarian issues and repercussions.

Regardless of one's position on the legislation and its ramifications, once again, we find the following academic belief:

"Some human rights groups and independent experts say they oppose undermining the reach of the War Crimes Act, arguing that it deters government misconduct. They say any step back from the Geneva Conventions could provoke mistreatment of captured U.S. military personnel. They also contend that Bush administration anxieties about prosecutions are overblown and should not be used to gain congressional approval for rough interrogations."

The only sentence that matters in this discussion is : "They say any step back from the Geneva Conventions could provoke mistreatment of captured U.S. military personnel."

Provoke mistreatment of captured US Personnel??? What do they call call last month's butchery of two American POWs captured in Iraq? What do they call the historical record that shows ALL, not some, ALL of our enemies or adversaries or whatever you want to call them abused American (and allied) POWs? What do they call Unit 731? How do they view the Nazi Death Camps that also housed American and Allied POWs? What about the Cuban Torture Program? The Bataan Death March? How about beating and torturing US POWs to death during the Second IndoChina War? What about the Soviet GULAGs and Soviet Bloc horrors?

When we look at the past 60 years of warfare, we see a horrific pattern of abuse, torture, beatings, starvation, mutiliations, labor camp enslavement, executions, terminal human medical experimentation, and more.

How can it get any worse? Do these folks honestly believe that such legislation coukd promote any more barabric behavior towards American prisoners than we have already seen?

Preventing government misconduct is a good thing.

Insuring a proper, legal and most importantly humanitarian approach to EPW and enemy combatant detainment is absolutely necessary. So argue your case based on THOSE facts. They are legitimate and critical.

But do not even try for a second to prey on people's fears by exploiting American sensibilities about American captives in order to advance your agenda. We already KNOW that our adversaries need no provocation. They are more than capable of breaking every Article under Geneva without anyone's help or encouragement.

Once again, we ask - where were these human rights organization and independent experts last month when two 20 something soldiers were murdered?

Bravo to Mr. Smith for an outstanding article. Read it, think about it.

15 July, 2006 :: Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) for Vietnam : A Commentary

On July 12th, 2006, the Senate Finance Committee, held Hearings on PNTR for Vietnam. This is the first step in Vietnam's accession to WTO - World Trade Organization - status.

Throughout the Hearing, the various accomplishments of Vietnam were discussed, dozens of Administration, business, Vietnamese and Congressional representatives gave statements or were attentive to the proceedings. Deputy US Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Eric G. John affirmed that "the US Department of State enthusiastically supports Congressional approval of PNTR for Viet Nam."

This article in no way endorses nor condemns PNTR for Vietnam. It is to be construed as a simple discussion of the realities of manufacturing and consumption and the role of Vietnam in that role in the future.

PNTR - Let's be clear here, it is going to happen.

Regardless of one's predisposition to denounce Vietnam because of the poor accounting for servicemen POW, MIA and KIA/BNR from the war; regardless of her human rights violations; regardless of the Marxist Socialist doctrine that still envelopes this Nation, we are going to discuss the economic reality of the situation in this commentary.

China is no longer a viable manufacturing option for the majority of goods coming from the US and American businesses. If the US wishes to continue to provide cheap, disposable products in almost all areas of mass market merchandising, then corporations must look for other avenues of manufacturing.

There, we said it. Cope.

Yes, most of what we see on the shelves in stores across America still and will bear the legal copy "MADE IN CHINA" for the foreseeable future. Yes, American businesses will continue to cultivate relationships and manufacturing opportunities in China. And, yes, we will always see Made In China on a good portion of the endless products we consume day-in and day-out.

HOWEVER, and it IS a huge however, manufacturing as we knew it in China is becoming, if not already has become, a thing of the past.

Numerous factors play into this situation. First of all, more and more US corporations are finally working with manufactories in China, making it more competitive for the Chinese. Federal regulations and changes in customs rules have allowed more and more products to be manufactured overseas. Whereas certain goods were always made in the USA, the breathing room created by Congress and the Feds have allowed more consumable goods to be manufactured and shipped back to the US.

Since so many actual products themselves can and are now being made in the Orient, then all the packaging is manufactured there as well. One stop shopping so to speak. Printers in the US who used to operate 24/7 with 3 shifts a day are now down to 1 shift, 4 sometimes 5 days a week.

The ease and freedom to communicate across thousands of miles through digital networks and the internet have made doing business abroad easier than driving to the factory in the US and having to walk around. All one has to do is hit the receive button on their email from the comfort of their executive office chair and they are doing business.

Super-sized Servers, Instant Messaging and Video-Conferencing allow real-time communication. Problem solving is just as fast and easy and cheaper than dragging everyone into a room for meetings nowadays.

But most importantly, in this discussion, is the volatility of petroleum and the severe labor shortage in China.

These two factors work hand-in-hand in helping to drive the ultimate decision. We can fool ourselves that higher ideals such as human rights, political and social stability, freedom of religion, accountability, et al. .. play a role here... and perhaps to some small degree they do, but the overwhelming element is economics and the part that manufacturing and consumerism play.

PLASTIC - People have no idea how much plastic we use. Some of the most non-descript items on earth, that we take for granted every single day, or aren't even aware of because we don't come into contact with them, are made in part or in whole, of plastic.

Sure, we have toys. And small appliances, and automobile parts, and all the other major items we depend on to whatever degree, to get through our day.

But, we also have ; pill bottles, IV bags, syringes, PVC examination gloves and all manner of medical equipment and supplies. Medical facilities must consume and dispose of more plastic/PVC goods than any one factory can make in a year. We have cosmetic applicators and containers. Beverage and food containers. Walk down the aisle of any supermarket and inventory what you see - detergents, cleaning products, pet food, litter, disposable food containers, flatware, plates and cups. Then there's microwavable food, cups of soup and chili. Olive oil, cooking oil, seasonings and spices. Meat, cheese and poultry are packed onto disposabe plates. Plastic wrap, plastic bags and garabge bags.

Walk around your home, what do you see? CDs, DVDs, computers, keyboards, cables, televisions, clocks, planters, floor tiles, window trim, shower curtains, the hood on the fishtank, telephones, cell phones, iPods, toothbrushes... ad infinitum.

And this is just the TIP of the iceberg.

As petroleum prices accelerate, so do and will the price of all the disposble stuff in our lives. And as the prices of manufacturing, i.e. the cost of the raw materials, escalate, so do the prices at the wholesale, resale and ultimately consumer levels.

What cost 3 cents to make last year now costs 6 or even 9. To a major manufacturer a half penny increase per item made can translate into hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars depending on the scope of the SKUs they offer and the volume of their distribution.

We are not talking a couple of hundred or even thousand pieces of merchandise here. We are talking hundreds of thousands, millions. And that's what the big guys do... they make their money in volume. If they have a catalog of hundreds or thousands of items, and they are making 35,000, 350,000 or 3.5 million pieces of each item, we are talking big bucks.

Big bucks to make, big bucks to package and big bucks to transport for distribution.

With plastic pricing so volatile, and consumer home/business heating and transportation at an all time high, manufacturers need to keep prices stable in order to remain competitive in the market and see black on their spredsheets rather than bleeding red.

If they cannot control raw material prices and shipping, then the next area is wages. And therein lies a massive problem.

LABOR - China is in the midst of a labor shortage bordering on a crisis for many manufacturers.

This is not the place to discuss labor practices, sweat shops, etc. .. This is nuts and bolts manufacturing. Cheap labor is paramount for these folks whether we or the spctrum of human rights organizations like it or not.

And cheap labor is scarce in China. Labor period is scarce in China. There's the WalMart endeavor that has been a magnet for former laborers, sucking people out of the factories like a giant human Hoover. Manufacturers are raising wages 30-50%, building new dormitories for workers and doubling rations, providing better working conditions, better more modern facilities, more personal time - and still they cannot find enough people.

Years ago, many major corporations looked to Vietnam as an option. The fear of losing Hong Kong to the Communists played a role in their thinking. Costs also played a role. However, after dancing around with the idea of moving operations to Vietnam, many were heard to say "it isn't time yet." They knew that goods coming out of Vietnam were tainted by the stigma of the war, the POW-MIA issue, veteran and veteran organization threats of product boycotts and massive human rights violations, not to mention the SRV's continued aggression against the former South Vietnamese people and her neighbors.

Fifteen years ago, big business played a role in moving forward the need for restoration of Diplomatic ties. Twelve years ago, big business was a major player in bringing down the Trade Barrier against Vietnam. Big business was also a significant factor in Normalizing Trade with Vietnam.

Twelve years ago, Vietnam was touted as the new Asian Tiger. Yet, most American manufacturers were loathe to move their manufacturing to Vietnam. The Socialist Nation itself played no small part in keeping business out. They were closeted, too Communistic, too regulative and too corrupt. All these years later, Vietnam has learned that consumerism and capitalism are requisite elements if they wish to advance on the world stage, regardless of their political bent.

The continued privations of many Vietnamese people, the constant stream of violations, has also played a significant role in keeping Vietnam out of the economic loop as far as the rest of the world functions.

Fourteen years later, Vietnam has made strides if not to correct the litany of complaints, to at least give the impression that things are improving.

Considering the stakes at this time and the current crises of petroleum and labor, Vietnam, with its millions of educated people (it has one of the highest literacy rates in the world), its ability to ship easily with its endless shoreline and its desire to become a member of the WTO is going to offer more, cheaper and better labor than China ever did. Manufacturers will not have to globe hop to gear up... they are already in the Orient.

Business will be a driving factor in the effort to grant PNTR to Vietnam. As far as they are concerned, it may not happen today or next week, but it is a done deal.

