For those unfamilar, Liz Flick is LONG-time advocate and volunteer who has given tirelessly of her time, energy and efforts. REad on -
"Liz Flick
Columbus, OH
March 14, 2005
Mr. Jerry Jennings
DASD, DPMO
2400 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-2400
Dear Mr. Jennings:
As a more than thirty year volunteer with the National League of POW/MIA Families, I have suffered with them through the many ups and downs of this issue. Some of these roller coaster rides were attributable to the politics of the time; however, I am at a loss to understand what is happening now. As a volunteer, I read on line your letter of invitation to the NOK with the accompanying listing of hotels. I was devastated, amazed, and saddened by the apparent cavalier attitude of your department in setting the government briefings at a hotel approximately two miles distant from the hotel being used by the families of the National League. You and your staff are well aware that the League had signed a two-year contract with the Hilton Crystal City. It should be apparent from your listing of hotels that the League has secured a great room rate for our families, something not matched or even coming close to the rates offered at other venues.
Why would the government, using our money, choose to use another hotel and pay higher rates - not to mention paying for meeting rooms, casualty officer rooms, etc., all of which are provided free by the National League of POW/MIA Families? Why would you change a format which has worked for almost thirty years? What is it you are trying to accomplish? The briefings given at our hotel during the League meeting are a vital part of dispensing government information and advantageous to both the families and the government, as intended by Congress when COIN Assist transportation was authorized. The question and answer sessions after the presentations, on the last day of our meeting, have provided a productive venue for family members to ask questions of those most involved in the issue. Up until last year, this session was well received. When DPMO tampered with the format last year, the families were confused and angry because they did not have time to formulate their questions, or even have time to ask them, if they were ready in advance.
Have you not considered, or do you not care, that many of the family members are senior citizens, and some have disabilities?
Many of the elderly have a hard time finding rooms in the hotel in which they are staying let alone asking them to travel to a different hotel and to find the appropriate rooms once they arrive. This is akin to cruel and unusual punishment. What a way to treat the elderly family members of our missing men! For those with handicaps, the problem is even greater. Many fly because it is easier to travel that way and are then met at the airport by a hotel shuttle which accommodates handicapped or wheelchair-bound persons. Are you going to provide this special service or are the handicapped going to have to struggle up steps to a regular bus? Those in wheelchairs will be embarrassed by having to be carried up the steps. This is most stressful for them and their family members, and those of us witnessing their distress.
It seems you and DPMO are doing all you can to make this upcoming 36th Annual Meeting into one of the most difficult and stressful - and that's before any words are even spoken! I want to emphasize that it's the 36th Annual Meeting - these families have been waiting for answers, many of them for more than the 36 years we have been meeting. I repeat this is no way to treat the families.
A few years ago, it was the persistence of the National League of POW/MIA Families which caused DPMO to come into being, despite doubts above moving the issue out of the policy mainstream. Your organization exists, and you have your jobs today, because of the work of the National League of POW/MIA Families. Shame on you for treating the families in this manner.
I hope you have taken notice of the action of the League board of directors in passing a vote of No Confidence in you as leader of DPMO. What makes this more interesting is the Korean/Cold War Families of the Missing also passed a vote of No Confidence, followed by the National Alliance - certainly not in agreement with the League on many issues. Doesn't this tell you something is very wrong in the behavior of DPMO, and you as its leader, when these three groups come to the same conclusion?
Given that we are in another war, with one young man missing since April 9 last year, and another still missing from the Gulf War, it is unconscionable that DPMO should be "fighting" with the families whose loved ones are still missing from the Vietnam War. What kind of message are you sending to the men and women on active duty, and to their families? Are you saying that if something should happen to those in harm's way, the government (DPMO) will take charge and will dictate the involvement of the families? We have all heard the phrase "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you." It is usually good for a laugh but once again, as in the mid- to late-1970s, it is now met with fear and distrust by the POW/MIA families. The mail I receive from active duty personnel and their families tells me they trust the National League of POW/MIA Families to be there for them should something happen.
Those of us who volunteer our time on this issue are helping not only the families of those still missing and unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, but also our men and women fighting this current war, and their families. We will not go away.
Please change your plans and stop this divisive, egotistical and dictatorial behavior. Hold your briefings at the Hilton Crystal City, as invited League guests, where all family members may hear your briefings and visit the casualty officers without traipsing all over town. I truly hope you will make the necessary changes - it is never too late to recognize a mistake and make amends.
God Bless America!
Liz Flick
State and Regional Coordinator
National League of POW/MIA Families
cc: Senator George V. Voinovich
Senator Mike De Wine
Rep. Dave Hobson
Rep. Deborah Pryce
Sec. Def. Paul Wolfowitz
Under Sec. for Policy Douglas Feith
Assistant Sec. ISA Peter Rodman
Mrs. Ann Mills Griffiths, Executive Director and CEO, National League of POW/MIA Families
Mrs. Jo Anne Shirley, Chairman, Board of Directors, National League of POW/MIA Families"