Re: NAF Bits 'N' Pieces

Date: January 25, 2004

"National Alliance of Families
For The Return of America's Missing Servicemen
World War II - Korea - Cold War - Vietnam - Gulf War

January 24, 2004 Bits 'N' Pieces

Saddam A POW – On January 9th, the Pentagon announced that Saddam Hussein, the "Butcher of Baghdad" was a Prisoner of War., under rules of the Geneva Convention.

The following is excerpted from a January 10th Associated Press article: “Washington - Pentagon lawyers have determined that Saddam Hussein has been a prisoner of war since American forces captured him on Dec. 13, a Defense Department spokesman said Friday.

"...The general counsel office in the Pentagon _ the Defense Department's top civilian lawyers _ has determined that Hussein is a POW because he commanded Iraq's military, spokesman Maj. Michael Shavers said Friday. The lawyers determined that no formal declaration of his status was needed, he said.”

POW or MIA-C – We were more than surprised to find the Pentagon has listed Saddam POW when that status is denied captured American Service Personnel. Our regular readers know that in December 2000, the Department of Defense controlling directive on captured and missing service personnel eliminated the designation Prisoner of War (POW) replacing it with the designation Missing-Captured (MIA-C). Yet, Saddam was designated POW.

To draw attention to this matter the National Alliance of Families issued a Press Release on January 10th 2004, stating in part: "

"Publicly, the Pentagon continues to refer to captured Americans, including those captured during Operation Iraqi Freedom, as Prisoners of War. The fact is, the term Prisoner of War is no longer exists as a legal status for American Service personnel. Under DOD rules, captured service personnel previously designated POW are now "Missing/Captured." To our knowledge, neither International Law or the Geneva Convention makes any mention of individuals carried by their countries as Missing/Captured or MIA-C."

"When the status of Gulf War I pilot Capt. Michael Scott Speicher was changed for the second time, he went from Missing in Action to Missing Captured, not POW. In his memo of October 11, 2000, Former Navy Secretary Gordon England wrote: " This category denotes that a service member has been seized as the result of action of an unfriendly military or paramilitary force in a foreign country..... if the government of Iraq is holding Captain Speicher he is entitled to Prisoner of War status under international law and the Geneva Convention..... Although the controlling missing persons statute and directives do not use the term "Prisoner of War," the facts supporting a change in Captain Speicher's category from Missing in Action to Missing/Captured would also support the conclusion that, if alive, he is a Prisoner of War." In other words if the status existed, the Secretary of Navy would have designated Capt. Speicher a POW."

"We realize that our enemies violate the rules of international law and the Geneva Convention regarding the care and treatment of captured American Service Personnel. Terminology will not change that."

"Terminology does change world perception regarding the value we place on our captured personnel."

"Doesn't it downgrade the worth of a battered American service member, displayed on television worldwide, for the Department of Defense to designate him or her Missing/Captured rather than Prisoner of War?"

"The status Missing/Captured fails to provide this nations service members the moral dignity and international recognition provided by the Prisoner of War status. Yet, we provide that moral dignity and international recognition to Saddam."

EPW or POW -- Several days after the initial announcement of Saddam's POW status, and our press release, we found a small article filed out of Washington DC by James Gordon Meek, in our local paper. According to the article, "Saddam Hussein has been designated an EPW, not a POW, the Pentagon clarified yesterday."

"The enemy prisoner of war designation, cited by Pentagon spokeswoman Megan Grafton, may be used by the feds to get around the prisoner of war protections the U.S. agreed to when it signed the 1948 Geneva Convention, a legal expert said."

"I've never heard the term EPW used," said Michael Noone, a retired Air Force JAG officer who teaches law at Catholic University. "It's certainly not in the Geneva Conventions." He said the Defense Department "might be using the EPW designation to justify some sort of interrogation," which is being handled by the CIA."

"POW protections would also spare Saddam the death penalty, which the U.S. has indicated it expects Saddam would get if he is tried by an as_yet nonexistent Iraqi court. POWs also get humanitarian visits by the International Red Cross, whose requests to see Saddam have so far been rebuffed."

What An Expert Says – We contacted Professor Michael Noone, the former Air Force Judge Advocate General (JAG) and current Professor of Law at the Catholic University in Washington DC. We forwarded the full text of our press release and asked him about the status Missing-Captured. Here is his response:

“I share your concern over the status of missing service personnel. My quote was in response to an inquiry regarding the term "enemy prisoner of war" which is not in the Geneva Conventions but is in a DoD Directive. In response to your inquiry, I would make the same response: that "missing/captured" is not a Geneva Convention term. As you know, the Third Convention is intended to protect captives - POWS - , so it's not surprising that it's silent on MIAs. The fact that neither term used by DoD is found in the Convention, doesn't make the term illegal, but does raise the kinds of concerns your organization expresses in the press release.”