Today we may see seafood and a few items tagged with "Product of Vietnam", but tomorrow or the day after, we WILL be seeing "MADE IN VIETNAM".

26 June, 2006 :: The Double Standard : An Editorial
Today is "International Day in Support of Survivors and Victims of Torture"

June 26th, 2006, has been designated by the UN as such a day, appropriate because, in case no was paying attention, June is "Torture Awareness Month", so deigned by Amnesty International.

It is ironic that these two bodies, long screaming about the injustices and horrors that are meeted out to international innocents by the war-mongering, torture loving United States of America, have declared June to be the month of global Torture awareness. Yet, neither has uttered so much as a peep about the horrific JUNE events of last weekend when two American soldiers in Iraq were kidnapped from their duty post during an ambush and murdered in captivity... after being TORTURED.

Admittedly, we are breaking a promise here... the promise not to discuss the deaths of PFCs Menchaca and Tucker. It was a hard decision to make, considering the families that survive these two brave young Americans. However, considering the hypocritical history of both the United Nations and Amnesty International, with respect to the issue of AMERICAN POWs and MIAs and Captives, their deaths and the subsequent events have illuminated a humongous spotlight on the double standard that Americans in uniform are faced with.

Almost 40 years ago, those of us who worked the POW-MIA issue BEGGED Amnesty International for their intervention with the Laos, the Socialist Vietnamese and the Cambodians. We KNEW men were being tortured. POWs in captivity blinked out in morse code the letters T - O - R - T - U - R - E. Early escapees told of horrific, primeval conditions of privation, starvation, beatings, TORTURE and more.

Yet, AI (Amensty International) told us they could not, would not intervene because those captured American GIs were COMBATANTS. They were the transgressors. They were not some innocent bystander swept into the horror of it all. They were not civilians subjected to and subjugated by despotism. These American POWs were the agressors we were told, directly, and got what they deserved we were told, indirectly.

The UN, ever resentful of the United States, was equally impotent in its ability to address the issue in any meaningful way. Occasionally one would hear them mumbling about "captives" but whether or not that word encompassed AMERICAN POWs is doubtful.

Clearly the UN has, at best, a miserable track record when it comes to Prisoners of War if they had the misfortune to have been an American citizen wearing the uniform of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force or Coast Guard. The UN's utter ineptitude was clearly demonstrated in the waning days of the Korean War (then called the Korean Conflict and if it hadn't been by Act of Congress, would still be called so today) when it failed to hammer North Korea over POW accountability.

Men were SUPPOSED to be repatriated, yet, we have an endless litany of accounts of trainloads and truckloads of POWs NOT being sent on to Peace Village for repatriation. Needless to say, these men did not return. The UN failed when it did not hold the Communist Chinese accountable for its well-known, documented participation in that war by running many of the POW camps. The UN failed when it did not go after the former Soviet Union for its contribution to the deaths of Allied servicemembers in shootdowns, or the capture of American POWs who eventually made their way to Soviet Bloc countries, never to be heard from again.

But then again, the UN, in its metamorphosis from the League of Nations into the UN, was equally useless in securing the release of hundreds of thousands of POWs and civilian internees from the Soviets after World War II.

One may argue that both of these groups have made monumental strides in bringing to our collective social conscience the plight of millions around the globe. That they have championed the impoverished, sick, and suffering. That they bring to the forefront the neverending genocides that seem to occur like clockwork in some faraway place that few have ever heard of and, sadly, most do not care about.

Yes, they have advocated for women, children, the hungry, the afflicted and the disenfranchised.

But, the UN is a paper tiger. An entity with no substance, no teeth. For all their white papers, diplomats, experts and votes, most of what they decree is unenforceable. Occasionaly a stranglehold on a belligerant nation may nudge the errant government back into compliance, but, without the support of the US to do the dirty work and take on the lion's share of economical, materiel, technological and boots-on-the-ground personnel, it simply exists to make noise.

And noise it makes.

The cacophony of human rights organizations damning the US and her vicious sons and daughters in uniform is enough to make one's ears ring. We are, if we listen to the propaganda they generate; selfish, greedy, war-loving, peace-hating, corrupt, insensitive, torturous, lazy, video-game-loving-sex-loving-loud-music-loving-MacDonalds-eating, spoiled and arrogant. There are certainly more adjectives, but the above gets the point across fairly succintly.

Might we remind the human rights organizations that were it not for all of us awful Americans, the French would be speaking German, South Korea and it's loving, wonderful people and culture would be starving and just as paranoid and suffering as her brothers and sisters to the North. The global fight on the AIDs epidemic in Africa would have virtually no funding, NATO would be an auxillary police force with one car and two walkie talkies. Without the US, everytime there was a Tsunami or earthquake or typhoon or mudlside, BILLIONS in aid would not arrive.

Without the US and her tolerant citizens the suffering of so many would continue, technology would be 30 years behind where it is today and 11 million illegal aliens would have to find a new place to live.

Lastly, were it not for the US and her pathologically-generous citizens, most of these human rights organizations, the UN included, would be holding bake sales every Sunday in the parking lot to make up the shortfall in funding.

Yet we are damned endlessly.

Are we perfect? No. Have we made mistakes? Yes. have we done some terrible things in our history? Yes, again. Perhaps that is WHY we are so generous and why we have been so willing to shed blood for people we do not know in places we hadn't heard of before. We have always tried to right whatever wrong has been done, and give whatever it is we have been so blessed to have to others.

And still, we are damned.

And, on this, the "International Day in Support of Survivors and Victims of Torture" during Torture Awareness month, not one of these human rights organizations has the guts to stand up and say what happened last weekend was a crime. A crime against these two beautiful young men... a crime against their families... a crime against every American man and woman, and a crime against humanity.

The Torah states, "To save a life is to save the world entire."

A magnificent sentiment that bespeaks of the true nature of being engaged in humanity. That it is not enough to talk the talk, but one must also walk the walk. Something Americans know all too well by the numbers of men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice throughout our history in defense of others.

Neither the UN nor Amnesty International did anything to save two lives on a miserable, hot day in the dusty desert of Iraq. The very least they could do on this day, June 26th, International Day in Support of Survivors and Victims of Torture, is condemn the result.

God Bless America, her Armed Forces, POWs, MIAs and All Who Wait

May the love of friends bring comfort and may the love of God bring peace to the families of Private First Class Kristian Menchaca and Private First Class Thomas L. Tucker.

April 2006 :: Keynote Remarks by Andi Wolos
Director, AII POW-MIA
Our Lady of Chantal POW-MIA Liturgy
Long Island, NY

Good Afternoon Honored guests, Clergy, ex-POWs, Family Members, Veterans, ladies and gentlemen.

All too often I am asked to speak during a secular observance, and I must restrict my sentiments at those times to the appropriateness of the gathering. Today I am permitted the opportunity to speak from the heart and openly about two of the most important aspects, for me, of the POW-MIA issue... Faith and Hope.

What is it that keeps us, all of us, going in an issue that tries our patience, our sanity and strength everyday? It is Faith. What is it that permits us to get up every morning, write letters, speak before thousands of people, fight with whomever we need to do battle with and continue on in an issue that so often seems hopeless? It is Hope.

Faith and hope are the cornerstone of what we do with respect to the POW-MIA issue. And, it is faith and hope that have brought millions of men and women in uniform through the darkest hours of battle, tens of thousands of POWs through the nightmare of captivity and the countless loving families who wait through the endless days, months, years and decades of not knowing.

Ask any former POW what kept him going... during the terror of capture, the depravity of torture, the darkness of solitary confinement, and ultimately, freedom. It is all too frequently the Faith and Love that was instilled in him in his life. Love of God, love of country, love of family. The ability to find comfort and some consolation in what ever form his Faith took. It was also his faith that his government would not abandon him nor his family and his faith in knowing that somewhere, someone had left a light on in the window until he came home.

Ask them how it was they could look forward to another day... whatever misery that day would bring... and they will answer that it was hope. Hope that one day he would be free. Hope that he would return to his family, friends, to his country and life without fear and as a free man.

Fortunately, we have amongst us, many of those who suffered through combat, through captivity, and by the grace of God, are with us today. Sadly, all too many Prisoners and Missing are not.

Their place at our table is empty yet their place in our hearts will forever by nurtured by OUR hope and faith. Hope they will return, faith they will not be forgotten... by us, even when our own government does.

One story, showing the best of human nature under the worst of circumstances, is that of Father Emil Kapaun, United States Army, Korea. Known as the POW Priest, he was a symbol of love and faith in a prison and war of hate.

During the Korean War, armed only with the love of God, he is remembered as one of the best and bravest of men. A simple, humble Army Chaplain, Father Kapaun died as a POW at the age of 35 and was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere along the Yalu River in North Korea. But I do not wish to speak of his death and the fact he is one of the 8,100 unaccounted-for from the Forgotten War, Korea, I wish to speak about his life and love for his fellow man while a POW.

On November 2nd, 1950, the 8th Cavalry was overwhelmed by enemy forces. Father Kapaun refused a direct order to escape by breaking lines, his reason? He was administering the last rites to a dying soldier. While he offered the sacrament, he was captured, beaten and taken to a POW camp run by the Communist Chinese.

Captivity did not end his charitable acts and the work of God. At night he would sneak around the prison compound, rooting out vegetables, potatoes and sacks of corn to help nourish starving POWs.

