News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

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

Re: Vietnamese Commandos Under Fire Again

Date: December 11, 1998

After years of suffering inhumane conditions of captivity and battling to stay alive, after years of battling Congress for compensation, the Vietnamese Commandos are facing another battle.

Congress eventually shelled out $20 million US dollars to the men, roughly $40 thousand to each man or his survivors for a 20-odd year imprisonment... and now Army reserachers and historians are claiming that the men never worked for the US. Basing their conclusions on their belief that the Commandos were technically working for the South Vietnamese during the war, it has been recommended that their applications for veteran status and health benefits be denied. The Army review board will receive a 40 page summary of the case.

Under US military command , the men infiltrated North Vietnam during the war, were captured and then summarily declared dead by US government officials. The mission was covert, yet the North Vietnamese had been made aware of their mission. Now in poor health as a result of their years of confinement and advancing age, the men seek veteran status so that they may be treated for their failing health.