Group Burial At Arlington – Buried on January 21st, they are Air Force Staff Sgt. Thomas Walkup Jr, of Millville, NJ; Jamor Steven Plumhoff of Neshanic Station, NJ; Tech Sgts Howard Walters of Port Huron, MI and William Kerwood of Houston MO; and Army Sgt. Maj. Phillip Albert of Terryville, CT.

Don't look for these names on the list of those POW/MIA from Southeast Asia. Don't look for them on the list of POWs and MIAs from Korea, the Cold War or even World War II.

The five were on board a helicopter downed in Afghanistan in November 2003. The following is excerpted from an Associated Press article, dated November 23rd 2003 – “Bagram Afghanistan (AP) “Soldiers on Monday combed through the wreckage of a transport helicopter carrying U.S. troops that crashed just north of the capital, killing five Americans and injuring seven.”

“The cause of Sunday's crash, about 7 miles east of Bagram Air Base, the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan, was not immediately known.”

“The MH_53 transport helicopter was on a mission connected to Operation Mountain Resolve, a large U.S. military sweep launched Nov. 7 in eastern Nuristan and Kunar provinces hunting for Taliban and al_Qaeda militants, U.S. military spokesman Maj. Richard Sater said.”

“The wreckage of the helicopter was broken into three pieces, some of which had fallen into a mostly dry river bed north of Kabul. About 15 U.S. soldiers were guarding the site, searching through the wreckage. The military said it was investigating the cause. "I saw the helicopter crashing, breaking into pieces and catching fire," Maraj Jan, a local resident, said. Jan said he didn't see anything strike the aircraft, such as a missile, before the crash occurred around sunset.”

“A statement sent by e-mail from U.S. Central Command, in Tampa, Fla, on Sunday said: "Early reports indicate seven service members were injured and at least five service members were killed" in the crash.”

Shaking Our Heads and Wondering – The loss location of the MH-53 was known, almost immediately. The site was secured within 24 hours, yet five servicemen could not be individually identified.

We are to believe that &Mac184; of one tooth from a 30 year old crash site is identifiable. The smallest of bone fragments recovered from a plane crash is identifiable. Yet, the five lost in November 2003 and recovered almost immediately could not be individually identified.

We realize the devastation of an aircraft crash and ensuing fire, yet according to the AP article 7 survived the initial crash. We just wonder how nothing of the 5 crew members could be individually identified.

Candlelight Vigil for Capt. Scott Speicher – Braving freezing temperatures, snow and sleet, a small band of supporters gathered in front of the Capital on January 17th to mark the 13th year since Capt. Speicher was shot down in Gulf War I.

The vigil, sponsored by Friends Working to Free Scott Speicher, ran from 5 to 7 PM. Among the organizations showing support for Capt. Speicher were representatives from the National Alliance of Families, Rolling Thunder and Blue Star Mothers. One of the scheduled speakers was former Iraqi Freedom MIA-C Ronald Young Jr. Due to the death of a friend in Iraq, CWO Young could not attend.

However, he was ably represented by his mother, Mrs. Kay Young. Reading a letter from her son, Mrs. Young relayed how Ron looked for evidence of Capt. Speicher as he moved from one prison to another during his captivity. She also related how her son left his marks in Iraqi cells and holding areas, to let those who might come after him that he had been there.

We can almost imagine that would be the thinking of Capt. Speicher when he carved the initials M S S on the wall of that Baghdad prison.

In fairness, we must remind our readers that DNA testing conducted in that cell could not prove Capt. Speicher was there. We must also remind you that as one DPMO representative is fond of saying.... the initials could belong to Mohammed.

That said, we will also remind you that there is absolutely no evidence to proved those initials were not made by Capt. Speicher and until such evidence is produced the benefit of the doubt must go to the POW. Unlike DPMO representatives we are not as willing to dismiss evidence of Capt. Speicher’s captivity.

On the subject of Capt. Speicher and the numerous live sighting reports on him, we leave you with the works of “Buddy” a highly placed government employee dealing with the POW/MIA issue. Disgusted with the handling of the Speicher case “Buddy” contacted us, last summer, to offer his/her insights. This was one of “Buddy’s” comments, regarding the reports of Speicher in captivity: “Don't be misled by those who would pooh pooh the Speicher reporting.”

