News-Info-Alerts

Re: NLF Update Line

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: January 20, 2003

"Update Line
STILL MISSING: According to the Department of Defense, there are now 1,891 Americans still missing from the Vietnam War, 1,444 in Vietnam, 382 in Laos, 57 in Cambodia and 8 in the territorial waters of the PRC. The names of the most recent Americans accounted for have not yet been released. Their remains were recovered during several US-Lao joint operations, the latest in February of this year, and were officially identified on December 11th.

LEAGUE DELEGATION TO SOUTHEAST ASIA: League Chairman of the Board Jo Anne Shirley, former Reagan Administration Director for Asian Affairs and League Adviser Richard Chidress and Executive Director Ann Mills Griffiths will travel to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia for talks with officials in each country to try to intensify accounting efforts. The delegation will also visit the new U.S. operational base camp in southern Laos and the site of field recoveries in Cambodia. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/MIA Affairs Jerry Jennings will also take an official delegation to Cambodia just prior to the League's visit.

JOINT FIELD OPERATIONS: In December, JTF-FA Commander BG Steve Redmann conducted technical talks and the next day hosted a POW/MIA Seminar for province-level Cambodian officials to increase their understanding about US efforts and objectives. Also, Cambodian officials are conducting interviews of sources with useful information to augment efforts of the DIA Stony Beach specialist, now assigned full-time in Phnom Penh. Large-scale field operations in Laos and Cambodia began January 16th and will continue over the next 30 days. BG Redmann also held technical talks in Vietnam in December. Between now and the month-long joint field operations that will commence on February 18th, Vietnamese specialists are reportedly conducting unilateral investigations.

LEAGUE OFFICIAL MEETS WITH RUSSIAN LEADERS: Also in December, League Executive Director Ann Mills Griffiths met in Moscow with the Russian Co-Chairman of the US-Russia Commission on POW/MIA Affairs, the Commission's Chairman of the Vietnam War Working Group, and former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov. The primary focus was on gaining greater access by US specialists to archival records and sources of information. Minister Primakov, now head of the Department of Commerce and Industry, stated his view that Vietnam War records, currently still classified, should be declassified and made available for researchers.

NOTES: POW/MIA car window decals are $20 per 100 and lapel pins are $3 each or 2/$5, by sending a check to the League office. For added information on any subject, please contact the League's web site at www.pow-miafamilies.org or call the national office at 703-465-7432.

The National League of Families of
American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia
1005 North Glebe Road
Suite 170
Arlington, Virginia 22201
(TEL) 703-465-7432
Federal Tax ID #23-7071242"