News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci
(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: NLF Update - November

Date: December 16, 1998

National League of Families
UPDATE LINE: November 16, 1998

Thank you for calling the National League of Families Update Line. This message is being recorded on Monday, November 16th. The number of Americans missing from the Vietnam War is 2,078.

On October 30th, the Defense Department advised that one American previously missing in North Vietnam is now accounted for. The name of the Air Force officer, missing since October 6, 1972, was withheld at the request of his family. To them, the League extends understanding and support in the knowledge that final answers have been achieved. The accounting for this American brings the number still missing to 2,078.

On Veterans Day, November 11th, the WASHINGTON POST carried an article stating that Russian officials "turned over 5,000 pages of documents and some film footage pertaining to US aircraft shot down by Soviet fighter planes during the Korean War." Senator Bob Smith, member of the US-Russian Joint Commission on POW/MIA Affairs called release of the documents a "dramatic breakthrough" and indicated that the information should help determine what happened to some of the over 8,000 Americans still unaccounted for from the Korean War.

The League welcomes this latest release of information, though long-overdue, and offers appreciation to Ambassador Malcolm Toon and Senator Smith for their continuing determination to account for missing Americans. Hopefully, Russian officials will soon provide the document cited by the former Russian Chairman of the Commission as evidence that the former Soviet Union had specific plans to transport US POWs from the Vietnam War to exploit for intelligence.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/MIA Affairs Bob Jones recently concluded a five-day visit to Vietnam as head of an official delegation. In a statement published November 4th by Associated Press in Hanoi, Jones is reported as stating, "We are very happy with the results we have achieved," noting that the POW/MIA issue is "very close to the hearts of the American people." During the visit, the Jones delegation met for talks with relevant Vietnamese Vice Ministers. The delegation included the JTF-FA commander and the new commander of DIA's Stony Beach POW/MIA Office in Bangkok. On November 5th, a repatriation ceremony was held, and remains that may be those of 3 Americans were turned over to US officials.

The League rejects the notion that we in the US are happy with results thus far achieved. While Vietnam's cooperation in support of joint field activities is appreciated, unilateral actions to locate and return remains and provide relevant documents are needed to help account for missing Americans. So long as remains and records are being withheld, the fullest possible accounting cannot be achieved.

US-Vietnam technical talks on POW/MIA took place on Monday, October 26th just prior to arrival of the Jones delegation. JTF Commander BG Terry Tucker provided the Vietnamese with a statistical summary of activities over the past ten years. The following day, talks focused on operations planned for the joint field activities which began November 5th and will continue for about 30 days. According to a JTF-FA release, 52 cases involving aircraft and ground losses are scheduled for investigation and as many as 10 sites may be excavated.

US-Lao joint field operations concluded just prior to the start of activities in Vietnam. The US-Lao teams succeeded in recovering remains at 2 of 3 excavation sites and are hopeful that remains will be found at the 3rd site where numerous items of crew-related equipment and aircraft wreckage were recovered. A follow-up excavation of this site will occur during the next joint field operation that begins in mid-January.

On November 10th, remains that could be those of 9 American servicemen missing since the Korean War were turned over at Panmunjom. The remains were recovered by a joint US-North Korean team about 100 miles north of Pyongyang, North Korea, during operations that continued over a 24-day period. This was the 5th US-North Korea joint operation during 1998 and the 9th since such recoveries began in 1996. This effort was the most productive to date in terms of the number of remains recovered, but the North Korean government has warned US officials that such humanitarian cooperation depends on the US attitude, citing continued US military exercises with south Korea as an example of poor attitude.

Due to limited staff and funding, it is not possible to send large amounts of public awareness material. Instead, single copies of current information are available for duplication. POW/MIA window decals are available for $20 per 100. There is current, factual information available on the League's web site at pow-miafamilies.org. For information regarding any matter in this recording, call the League office at 202/223-6846. If no one can take your call, please leave a message with the subject, your name, address, and telephone number. Again, thank you for calling.