"Hi Andi... Heres the latest.
Congressman Mark Kirk is moving forward with the bi-partisan joint house recovery bill. Its undergoing a final signoff but Ive attached the latest version just to get you up to speed. Also please take the time to read below regarding US and DoD laws, policies and procedures regarding the recovery of fallen servicemen and woman. Its also up on our blog:
http://georgeone.blogspot.com
SECNAV is either misinformed or ignoring DoD policies and procedures. Plan C (Plan B is Congressman Kirks resolution and earmark appropriation) will be to present SECDEF/SECNAV with documentation thru FOIA for a voluntary reconsideration. Plan D is a class action suit.....
You may contact Patrick Magnuson in Congressman Kirks office for more info on the bill. 202-225-4835 We hope to have up to 50 cosignatories from both houses on it.
Cheers!
Lou
In Response to a George One "Anonymous" Comment
The George One Blog recently received the following comment from an anonymous poster. Unfortunately neither the poster nor many people are familiar with the laws and policies of the United States of America and the Department of Defense in regard to the loss of our servicemen and women and the recovery of their remains.
I want to thank the anonymous poster for giving me and others the opportunity to clarify these laws and policies for the general public, the decision makers in the Pentagon and our Congressional lawmakers.
The Anonymous Comment:
The argument that you are advancing to recover these crewmen oversimplifies the issue. There are plenty of known wrecks of US ships whose crewmen had no burial since they were lost in combat, sometimes with all hands. To what extent do you propose the government and the Navy expend resources to recover crewmen from USS Arizona, USS Utah, USS Vincennes, USS Quincy, USS Astoria, USS Grunion, USS Wahoo, USS Lagarto, and dozens of other wrecks, all of which are known and arguably more accessible? I might be more inclined to agree with the George One recovery if the plane had crashed with no survivors and they had never been buried. The fact of the matter is that the burial by their shipmates was fitting and akin to burial at sea, a common practice in that era. Let them rest.
The Reply To Anonymous
From researched information compiled by Lou Sapienza and others.
The Short Reply
With the intention of bringing their fallen comrades home, the survivors of the George One Crew placed their crewmates in a temporary grave to prevent scavenging birds from desecrating their remains. The temporary grave was marked with steel piping to ensure ease of locating the site with magnetometers when a return crew arrived. The Captain of the USS Pine Island, Captain Caldwell a distinguished US Naval Academy alum and who would later go on to become a Rear Admiral did not finish a formal burial ceremony due to the fact that the original intent was to bring these men home. Had it not been for the severe injuries of the pilot, Frenchie LeBlanc and the need to get him to a hospital, the men would have sledded their fallen comrades back to the rescue aircraft. One survivor, now well into his 80s maintains that to this day that this was the plan. James Robbie Robbins actively works to bring his crewmates home.
Those of the George One crew that did not survive are perfectly preserved, frozen in time and the glacier that claimed them. Since 1947 it has been the request of the families that their brothers, uncles and cousins be brought home. According to US Navy documents it was the intent of Rear Admiral Richard Byrd, commander of the expedition, to recover these men. Had it not been that weather precluded a recovery they would have been returned.
In regard to accessibility of other losses: The USS Vincennes is located in over 2985 feet of water, the USS Grunion in over 2000 feet of water and are hardy accessible. In all the above cases that you mention, the natural process of the seas has assimilated the remains of the casualties into the vast sea. Remains in these cases no longer exist for recovery in any of the instances. In contrast, in the case of George One, the remains of the men are perfectly preserved.
