News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Bob Necci & Carol Hrdlicka, Andi Wolos
(POW-MIA FaxNetwork)

Re: Commandos Abandoned

Date: July 6, 1997

Whose Side Are These Guys On Department: 280 former Vietnamese Commandos, who served the US during its longest war, are once again being abandoned by the DOD.

Left behind in North Vietnamese prison camps at the formal end of hostilities, the men endured years of captivity and punishment - some in excess of 21 years - for their support of the US.

Recently Congress, supported surprisingly by the Whitewash House, determined that each surviving man should be compensated and voted unanimously to do so. The compensation was estimated to be roughly $40,000 each. However, the DOD jumped into the fray and has decided not to pay as the language in the Congressional Bill is 'unclear.'

In addition, the DOD is actively fighting a suit brought by the commandos. The suit requests back pay for the time spent in captivity. DOD requested that the suit be vacated as they claim the commandos have no standing to use the courts for redress. And, DOD has failed to meet a deadline (so what else is new) for structuring a payment schedule. In the interim the commandos are dying off... chronic health issues and disabilites from captivity have wreaked havoc on them.

Another group of men, abandoned by the US. When will it ever end.