| News-Info-Alerts |
To: ALL
From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci
(POW-MIA InterNetwork)
Re:NAF Bits 'N' Pieces
Date: January 15, 2001
National Alliance of Families For The Return of America's Missing Servicemen
World War II - Korea - Cold War - Vietnam - Gulf War
FLASH - Navy Changes Status of Gulf War Pilot from "Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered" to "Missing In Action"
"What we need to do now is get answers from Baghdad. This pilot, if he's alive, has been there for 10 years, with nobody looking for him. That's just plain outrageous..." Senator Bob Smith, R-NH
In a tersely worded Press Release, the Department of Defense announced that Navy Secretary Richard Danzig has changed the status of Lt. Cmdr. Michael Scott Speicher, from Killed in Action to Missing In Action.
Issued on January 11th, 2001, the Press Release reads: "Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig has changed the status of Cmdr. Michael Scott Speicher from Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered (KIA/BNR) to Missing in Action (MIA). Speicher's F/A_18 aircraft was shot down by enemy fire in the first day of the air war over Iraq on Jan. 17, 1991. He was placed in an MIA status the next day. On May 22, 1991, following a Secretary of the Navy status review board that found "no credible evidence" to suggest he had survived the shootdown, his status was changed to KIA/BNR."
"In December 1995, working through the International Committee of the Red Cross, investigators from the Navy and Army's Central Identification Laboratory entered Iraq and conducted a thorough excavation of the crash site. In September 1996, based on a comprehensive review of evidence accumulated since the initial KIA/BNR determination, the Secretary of the Navy reaffirmed the presumptive finding of death."
"Over the years since that determination was made, the Navy and the U.S. government have consistently sought new information and continued to analyze all available information to resolve Speicher's fate. This additional information and analysis, when added to the information considered in 1996, underscored the need for a new review. Based on the review, Danzig has concluded that Speicher's status should be "Missing in Action."
How Important Is The Reclassification of Lt. Cmdr. Speicher To The POW Issue - This is probably the most extraordinary event within the POW/MIA issue, in the last 15 - 20 years. To understand this, one must realize that in the eyes of the Defense Department and its POW/MIA Office (DPMO) there are no POW/MIAs. Servicemen who did not come home from World War II, Korea, the Cold War and Vietnam have all been declared dead and designated Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered (KIA/BNR). Just as Cmdr. Speicher was declared KIA/BNR.
This is the first time, to our knowledge, that a Service Secretary as changed a status from KIA/BNR to MIA. (Some will remember that the status of Korean War POW Roger Dumas was changed back to POW. However, that change was made, as a result of a lawsuit filed in Federal court. Even today some within DPMO still do not recognize that change.) We can only imagine the debate surrounding this extraordinary (we keep coming back to that word because it is the only word that applies) decision.
In changing Cmdr. Speicher's status, the military has set a precedent and shown status changes can be made. Not only has his status changed. According to CNN - the status change means a restoration of salary, including back payments. This further illustrates the highly unusual circumstances of this status change. However, as most POW/MIA families would agree, the most important aspect of this is the reversal of the KIA/BNR status and the designation of Missing in Action. This is not about money... it's about THE TRUTH.
What will happen if Iraq fails to truthfully account for Cmdr. Speicher? Will all the evidence that now makes him an MIA be, once again, disregarded and his status be changed back to KIA/BNR based solely on the passage of time. Our POW/MIAs from Korea, Cold War, and Vietnam have had their status changed, from POW and MIA to KIA/BNR without proof of death, based on nothing more that the passage of time, in spite of evidence of survival, and capture.
It is important we look at what is publicly known about the events subsequent to January 17, 1991. We know that the crash site and wreckage was located, something that would have happened almost immediately had a Search and Rescue operation been initiated. We know that the canopy was found some distance away, indicating an ejection. We know that a man-made symbol possibly an Escape and Evade, was picked up by overhead satellite photography. We know a flight suit was found near the site, in relatively good condition. We know that no remains were found at the site. We know that there were at least two live sighting reports.
Last year, CBS 60 Minutes II reported: "American investigators say an Iraqi defector who had recently escaped to Jordan told them that in the first days of the war, he had driven an American pilot from the desert to Baghdad and the authorities. The pilot, he says, was alive, alert, and wearing a flight suit. The defector pointed Speicher out in a photo lineup, and passed two lie detector tests."