When the men were called out to make the ration run, the Father would slip in at the end of the line. Before the ration detail reached the supply shed, he'd slide off into the bushes. Creeping and crawling on his belly, he'd come up behind the shed, and while the rest of the POWs started an argument with the guard and the Chinese doling out the rations, he'd sneak in, snatch up a sack of cracked corn and scurry off into the bushes with it.

Death and disease were everywhere, yet the good Father never failed to minister to his POW flock. Even when they died, he did not abandon them,... The POWs buried their own dead ... Men dodged this detail whenever they could. But Father Kapaun always volunteered. And standing graveside, as the earth covered the naked body -- the clothing of the dead was saved to warm the living -- he would utter for them the last great plea: 'Eternal rest grant unto him, 0 Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.'

He would frequently escape to the barracks where enlisted men were held captive and offer a quick service beginning with prayers for the men who had died in Korea and a prayer for their families. He would close with a prayer of thanks for all the favors the Lord granted the POWs, whether the POWs realized those graces or not. His sermon would always be about love, freedom, not losing hope or faith.

The POWs who knew him said he could turn a stinking, mud filled, vermin infested hut into a cathedral.

He hand washed filthy garments and distributed them to sick and weak men. He traded his watch for a blanket and then cut it up to make socks for the men whose feet were freezing in the arctic chill of North Korea. He nursed and comforted the sick and dying.

With his vestments and bible confiscated, Father Kapaun could not hold a formal mass, yet endlessly challenged his captors and their brutal rule against religious services. In one sermon, forver remembered by returned POWs, he told the story of Christ's suffering and death, and then, holding in his hand a Rosary made of bent barbed wire he had cut from the prison fence, he recited the glorious mysteries. This was Easter Sunday, 1951. A week later, during bright week, Father Kapaun collapsed, ravaged by dysentery, pneumonia and infections.

Dying, in agony, his last words were, a sermon. The sermon of the Seven Macchabes in the Old Testament... About an emperor who had an elderly woman brought up before him. He told her to renounce her Faith or he would torture and kill her. She replied that he could do anything he wanted, but she would never renounce it.

The emperor then had her seven sons brought before him and said he would kill them if she did not renounce her faith. She still refused and he then put them to death, one by one. The mother was crying and the emperor asked her if she was crying because she was sad. She replied that her tears were tears of joy because she knew her sons were in heaven. and had gone home.

Several days later, Father Kapaun passed into eternal memory... lying side by side with the men he had served so well in faith and in love.

Father Kapaun gave hope where there was none... he instilled faith where there was only fear, hunger and no end to the misery that was the Korean War.

In his life and in his death he triumphed. His captors were afraid of him, his fellow POWs were given the gift of strength and hope.

It is appropriate that his last words were of the Macchabe sons, who died because of faith. We understand that message all too well because too many of our sons, our brothers, fathers, grandfathers and friends have also made the ultimate sacrifice while serving a greater good.

The lesson that Father Kapaun leaves us with is that no matter what adversity we face, whatever the enemy, be it an outside force or our own internal failings and fears... our love of our fellow man, our families and friends, our faith in ourselves and a higher power will give us the strength and hope we need to continue the job we have set out to accomplish.

We have faith that we are on the right path, to bring our nation's sons and daughters home. We have hope, that whatever it takes, however long it takes, we will accomplish that task regardless of the obstacles in our path.

May God Bless our Prisoners of War and Missing in Action, our Armed Forces and America.
May He Grant Peace, Comfort and Strength to All Families.
May He Grant Perseverance to All of Us Who Wait For Answers.

Thank you.

February 25, 2005 :: DASD Jerry Jennings is a flurry of activity these days. Korea-Cold War news and developments are cropping up all over. It is curious that a few days, weeks and months ago Korean-Cold War family members couldn't even get the man to answer the phone or personally respond to a letter or questions.

Then, within days, 3 of the 4 or 75% of the family member organizations (Korea-Cold War Families of the Missing, the National League of Families of Prisoners and Missing from Southeast Asia and the National Alliance of Families For the Return of America's Missing Servicemen - in chronological order) took and published Board of Director NO CONFIDENCE votes in DASD Jennings.

Let's see, we had the Families of Missing publicly stating that DPMO in general and Jennings in particular was non-responsive and too many of the promised avenues of exploration went by the wayside. In a detailed piece on concerns of the family members, Jennings was addressed directly. The Alliance has been questioning the efficacy of DPMO in general and Jennings in particular for years. The League has tried to find common ground with the man for years.

Suddenly the GULAG Study, 5th Edition was made public and lo and behold we find men were taken to the former Soviet Union, men died in former Soviet Union, and all the people who were labeled crazy, disillusioned, disenfranchised, deluded or just plain stupid were vindicated. In an excellent series of commentaries by the Alliance, they have called to mind some of the outstanding people who were publicly chastised or dismissed because of their statements regarding POWs in the USSR for years, even decades before this admission from DPMO.

Norman Kass of DPMO and USRJC went on CNN and said it. The GULAG Study said it. We KNEW it. We knew it because the USG in its own words said it, over and over and over again. Yet, there was always some apologist ready to put out whatever fires might have been smouldering. (read below for excerpts from USG reports.)

3 of 4 family groups came out publicly and simply said, the man in charge is doing a lousy job. He has too much power over too many agencies, commissions and detachments. He is not effective in any of them. He is unresponsive and the agencies are suffering as a result.

Now, we have Korean War remains ID'd, and Jennings personally is asking China to be cooperative with POWs unaccounted-for in China as a result of the Korean War and China's oversight of some of the camps.

His name is everywhere, he is getting 'good press' and lots of ink in the wake of public criticism by those who have the most vested... the Family Members. Pity we didn't have all this activity before family members had to blast the man. Korean-Cold War family members have been asking for China to be addressed directly for years. With the exception of the Snoddy case, no one said much to the families about China and the camps other than promises. Now all of a sudden we are talking to China. What took so long? Was it really the complicated chain of events that ambassadorship and diplomacy require? Or was it the demarche of wives, brothers, sisters, children and grandchildren?

The USG has always had a curious timetable when it comes to public announcements, holidays and criticism. Yes, we get acceptable announcements of remains being recovered and a handful of identifications. But, one thing that has always been fascinating is the observation that whenever a major commemoration day such as POW-MIA Recognition Day or Memorial Day is imminent we get announcements. Remains, IDs, action, excavations, a flurry of activity... When the public eye is focused on the issue, stuff happens.

Once again we see a convergence of controversy, criticism and discontent with the job being done, or at least the perception of the job being done, and we have reports, news releases, remains and POW-MIA detente between the US and China. Interesting timing.

For years Vietnam Vets were spat upon, called baby-killers and even worse after the war. Then, a decade later, the national conscience had a 180 degree change of heart and held a country-wide welcome home for the guys and gals. Although welcomed, appreciated and overdue, many vets were heard to say "it's too little, too late."

Is this the position Mr. Jennings will find himself in with the Families?

Although ANY ID, remains recovery or advancement in the issue to find answers is worthwhile, one wonders if this sudden spate of news is not in some small way the result of the wonderful, gutsy family members from all wars who have said enough, we do not believe you can do the job, find us someone who can.

February 13th, 2005 :: With Russia and Missing Americans in the news cycle, perhaps it is time we revisit a peculiar part of history and wonder aloud, "What happened to KAL 007?"

From Bert Schlossberg, International Director of Rescue 007 :: "On September 1, 1983, Korean Air Lines flight 007, on its way from Anchorage, Alaska to Seoul, Korea, carrying 269 passengers and crew, strayed off its intended course and entered into Soviet airspace. A Soviet Sukhoi 15 fighter jet, piloted by Major Gennadie Osipovich, was sent up to destroy the intruding Boeing 747.

This, at the height of the Cold War era, was a major international incident. At the time, it was - and still is - widely believed that the plane "exploded", "plummeted uncontrollably" into the ocean, and was "destroyed", killing all aboard, including Lawrence ("Larry") Patton McDonald, Representative (D), 7th District, Georgia.

The evidence, however, tells another story. Japanese radar trackings, Soviet ground-to-ground and ground-to-air communications, KAL 007's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, the debris (and lack thereof), eye-witness testimonies... All these and more, when pieced together, tell of a plane which was, indeed, damaged, but which managed to land safely, and of passengers who survived and were rescued by the Russians -- only to be imprisoned to this day."

What happened to KAL 007? The background, story and possibilities are beyond the scope of this site to discuss in-depth. However, like the Glomar Java Sea, KAL 007 is another mystery with more missing Americans that needs to be explored. Please visit Rescue 007 at http://www.rescue007.org/

February 11th, 2005 :: After all these years of being battered by apologists for the USG over the transfer of American military personnel to the former Soviet Union, we learn "Americans, including American servicemen, were imprisoned in the former Soviet Union," an official 2005 USG report says.

There is no satisfaction that all the previous reports and sightings were correct, that family members who schleppt to the oblasts and outbacks of Siberia and beyond were correct, that former GULAG prisoners and military officials who claimed contact with Americans were correct.

For decades we have said that Americans were transferred, suffered and eventually died there. And for years we have been called nuts, cranks, disillusioned, disenfranchised, scam artists, and worse. So many have faced personal chastisement and professional mortality in the process. Researchers, journalists, government officials... dragged into the court of public opinion, fueled by a neverending barrage of denials from official sources, tried and executed in the media.

For those who have a short attention span or just climbed onto the issue bandwagon, this admission is earth-shattering news. For the families who have waited 60, 50 and 30 years, for the advocates who have been around for 30 or more years, this is just one more piece of evidence and confirmation of what has been known since the first shots were fired in anger and the first man went missing.

US POWs were taken to the former Soviet Union and never repatriated. Period.

