Press Release
"POW/MIA Families Pleads with Russian President Putin.... Release the Files
(2005-03-09) National Alliance of POW/MIA Families
A letter, dated March 9th, to Russian President Vladimir Putin, signed by over 100 POW/MIA family members, pleads with the Russian President to grant full access to the records of the former Soviet Union regarding American servicemen imprisoned in the former Soviet Union.
A letter, dated March 9th, to Russian President Vladimir Putin, signed by over 100 POW/MIA family members, pleads with the Russian President to grant full access to the records of the former Soviet Union regarding American servicemen imprisoned in the former Soviet Union.
This plea come on the heels of a report issued by the Joint Commission Support Directorate, (JCSD) the investigative arm of the U.S./Russian Joint Commission on POW/MIAs. On February 11th the 5th revision of their Gulag Study concluded; "Americans, including American servicemen, were imprisoned in the former Soviet Union...." JSCD executive secretary Norman Kass went further stating, in a CNN interview, "I personally would be comfortable saying that the number is in the hundreds."
In their letter the POW/MIA family members representing servicemen lost during the Korean War, Cold War and Vietnam War, call upon President Putin; " to bring comfort and piece of mind to many of the families of the missing...."
The letter continued "we plead with you to personally intervene and authorize full and complete access to the records necessary to identify and confirm the fate of the many Americans imprisoned in the former Soviet Union. We do not seek recriminations, only answers. The new spirit of friendship forged between the Russian and American government is something we can all appreciate. It is in this spirit that we ask you to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding the actions of a government that no longer exists, the Soviet Union. For that, you will have the eternal gratitude of the families of the missing...."
That American servicemen were imprisoned in the former Soviet Union, a fact known for years by POW/MIA families, is now acknowledged by the U.S. Government. The families need to know who they were, and what happened to them.
We call upon Russian President Putin to open the necessary records, to investigators with the Joint Commission Support Directorate, so that the identity and fate of these men may be determined.
In the name of compassion, we plead with President Putin, to open the records. We also call upon President Bush to discuss this subject with President Putin during their next meeting scheduled for May 2005.
Our POW/MIA families need their answers.........
National Alliance of Families
For The Return of America's Missing Servicemen
World War II - Korea - Cold War - Vietnam - Gulf Wars
For Immediate Release
Contact: Dolores Alfond
425-881-1499"