Today (Jan. 13th) the Associated Press reported: "U.S. intelligence agencies have received unverified reports over several years that an American believed to be Lt. Cmdr. Michael S. Speicher, the Navy pilot initially presumed to have died in a shootdown over Iraq in 1991, was seen alive as a prisoner after the war, according to U.S. officials familiar with details of his case...."
Bob Burns of the Associated Press reported: "A U.S. Navy pilot initially presumed to have died in a shootdown over Iraq during the Persian Gulf War in 1991 was seen alive in Iraqi custody afterward, according to unconfirmed reports reaching intelligence officials in recent years. The officials, speaking Friday on condition of anonymity, stressed that they knew of no evidence that Lt. Cmdr. Michael S. Speicher was still alive, although President Clinton said "we're going to do our best to find out if he is alive and, if he is, to get him out.''
"Clinton said he did not want to raise false hope. "We do not have hard evidence that he is alive,'' the president said...."
"....The U.S. officials said more than one informant had reported to U.S. intelligence agencies that an American thought to be Speicher was being held prisoner in Iraq after the war ended in March 1991. The reports were received over a period of several years but the sightings were in 1991 and 1992, the officials said. The veracity of the reports is uncertain, but they are credible enough to lead American government officials to think Speicher probably survived the Jan. 16, 1991, crash...."
"Clinton commented on the Speicher case Thursday, after the Navy announced that Navy Secretary Richard Danzig changed the Navy pilot's status from "killed in action'' to "missing in action,'' based on unspecified "additional information and analysis.'' "We have some information that leads us to believe that he might be alive and we hope and pray he is,'' Clinton said in an interview with CBS. "But we have already begun working to try to determine whether, in fact, he's alive; if he is, where he is and how we can get him out and we're going to do everything we can to get him out.''
"...The U.S. intelligence informants whose sightings correlate with Speicher did not refer to him by name, the officials said. They described an American, and in more than one case referred to an American military pilot or U.S. Navy pilot. Other aspects of the physical descriptions seemed to fit Speicher, the officials said...."
In an story, dated January 13th, Reuters reports: "Iraq on Saturday dismissed as a "lie" fresh U.S. claims that a fighter pilot shot down over Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War might still alive. "It is a new and cheap American lie," an Iraqi Ministry of Culture and Information spokesman said. "When the Iraqi Foreign Ministry reveals documents related to the subject, this lie will be an American scandal," the spokesman said in a statement carried by the official Iraqi News Agency." However, the spokesman did not say when documents on the pilot would be made public...."
If Iraq Makes These Documents Public - Will DOD and the POW/MIA Office believe them? After setting this extraordinary precedent will they then settle for Iraq's word, without hard proof, regarding the fate of Cmdr. Speicher? We hope not! No nations word should be accepted as proof of the death of an American Serviceman.
The Evidence - Known to have survived his incident, live sighting reports, no concrete evidence of death, yet hostile forces claim death. Oops, are we describing the Speicher incident or any one of the scores of losses from Korea, the Cold War and Vietnam?
Known To Have Survived His Incident - Speicher, Dumas, Deseutels, Shelton, Hrdlicka, McLean, McDonnell and scores of others from Korea, the Cold War and Vietnam.
Live Sighting Reports - Speicher, Dumas, Deseutels, Shelton, Hrdlicka, McLean, McDonnell and scores of others from Korea, the Cold War and Vietnam.
Designated POW - Dumas, Deseutels, Shelton, Hrdlicka, McLean and scores of others from Korea, the Cold War and Vietnam.
No Concrete Evidence Of Death, Yet Hostile Forces Claim Death - Speicher, Dumas, Deseutels, Shelton, Hrdlicka, McLean, McDonnell and scores of others from Korea, the Cold War and Vietnam.
The Difference - Michael Scott Speicher now has the legal protection the status of Missing in Action offers. While Dumas, Deseutels, Shelton, Hrdlicka, McLean, McDonnell and scores of others from Korea, the Cold War and Vietnam remain designated KIA/BNR without proof of death.