These are not new words or those that no one has ever spoken. They are, almost verbatim, words written 12 years ago in another USG report. A report that fueled enormous strum und drang in wives, children, siblings and others who wait the endless wait.

Its opening words were, "Executive Summary: "US Korean War POWs were transferred to the Soviet Union and never repatriated." Peter Tsouras, The Transfer of US POWs to the Soviet Union, Joint Commission Support Branch, Research & Analysis Division, DPMO, 26 Aug 1993"

The impact was so great, and so detrimental to the new perestroika that was overcoming the great red bear, that the report was held back, rewritten and rephrased to soften its impact before it was released. Fortunately some intrepid soul in a higher governmental orbit had the presence of mind to retain an original copy and insure it got into our hands for public dissemination before it was 'edited'.

Let us look at some other statements of fact in USG reports:

On WW II
"An undetermined number of American POWs liberated by Soviet forces during World War II from Nazi Germany POW camps, were NOT repatriated to the United Sates or otherwise accounted for by Soviet Authorities." Dr. Paul M. Cole, POW-MIA Issues, Vol. 1, 2 & 3 National Defense Research Institute, Rand, 1994

"Information from the Soviet archives indicates that Soviet authorities deliberately misled US officials concerning the fate of American POWs." Rand, 1994

On the Cold War Era
"This report presents documentation of the United States Government's conclusion that some of these crew men were captured alive by Soviet forces but not repatriated." Rand, 1994

"Foremost among the major findings in this report is the conclusion that direct evidence suggests that American servicemen were transferred to the territory of the USSR from the Korean War zone of combat operations." Rand, 1994

Executive Summary: "US Korean War POWs were transferred to the Soviet Union and never repatriated." Peter Tsouras, The Transfer of US POWs to the Soviet Union, Joint Commission Support Branch, Research & Analysis Division, DPMO, 26 Aug 1993

On the Vietnam War
"The intelligence indicates that the American Prisoners of War have been held continuously after Operation Homecoming and remain in captivity in Vietnam and Laos as late as 1989." Oral Intelligence Briefing before the Senate Select Committee on POWs-MIAs, April 8, 1992

"Despite adherences to internal policies and public statements after April, 1973, that "no evidence" existed of living POWs, DIA authoritatively concluded as late as April, 1974, that several hundred living POW/MIAs were still held captive in Southeast Asia." Interim Report on the Southeast Asian POW/MIA Issue By the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Republican Staff Release Date: Monday, October 29, 1990

"In fact, classified and unclassified information all confirm one startling fact: That DOD in April, 1974, concluded beyond a doubt that several hundred living American POWs remained in captivity in Southeast Asia. This was a full year after DOD spokesmen were saying publicly that no prisoners remained alive." Interim Report on the Southeast Asian POW/MIA Issue By the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Republican Staff Release Date: Monday, October 29, 1990

There have been hundreds, thousands, of other references and discussions by some very impressive authors with substantial backgrounds. However, the statements above are important because they are from official reports, not personal opinion in a privately published report, document, or book.

All state, without equivocation, that Russia (and others) are to blame and have the answers, which they are not sharing. It is Russia, and others, who were our enemy, then our adversary and now our partners on the international stage.

Yet, we are the ones treated as the enemy. News Break - We are not the enemy.

We are the ones who bear the burden of not knowing and the brunt of attacks by those vested with the responsibility of finding answers and resolution.

Why? We are an easy target. We are mothers, fathers, wives, children, sisters, brothers, grandchildren, disabled vets and citizens who simply care. We go to work, pay our taxes, vote and write letters. We have no nukes, no vote in the UN. And we are dismissed, our claims considered madness and we are the ones who are disparaged in back-channel discussions, meetings and correspondence.

WE DO NOT HAVE THE POWs and MIAs. Why are we on the receiving end of such abuse? THE RUSSIANS, NORTH KOREANS and OTHERS have our POWs and MIAs, yet they are coddled and cowtowed to.

The problem here is time and human nature. They are our enemies now. Our former adversaries are loathe to be honest and open about the issue of Americans in Soviet Bloc custody. Regardless of how many reports we author, how many plenums we attend, how many archives we sift through, the unwillingness of Russia, and others, to own up to their actions and answer questions honestly and forthrightly is disgraceful.

That our elected, appointed and disappointing officials and public servants allow this to continue and punish family members, veterans, advocates and activists is despicable.

January 28th, 2005 :: After a month hiatus the web site is being updated daily. As John Lennon so eloquently said, "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans." Life happened. That doesn't mean that attention on the issue is derelict, it just wasn't being posted. The remains of Bill Bradley were uncovered, recovered and returned to his family. The discovery the result of Abu Ghraib interrogations. Apparently Matt Maupin was a subject during these sessions, although officials won't confirm nor deny. A respectable number of reports continue to drift in regarding remains, artifacts, wreckage, from numerous wars and regions. It is not without a small amount of pride that we pay homage to the men and women at JPAC who are able to provide their talents and expertise to the Tsunami relief efforts. They are the world's best, let us hope they can help some folks find answers. The anniversary of Scott Speicher's disappearance in the desert of Iraq has come and gone, again. Matt Maupin is still Missing/Captured, families still wait and DPMO has a new and improved website.

November 10th, 2004 :: Michael Scott Speicher - Testing Underway on New Remains After thirteen and a half years, numerous status changes, countless reports, interviews and conjecture, new remains have been located and are currently being tested to determine if they are that of the missing aviator. Media and USG report that "sources" are confident that 'Spike' has finally been found. Remains are a huge part of the accounting equation... and the manner in which so many adversaries have treated the remains of our fallen is a topic that should be openly addressed.

Some years ago other remains were presented as Speicher's. The ICRC handed over remains identified as "Mickel" which amounted to little more than a pound or so of flesh with dark hair. Visual analysis determined the remains were Caucasian, but darker complected than Speicher. Through DNA the remains were excluded. It was 1991, DNA and mtDNA have come a long way in 13 years, and the DNA registry has grown substantially. At the time, specialists in the field had requested DNA from all members of the military, but superiors were skeptical and denied the request. The day after the DNA exclusion of the "Mickel" remains, the process to formally declare Speicher KIA went into motion.

With respect to remains, Korea and Vietnam present enormous challenges when we discuss remains recovery and identification. Take for example the case of the infamous 'Mortician' or Tran Vien Loc. In 1980, a squat, mysterious man wearing a large motorcycle helmet accompanied by an interpretor, sat before the SubCommittee on Asia and the Pacific - Committee on Foreign Affairs, to answer questions about unaccounted-for US personnel from the Second IndoChina War. Referred to as "The Mystery Witness", Loc related his work in Hanoi as a mortuary affairs specialist. The ethnic Chinese man, born and raised in Vietnam, had worked for the State for 21 years until the Vietnamese purge of ethnic Chinese began in 1978. During the war years - 1969 - 1975 - he was assigned to the Graves Office in Hanoi. He spoke of processing and reprocessing American remains, required because of deterioration, as many as 452 cases. 26 remains were turned over to the US, leaving 400 plus to be warehoused. He spoke of holding the remains, of the French experience where they literally bought back remains, and the process for establishing records and identifications to be associated with the remains. Through the years there had been efforts to discredit Loc, to downplay his story or diminish his recollections. The man stood firm.

Then in 1999 the USG, through DPMO, published Vietnam's Collection and Repatriation of American Remains the fruit of a 3 year investigation by DPMO, JTF-FA and CIL-HI. The report stated unequivocally that Vietnam had stored remains. An interesting observation is "...show that some remains for which American scientists could find no physical indicators of storage were, in fact, recovered and stored before repatriation. " The report goes on to outline official SRV/DRV efforts to identify grave sites, recover US remains, catalog and store them. The 17 Ly De Nam Street facility, the Mortician's stated 'warehouse', was visited by Congressional representatives who found no evidence of warehousing. However, the DPMO report states unambiguously, " We believe that American remains initially held at 17 Ly Nam De Street were moved sometime between the last time the mortician was called to work there in May 1977 and the visit by the press delegation in August 1980. Reporting from several sources indicates that they were probably taken to a room in a military prison in Bat Bat District, west of Hanoi." For almost 20 years, numerous individuals, official and private, had worked to discredit Loc's recollections and diminish Vietnam's culpability in controlling remains, repatriations and recovery missions. Yet, in 1999, the USG through DPMO confirmed what Loc had testified to in 1980.

Korea is another story. Over 8,000 men did not return from the Korean War. Logic dictates that only a percentage were captured, held as prisoners and went either unrepatriated, were transferred to third-nation interlopers or had died in captivity. The generally accepted figure for DIC POWs is 2,471 or there-about. We also have to consider the vast numbers of men who perished along Death March routes. Yet, we have only received a little over 200 remains from Korea unilaterally... 208 being the accepted figure. However, and it is a huge however, those remains are believed to represent not 208 individuals, but quite possibly hundreds more if not thousands. Why? The North Koreans, either through hatred for the US, ignorance of archeological/anthropological recovery, arrogance or wrongly assuming the US was stupid, opened graves, gathered everything they could and shoved everything onto shelves. NOT, as individual sets of remains, but, in a peculiar sorting fashion that allocated space for femurs only, mandibles only, ribs only, right humerus, right radius, right ulna... only. When required or requested to unilaterally present remains, they simply grabbed one of this and one of that to cobble together a skeleton. Yes, there were 208 caskets, but each casket could comprise as many as 7 or more individuals. Commingling to the extreme.

We KNOW Korea warehoused remains. Aside from the Chinese-menu selection of bones to make up a skeleton, we have also received bones that had been etched or marked with tracking numbers and quite possibly recovery dates. God does not make humans with alpha-numerics on their bones.

