"Generals speak often of their military duty to their superiors,
but never of their duty to their soldiers."
Helmutt Lindmann

Satellite Imagery

The Minneapolis Star Tribune letter from General James Wold -ret, of 06 DEC 94, glaringly brings those words to mind. Upon reading the General's 'de-bunking' of satellite imagery, we see once again he serves a much higher authority; perhaps the Pro-Hanoi-Clinton-Kerry-cabal that is hell bent to normalize with the SRV ASAP.

With such fervor on behalf of the good General, it makes one wonder exactly WHAT IS his duty? He has become the man who is now putting a myth to one of the most significant aspects of the live POW issue. Perhaps a closer look at him and his words is in order. In 1973, General Wold, according to the DOD update sheet on him, was involved in the 're-entry' process of returning POWs from Operation Homecoming. There were teams responsible for de-briefs, medical and psychological evaluation and helping returnees re-acclimate themselves to life beyond the bamboo cage. This was General Wold's world. Certainly in the process this man had a substantive idea of what these men were saying and what was going on with the short lists and low numbers of returnees.

How ironic then, that a man so intimately involved in the POW issue 20 years ago, should now be hauled out of the mothballs, with a law degree no less and set upon family members, veterans and activists to finish what was left undone 20 years ago. DPMO has in its midst the 21st Century version of a Judas goat,,, the Pied Piper, who with degrees, stars and Wall Street savvy is in the prime PR slot to dismantle all the remaining vestiges of the POW-MIA issue. It begs one to wonder where he got his info, because it certainly wasn't as a result of reading the NTM Imagery Analysis Report of POW/MIA Related Photography, The Final Report of the SSC or any other pertinent materials it would seem;

WOLD = "These symbols have been thoroughly investigated by top government imagery experts as well as members of the Senate...In no instance did investigation find evidence that the symbols were, in fact, pilot distress symbols..."

AII POW MIA = Would this top government imagery expert be Carol Lucas from Auto Metrics- The very same man that Francis Zwenig sought out in her JK- Auto Metrics fills the bill... Going over script with DIA, memo during the SSC? What other experts are we referring to? One stated during SSC Hearings that when he heard someone refer to imaged authenticator codes as not being man-made, but rather random patterns in the grass, he exclaimed, " If those are a result of random patterns in the grass, then I have a newfound respect for grass". Evidently the good General did NOT refer to Col. Larry Burroughs' report as follows: " ...pertaining to alleged pilot distress symbols detected in Southeast Asia. The tasks required analysis of all possible symbols previously identified by DIA, CIA or JSSA in each target area."

WOLD = "GX2527 is not a valid evader number, nor was it visible in Vietnam."

AII POW MIA = Larry Burroughs writes: "GX 2527 Located in open field (100% level of confidence) 415 ft. S/E of Dong Vai Prison... JSSA has also confirmed and matched this number as a valid authenticator code against a known MIA." Dong Mang, the site of the GX2527 image, as well as others is a notorious high security area and the CIA is aware of major POW and re-education activity. The Dong Mang or Dong Vai area is rife with symbols, GX2527, PAIRAL, as well as countless older symbols. Col. Burroughs recommended expanded imagery collection and analysis for the subject areas for possible new activity.

WOLD = No DOD member has ever observed SEREX on imagery maintained by the USG.

AII POW MIA = 1. Then what was all the secrecy about when the Serex family demanded to see the images. 2. Why was the image 'matted' or framed to obscure the majority of the image, leaving only a small portion view able. 3. How is it Senator Bob Smith could state he could read the name SEREX as clearly as the letterhead on his desk. 4. Why did DOD feel compelled to 'de-bunk' the image from the get-go with their letter stating SEREX stood for Search, Evade and Rescue Exercise.

WOLD = 72 TA 88 has no correlation to any American missing in Southern Asia.

AII POW MIA = This quote will suffice: Senator Grassley " When you saw the 72TA88, did it match a person that was missing?" "When you found the name, though, did it match when that person went down?" answer by Mr. Dussault: "Yes Sir." AND with respect to the purge or loss or destruction of the authenticator lists by DIA and others; Senator Smith: " We do not have the lists of these identifiers to find them if they signal?" again the answer by Mr. Dussault: "Yes, Sir."-source, SSC Hearings.

WOLD = Wrye is not unaccounted for as of 13 SEP 90.

AII POW MIA = But he WAS when his name and messages were imaged in 1988.

WOLD = Walking K and USA are man-made by locals.-paraphrase

AII POW MIA = On 10/15/92 Mr. Andrews swore in testimony before the SSC; " Two unexplained sets of symbols which were clearly intended to communicate something... USA... K" He testified there was a name scratched into the field that matched an MIA. What is VERY important about the USA-K symbols, is that there is a cluster of symbols in this area, the Sam Neua Valley, Laos. At least 8 suspect symbols and at least 8 SUSPECT NEW SYMBOLS.

WOLD = Virtually all POW-MIA related information form the Vietnam era has been declassified and released to the Library of Congress.

AII POW MIA = Then why do family members have to use the FOIA? Why do they not have access to the complete files on their loved ones? Why is it the documents we have received from the various government offices and repositories are so heavily censored and redacted? Why hasn't the NSA ever responded to the declassification orders issued in 1993?

General Wold has become yet another apologist for the failings of DOD, et al. First they will say there's nothing there, and if that doesn't work then they will use the ridiculous excuse that by seeing the images, one can ' infer the technology that created them'. We know of no family member with that capability. Once again the USG and General Wold are hiding behind the take my word for it mentality, but when push comes to shove, their word is meaningless.

All these apologists, should re-evaluate their DUTY... that to the POWs, the MIAs and the families who wait, the taxpayers who support their salaries, benefits and pension funds, instead of pandering to superiors who have allowed this tragedy to continue by compounding it with half-truths, semantics and outright lies. The question remains, why do they so fiercely hide these images and pictures? Maybe because pictures do not lie.