Periodically, over the past 10 years we have made inquiries with Iraq regarding the fate of Cmdr. Speicher, KIA/BNR. On January 11th, The New York Times reported "... defense officials said they had no information that Commander Speicher was still alive, and were merely using the new M.I.A. declaration to press Iraq for a full accounting of the pilot's whereabouts...." CNN reported on an unnamed official stating "... information provided by Iraq in the past had turned out to be wrong and said the classification was part of a renewed push to get Iraq to be more forthcoming...." These statements indicate the status change provides more leverage in dealing with Iraq.
It is always wise to work from a position of strength. Perhaps this is why we have made so little progress with the Vietnamese, Lao, North Koreans, Chinese and Russians. While we seek answers on our Gulf War MIA "using the new M.I.A. declaration to press Iraq for a full accounting of the pilot's whereabouts...." We can only ask Vietnam, Laos, North Korea, China and Russia about servicemen Killed in Action / Body Not Recovered. Men like Dumas, Deseutels, Shelton, Hrdlicka, McLean, McDonnell and scores of others from Korea, the Cold War and Vietnam, were declared dead in spite of the evidence and without proof of death.
Over the years, the United States government has consistently and without proof accepted the word of the government of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, North Korea, China and the former Soviet Union, as to the deaths of American Servicemen. Quite simply their word isn't good enough! Nor, is Iraq's!
Sound Bites - From The Associated Press January 11th, 2001- By Robert Burns - (AP) __"Pentagon officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said Danzig acted because of substantial evidence that Speicher may not have died in the crash. The officials added, however, that the evidence does not suggest that Speicher is still alive. Iraq has never accounted for him...."
"...Upon announcing the loss of Speicher that night, Dick Cheney, defense secretary at the time, told a news conference he was dead...."
"Smith and Grams (Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) and former Senator Rod Grams (MN) have said before that Pentagon officials initially told them evidence had not been found to indicate that Speicher could have survived the crash. However, in May 1994 __ more than three years after Speicher went missing __ Pentagon officials indicated in a secret memorandum that a U.S. spy satellite had photographed a "manmade symbol'' at the crash site earlier that year. Some military officers said they interpreted the symbol as a sign that the Navy pilot might have survived the crash."
From CNN - "... A U.S. official familiar with the case said the United States has evidence that Speicher ejected from his aircraft and survived the ejection. "Beyond that, the evidence is circumstantial. We can't rule out that he was, at least at one time, alive in Iraq," the official said. The official said the administration has been pressing Iraqi officials for information for some time and "they are clearly concealing information. We don't have anything to say he is alive. But we can't say he is dead."
From CBS News - "...Speicher was listed as a combat death until Wednesday, when the Navy took the extraordinary step of changing his status from "killed in action, body not recovered" to "missing in action."
" The next day President Clinton told CBS Radio News that the U.S. government has information that "leads us to believe" that Speicher "might be alive." "We have some information that leads us to believe that he might be alive and we hope and pray that he is," the president told CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller. "We've already begun working to determine whether, in fact, he's alive and if he is where he is and how we can get him out d we're going to do everything we can to get him out."
"The answer lies in Baghdad," Sen. Bob Smith, R_N.H., who has spearheaded a campaign to find the truth behind Speicher's disappearance, said Friday on CBS The Early Show. "What we need to do now is get answers from Baghdad. This pilot, if he's alive, has been there for 10 years, with nobody looking for him. That's just plain outrageous...."
Congratulations to - Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) and former Senator Rod Grams (sadly he was defeated in the last election) who fought, for over 5 years, for this status change. We know Senator Smith has endured harsh criticism for his stance on the POW/MIA issue. Yet, he has stood firm. Leading the charge or quietly working behind the scenes, he and his staff have always been there for us. This is but another example of Senator Smith's commitment to our missing servicemen.
Barry Hull, who was on the same mission as Michael Speicher said, on CBS News:
"My gut tells me he is probably dead, but there is no evidence that he's dead. We owe it to him to find out what happened to him."
We own it to all of them - World War II - Korea - Cold War - Vietnam and the Gulf.
National Intelligence Estimate and the Critical Assessment Finally Declassified - Although highly redacted the "National Intelligence Estimate, on Vietnamese Intentions, Capabilities, and Performance Concerning the POW/MIA Issue," prepared in April 1998, is the perfect example of the continuing sloppiness and disregard of facts that is the hallmark of the government handling of the POW/MIA issue.
