National Alliance of Families
for the Return of America's Missing Servicemen
World War IIÊ- Korea - Cold War - Vietnam - Gulf Wars
The National Alliance of Families mourns the passing of Connie Mangino, wife of Sp4 Thomas Mangino. Connie was a dear personal friend, of Lynn OÕShea and supporter of the National Alliance of Families. She succumbed October 22nd, after a long and devastating illness.
Her illness didn't stop her pursuit of information on her husband. She always believed Tom survived his loss incident, so the revelation of the Tourison Memos came as no surprise to her.
Connie was among the POW/MIA family members to travel to Paris for Christmas 1969 in hopes of meeting with the North Vietnamese delegation to the peace talks. Her activism continued to the end. The family has designated the Thomas Mangino Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 157, 880 S. Union Ave., Alliance, OH 44601, for memorial contributions.
The National Alliance of Families mourns the passing of "The Mortician." While his face and name remain unknown to most, his contribution to the POW/MIA issue is well known. After fleeing Vietnam and under threat of assassination if he spoke of what he knew. The Mortician courageously provided information to U.S. officials detailing his involvement with the processing of the remains of over 400 American servicemen unaccounted for during the Vietnam War and his contact with three Americans in Hanoi.
In November 1979, Rear Admiral A. L. Kelln USN, Acting Director of the Defense, issued a memorandum to Michel Oskenberg a staff member at National Security Council. Referring to the Mortician, the memo stated;
"For the past two weeks we have been conducting an extensive debriefing of a Vietnamese source who as a mortician had duties in North Vietnam which included the preparation of the bodies of U. S. Servicemen for storage."
"To a large extent his information can be corroborated by available intelligence, and additionally had been cross checked by polygraph which indicates no deception. He has stated that as late as January 1979, he was aware of the presence of three Americans in North Vietnam."
"Additionally, he possesses considerable information on the remains of approximately 400 U.S. Servicemen which were being held in Hanoi as late as mid 1977."
Get Well Wishes to David Alfond, husband of National Alliance of Families Chairperson Dolores Alfond. David underwent open heart surgery this past Thursday. Our best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month - Peace celebrating the end of World War I, the
War to end all wars. Tomorrow, we mark the 89th Anniversary of Armistice Day, now known as Veterans Day.
On this Veterans Day, as U.S. forces are, once again, deployed to defend our freedoms, take a moment to thank
our Veterans and active duty military.
We honor all who served, those who serve today, and those who will serve tomorrow. This Veterans Day, we
say Thank You to our Veterans, our active duty Service Personnel, our Reservists, and National Guard.
We hate to think where we'd be without you.
223 Co-Sponsors for H.Res 111 --ThatÕs right! Thanks to your efforts H.Res 111 calling for the formation of a Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs in the House of Representatives is so much closer to becoming a reality.
On Thursday, we received the following email from Carol Danko, Legislative Assistant to Congressman Peter T. King.
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"Congratulations! We have over 218 members on board as cosponsors of HRes111 to establish a select committee on POW/MIA Affairs. We appreciate your dedication in getting enough cosponsors! We couldnÕt have gotten this far without your help.
While this is GREAT news! WeÕÕre still not there yet. We will be reaching out in order to get this bill through Rules and onto the House floor; however, it is imperative that we continue to get more and more cosponsors.
I hope you are all as excited as I am about this news."
As Ms. Danko stated in her email we need more and more cosponsors. So if your Congressman is not a co-sponsor, make the call and keep calling until he signs on. The toll free number is 1-866-727-4894. That's the Capitol switchboard. Ask for your congressional representative. Once connected ask for the staff person who handles military matters. If you've tried speaking with the military aide, ask to speak to the Chief of staff or legislative director. Please call or fax, letters mailed require too much screening time. To check if your congressman is a co-sponsor of H. Res 111 visit
www.nationalalliance.org/legis/110congress.htm
And donÕt forget Rules Committee Chairperson
Louise McIntosh-Slaughter at:
2469 Rayburn Bldg
Washington D.C. 20515
1-866-727-4894
Direct to Office 202-225-3615 Ð Fax 202-225-7822
A resolution calling for a House Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs was first proposed in 1993. A Press Release issued, in March 1993,by the office of Congressman Peter T. King described the need to this Committee stating:
"The House POW/MIA panel will build on the work of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs. Unlike the Senate panel, which focused largely on Southeast Asia, the House panel will examine POW/MIA issues from the Vietnam War, as well as the Korean War and World War II. The goal of the panel is to provide long overdue answers, ensure U.S. foreign policy is guided by accurate information, and improve MIA tracking procedures for the future."
