News-Info-Alerts

Re: Yarsinske on Speicher

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Date: July 23, 2002

"Speicher book sparks disputes

By Paul Pinkham and Rachel Davis
Times-Union staff writers
Startling claims in a book released last week about missing Jacksonville Navy pilot Scott Speicher are raising controversy with Speicher's family, his squadron and on Capitol Hill.

But author Amy Waters Yarsinske, in Jacksonville yesterday for a book signing, says sometimes "the truth hurts."

In No One Left Behind: The Lt. Cmdr. Michael Scott Speicher Story, Yarsinske says Speicher was mistakenly shot down the opening night of the Gulf War in 1991 by U.S. forces fighting Iraq, then left for dead in the desert by Navy officials who assured his wife they were looking for him.

Yarsinske concludes Speicher was rescued by a nomadic Bedouin tribe that was in contact with a CIA field officer. The tribe attempted for several years to return him to U.S. custody, she says, only to be rebuffed by the Clinton administration, which feared embarrassment. Speicher was captured by Iraqi forces, which executed the tribe, after wreckage of his FA-18 Hornet was found in 1993, the book says. Yarsinske said she left information out of the book that might have jeopardized the case, such as his current location.

Yarsinske, a former Naval Reserve intelligence officer, criticizes mistakes made by Navy brass and bases her conclusions on named and unnamed intelligence and defense sources. But several people quoted in the book, published by Dutton Books, question how much she knows about the case.

"It's critically important in situations like this, where you're dealing with the life of one of our country's heroes, to make a clear distinction between what you know for sure and what you think you know or even the way you want it to be," said Barry Hull of Spartanburg, S.C., who flew with Speicher the night he was shot down. "Monday morning quarterbacking, if you're not careful, can lead good people astray."

Neither did Buddy Harris of Orange Park, a Speicher friend and former Pentagon investigator on the case who is married to Speicher's wife. Both said they spoke with a reporter in Norfolk, Va., with whom Yarsinske wrote a series on Speicher last winter.

"We chose not to associate nor participate in the book due to the numerous misrepresentations made by the author and the negative ramifications this could bring for Scott's repatriation," said Harris, who hasn't read the book. "Those truly knowledgeable of Scott's case are aware that this is not the time to cast blame, especially when some of the mistakes were made by those who are in positions to now help.

"This is a critical time for Scott Speicher, and anyone who sincerely cares for him would never do anything that might jeopardize ... his repatriation. This author obviously has a different agenda."

Yarsinske defended her intentions and the validity of her research, pointing to classified documents she obtained from sources with top secret clearance. This information, she said, was not made available to Harris.

As to the timing of her book, Yarsinske said it will encourage intelligence, defense and government officials to prod Iraq for answers that will ultimately bring Speicher home.

"Exposing these issues is very important," Yarsinske said. "Sometimes the only way to get back a pilot is to stake a claim for that pilot."

Yarsinske's research came to a head last year after she joined with the The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk for a series about the Speicher case. Under an agreement with the newspaper, Yarsinske was to provide information about the case. In turn she would receive funding to further her research.

"It sounded like she had done a lot of research, and her sources would be a help to us," said Kay Tucker Addis, editor of The Virginian-Pilot. "We ended up doing a lot more original reporting than we thought."

Many of the interviews with squadronmates and relatives that appear in Yarsinske's book were gathered from the series.

Navy officials dispute Yarsinske's claim that Speicher was shot down by friendly fire. Larry Greer, a spokesman for the Pentagon's Office of POW/MIA, has not read the book and declined to comment on Yarsinske's accounts of the case.

U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, who is trying to get Speicher's status changed to prisoner of war, said he is not surprised the Pentagon is unhappy with Yarsinske.

"It's very damning, especially on the [Pentagon] Office of POW/MIA. She just comes right out and says they lied," said Roberts, a Republican on the Intelligence Committee.

"Whether or not every detail in her book is accurate, there's no question that there were some pretty tough problems in that regard. This has been an incredible case, the mistakes that were made. You couldn't dream up mistakes like that in sequence that determined Scott's fate."

Roberts doubts Yarsinske's account of a friendly fire shootdown and said the book misrepresents a conversation he supposedly had with defense and intelligence officials. But he was generally supportive of Yarsinske's efforts.

"The book appears to support many of the issues that we've been aware of," Roberts said. "[It] has provided ... a great number of names that we were previously unaware of, and we're in the process of contacting each and every one."

Staff writer Paul Pinkham can be reached at (904) 359-4107 or ppinkhamjacksonville.com.

Staff writer Rachel Davis can be reached at (904) 359-4614 or racheldavisjacksonville.com.

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