The Long Thorough Reply
Anonymous Raises (3) Arguments:
1. Deep Water Losses: This issue involves hostile losses during past wars and conflicts, whereby ships registered to the U.S. Government were victims of enemy combatants. What is significant and should be stressed is these Loss Incidents do not pertain to U.S. Naval Vessels/Aircraft exclusively. During WWII for instance, Naval Ships/Aircraft (to include Navy and Marine Corps aircraft), Army Troop Carriers/Aircraft, Merchant Ships, which included detachments of U.S. Army and U.S. Navy Armed Guards and vessels own by U.S. Government Allies; all suffered 'Deep Water Losses'. With the advent of the Cold War, Korean War, the Vietnam War and Desert Storm (Gulf War), the U.S. Government and its Allies would see further losses over 'Deep Water'. Department of Defense policy concerning 'Under Water Excavations', clearly distinguishes between shipping and aircraft losses along coastal waters, which potentially can be excavated, if the wreckage can be located and American service members are still listed as Unaccounted-For; and shipping and aircraft losses known to have been lost over deep water. In keeping with naval traditions, the Department of Defense concurs with the international community that these sites will immediately classified as "Maritime Grave Sites", coming under the protection of 'International and U.S. laws', once the site is independently verified by the U.S. Government. This also is the current policy of the Department of the Navy, which was exercised most recently with the finding of the final resting place of the USS LAGARTO AND the USS WAHOO, both U.S. submarines lost during WWII. The most recent finding by independently sources is the USS Grunion, which is currently undergoing independent verification by the Naval Historical Center, Washington D.C. The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) has and will conduct 'Underwater Excavations' of Hostile Loss Incidents involving American aircraft and shipwrecks in shadow water along coastlines, islands and river tributaries, whenever new and creditable information is received that confirms the resting sites of these vessels. Some of the more recent underwater excavations involve the recovery of remains of Navy pilots and other crewmembers associated with Vietnam Loss Incidents.
2. National Memorials: Both the USS ARIZONA and the USS UTAH, were victims of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor of 7 December 1941. Unlike the USS OKLAHOMA, which capsized and was eventually salvaged in March 1943, the USS ARIZONA and the USS UTAH were left in place and subsequently designated 'National Memorials' to honor not only crewmembers, who are listed as Unaccounted-For', but all American service men killed during the attack. Ironically, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) is currently conducting limited disinterments of "Unknown Grave Sites", which contain remains of Sailors who were killed during the attack on Pear Harbor and whose remains were subsequently buried at the National Cemetery of the Pacific (Punch Bowl). The Associations for the USS ARIZONA and USS OKLAHOMA have been the primary impetus behind these disinterments, having conducted extensive research, which identified the gravesites associated with known 'Battle Losses' associated with the Pearl Harbor Attack. Excerpts from the USS ARIZONA Memorial and USS UTAH Memorial websites, listed below, provide additional information concerning the establishment of these memorials.
USS ARIZONA:
"The USS Arizona Memorial grew out of wartime desire to establish a memorial at Pearl Harbor to honor those who died in the attack. Suggestions for such a memorial began in 1943, but it wasn't until 1949, when the Territory of Hawaii established the Pacific War Memorial Commission, that the first real steps were taken to bring it about.
Initial recognition came in 1950 when Admiral Arthur Radford, Commander in Chief, Pacific (CINCPAC), ordered that a flagpole be erected over the sunken battleship. On the ninth anniversary of the attack, a commemorative plaque was placed at the base of the flagpole.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who helped achieve Allied victory in Europe during World War II, approved the creation of the Memorial in 1958. Its construction was completed in 1961 with public funds appropriated by Congress and private donations. The Memorial was dedicated in 1962 in commemoration of the 1177 Officers and Enlisted crewmembers, who are entombed therein."