Much has happened since 1993 that requires Congressional attention and there is much from the Senate Select Committee that requires additional investigation. Two of the many topics requiring additional investigation are Imagery and the Last Known Alive. Both require additional, objective and far more in depth investigation.
Imagery Ð During our research we found several memorandums for the record which detail the concerns of Senate committee investigators, regarding the handling of the imagery. One memo reads:
"In the conversation, Lucas said something I found troubling, and possibly indicative of a preconceived mind-set with regard to the symbols, before having really beginning his study. In answering Mr. CodhinaÕs question how he was doing, he stated he "should have all the symbols negated within the timeframe desired by the committee."
"A few moments later, in explaining the work-sheet on which he was recording his data, I asked what the word "negation" meant. He stated, that was where he noted the reason for the negation of the symbol i.e. shadows etc. I then asked where "confirmation" was noted if a symbols (sic) turned out to be indeed there. He stated he had no place on his work-sheet for such a category. I said, "Well, I suggest you put one one (sic) it."
Another memo discussing the USA symbol states;
"At the Sam Nuea valley, the USA site, he also found a small compound about two kms away with a stockade wall around the entire compound, and a (sic) inner stockade around a barracks building within the compound. He said this should be investigated as a possible detention site."
A June 22, 1992 memo issued by the Joint Service SERE Agency describes the circumstances under which a desperate POW might abandon the recognized escape and evade codes in favor of the more blatant USA.
"If the crew member happened to become frustrated after having received no response to his "K" signal, it is reasonable to expect him to make progressively more blatant signals, including a "USA." In 1966 Lt. Dieter Dengler, US Navy, who was captured and later escaped used a ground signal "SOS" in Laos which led to his recovery."
Dealing with the USA symbol another document with the title "Preliminary Investigator Finding" states;
Joint Services SERE Agency (JSSA) never shown photo
Both DIA/DX and CIA/OIA imagery analysts unfamiliar with pilot distress/evader signals
JSAA (sic) Assessment: "We probably had a man on the ground."
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Last Known Alive Ð documentation clearly shows that far more servicemen were captured then acknowledged by the North Vietnamese, Viet Cong, Pathet Lao and Cambodians. One Memorandum for the Record dated September 23 1992 discusses this. Referring to the National Security Agency correlation, the memo states;
"Recently received in Senate Security, OSS-4901, is a detailed correlation prepared by NSA primarily from shoot-down reports, with DIA comments on a number of them. Many of those individuals correlated by NSA to have been captured after shoot-down, are probably on the 133 list, or should be, if still listed in the XX category with no evidence of death. Someone nevertheless should scrub the correlation to determine if other names should be added to the list. This is the updated NSA/DIA correlation, incorporating the newly found material from Ft Mead."
"The correlation also raises another question. A number of shoot downs involve two-seaters or planes with multiple crews, where one or more unidentified individuals were captured. For example, on April 4 1972, Jeffery Lemon and Walter Sigafoos were shot down in their F4D over Laos. The correlation indicates the enemy captured one alive and found one dead. Though neither are on the 133 list, because we simply don't know which one was captured, it seems incomplete not to put these individuals into some type of special category."
"Just a quick count of this list produced about 15 instances of multiple crew shoot-downs where at least one individual was captured. This includes a crew of five (Algard, Hentz, Markes, [should be Marker] Osborne and Strawn) shot down on 710304, where three individuals were probably captured. Another two, David Davidson and Fred Gassman were lost in Oct 70. The NSA/DIA correlation shows two Americans captured in this area, at that time. DIA comments that this appears to be a good correlation. Although both of these individuals were probably captured alive based on this correlation, neither are on the 133 list."