The "Critical Assessment of the 1998 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Vietnamese Intentions, Capabilities, and Performance Concerning the POW/MIA Issue," prepared by the office of Senator Bob Smith, in November 1998, also highly redacted, is a detailed, factual, point by point rebuttal of the government's effort to perpetuate the myth of Vietnamese full cooperation on the POW/MIA issue and discredit both the "1205" and "735" documents.
In preparing the NIE, the intelligence officer responsible could not get even the most simple and public of facts correct. To illustrate Vietnamese cooperation, the NIE points to the case of Navy Lt. Daniel Borah stating, in part,: "...In September 1995, the "Office of Seeking Missing Persons" (VNOSMP reported that it had located a veteran of an antiaircraft battery whose members had found a dead American pilot named "Borah" and had buried the body. The VNOSMP located a witness to the burial ad then provided this information (though not the witness) to US investigators in January 1996. In March, a joint US-Vietnamese team excavated the site and recovered a complete set of remains. The remains were subsequently identified as those of Lt. Daniel Borah."
Where do we start - In early 1996, rumors began to circulate that remains had been recovered in Quang Tri Province, of a pilot in a full flight suit. Soon after the Borah family was notified that Joint Task Force Full Accounting had, indeed, recovered remains in a full flight suit, they believed to be Dan Borah.
According to the Vietnamese witness, Mr. Toan, who led JTF_FA investigators to the burial site, the pilot was found dead, in his parachute. He was buried nearby and all identification media was removed. According to Mr. Toan, Daniel Borah was buried, in his flight suit, on September 24th, 1972.
It would be 24 years, before Mr. Toan led JTF_FA investigators back to the alleged burial site. During the 40th Joint Field Activity, (March 23rd _ 31st, 1996) the grave site was excavated. Just as Mr. Toan stated, investigators found remains in a full flight suit. They also reported that the site had been disturbed recently. The remains consisted of three long bones, and various chips, shards and nineteen teeth. Due to their poor condition, none of the bones could be used for anthropological analysis.
The Central Identification Laboratory _ Hawaii, (CIL_HI) determined that the nineteen teeth matched the records of Daniel Borah. Based on this dental "match" CIL_HI recommended the identification of the remains found, as those of Daniel Borah. CIL_HI ignored the fact that the dental match was successful only if the teeth were moved to the other side of the mouth.
Now, the rest of the story! - The Vietnamese planned to end the Borah case a full 19 months prior to the actual excavation. In November 1994, the head of the Defense POW/MIA Office, James Wold visited Vietnam. During his meeting with Mr. Cong, of the Vietnam Office Seeking Missing Persons (VNOSMP), Mr. Wold was told information on 5 cases would be provided by the end of the year. One of those cases was Daniel V. Borah.
Eight months after that promise, on August 14, 1995, Mr. Toan appeared. ready to led U.S. investigators to the purported burial site.
The Discrepancies - At the time of the shoot down, U.S. planes picked up several short bursted "manual beeper transmissions." Dan Borah was not dead in his parachute.
Borah's last radio transmission came from the ground. His last words to American forces.... "Gomer, all around..."
What happened to Dan Borah after that, we can't say. We can say without a doubt that the full flight suit purported to hold the remains of Dan Borah did not rest in the acidic Vietnamese soil for 24 years.
The grave site was salted. Our proof is the full flight suit. While little is left of the bones, the flight suit is in near perfect condition. In the words of Kathy Borah Duez, sister of Dan Borah, "you could put that flight suit on and wear it on the street. The pants would barely fit me. They are too small to be Dan's. Dan tended to gain weight and we joked about him fitting into the cockpit. These pants would never fit him."
Kathy confirmed that all unit designations, patches, and the American flag had been carefully cut from the flight suit. Just as there is no evidence to prove the bone shards are Dan Borah's, there is not evidence to prove the flight suit, is Dan's.
The acidic soil of Vietnam, which destroys bones, should have left nothing of the flight suit, except perhaps the zippers. Instead, after 24 years in this highly acidic soil, this flight suit looks no worse than if it had been attacked by angry moths, in the back of a closet. View the photos. You Decide! To view the photos visit our website at www.nationalalliance.org/borah01.htm
You will be reading more about the NIE and the Critical Assessment in future editions of "Bits." Eventually, the full text of both documents it will be posted on our website.
