Re: NLF Update Line

Date: June 24, 2004

"Update Line

POW/MIAs - VIETNAM WAR: According to DoD, there are now 1,859 Americans listed as missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War: 1,418 in Vietnam, 378 in Laos, 55 in Cambodia and 8 in PRC territorial waters. Over 90% of all Americans missing from the Vietnam War were lost in Vietnam or in areas of Laos and Cambodia under Hanoi's wartime control. Since the last Newsletter, seven Americans have been announced as accounted for:

Warrant Officer 2nd Class Jack W. Brunson, USA, KIA/BNR, Laos, 5/31/71, RR 5/29/03

Major Ralph L. Carlock, USAF, KIA/BNR 3/4/67, LA, RR 10/26/02

CPL Kenneth L. Crody, USMC, KIA/BNR 7/11/72, SVN, RR 8/29/00

Mr. Charles Dean, Captured 9/10/74, LA, RR 11/26/03

SSGT Dennis W. Hammond, USMC, POW 2/8/68, DIC 1970, RR 1989

SSGT Jerry W. Hendrix, USMC, KIA/BNR 7/11/72, SVN, RR 8/29/00

Captain Raymond H. Hetrick, USAF, KIA/BNR 2/24/66, LA, RR 7/10/01

POW/MIA CONSULTATIONS HELD IN LAOS: Officials from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), Defense POW/MIA Office (DPMO) and DIA's Stony Beach Team recently met in Pakse, Laos, for semi-annual POW/MIA Consultations. The purpose was to assess recent field operations, plan for the next six months, and address outstanding issues than can help continue to improve operations to achieve more rapid accounting results. Meeting with Lao officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense and Public Security, the talks - led by JPAC Detachment III Commander LTC Johnny Strain, USA Special Forces - were reportedly very constructive. BG (P) W. Montague Winfield, USA, JPAC Commander, and the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director for the Americas co-hosted the final session. A senior DPMO Research-Analysis official remained in Vientiane to meet with the Lao to propose an Archival Research plan that looks promising and now awaits approval by senior US and Lao officials.

TALKS IN HANOI: Officials from JPAC, DPMO and US Pacific Command (PACOM) also held technical talks in Hanoi to discuss upcoming field operations, review the outcome of recent activities and conduct an operational assessment. Such talks are held frequently with the Vietnamese. DPMO personnel held follow-on talks on initiatives begun some time ago by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs Jerry Jennings, including an archival research initiative and senior wartime leader interview program on which Vietnam has thus far withheld cooperation. Earlier, there were exploratory discussions to lay the groundwork for higher-level decisions needed to authorize underwater survey and recovery operations. The Vietnamese recently postponed a visit to Hawaii to look at the US Navy vessel intended for these operations, but follow-up technical exchanges are being proposed for this summer, prior to mid-August technical talks in Hawaii.

JOINT FIELD OPERATIONS: JPAC/CIL's worldwide operations are fast-paced and diverse. JPAC recently halted joint field operations in Laos due to concerns about the safety of the contract helicopters being used. A team of Army aviation experts was called in to take a close look at maintenance and other factors before clearing further in-country flights. A ceremony honoring remains recently recovered was held April 6th, and another 30-day period of investigations and recoveries in Laos is scheduled to resume in late June.

JPAC teams, with personnel from DIA's Stony Beach team, resumed joint operations in Vietnam on April 18th and will continue until approximately May 22nd. Numerous investigations were on the schedule, including last known alive cases, as were several excavations.

Recovery teams also recently concluded work in Burma, Palau and Australia. Operations are ongoing in North Korea in Unsan and Chosin Provinces, with equipment moved across the DMZ for the first time in many years. Recovery operations are also taking place in Papua New Guinea to recover remains of US personnel killed during World War II. Excavation of a Korean War F-86 loss began early this month in the People's Republic of China, and a Cold War case will follow in June.

DPMO TO HOLD POWMIA ACCOUNTING CONFERENCE: This week, the Defense POW/MIA Office is holding a conference to bring together US Government officials from all relevant agencies and organizations to discuss strategy and approach for the upcoming year in dealing with each of the many countries where Americans are still missing and unaccounted for from past wars. Non-government representatives of the League, Korean and Cold War Families, American Legion, VFW, DAV and AMVETS have been invited to the opening and closing days. Hopefully, something constructive will come from the conference; however, one was held over a year ago and little follow-up occurred.

LEAGUE ANNUAL MEETING - STILL TIME TO REGISTER: The League's 35th Annual Meeting will be held June 24-26th again at the Hilton Crystal City Hotel, Arlington, VA. Though the League is nonpartisan and nonprofit, this year's meeting is particularly important as we face another presidential election. Registration and hotel reservation were previously sent to all League members, family and associate and are again enclosed, plus available from the League office by request and through the League website email address, info@pow-miafamilies.org.