Paul Cole, long a lightning rod for family members and USG officials has repeatedly stated that with respect to remains recovered or repatriated from Korea the USG is looking at an uphill battle. His recommendation for resolution? Get a bigger warehouse. Smug? No. Realistic. Very.

Ultimately we find ourselves coming full-circle to the problem encountered in 1991 with the "Mickel"/Speicher remains. DNA and mtDNA. Without a database the accounting efforts are seriously if not fatally impacted. DNA sampling and sequencing is an expensive, arduous task. But if we are to resolve so many cases of missing personnel who have had their remains buried, reclaimed, excavated, warehoused and prepared... who have 13, 23, 33 and 53 years of weather, elements and soil conditions to work away identifying characteristics, a DNA and mtDNA database is an absolute necessity. It is not the end-all and be-all, but a good, respectable forensic tool to point one in the right direction. It has been used successfully on the TWA 800 remains, WTC and Pentagon remains, OKC, the Romanovs, to exclude murderers and rapists, to indict felons and more. The problem is time, money and finding relatives. Of the more than 8, 100 missing from the Korean War, only 1,200 or so family members have provided DNA for identification purposes. The samples already in hand have not even been completely sequenced, and we still need to find 7,000 plus more relatives for Korea alone. And, that does not address the issue of other allied war dead. There were 17 countries involved in the Korean War. Clearly some may be excluded immediately by virtue of race and ethnic origin. But the Euro-Centric Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, France and other nations may have remains of their missing commingled with ours.

We want 'our guys' home. Reality dictates that these men will never walk through a jet-way and onto the tarmac. They will come home in a box covered in a flag. But they will be home. The question is, once home, how long will they remain in a box on a shelf with a number on it waiting to be identified?

Scott Speicher's long, hard road back home and the possibility of his case being resolved almost 14 years after it began cries out to us to embrace technology, science and new opportunities on the horizon as much as we embrace hope. Our CIL-HI and AFDIL are the world's finest state-of-the-art facilities. They have the resources, technology and personnel to do the job... it is human nature and time that are our enemies now.

September 28th, 2004 :: "The war in Iraq has undermined the basic rule of international law that protects captured American soldiers." In a speech delivered on September 27th, 2004, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, at George Washington University, presented the following: "Number Ten: The war in Iraq has undermined the basic rule of international law that protects captured American soldiers. The Geneva Conventions are supposed to protect our forces, but the brutal interrogation techniques used at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq have lowered the bar for treatment of POWs and endangered our soldiers throughout the world." (http://kennedy.senate.gov/GWspeech.txt)

Regardless of one's position on the war, politics, candidates and who is responsible for what, when, why and where, the statement that the war in Iraq "has undermined the basic rule of international law that protects captured American soldiers" is mind-boggling. For anyone to believe that " ...the Geneva Conventions are supposed to protect our forces, but the brutal interrogation techniques used at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq have lowered the bar for treatment of POWs and endangered our soldiers throughout the world" is the reason American POWs and Hostages are targeted, abused, tortured and executed is a sickening exploitation of POWs and MIAs and the issue that has plagued this nation for decades... not days, for political mileage. It is also a complete denial of the history of the issue and ordeal that American POWs have had to endure for over 60 years.

Clearly Iraq and Abu Ghraib were not a precursor to the horrific terminal experimentation program of Japan's Unit 731 or the agonizing hell that was the Bataan Death March. Iraq was not the trigger that forced North Korean and Chinese captors to brutalize American POWs during the Korean War with more than 8,000 never to return home. Iraq was not an excuse for the former Soviet Union to hold back American POWs when they were liberated from Eastern European Camps as WW II came to an end. Iraq was not the reason the Vietnamese tortured American POWs or employed Cuban Torturers to batter one to death... That the Khmer Rouges created the nightmare called Tuol Sleng or the Laos never accounted for hundreds of lost Americans, Heaven only knowing what those who survived captivity had to suffer through. The war in Iraq is not the reason that US POWs captured by Saddam Hussein's regime in 1991 were forced to endure excruciating torment.

The truth is the "basic rule of international law" was and remains largely ignored by virtually every adversary US POWs have faced. The Geneva Conventions were treated more as a suggestion than a regulation by the Japanese, Chinese, Germans (let's not forget POWs were sent to Death Camps), Soviets, North Koreans, Vietnamese, Khmers and Iraqis, to name a few. POW status meant nothing to those who embraced barbarism rather than humanism. The Conventions were useless 13, 30, 40, 50 and 60 years ago when American POWs were brutalized, why should we imagine today's adversary would give the Articles any serious consideration in light of what we know has happened all these many years?

POWs, or Hostages, or Detainees, Captives, or whatever we call them, are imperiled regardless of International Laws, Covenants or Generally Accepted Principles. They always have been. Believing that today's Captives are receiving harsher treatment because of this war, is insane, and disingenuous. Our POWs, or Missing-Captured personnel as DoD calls them, are walking targets for torture and worse by virtue of the historical record not the current state of affairs. And speaking of POWs and Missing-Captured and Detainees...

US Code : TITLE 10 : Subtitle A : PART II : CHAPTER 76 : Sec. 1513
DoDI 2310.5 (DoD Instruction 1/31/2000)
and
Joint Publication 1-02: Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms 12 April 2001
(As Amended Through 9 June 2004)

QUOTE: US CODE: Sec. 1513. - Definitions
In this chapter:
(1) The term ''missing person'' means -
(A) a member of the armed forces on active duty who is in a missing status; or
(B) a civilian employee of the Department of Defense or an employee of a contractor of the Department of Defense who serves in direct support of, or accompanies, the armed forces in the field under orders and who is in a missing status.

Such term includes an unaccounted for person described in section 1509(b) of this title who is required by section 1509(a)(1) of this title to be considered a missing person. (NOTE: SEE BELOW)

(2) The term ''missing status'' means the status of a missing person who is determined to be absent in a category of any of the following:
(A) Missing.
(B) Missing in action.
(C) Interned in a foreign country.
(D) Captured.
(E) Beleaguered.
(F) Besieged.
(G) Detained in a foreign country against that person's will. END QUOTE

So we add 1 (A) or (B) + 2 (A-G) to find Missing as the category, Captured (or MIA, Interned, Beleaguered, Besieged or Detained) the sub-category, and we get Missing/Captured, according to US Code, like it or not the law of the land.

We should also note that under Section 1509, Preenactment Cases, the USG is permitted to consider the following as "Missing Persons"

QUOTE : The cases eligible for review under this section are the following:
(1) With respect to the Korean conflict, any unaccounted for person who was classified as a prisoner of war or as missing in action during that conflict and who
(A) was known to be or suspected to be alive at the end of that conflict, or
(B) was classified as missing in action and whose capture was possible.
(2) With respect to the Cold War, any unaccounted for person who was engaged in intelligence operations (such as aerial ''ferret'' reconnaissance missions over and around the Soviet Union and China) during the Cold War.
(3) With respect to the Indochina war era, any unaccounted for person who was classified as a prisoner of war or as missing in action during the Indochina conflict. : END QUOTE

We might also look at the Joint Publication 1-02: Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms 12 April 2001 (As Amended Through 9 June 2004) is virtually verbatim with respect to "missing". It is notable that the term "Prisoner of War" (JP1-02 page 429) is used only in the context of Geneva 1949 (Art 4 and 5). Although the USG is in the process of DOD-NATO Standardization of Terms, there does not appear to be any impact from that coordination.

What is particularly disturbing is the Preenactment Cases description: " (1) With respect to the Korean conflict, any unaccounted for person who was classified as a prisoner of war or as missing in action during that conflict and who (A) was known to be or suspected to be alive at the end of that conflict"

"Known to be... alive at the end of that conflict"... but did not come home. Clearly someone, somewhere knew guys were alive at the end of the Korean War.

Perhaps we don't need enemies...

July 17th, 2004 :: Scott Speicher is in the news again. In an excellent article by AP's Randall Richard, "The question lingers: What happened to Scott Speicher?" the final sentences say it all... "A joint Iraq-U.S. committee has just finished its work on determining the fate of the pilot. The result of the investigation will be announced by the Pentagon and the U.S. Navy," said George Sada, spokesman for interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. He wouldn't elaborate. " One can safely assume that with the immediacy of Speicher's captivity as part of a prelude to war being no longer relevant, and the obvious comments that nothing new has been found and the case is dead-ending, the Speicher case will undergo or has undergone a Status Review and he will be PFOD'd, again. In the early part of 2002 through mid 2003, Scott Speicher was everywhere... radio, TV, press, net... the case was inescapable. Curious that the media as a whole ignored the case for nearly a decade... although kudos do go out to some intrepid journalists who followed up and attempted to 'get the story out.' But for the most part, Speicher was a footnote in history... a lone unaccounted-for soul in a quick, remote-controlled war that was supposedly over before it began. Two problems that were glaringly obvious, but never addressed, were Speicher's classification as the "first casualty of war" by then SECDEF Cheney immediately after his loss incident and the fact that there were and are other unaccounted-for cases from the first Persian Gulf War. Creative bookkeeping by the DoD does not diminish the fact that others are missing, it simply diminishes the impact on the public. For years the collective public perception is that there is ONE guy from the PGW who remains unaccounted-for, Speicher. Actually, there are 14 from Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Sure, legally, officially, there may be 1... or 3 if you count Bush's remarks on September 19, 2002... but legally being dead or PFOD'd or KIA/BNR doesn't make you any more accounted-for... it just puts you on another list.