Accountability – We hate that word. Especially when it is used in connection with the POW/MIA issue. The word makes this issue of flesh and blood men and women sound like an exercise in bookkeeping.

We especially hate the word when it is used by politicians bragging that their efforts brought accountability to POW/MIA families. This past week that phrase was used by the former chairman of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs John F. Kerry. His name has been in the news of late and once again he is making points on the backs of our POW/MIAs and their families.

So we are going to look at one case involving four men and the Kerry version of accountability.

In November 1992, members of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, led by Senator John Kerry, traveled to Hanoi. During that visit, Sr. Col. Phan Duc Dai turned over his wartime journal supposedly detailing the ambush, death and burial of four men, from the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, on April 21 1967. Dai was interview by ABC TV News, and the New York Times. He told them how he participated in the death and burial of the four Americans.

Senator John Kerry was exuberant in his praise of Vietnamese cooperation. Using the revelations contained in the diary, Kerry called for further U.S. trade concessions to the Vietnamese and he announced that he had gotten an accounting of four men.

ABC News reported on both the Committee’s visit to Hanoi, the diary and aired an interview with Col. Dia. Based on information contained in the diary, the men involved in the ambush were determined to be Sp4 Thomas Mangino, and PFC’s Paul Hasenbeck, Daniel Nidds and David Winters. It was from this ABC News Report that the Hasenbeck family learned details of the supposed ambush and death of their loved one and the three men with him.

The New York Times reported on the story, in a November 18th 1992 article by Philip Shenon. With regard to the ambush of the four, the article quotes Senator John Kerry as follows: “At least in our judgement, we believe we can say we know what happened. We believe they died, although we don't have their remains yet.”

The article continues: “At a news conference here, Senator Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, said extensive new cooperation from the Vietnamese Government in resolving the fate of missing Americans must be met with a gesture by the United States, which has maintained a crippling trade embargo on Hanoi since the end of the war.”

“Vietnamese cooperation has been "significant," the Senator said, "and I think the United States needs to recognize that significance."

"Those of us who are on this trip are strongly inclined to urge the President to take certain actions," he said. "This cannot be a one-way street. I think it would be inappropriate of the United States not to act.”

“...The diary was presented to Senator Kerry by Col. Pham Duc Dai, director of all Vietnamese military museums, who said he saw the 1967 ambush in which the four soldiers were killed.”

"I saw the ambush and all four soldiers were killed right then," the colonel said. "Fifteen minutes after, American helicopters were flying very near trying to find them. So the children came out and they laid on the bodies of the dead soldiers - covered the bodies of the soldiers with their own bodies so that the helicopter pilots could not find them." Colonel' Dai said the bodies were never found because they were placed in a nearby river and weighted down with rocks.

In an article titled "The Odd, Pat Story of Col. Pham Duc Dai," dated December 18, 1992, noted author Sydney H. Schanberg wrote; "...days before Kerry left for his November trip, credible sources told me that one of the press events on his itinerary would be some disclosure about four soldiers who were killed in one place. And suddenly Col. Dai appears. Scripted? You decide."

The release of the diary, in November 1992 during the Kerry visit was a staged event that contributed to the "tawdry illusion of progress" so aptly described by Col. Mike Peck.

In Kerry’s rush to reward the Vietnamese for their cooperation several small details, including a CIA report detailing the captured of four soldiers on April 21, 1967, at the exact location described in the diary, were ignored.

Another fact, considered minor, to the folks making the fate determinations is that the diary was based on second hand information. It was not the first hand eyewitness account of Col. Dia. Despite the fact that Dia told anyone who would listen that "I saw the ambush and all four soldiers were killed right then." Dia was not present, never saw the four dead or alive and did not participate in the burial. This was confirmed by a fax memo from JTF_FA, Detachment 2 Hanoi, dated April 14th, 1993.

After one of the families involved in this incident learned the diary was not a first hand eyewitness account, they wrote Senator Kerry. They informed Senator Kerry the diary was not the first hand account originally reported. They also presented other information on the case and an intelligence report indicating capture.

We wish we could share Senator Kerry’s reply, but the family is still waiting for one.

On October 26, 1993, New York Newsday published another article by Sydney H. Schanberg titled; “Senator Shuns the Evidence on Four MIAs.” In his article Schanberg wrote: “Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, in his haste to carry out his agenda of getting the While House to remove the embargo against Vietnam, has done some extraordinary things. One of his recurring feats has been to try.to turn fiction into truth. The following is an example.”