DoD to Provide Free Flights: The Defense Department, through the Military Services, is again providing transportation for two family members per missing man to attend the US Government briefings, held each year in conjunction with the League annual meeting. Forms for transportation, registration for the League meeting and hotel reservations were sent by the Military Service, State Department and CIA Casualty Offices to all primary-next-of-kin of Americans still missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. The reservation deadline was extended until May 27th, and the registration deadline until June 8th, same as the extended deadline for receipt of ads to honor your missing loved ones. Please carefully review each of the forms. If you wish to travel by COIN Assist call your Service Casualty Office immediately.

The material was much later than usual due to confusion and delay within DPMO, and since none of the enclosures were coordinated with the League in advance, inaccurate information was distributed concerning registration. The date for all attendees, League and non-League, to pick up credentials at registration is Wednesday, June 23rd. The Opening Session of the 35th Annual Meeting begins at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 24th, and the "35th Annual Dinner and Candlelight Ceremony" is that same evening, 7:00 p.m.

VOA EDITORIAL ON AMERICANS MISSING IN ACTION: The following is an editorial reflecting the views of the U.S. government, distributed by Voice of America, April 6, 2004:

Of all the fates that can befall a member of the armed forces, one of the most terrible is to be listed as missing in action. Americans killed in action die with the assurance that every possible effort will be made to recover their remains for proper burial, that their families will be notified of their deaths, and that their sacrifice will be remembered by a grateful American people. American prisoners of war knew that their countrymen would never rest until they were free. But the fate of America's missing in action imposes a special obligation on the United States.

The U.S. is bound by law and morality to account for each and every American still listed as missing in action from armed conflicts. If possible, the remains of M-I-A's confirmed to be dead must be found and properly interred. And so long as the possibility exists that missing American servicemen may still be alive, the U.S. must make every effort to find them and bring them home.

It was for this purpose that the U.S. Congress passed the Bring Them Home Alive Act of 2000. More than eight-thousand Americans are still missing from the Korean War and almost two-thousand are unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. The law provides asylum to "any alien who is a national of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, China, North Korea, or any of the independent states of the former Soviet Union who personally delivers into the custody of the United States government a living American serviceman" listed as missing in action from either the Korean war or the Vietnam war. The law also provides asylum for the families of those who assist American servicemen in reaching U.S. authorities.

Since the end of the war in Vietnam in 1975, there have been reports of sightings of American servicemen said to be held in Southeast Asia. But so far, no such reports have been confirmed. Anyone with information concerning Americans listed as missing in action should contact U.S. authorities.

UNDER-WATER ACCOUNTING OPERATIONS: Continuing evaluations and more recent judgments indicate that there are many sites along the coastline of Vietnam, particularly north of the old division between northern and southern Vietnam that with the right equipment could be located and excavated with a reasonable degree of success. Access to Vietnam's territorial waters is obviously dependent upon Hanoi, but there are indications of willingness to negotiate necessary access. The Minister of Foreign Affairs stated last October during a meeting in Hawaii that such was under consideration.

Vietnam's Minister of Defense stated in November, during his visit to Washington, DC, that agreement should be reached between the US Department of State and Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, adding that he would support such an agreement as Minister of Defense. All up to this is positive, but there is now concern over recent indications that the Vietnamese would much prefer to use their own "salvage ship" for this purpose. That option should be considered perhaps for the survey aspect of the process, and capabilities thoroughly studied, but preliminary evaluation of Vietnam's ship indicates a far lower capability than US Navy vessels used to conduct such operations.

In the League's view, the US needs to develop a formula in which Vietnam's objectives could still be met, while using the US Navy's technology and vessels, possibly side-by-side during recovery operations. Admiral Tom Fargo, Commander of the US Pacific Command (previously CINCPAC), made a proposal similar to this when he visited Vietnam in February, but little movement has since occurred.

US specialists visited Vietnam and toured their ships, finding them not fully capable of maximizing chances for success. An exchange visit to Hawaii was arranged, but Vietnam postponed the visit by their specialists to "tour" the US Navy ships, then in Hawaii, that should be used for such missions. That postponement will cause a further delay, but the subject was reportedly raised by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian & Pacific Affairs James A. Kelly, long supportive and involved in accomplishing the League's accounting objectives.

I am confident that negotiations can and will bring agreement that offers the potential for resolving a significant number of cases, many of them Navy in this instance, but also Air Force. What we don't need and should not accept is another near-disaster such as occurred using a Vietnamese ship, with a USG diving platform. In that incident, a Vietnamese captain pulled his ship's anchor through the previously intact cockpit of a US aircraft, with remains of two US Navy officers readily visible. Although the situation was saved, it was very difficult and nearly lost. A repeat of such circumstances in unwarranted and should be rejected by the Bush Administration.

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"