There is no doubt that someone, somewhere at sometime was looking for this man... who saw the SATINT of the wreckage as it mysteriously moved around in the desert, appearing, disappearing and reappearing... who read the reports of the nomads, of the ICRC and the "expert excavation" of the cockpit, and wanted to, needed to know what happened. There ARE good people at Defense and DPMO and the other agencies... people who want to know as badly as anyone else and feel a duty and an obligation to find out what happened. But in the long run Speicher was one guy, the conundrum of the Gulf War. The reported intel that stated Speicher was alive electrified everyone. The change in status to Missing and again to Missing/Captured seemed to provide yet another mandate for pursuing Iraq and Hussein. Regardless of one's perspective on the war, the issue of Hussein's not accounting for a total of 609 missing personnel from coalition countries involved in the Liberation of Kuwait, became a persuasive argument to be used in the UN chambers. And then, after the statues fell, after troops entered Baghdad and initials were found in a jail cell, and the Iraq Survey Group {ISG} was created, all went quiet. DNA gathered in that cell was either inconclusive or not Speicher's, the intel from Chalabi's group was flawed, if not outright fabricated it was reported, witnesses were either mistaken, unreliable or lying. A year or two previous, Ass't SECDEF Wolfowitz stated, "...U.S. intelligence has "pretty hard evidence" that Cmdr. Michael Speicher survived the crash of his F/A-18 Hornet on the first night of the conflict." (Novak, Hunt and Shield; CNN March 19, 2002) What was that "hard evidence"... the same flight suit, ICRC report and SATINT discussed above? Was it the Chalabi reports? Or was it something altogether different and compelling? The Gordon England Memo of October 11, 2002, was strongly worded in support of Speicher's initial survival of the loss incident... especially when we read, "... and the flight suit's condition indicates that the aviator wearing it was not in the aircraft at ground impact." No, it does not state Speicher survived the loss incident, it says he survived the "initial damage" to his craft, initiated an ejection sequence, and all the evidence from the crash site proved he didn't go down with his craft. So where was he? And, was his case being brought to such prominence in a legitimate chase after answers or was it more smoke and mirrors... exploited for whatever political gain by someone, some group, with an agenda more important than whatever pain and confusion it may cause for the family? Was the Speicher case brought to prominence simply because there was enough compelling evidence to do so? Was it part of a plan by foreign nationals to push the buttons of US officials in order to expedite an invasion of Iraq? Was it a little of each, feeding the other? We probably will never know for certain.

We can be sure, however, that unless some scrap of paper in some box liberated from the confines of a prison, or military office, or archive, recorded for posterity Scott Speicher's name... or that of Cooke and Dwyer is found, unless someone comes forward who has the ability to show investigators where whatever happened happened, or unless the man or his remains are freed, we will see Scott Speicher's case fade away, another name on yet another list of Americans who went to war and didn't come home. Scott Speicher, like tens of thousands of others who make up the legion of the lost, are not names on lists. They are men, women, they are human beings. Fathers, sons, sisters, friends... they have a face and a voice. That voice calls to us to never lose faith, never forget... even when others do.

July 4th, 2004 :: POW, Captured, Detainee, Hostage, what does it mean and does it matter? The Atlanta Journal Constitution (as well as other papers) ran an interesting article titled Captured Not POWs. It argues the status definitions used for Matt Maupin and Wassef ali Hassoun (both of whom are listed as Captured by the DoD) from the perspective of legal pundits, Family members and Vets groups. It is not dissimilar to the ongoing debate over the GITMO detainees, captured enemy combatants in Afghanistan and Iraq, and whomever else is caught up in the GWOT which has ensued for the past 2 and a half years.

RANT: There are a number of aspects that come into play here. Does terminology used have an impact on the public? Legal status, protection and relief with respect to the Geneva Conventions? Laws of War? Responsibilities of the parties? What is the responsibility of the USG and its' serviant agencies during and after conflict? And, ultimately, does any of it have any weight when it comes to the treatment of captives? All of the above are legitimate issues requiring serious consideration and unlimited bandwidth. With respect to public perception, one could argue that by not using the term POW, the impact is substantially diminished. That by using the term Captured for Maupin and ali Hassoun, the public will have a lessened sense of responsibility, concern or interest. Perhaps all the legal mumbo-jumbo about Belligerents, Unlawful Combatants, Illegal Combatants (same thing), Terrorists, POWs, Hostages, Paramilitary, Militants and what not that covers reams of paper has simply whizzed past the glazed over eyes of the public. Perhaps all the talking heads on the cable news outlets, all the legal experts, military analysts and human rights activists are wasting their breath. Maybe, just maybe, none of it matters at all.

Clearly to some it matters... and that perspective is respected. Everyone in the issue of POWs and MIAs seems to have an entirely different point of view on practically everything. But it would also seem that to the greater majority of people in the US, semantics are garbage. From the overwhelming volume of email and visitors that troop through these Archives, from the spectacular number of POW-MIA flags being flown, and bracelets being worn, it would appear that using POW, Captured or Hostage doesn't mean a thing to the public. That the simple fact that an American Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine has been taken by an enemy, any enemy, and is in danger, does. And, it would seem that regardless of what DoD, DPMO, CENTCOM, Geneva, the ICRC or anyone else calls these captive men, the public at large considers them POWs. It's an easy concept - Military personnel, trying to fight a war, captured by bad people, held against their will, under miserable circumstances, and in grave danger. We can leave the legal wrangling to others, to the average American our guys are POWs.

Certainly we can argue (indefinitely) that terminology does count. That the status applied now will ensure certain requisite actions and responsibilities on behalf of the USG and DoD presently and in the future. We can also argue that each of the prescribed terms has its merits and detractions. We can ignore the clear descriptions of who is and who isn't what in favor of emotional preferences. And when we are done we can also consider this...

Regardless of what these men are legally, figuratively or literally, none of it has any bearing unless the International Humanitarian Laws and the intent of Geneva is respected.

Make all the references you want... Geneva, Laws of War, DoDI 2301.5, ad infinitum. Use any term you like... POW, Protected Person, Detainee, Hostage, Captive, Beleaguered, Besieged, Franc-tireur. None of if matters when one's adversary has no comprehension of international Covenants, no respect for basic human rights and is operating outside the norms of accepted conflict and within the confines of a particular, perverted politicized agenda.

June 23rd, 2004 :: Vietnam - Police Find 46 Sets of Remains for US Scam... The cottage-industry of remains/dog tags/effects continues. Buried beneath the floor of a Ho Chi Minh house, authorities uncovered 46 sets of human remains, believed to be earmarked as "MIA" remains. With this cache, the number of remains (all suspected Mongoloid) brings to number 135 sets of remains recovered. On June 12th, 89 sets were discovered at another location... the organizer a 72 year-old local. According to reports, the offenders had convinced locals that they would be provided with US citizenship in return for the remains and not only had stored the remains but charged several villagers upwards of US$1,200.00 to be placed on a relocation to the US list.

RECOLLECTION: Fake remains, dog tags, artifacts and effects is a cottage-industry in SouthEast Asia, and as old as the Paris Peace Accords. From day one we have been inundated with teeth, bone shards, rubbings, tags and heaven-knows-what-else. During the years when the then SRV was on the US's enemies list, travel to Vietnam was prohibited. The number of travelers running around simply did not exist. Entering VN was a tricky proposition requiring travelers to zig-zag in and out of various nations to acquire an entry certificate. Illegal cross-border forays were a regular event... mounted from a neighboring nation, crossing the Mekong or nebulous borders. For the less adventurous or hearty, one had to travel from the US to Mexico (legally), obtain a Visa for Cuba while in Mexico City, travel to Cuba and then obtain a Visa for Vietnam. Not unlike the roundabout required to enter the former USSR during the Iron Curtain days. For the most part the only intrepid souls to take on such an endeavor were peace activists, aid society members, former Vets mounting Ramboesque POW rescue missions, drug smugglers, gun dealers and the flotsam and jetsom that drifted in and out of SEA in the post-war years.

The result was that some remains were funneled back to the States, countless dog tag rubbings, but little of substance. POW Hunters launched missions from Thailand, POW-MIA disinformation ran riot. Oddly enough, Americans were just as guilty of mounting a scam as were the locals. And it was Americans that were able to easily separate caring Americans from their hard-earned dollars in order to "Save A POW". For a decade or more, there was a list, actually a bad photocopy, that bore a couple dozen "rubbings" of dog tags. Every couple of months or so, someone would trot out the list, pass it along (for pay of course) to an unsuspecting, well-meaning individual, who would then attempt to move heaven and earth to get US authorities to "do something" about the men on the list. Problem was, there was nothing to do, the list and the tag rubbings were bogus. Yet, to this day, 20 some-odd years after its creation, the list still pops up every now and again, often being sold to a traveler, who in turn tries to turn it over to families, organizations and the government.

One of the main 'selling-points' of lifting the trade embargo against and normalizing relations with the now DRV, was that with freedom to travel and openness, the issue of POWs, MIAs and remains of KIA/BNR would be more accessible. It is arguable that any meaningful improvement has come as a result of the changes in US-VN relations beginning in 1994. Clearly access is better, we have the ability to schedule and execute field exercises to search for loss incident sites and remains. The Archives are still closed. The issue of Live POWs seems moot. In essence the lifting of the embargo and normalizing of relations with the DRV has put us on the course of a giant scavenger hunt, seeking remains, effects and materiels. A worthy one no doubt.. and one that brings solace to those who wait for answers. But it was no magic bullet, nor did it do much to answer the questions of a.) Live POWs; b.) the black hole called Laos; c.) Archival and War Museum materials. And, it seems to have only enhanced the cottage industry that surrounds the issue. Whereas only a handful of individuals were presented with dog teeth, Mongoloid remains, contrived rubbings and phony tags previously, we are at the point where hundreds, perhaps thousands of well-meaning tourists and business people pay good money for the bogus remains, tags and lists.