“The senator, in his capacity as chairman of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, announced about a year ago that, on the basis of what he called fresh and "impressive" evidence, he had concluded that four American soldiers who went missing in Vietnam on April 21, 1967, had been killed instantly in an ambush on that day.”

"At least in our judgment," Kerry said, "we believe we can say we know what happened. We believe they died. . ." He spoke these definitive words about the four soldiers at a press conference in Hanoi in November, 1992, after being handed the so-called evidence by a Vietnamese official who said it was his personal diary from the war. The official, Col. Pham Duc Dai, now the director of Vietnam's military museums, said he had been an eyewitness to the deaths of the four Americans in 1967 in the central province of Quang Ngai. The diary, he said, contained a full account.”

“This diary has since been exposed as hearsay or worse. Reliable American intelligence reports say that the four men were captured alive. Yet Kerry has never retreated from his declaration that the four died in an ambush.”

“He continues to say, as he did at that Hanoi press conference, that Vietnamese cooperation on the issue of missing Americans has been "significant" and needs to be rewarded. In a reference to relaxing or lifting the U,S. trade embargo that has been in place since the end of the war in 1975, Kerry said then that he would "urge the president to take certain actions,"

“About a month after the press conference, Kerry's spokeswoman said that his meeting with Dai had been "a very compelling moment emotionally" and that "in his mind, this resolves the fate of the four, and maybe their families can accept that."

“But, the overwhelming evidence on this case – and on many, many, others – gives the families no earthly reason to accept the stories they've been told. They also have no reason to trust Kerry and all the others in Congress, the executive branch and the Pentagon who have been toiling for nearly two decades to cover up the intelligence data that demonstrates large numbers of American prisoners were never returned and never credibly accounted for by Hanoi.”

The families of the four men involved in the April 21, 1967 incident do not accept the Kerry version of accountability.
Kerry is but another politician feigning concern for our POW/MIAs and their families when it suits their purposes and the truth be damned.

It is significant to note that Kerry, in accepting the diary as accounting for the four missing men, chose to ignore the remainder of the diary detailing a massacre in that village on the night of April 21, 1967.
Senator Kerry never mentioned, nor did the media report, the diary not only dealt with the supposed ambush and death of the four, it also described efforts of the search team to locate their missing buddies and the measures, according to Col. Dai, that they would go to.

From the Diary of Col. Pham Duc Dai _ "The US paint of democracy, civilization had gone. The most cruel monster of the 20th century revealed his true colors. The US troops jumped into the crowd, seized 10 of our people, blindfolded them and took them away. Gun shots were heard from the far away fields. Then they returned to force our compatriots to observe one minute of silence for the dead. The same thing happened again and again for three times. The last time they arrested up to 25 people. The rest of the crowd, who counted about several hundred, remained indifferent, astonishingly calm. Not a single cry was uttered, even their breathing remained stable. A quiet atmosphere prevailed, full of pride, typical of the genuine Vietnamese in face of threats of imprisonment, killing by the barbarous enemy."

According to the Diary the villagers laughed saying the American's were shooting into the air. We've spoken to members of the search team. According to them, this incident never happened. They do admit beating several individuals they believed had information on the missing men. That is not mentioned in the diary.

The diary also describes the missing men as wearing cards on their chests with the words "Light Infantry Brigade No 196." Upon hearing this one member of the 196th wrote stating; "Light Infantry Brigade 196 is not spelled out and is not embroidered. Our unit patch is solitary and says or spells out nothing to indicate who we were."

So much for John Kerry and his efforts to bring accountability to POW/MIA families.

Why does Johnie Webb still have a job?????????????

The National Alliance Of Families Fifteenth Annual Forum is scheduled for June 24th _ 6th, 2003. Our forum is conducted to coincide with the Governments annual Vietnam POW/MIA Family Briefings. We urge all family members to attend this years government briefings. A separate briefing for Korean/Cold War families will be held April 30 - May 1. The government will provide free airfare to two family members to attend the government briefings. There is no charge or registration fee to attend the government briefings and you do not have to belong to an organization to attend these briefings. Hotel and reservations to be announced.

The Alliance is an all volunteer organization. Our meetings are open to all, without charge. At this time of year, we actively seek contributions to finance our forum. If you wish to contribute, donations may be mailed to:

National Alliance Of Families
P.O. Box 40327
Bellevue, Wa. 98015.

Remember all contributions are tax deductible.

Lynn O'Shea
Director of Research

Dolores Alfond -- 425-881-1499
Lynn O'Shea ---- 718-846-4350
Web Site www.nationalalliance.org
email lynn@nationalalliance.org"