Re: VN Agrees to Coastal Search

Date: June 12, 2004

The SEASAL findings should be made a part of this investigation.
http://www.aiipowmia.com/blog/aiiblog.html 07 JUN 04 Entry

"Vietnam Opening Coastal Areas to
U.S. Investigators For POW-MIA Search, Collins Says

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Vietnam's Minister of Trade Truong Dinh Tuyen told Georgia Congressman Mac Collins Wednesday that his communist government will permit investigators on a United States Navy salvage recovery ship to search the sea off Vietnam's coast for downed aircraft, in hopes of finding remains of American Prisoners of War and Missing in Action service personnel from the Vietnam conflict.

   But, Collins, a member of the U.S.-Vietnam Caucus, said even though he received a "verbal commitment" from Vietnam's government, he will not be satisfied until he receives a written confirmation.

   "Vietnam's Minister of Trade gave me a verbal commitment that his government will allow a United States Navy vessel with the POW-MIA investigators to search its coastline for the remains of missing service personnel. But I will not be satisfied until I receive a confirmation in writing," said Collins.

   "When President Ronald Reagan conducted negotiations with the former Soviet Empire during his presidency, he used the proverb 'trust but verify' as his guide. That is how you have to deal with the Vietnamese government….trust but verify. I want verification in writing," Collins said.

   Collins met with Dinh Tuyen and Vietnam's Ambassador to the United States Nguyen Tam Chien on Capitol Hill Wednesday. Connecticut Representatives Robert Simmons and Nancy Johnson were also in attendance.

   Collins admonished the Vietnamese to be more cooperative about the remains of American POW's and MIA's. "The Vietnamese have extracted U.S. taxpayer dollars for years and apparently intend to continue doing so," he said. "Time is of the essence and the POW-MIA issue needs to be resolved. The Vietnamese need to be held accountable if they want to continue to have American trade opportunities." 

   Collins called on the House to pass House Resolution 431 which strongly requests that the Vietnamese government cooperate with the United States by handing over all documents and records relating to unaccounted for Americans from the Vietnam War. The resolution also orders Vietnam to provide documents pertaining to missing Americans in areas of Laos and Cambodia when those areas were under Communist control.

   According to the Defense Department's POW/MIA Office, at the end of the Vietnam War, there reportedly were 2,583 Americans unaccounted for. The Paris Peace Accords were signed by the United States and North Vietnam on

January 27,1973. Those accords called for a cessation of hostilities and a repatriation of war prisoners and the accounting for the missing within a 60-day timeframe. During that period, 591 American POW's returned home. While the Nixon administration and the Vietnamese government insisted that all living POW/MIAs had been returned, there were in fact, many Americans known to be alive or in captivity or alive on the ground and in immediate proximity to capture who did not return. 

   Collins spent several days in Vietnam last February seeking access to archival records about America's unaccounted for Prisoners of War and Missing in Action service personnel. He met with senior Vietnamese government officials and several Vietnam Communist Party members.

   Vietnam and the United States restored full diplomatic relations in 1995. The two countries began exchanging Ambassadors in 1997 and normal trade relations ensued. Yet, in spite of, repeated assertions during the 1990's that Vietnam was cooperating fully, U.S. expectations on POW-MIA accounting have not been met. "