Once Again Thanks To - Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) who has fought tirelessly for the declassification and release of both the NIE and his Critical Assessment. As we said earlier, leading the charge or quietly working behind the scenes, he and his staff have always been there for us. We'd hate to think where we would be without him and his dedicated staff.
Why Does Johnnie Webb Still Have A Job????
We Are Not the Only One With A POW/MIA Problem -
Sweden Says Wallenberg May Be Alive - January 12, 2001 by Peter Starck - STOCKHOLM (Reuters) _ "Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat spirited away by the Red Army in 1945 after saving thousands of Jews from the Nazis, may still be alive, Sweden said on Friday."
"After the release of the results of 10 years of Swedish_ Russian investigations, Prime Minister Goran Persson said there was no clear evidence Wallenberg was dead, and his government would try harder to find out what had happened to him."
"His remarks came on the same day that a top Kremlin adviser said Wallenberg was killed in 1947 in a vicious turf war between rival branches of the Soviet secret service. Wallenberg, a member of a side branch of the powerful Swedish business dynasty, saved the lives of tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews in World War Two by issuing them with Swedish passports from the Swedish embassy in Budapest. He disappeared after being seized by Soviet Red Army troops in the city in January 1945."
"The Soviet and Russian authorities, most recently last December, have asserted that Wallenberg died in Moscow's notorious Lubyanka prison in July 1947. But there have been persistent reports that he was alive in a Soviet gulag or psychiatric hospital, perhaps as late as 1989. If he were still alive, he would be 87."
"Independent consultants, who assisted the Swedish-Russian working group, presented a separate report saying that eyewitness reports indicated Wallenberg had been alive at least until 1970 and perhaps into the 1980s. However Alexander Yakovlev, a top Kremlin adviser who heads a presidential probe into Soviet repression, said in Moscow on Friday that Wallenberg was shot in 1947 by agents of the future KGB, who then tried to hide the crime from their masters. He said Wallenberg may have been arrested by Soviet troops because they wanted to tap his connections in German and U.S. intelligence which he used to save Jews from the Holocaust..."
"...The Swedish members of the government level working group, presenting their conclusions, said no evidence had been found that Wallenberg died in July 1947. "Even though all the versions from Russian sources largely assume that Raoul Wallenberg had died at that point, the working group has not uncovered any evidence to confirm a definite conclusion to this effect," they said."
"But a separate summary presented by the Russian half of the working group stuck to the view that he was long dead: "All the circumstantial evidence confirms that Raoul Wallenberg died, or most likely was killed, on July 17, 1947." It said Wallenberg had been executed on a charge of spying for Germany and that most documents relating to the matter had then been destroyed. It added that the Soviet governments of the time were responsible for his death and the Russian investigators now considered the matter closed."
"Persson said in a statement his government would continue to try and find out what had happened to Wallenberg, based on the assumption that he may have been alive after 1947. "As long as there is no unequivocal evidence of what happened to Wallenberg and this is still the case - it cannot be said that Raoul Wallenberg is dead," he said."
"Extolling Wallenberg's humanitarian work, he also apologized for Sweden's failure to do more to save its hero. Friday's report said the Swedish government of the time had failed to respond to Soviet advances seeking the extradition of Soviet citizens, which could have led to Wallenberg's release. The independent consultants said the Soviet Union had approached Stockholm on several occasions after 1947, trying to exchange Wallenberg. In 1957, Moscow hinted at a trade_off involving "a man of a prominent, a very important family," said researcher Susanne Berger, one of the consultants."
"Persson said the main responsibility for Wallenberg rested with the Soviet government, which had ordered and carried out his disappearance from Hungary. "Nonetheless it is now clear that more energetic and purposeful action on the part of Sweden during the 1940s could have led to a more successful outcome for Raoul Wallenberg and his relatives," he said."
Sweden Disregarded Invite To Exchange Wallenberg? - JAN 3, 2001, M2 Communications "A Swedish and Russian expert group that has been investigating the case of the disappeared Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg has found that there were invites from the Soviet Union to exchange Wallenberg for Russians in Sweden...."
"...The Swedish foreign ministry however disregarded the Soviet proposal and said that Wallenberg was probably already dead, according to Svenska Dagbladet, a Swedish daily newspaper. The expert group will release a Swedish and a Russian report on 12 January."
Our Question - Did DOD Learn Their POW/MIA Policy From Sweden Or Did Sweden Learn from DOD????????