Have real remains come out? Yes. Have real dog tags been found? Yes. Have real personal effects been recovered? Yes. But for every one legitimate shard, shred or tag, hundreds, perhaps hundreds of hundreds of dubious ones have been sold or traded for future favor. The problem is this - one can never be sure. What IF it is legitimate? The result is that unless it is a tag that is known to be bogus, thus insuring its rapid dismissal with a minimum of effort, energy and economics, all the other things must be tested, compared, researched and recorded in the event it is the real deal. One wonders how much of the valuable resources the US puts up for POW-MIA Accounting efforts, has been squandered by scam artists. mtDNA testing is expensive and time consuming. There must be boxes of bones warehoused that have been X-Ray'd and DNA'd.

ANY information or element that comes out and assists in the ability to account for our Missing is a treasure. What we don't need is the ongoing scam, and what is welcomed, is Vietnam taking an active and aggressive stance against the bogus treasure hunters that have plagued this issue for so long.

June 8th, 2004 :: ITALY - The Vatican has announced that it will release 2 million files from their Secret Archives. The files just happen to be about WW II POWs and missing persons. "The prisoner files date from 1939-1946, covering inquiries from across Europe on the fate of servicemen from the various armies that fought in the war and other missing persons. The Vatican set up offices during World War II to help relatives trace family members."

RAMBLING: Secret Archives IS the official name of the repository. Whereas the Russians and others always use cryptic names for places such as "The House of Special Purpose" for the Ipatiev compound where Tsar Nicholas II, Alexandra and family were executed and the US has the infamous "Area 51" which exists although it doesn't exist, the Vatican sticks to basics and calls it like it is, Secret Archives. And, in keeping with the march of time, this ancient body has embraced the 21st century head-on and even put some of the materials onto the information superhighway. http://www.vatican.va/library_archives/vat_secret_archives/index.htm

Believed by many to be the worlds largest private repositories, the Secret Archives parallel the Vatican Library, also a spectacular trove of documents and materials. Created at the end of the 4th century, its original role was to collect and maintain extent copies of heretical materials, one assumes for posterity's sake. A heresy hunter's heaven is contained within to be sure... Cathars, the Albigensian Crusade, Gnostic writings and the Languedoc purge must be voluminous. However, as time and the Crusade against heretics marched forward, a broad spectrum of materials found their way into the repositories. Let's not forget the Church of Rome WAS not only a spiritual force but a political one as well. The Church of Rome was the secular government that stepped into the vacuum created when the Roman Empire self-destructed, and for a long time the only politically savvy, well-funded entity that could sort out the whole post-Emperor, pagan, Dark Ages, Tribal-Bloodline mess that had become Europe. As it and the world matured, the Western Rite Church was able to amass materials, intelligence, a standing guard, Knights, wealth, property and an organizational structure equivalent to any secular government. In light of this, it is clear they had the means and impetus to collect a spectacular array of materials that would find itself permanently and privately entombed within the small Papal State.

The Vatican has a curious record when we come to World War II in general. Much has been written, much more inferred, none of which have any bearing on the subject at hand... POWs and MIAs. With Italy's Mussolini allying himself with Germany's Hitler, Italy itself became a huge repository of POWs during the war. However, once Italy capitulated, she became an enemy of Germany and POWs and Jews within her borders found themselves in mortal peril. Enter one Irish priest named Hugh O'Flaherty. Ireland-born, Vatican-based O'Flaherty was a young, bespectacled Monsignor who had traveled well, was energetic, athletic and extremely well-connected. Although priests were forbidden to play golf (one of those peculiar anomalies of history that make one shake one's head) O'Flaherty managed to elevate himself to ranking amateur golfer of Italy and became a darling of the aristocratic set. In so doing, he allied a number of influential people with him. A friend to many, admired by all, he was well-known and respected. Monsignor O'Flaherty, himself no lover of anyone native to Britain and an avowed supporter of the early IRA, found himself in a remarkable position.

With Germany's aggression in 1939, Italy watched skeptically from the tenuous safety of an alliance with Hitler. Italy also watched with alarm as the heathen atheistic Soviets waited in the wings. What was worse? A fascist regime or one of atheism? As the war raged, the precipice upon which sat many in power in Italy finally crumbled when Italy withdrew its support of Germany and threw in its lot with the Allies. It was 1942 and suddenly Italy was under siege, Rome was occupied by the Gestapo, and Jews were being rounded up. Allied POWs who had been held in camps had been released when Italy broke with Germany, and loose POWs and German occupational forces converged on Rome at almost the same moment.

And that is where Monsignor O'Flaherty enters the picture. O'Flaherty had early on, in his ministerial work, visited Italian POW Camps in search of men who were listed as Missing. Over time, families came regularly to the Papal State, begging, pleading, praying for news on their missing loved ones. Upon returning from his camp visits, O'Flaherty took to the air waves over Papal Radio and broadcast news of the men, his searches and requests to the families waiting at home. That was public side of O'Flaherty. The private side was another story. When Italy broke with Germany and Rome found itself in a confluence of POWs, Nazis, evading Jews and other displaced people, the fleeing POWs, remembering O'Flaherty from his camp visits, headed straight to the Vatican and the Monsignor. They begged for help and help he did. Mustering every conceivable resource he could he used Papal apartments, monasteries, nunneries, farms, remote villages and barns to hide the evaders. In his comings and goings he became a master of disguise masquerading (successfully) as a nun, a street beggar, laborer, Swiss Guard and, it is rumored, a Nazi. To orchestrate such a proposition, to secure shelter, food, medical assistance and transport to safe harbor, any and every tactic was a legitimate means to an end. For his daring exploits, he was dubbed the Priestly Pimpernel... clearly an homage to the infamous character that was supposed to have spirited so many out of the Hands of the Terror of the French Revolution.

All the while this notorious underground operated, the Gestapo had direct orders to shoot to kill O'Flaherty and even attempted an assassination, at St. Peter's no less, the Vatican was, by all accounts, blissfully unaware of the entire affair. At the time that Rome was liberated, of the 4,000 POWs who had sought Monsignor O'Flaherty's protection, 3,900 of the POWs were still alive. It is believed that thousands of individuals who would have otherwise perished in POW camps, Concentration Camps, ghettos or would have been simply executed, survived as a result of this extraordinary network.

As irony would have it, as the war wound down, Colonel Kappler went to see Monsignor O'Flaherty... he had only one request; would the Priestly Pimpernel help Kappler's wife and children to safely escape the country. Kappler feared that she and children would be killed in retribution for the bestiality of the German troops during its occupation of Rome. It is said that O'Flaherty refused the request, stating that Kappler had sent innumerable families to their deaths and it was the reward of the evil that Kappler and his minions had forced upon Rome. A dejected Kappler left and went into hiding, alone.

After a considerable period, he was arrested by Allied forces. During his first interrogation, he was confronted by the news that his family had been spirited out of Italy and was safely living in Switzerland. It would appear the Priestly Pimpernel had performed his last miracle.

After the war, when the War Crimes trials ended, Colonel Herbert Kappler, Chief of SS for Rome, the very same man who ordered O'Flaherty to be shot on sight, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, in Italy. While in confinement, his only visitor was Monsignor O'Flaherty, who became a good friend and eventually baptized Kappler into the Roman Catholic faith. O'Flaherty passed away in 1963, aged 65. For his service and sacrifice he was awarded the highest honors any nation could give, to include, the US Medal of Freedom with Silver Palm and the UK's Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). In addition, Israel's Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Authority conferred the title, "Righteous Among Nations", the Papal State honored him as "Notary of the Holy Office" and a lifetime pension, which he refused, preferring to live out his days quietly, in prayer and service.

07 JUN 04 :: USA - H. Con. Res 431 The House has presented legislation "Urging the Government of Vietnam to provide to the United States all information in the possession of Vietnam regarding Americans unaccounted for from the Vietnam War, and for other purposes. " One item in particular is noteworthy... humanitarian underwater recovery missions.

RECOLLECTION: The most interesting aspect is the underwater recovery stipulation in the Resolution of 19 MAY 04. Why? Because we did this already to some extent. Does no one remember the SEASAL program? It would be interesting to see where the records are and who, if anyone, remembers the effort and to what extent families were advised of the findings. During the war there was the JPRC (Joint Personnel Recovery Center), which was actively engaged in attempting to rescue POWs. They had amassed substantial records and intel during their efforts. Immediately after the Paris Peace Accords were agreed to a creation known as the FPJMT or Four-Party Joint Military Team came into being. Concurrent with the FPJMT was the JCRC or Joint Casualty Resolution Center of 23 JAN 73. The JCRC was the on-the-ground search and excavation unit that was tasked with accounting for missing personnel. The JCRC was the beneficiary of the JPRCs massive collection of information from the war... they could hit the ground running. The US understanding of the Accords was so narrow and the mission so perilous that JCRC was HQ'd in Thailand, along with CIL's move from Saigon to Camp Samae San, also in Thailand. The FPJMT was to coordinate and negotiate access to areas where remains, graves, aircraft and other vehicles or craft had been lost. Unfortunately the then DRV and PRG were too busy working to destabilize the fragile borders and agreements with the South to allow much investigation, excavation and recovery of remains. Their continuous encroachments, aggression and incalcitrance made any hope of substantial accounting dangerous and drawn-out. With this in mind we come to SEASAL... presumably an acronym for Sea Salvage. By the end of the war, approximately 1/5 of all Missing personnel were carried as OW or Over Water losses... 470 total, with 449 off the coast of Vietnam. Considering the sobering number of OW losses (crashes, ditches, drowning) JCRC was ordered to determine the recoverability of remains. Under JCRC direction, the Navy Supervisor of Salvage was tasked with developing and implementing an off-shore search and recovery mission. That is the genesis of SEASAL, which went into action 10 JUL 73.