"There are some on the correlation list which are just too vague to link to anyone, i.e. one pilot captured in an area and time when several planes may have gone down, including individuals who may have been returned at Homecoming, These are so noted by DIA in the correlation. There are a number, however, that DIA has no comment and cannot correlate it to returnees or pilots later rescued by SAR operations. These are the ones we need to take a close look at, and consider whether we should place them in a special category deserving greater attention."
Imagery and the Last Know Alive....
two aspects of the old business that needs a second look by Congress.
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There is much new business requiring Congressional attention. Here are several examples of new business.
The Gulag Study - The 5th revision of the Gulag Study concluded; "Americans, including American servicemen, were imprisoned in the former Soviet Union...." During a CNN interview, when asked about the number of Americans held, JCSD executive secretary Norman Kass responded; "I personally would be comfortable saying that the number is in the hundreds."
POWÕs in North Korea Ð In March of 1996, DPMO Analyst I.O. Lee prepared a three page background paper that concluded; "there are too many live sighting reports, specifically observations of several Caucasians in a collective farm by Romanians and the North Korean defectors' eyewitness of Americans in DPRK to dismiss that there are no American POWs in North Korea."
Russian Memoirs - Best described as a diary, the memoirs provide detailed information obtained through various sources of American POWs from World War II, Korea and the Cold War transferred to the former Soviet Union. According to a February 26, 2000 Associated Press article by Robert Burns "the assertions, while not confirmed, appear to support, and in some important respects strengthen, a case the Pentagon has been building for several years: U.S. servicemen in the 1940s and 1950s were silently swallowed up in the U.S.S.R.'s brutal gulag system of forced labor, never to be heard from again."
"The Russian emigre said that in the 1980s he was told by an associate with extensive experience in the far eastern reaches of Siberia that he had learned the names of two of the captured B-29 fliers: ``Bush and Moore.'' the B-29's Commander was Maj. Samuel Busch. A crew member was Master Sgt. David L. Moore. The memoir indicates that Busch and Moore were killed - possibly beaten to death - in the Siberian city of Khabarovsk," [Note: This is the same location mentioned by Col. Korotkov as a transit and interrogation point for POWs.] apparently a short time after their capture. Eight surviving crew members were put in solitary confinement in a prison in Svobodnyi, a city northwest of Khabarovsk near the Chinese border, it said. "
Air Intelligence Information Report Ð this extremely disturbing 44 page report showing American USAF personnel who were KNOWN to be POWs and awaiting repatriation at the conclusion of the Korea War. Among those named were the crews of a B-29.
(From: D/1- Memo to G-2 AFFE, 17 Feb 53, Subj: Enemy Air Activity): Between 15225/1 and 2259/I, two B-29s at 19,000 and 21,260 ft altitude observed what appeared to be a signal at (YC 4010), consisting of three lights placed in a row at an undetermined distance from each other. There was no distinguishable code, but these lights flashing did appear to the crew as if a signal was intended. At 152300/I, another B-29 at 22,700 ft observed what appeared to be dots and dashes flashing at (YB 2393). These appeared to be the same lights as reported by the other two B-29s.
(From.- Hq 5th AF Office of D/I, 7 Aug 53, Subj: Attempted Rescue of Downed Airmen) : A rescue was attempted on 24 May 53, using the snatch pick-up procedure. (Green Dragon Rescue Operation). Voice radio (URC-4) was used with lst Lt Ashley directing the pilot to the ground station. (The pilot reported that the voice was definitely that of the American who had previously been identified as Lt Ashley). Upon approaching the pick-up site, the aircraft was fired upon by machine guns, from the pick-up area as well as from the mountain sides, surrounding the area, sustaining damage from small arms fire. Ashley and four crew members, (Turner, Olsen, Shaddick, and Ishida) were known to be alive in Communist hands as of the close of the Korean conflict, Jul 53.
This is just a small sampling of new business requiring Congressional attention.
Why does Johnie Webb still have a job?
We, at the National Alliance of Families, wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.
May your holiday, be joyful and full of love.
On Thanksgiving Day, as we remember those absent and pray for their return,
let us also give thanks for those present, who support us in our daily struggle.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Dolores Alfond -- 425-881-1499ÊÊÊÊÊ
Web www.nationalalliance.org
Lynn O'Shea ----- 718-846-4350ÊÊÊÊÊÊ
Email lynn@nationalalliance.org