From South Korea - December 18th - ROK Opposition Party Urges Gov't To Map Out Measures To Bring Back POWs, MIAs - "The main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) yesterday blasted the government for failing to convey a parliamentary resolution on the speedy repatriation of South Korean prisoners of war (POWs) and abductees during the just ended fourth round of inter-Korean ministerial talks in Pyongyang."
"In a statement, the GNP urged the government to map out a comprehensive set of measures to bring the POWs and abductees back home as soon as possible, warning against the North's strategy to tie the issue to the provision of electricity. "The government should not play into the hands of the North. We have suspicions that the North allowed a kidnaped former fisherman to reunite with his mother from South Korea in order to up the ante in the forthcoming negotiations over electricity aid," GNP vice spokesman Chang Kwan kuen said. "The government should seek a fundamental solution to the issue of POWs and abductees rather than comply with the North's whimsical benevolence."
From England - The Sunday Telegraph December 17th 2000 - "Relatives of 100 British servicemen believed to have been captured during the Korean War are calling on the Government to re_open investigations into their disappearance. A veterans' group is to demand the truth about the missing personnel following the announcement last week that Britain is to establish diplomatic relations with North Korea for the first time."
"Families of soldiers and airmen who disappeared during the 1950_53 conflict want the Government to demand answers from the North Korean authorities about the fate of the men allegedly kept in prison camps or used as slave labour. The National Ex-Prisoners of War Association has collected evidence from recently declassified public records in Britain and the United States showing that many British PoWs were believed to have remained in North Korean, Chinese or Soviet captivity. Anecdotal evidence and reported sightings were included among Government files on the war."
"Philip Chinnery, the association's historian and author of Korean Atrocity! Forgotten War Crimes 1950 - 53, said: "The Government does not seem to want to shake things up. Once channels of communication are fully open with North Korea, we will urge the Government to request the fates of these men are cleared up once and for all. "The Americans have a whole Pentagon department dedicated to finding missing men and have worked with the Russians but our Government is doing nothing."
"Though it is unlikely that any British PoWs are still alive in North Korea, there were reports of some being held in prison camps or forced to work in mines or paddy fields many years after the war. Among the missing servicemen uncovered by the research was Lt Edmund Radcliffe, who was attached to the Durham Light Infantry when he disappeared in action in 1953. His sister, Georgia Hanbury, told The Sunday Telegraph that his body was never recovered. Mrs Hanbury, 71, of Hertford, said: "As his next of kin, I have always wondered what happened to him. We were told he was missing, presumed dead, though he may have been captured. I have never understood why the Government has refused to try to find out what happened to these men."
A spokesman for the MoD said: "We investigated missing personnel at the time and for several years after the war and came up with little or no evidence of any PoWs still in captivity. We are open to suggestions but this is not something we are dealing with at the moment."
Did this MoD spokesman train at DPMO?????????
Soviets Used Japanese POWs As Political Hostages - the following is excerpted from the Kyodo News, December 19th, 2000 - TOKYO - "During the 1955-56 negotiations on restoring Russo-Japanese relations, the now defunct Soviet Union used Japanese prisoners of war as political hostages, according to Japanese diplomatic documents declassified Tuesday."
"The Japanese government urged the Soviet Union to release the POWs on humanitarian grounds. But it was overpowered in negotiations by the Soviet Union, which took advantage of its hold of the POWs. Diplomatic experts say it is unusual for Japanese documents that clearly state the Soviet Union used POWs as leverage to be made public."
"This, they say, leads to speculation on the government's real reasons for declassifying the documents, as negotiations between Japan and Russia to conclude a peace treaty are expected early next year. The negotiations on restoring relations began following a Soviet call for them in June 1955. During the talks, Japan urged the Soviets to grant the Japanese prisoners an early release. But the Soviets refused, saying a peace treaty was necessary first because the prisoners were under arrest as war criminals."
"The negotiations deteriorated as the two countries also disagreed on territorial issues related to four Russian_held islands off Hokkaido. The top secret diplomatic documents were dated January 1956, just before the negotiations were reopened. They stated that the Soviets were "apparently using (the prisoners) as political hostages," as the Soviets were only releasing them a few at a time and continued to detain the most prominent figures."
