Re: US to Use VN War Records in Searxh Efforts

Date: June 16, 2004

"U.S. MIA Hunt in Vietnam Using War Records to Start

By Christina Toh-Pantin

HANOI (Reuters) - After two years of delicate negotiations, the United States in August will start using Vietnam's war records for the first time to pinpoint possible new locations for remains of servicemen missing in action (MIA).

"We've achieved that just this morning," Jerry Jennings, the senior U.S. government official in charge of the MIA issue, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. "I'm very excited about that."

While the plan had been announced last September, no date had been set for the start.

Under the unusual arrangement, the United States will have access to all archived Vietnamese military files in Hanoi, as well as in all military regions, to scour for references to MIAs and prisoners of war.

Hanoi will permit the MIA searchers to look at other old government documents if references from the military records lead them elsewhere, said Jennings, who is deputy assistant secretary of defense for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs.

While the former foes have mended links in trade and investment since the end of the war in 1975, progress on defense has been slower and more sensitive. The first post-war U.S. Navy port call took place just late last year.

Retired Vietnamese military officials will be among those employed to look through the documents. The United States has a similar MIA agreement with Russia.

UNDERWATER RECOVERIES

Jennings, who is also visiting Laos, Cambodia and Burma, said he is discussing underwater recoveries with Hanoi. No such missions have taken place in the absence of a decision on whose vessels would be used.

"We believe we have the technology, and the question is how it could be utilized," he said.

The U.S. side is discussing options such as pooling equipment.    

\ More than 1,800 U.S. servicemen remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia after the communist victory over U.S.-backed South Vietnam. Since 1973, more than 700 sets of U.S. remains have been recovered and identified.

About 300,000 Vietnamese are missing from the conflict that Vietnam calls the "American War."

Both sides are trying to speed up the effort as memories fade and former combatants die. Jennings said that during his visit to Vietnam this week his office had turned over to Hanoi documents on Vietnamese soldiers who had died in U.S. hospitals.

During his two days of meetings, Jennings said he was granted rare permission to visit the Central Highlands to search for MIA remains. The coffee-growing region has been largely off limits to diplomats and foreign media due to ethnic unrest.

The MIA trip will likely take place in July, Jennings said.

© Reuters 2004"