USS UTAH:
"In about 1950, two modest memorials were erected on and near the remains of USS Utah, which had been left where they lay after the 1943-44 effort that partially righted the capsized ship. http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/pearlhbr/ph-ut9.htm
The first plaque bore the inscription: "Near this spot, at Berth Fox 11, on the morning of 7 December 1941, the USS Utah was struck on the portside with what is believed to have been three aerial torpedoes and was sunk. She was subsequently rolled over to clear the channel but was left on the bottom." The second plaque read: "In Memory - Officers and Men - USS Utah - Lost in Action - 7 December 1941"
These plaques were subsequently overshadowed by the far more visible and accessible USS Arizona Memorial http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-a/bb39-v.htm
3. The 'George One Loss Incident' of 30 December 1946', is officially classified as a Cold War Non-Hostile Loss Incident - most likely the very first Cold War Loss Incident on record. Associated with Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, USN, and his fourth Antarctic Expedition, the mission of the George One and her sister aircraft, the George Two and George Three, was to map the coast line of the Antarctic and to identify suitable building sites for Naval Bases, should the dictates of the Cold War so warrant. Survivor testimony and the content of the 1947 Congressional responses to the family of Aviation Radioman First Class Wendell Keith Hendersin, USN; clearly indicate that the temporary burial of Ensign Maxwell Albert Lopez, USNR; Aviation Machinist's Mate First Class Frederick Warren Williams, USN; and Aviation Radioman First Class Wendell Keith Hendersin, USN; was not intended to be the final resting place of these Sailors. Events beyond the control of Rear Admiral Byrd, primarily adverse weather and the pending departure of the Task Force, prevented the recovery of these remains before the task force was forced to depart the area. With the advent the U.S. Government's "Full Accounting Effort", which stood up in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, the Department of Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) became the sole focal point for recovery and identification of remains associated with Hostile Losses dating back to the beginning of WWII, in accordance with the Missing Service Personnel Act (MSPA) of 1995, Title 10 USC, Sections 1501-1513, as mandated by Congress. To support this effort, various U.S. Government agencies, the Military Services (USA, USAF, USN (includes Coast Guard Losses in time of War) and the USMC), the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), the Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (CIL, JPAC), the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL), and the Life Science Equipment Laboratory (LSEL); actively contribute personnel, funding, material resources and military assets to assist in this endeavor. Non-Hostile recovery of remains associated with Operational Loss Incidents dating back to WWII and in some cases even earlier, are also being pursued by the Military Services, although this effort is under the cognizance of the Service Secretary's Current Death Programs, Title 10 USC, Sections 1480-1483. The Department of the Navy has participated in several Non-Hostile recoveries of remains, to include additional remains recoveries, such as the LA-9 Loss Incident of 12 January 1962 (additional remains recovered in August 2004), as well as the recovery of initial remains of Navy service members from isolated sites within the confines of the United States (i.e. State of Washington and the State of California). The sole defining criteria for pursuit of remains recoveries associated with Navy Non-Hostile Loss Incidents, wherein there is a high probability of recovery of remains, has always been the safety of the members of the 'Recovery Team' that is charged with the recovery operation. It is interesting to note, that the highly successful recovery of additional remains associated with the 1962 LA-9 Non-Hostile Navy Loss Incident, involving a Navy PV-1 Aircraft with twelve crewmembers aboard, was a Naval Operational Recovery effort, as assisted by a British Commercial Firm specializing in Cold Weather Operations in the Arctic, as well as, a Cold Weather Anthropologist on loan from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC). The remains, aircraft artifacts, and personal effects of the twelve crewmembers associated with this Navy Loss Incident are currently undergoing the final phase of the 'Identification Process" at the Central Identification Laboratory, Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), in Hawaii.
Those individuals within the Department of the Navy, who take the perspective that the Secretary of the Navy does not have an obligation to the families of Navy Unaccounted-for Service Members, stand in direct contradiction to the very premise of the U.S. Government's "Full Accounting Effort" (Hostile Loss Incidents), Public Law (Hostile & Non-Hostile Loss Incidents), and the very principles on which service to the Department of the Navy is base: Honor, Courage and Commitment (excerpt from the Sailor's Creed). These Sailors are our comrades, our sons, brothers, uncles and cousins who paid the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our country from known and potential aggressors. Regardless of whether the loss was due to hostile enemy fire, mechanical problems or severe weather, they were put in "Harms Way" and deserve no less than our very best effort to recover their remains, whenever the opportunity is presented. To do anything less, would demean the sacrifices that these men and women made on behalf of our Nation and especially the United States Navy, for whom they proudly served and died!"