"In September 1955, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev told a group of Japanese Diet members visiting the Soviet Union that the restoration of relations between Russia and Japan and the issue of the POWs' release would be best solved together. This indicated the Soviets were going to continue detaining the POWs until relations were restored..."
"The negotiations were finally settled in October 1956 with then Japanese Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama's visit to the Soviet Union. Hatoyama signed the Russo-Japan joint declaration on Oct. 19, 1956... Following the declaration, some 4,500 POWs were repatriated to Japan...."
We have long maintained that Communist governments such as the former Soviet Union, North Korea, China and Vietnam had a policy of holding back POWs to use for whatever purposes they deem necessary. Now, the Japanese government has released official records which state exactly that.
Our question, if the Soviets held Japanese POWs, why would they not hold American POWs? Why would they not add to their "bank" of hostages with POWs from the Korean War, Cold War and Vietnam? When is the American government going to admit what we all know, American POWs were taken to the former Soviet Union at the end of World War II, during the Korean War, Cold War and Vietnam War.
Former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles wrote of "reliable intelligence" reporting the movement of Korean War POWs to the Soviet Union. Today, we are supposed to believe the "reliable intelligence" Dulles wrote of was wrong.
The former Co-Chair of the US-Russian Joint Commission, Dimtri Volkogonov, wrote of a plan to transport U.S. POWs from Vietnam to the former Soviet Union, during the Vietnam War. However, we are suppose to believe that plan was never carried out!
Pentagon Presses North Korea For Access To U.S. Army Defectors - From the Associated Press, December 20th, by Robert Burns - "Washington (AP) - Pentagon officials have renewed a request to North Korea for access to four Americans who deserted the U.S. Army in South Korea during the 1960s and are living in the communist North. The request was made during talks last week in Malaysia between U.S. and North Korean officials negotiating an agreement on access to former Korean War battlefields where the Pentagon hopes to recover soldiers' remains."
"Access to the four Americans _ whose presence in North Korea was made public in the United Stats nearly five years ago _ was raised as a separate issue and was not resolved, Larry Greer, spokesman for the Pentagon's POW/MIA office, said Wednesday. They are the only four Americans known to be living in North Korea. "We made it a matter of record that we intend to continue to pursue it," Greer said."
"North Korea has denied previous U.S. requests for access to the Americans, who are considered defectors. They said previously that the four are North Korean citizens now and don't want to talk to U.S. officials. "Interestingly, they didn't reject it this time," Greer said. The North Koreans just left it an open matter. Greer's office is interested in interviewing the four to determine whether they know of other Americans living in North Korea. The Pentagon has received numerous reports in recent years of 10 to 15 other Americans in North Korea who were taken prisoner during the Korean War and may remain there against their will. Those reports have not be corroborated. North Korea denies it."
"The four Americans who defected from U.S. Army posts in South Korea in the 1960s are Pvt. Larry A. Abshier of Urbana, Ill., who left his unit in May 1962 at age 19; Cpl. Jerry W. Parrish of Morganfield, Ky., who deserted in December 1963 at age 19; Pvt. James Dresnok of Norfolk, Va., who left in August 1962 at age 21, and Sgt. Robert Jenkins of Rich Square, N.C., who deserted in January 1965 at age 25. The Pentagon first confirmed that the four were alive and living in North Korea in January 1996."
They Still Don't Get It - DPMO continues to refer to the four men as "deserter" in spite of Geneva Convention protocols. A determination of desertion can only be made based upon interviews with the individuals in question, when the interviews are conducted in a location where no pressure can be brought upon the individual.
DPMO also chooses to ignore 1962 intelligence which states there was a plan in place for North Korean soldiers to kidnap both South Korean and American soldiers from the DMZ in Korea.
Lastly, DPMO ignores their own 1996 report. While that report states that the four "appear to be in North Korea on their own volition" it also states that Sgt Jenkins "told the North Korean defector that he is now ready to return to America." This is contrary to past North Korean statements that the four "don't want to talk to U.S. officials."
The DPMO report ends by saying: "There are too many live sighting reports, specifically observations of several Caucasians in a collective farm by Romanians and North Korean defectors' eyewitness of Americans in DPRK to dismiss that there are no American POWs in North Korea."
Dolores Alfond - 425-881-1499
Lynn O'Shea --- 718-846-4350
email ----------- lynnpowmia@prodigy.net
web site -------- www.nationalalliance.org
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