Based on loss coordinates, the coastal area between Hue and Da Nang was selected and the latest undersea technology brought in... side scan sonar suspended from a barge. The technology was precise and the barge afforded divers a point of departure to investigate wreckage when it was located. In 35 days 48 square miles of coastal undersea had been carefully and sytematically searched with numerous wrecks being located. The mission lasted a total of 82 days when it was suspended on 29 SEP 73. Was it successful? It would depend on who one asks. From the standpoint of locating wrecks, it was successful... in less than 3 months at a cost of less than US $1 million, a considerable area on the coastline had been searched and a considerable number of wrecks located and searched. From the standpoint of remains recovery it was a disaster. As early as 1973, the combination of a high-speed crash, breached cockpits, time and saltwater, assured no recoverable, identifiable remains. A few bone fragments were recovered, but that is all. Reports stated that the trauma of high-speed entry into the water was as bad, if not worse, as crashing into the ground. If the possibility of remains recovery from 1973 was deemed impossible, the passage of 31 additional years makes it even more dismal a prospect. The 'Zero Based Review' report makes reference to 366 OW cases that were believed to not be recoverable. Is this based on the SEASAL data, or some other information? 96 cases remain that "merit further investigation." Presumably these are some of the cases that would be on the priority list if a coastal investigation were permitted by the SRV. With the advent of such spectacular technological advances in underwater mapping, plotting a course along the coast of Vietnam would be a considerable step forward in accounting for craft either known or suspected to have been lost offshore. If someone could find the Titanic, in the Atlantic at a depth of 2 1/2 miles, then sailing down the coast of Vietnam should be a cake walk at this juncture. No one had any idea where the Titanic was actually, we know where the missing overwater losses are... off the coast of Vietnam. We should demand that the White House stop rubber stamping the SRV's certifications until they are more compliant. We should also ask if anyone knows where the SEASAL records are, to what extent were families notified, and are they the findings used in the determinations of the Zero Based Review.

05 JUN 04 :: USA - Former President Ronald Wilson Reagan passed into immortality this afternoon. Reagan, 93, died as the result of pneumonia after a decade-long struggle with Alzheimers. The 40th President, he served two terms as Commander-in-Chief, 1981 - 1989.

RECOLLECTION: An era has passed along with President Reagan. For those of us who grew up into and with Vietnam, but never past it, Reagan was a healer and communicator who heard the anguish of a generation thrown away by the neverending war and the national schism that resulted. A staunch advocate for POWs, MIAs, their families, the military and America, Reagan's Administration was the first, and only, pro-active Administration on the issue of Prisoners of War and Missing in Action. In 1981, Reagan signed the first National POW-MIA Day Proclamation, beginning a long tradition of officially honoring our Nations' unaccounted-for personnel. In 1984, he presided over the internment of the Vietnam Unknown at Arlington National Cemetery. Acting as Next of Kin for the Unknown (later identified as United States Air Force First Lieutenant Michael Joseph Blassie and disinterred) he accepted the flag from the casket and bestowed upon the Unknown the Medal of Honor. Also in 1984, Reagan, acting on behalf of the American people, accepted the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (The Wall) at its dedication, Veteran's Day, November 11th, 1984. In 1987, he appointed former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, General John Vessey, as his special emissary to Vietnam in the ongoing search for answers and closure. Much happened in those years... even if not enough questions were answered or cases resolved. For the first time in a long time, someone gave us hope.

For the first time in a long time it was evident someone was not only hearing, but listening. It was the time of LIVE POWs as a battle cry... When Vietnam was on the enemies list and any travel was an illegal cross-border foray. The war was less than a decade past and there were live sightings, rescue attempts, envoys, documentaries, Presidential Proclamations and covert ops. The POW-MIA issue was one of action and activity in the 1980's. After the near catatonic dormancy of Ford and Carter, with the rapid PFODs and a total dismissal of the families, the Presidency of Reagan, regardless of one's political persuasion and other issues, was a breath of fresh air with respect to the POW-MIA issue. Reagan was so high profile in the issue that he was even sued by former POW, Major Mark Smith in 1988. Reagan and a host of others (most of whom were in government service during the war) were named in the filing which reads in part "...of violating Title 22 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice for "failing to demand of the governments of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos the reasons why members of the plaintiffs' class are being unjustly deprived of their liberty, failing to determine whether such deprivation of liberty is wrongful and in violation of the rights of American citizens, and failing to demand the release of such members of the plaintiffs' class." " Twenty years have passed since those days of constant motion, news and yet another account of Ramboesque operations. We are older, not necessarily wiser, and are witnesses to the end of an era with the passing of a man who was not perfect, but was one of the best friends our POWs, MIAs, their families, friends and vets ever had.

As Reagan said when he honored the Vietnam Unknown two decades ago, our thoughts are the same,

"Thank you, dear son. May God cradle you in His loving arms."

04 JUN 04 :: IRAQ - Maupin's family is waiting, Bell's family is waiting, Bradley's family is waiting... NBC crew goes missing, is detained and released during a self-imposed media blackout... RANT: When it serves the media's purpose, they overwhelm the airwaves with images and inuendo... when it serves their purposes to remain silent, they are deaf, dumb and blind. Coverage of US POWs has been historically disappointing to say the least. Those who dare say POWs (from any war) are generally dismissed as demented, disillusioned and/or disenfranchised and dismissed in short order. Speicher is a perfect example... NO ONE, said anything about this man for nearly a decade. He was a casualty from a distant, remote-controlled war that began, ran and ended in a a matter of days. He's gone, get over it was the attitude. It's old news, he crashed and died, was the mantra. It's not like there are hundreds missing, he's only one guy we have been told. Yet, when it was expedient, Speicher's sad story was trotted out and he became the flavor of the month in the build-up to war. Now that there are more exploitable images and anecdotes to be told, Speicher is relegated to the same inconsequential corner of history he has been occupying for 13 years. No one, at least publicly, was aware that Berg was among the missing. Yet, he turned up on videotape, streaming across the internet, in what can only be described as a public execution by hacking. That Maupin was filmed in captivity is of benefit to those that love and wait for him, but may be of little consequence to the world at large. Ron Dodge was filmed in captivity... yet he did not come home. He was the subject of many tense discussions during the Paris Peace Accords process... yet he did not come home. Well, he did... but years after he SHOULD have and in a box rather than walking off a plane. The media and public are continually distracted by whatever crisis of the moment captures and captivates them... and in so doing, the crisis of yesterday, be it Speicher, Maupin and any other unnamed, unidentified souls who are out there somewhere, will be forgotten until it is either politicially or commercially expedient to exploit them, again.

03 JUN 04 :: DPMO - is getting a new face... LTC Doug Orr, professor of military science at Ohio U, is coming aboard. A strategic intelligence specialist, and formerly based in Hawai'i, Orr will assist on North Korea cases. Orr will not travel with teams to North Korea, but will be doing research and contacting families when the Army has new information on POW-MIA personnel from the Korean War.

REASONING: It appears there is considerable rearrangement of the furniture over at DPMO and JPAC. With new folks being brought into the fold it stands to reason that DPMO/JPAC are either expanding or bringing in fresh troops to replace some who will be rotating out and reinventing the office while refining the direction of their mission. DPMO just wrapped a day of commentary by heads of family and veteran organizations during 18-20 MAY 04, the input and observations solicited in how DPMO may better address concerns and questions of family members, veterans and their respective organizations. The possibility of adding a family member to the roster of members on the interagency committee was brought up during the commentary period. Dèjá vu... Many years ago there was something called the IAG or InterAgency Group. Established after hostilities ended in SEA, the group was comprised of heads of various serviant government agencies... the State Department chaired, all agencies were members, the Department of Defense was the Executive Agent, the civilian/family representative on the IAG was the National League of Families. The NSC was responsible for active oversight and reporting to the President. The IAG was, for lack of a better term, a think-tank on the issue of POWs and MIAs. The IAG afforded each agency and military branch an opportunity to express their viewpoint, to hear others, to understand the policy stance of the issue as it emanated from the White House, and to funnel back to the President a consensus on the issue in general and cases and events in particular. The IAG was an intensely political construct in that the White House was provided with feedback on the political, military, financial, diplomatic and social ramifications of any given situation within the POW-MIA issue.

RECOLLECTION: During the tenure of the IAG there was only one family organization, the National League of Families of POWs and MIAs in SEA. There was, for all intensive purposes, one issue, POWs and MIAs unaccounted-for from the Second IndoChina War (Korea was the Forgotten War, Cold War the Unacknowledged War.) Today, there four family organizations- The League, the National Alliance of Families, Korea-Cold War Families of the Missing and the Coalition of Families of Korean & Cold War POW/MIAs, with many wars and many missing personnel to consider. It is unreasonable to assume one family member would be selected to represent the interests of 4 disparate groups. It is also unreasonable to assume 4 family members would be invited into the interagency committee. Perhaps a rotation will be considered, with the seat occupied by one of the four at any given time. Whatever the incarnation, family member input is a a critical asset and important conduit in an ongoing path to resolution.