News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: Bush Statement on Recovery Team Loss

Date: April 07, 2001

"Bush 'deeply saddened' by chopper crash

US President George W Bush said today that he and First Lady Laura Bush were "deeply saddened" by a helicopter crash in Vietnam that killed 16 people, including seven US military personnel. The aircraft, which went down in the north-central province of Quang Binh, was on "an important mission to find and recover the remains of servicemen missing from the Vietnam War," Bush said in a statement.

"Today's loss is a terrible one for our Nation.

Although not lost in a hostile act, like those for whom they search, they too have lived lives of great consequence, answering a calling of service to their fellow citizens," he said.

"As we enter a period of religious holidays across America, may we remember their sacrifice and keep them, and their families, in our thoughts and prayers."

There were no survivors from the crash which happened during the afternoon around 400km south of Hanoi, the Vietnamese authorities told the US embassy there.

A Pentagon source told AFP in Washington that the helicopter involved was an MI-17, a modified version of the Russian MI-8 introduced in 1981."