In the Spring of 1993, amidst the furor of rumors that the embargo between the US and the SRV would soon be lifted, a stunning series of events took place that further shook the foundation of the USG's continued platform of denial of Americans being abandoned at the end of the war in Southeast Asia.
During a tense period, when the lifting of the embargo seemed imminent, bringing about fears of a loss of legal footing to fight for the return of POWs and answers about MIAs, a several page document was quietly discovered in the cluttered archives on the other side of the world. The document, ultimately known as the Quang or 1205 Document, became the catalyst for questions, commentary, argument and research the likes of which had not been seen publicly for many, many years.
It began when a scholar named Dr. Stephen Morris was granted permission to view certain archival materials in the former Soviet Union. Dr. Morris, who was researching for a study on the relationship between the former Soviet Union and the North Vietnamese during the Second Indochina War, had no interest in the issue of Prisoners or Missing, except in passing as he viewed various documents. It was when he asked for documents from the files of the Central Committee, Communist Party Soviet Union, International Department, that he was about to become a part of history.
In short, the 1205 Document stated that the North Vietnamese had 1,205 POWs in hand, 5 months before they returned only 591 POWs during Operation Homecoming. This figure did not take into account additional personnel captured afterwards, nor did it account for the men known to be Prisoner in Laos, Cambodia or the Soviet Union. The 1205 Document went on to discuss the political objectives of the then DRV, and the makeup of the men who would be returned at the end of hostilities.
The 1205 Document was brought back to the US, and turned over to National Security Advisor Tony Lake. After that, it in a sense, disappeared. The White House effectively suppressed the document, and made no mention of POWs when Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton met shortly afterward. But, as fate would have it, the 1205 Document, buried for so many years before being hidden again by our elected or appointed officials, was meant to be seen and once it was, the ramifications further shattered the myth that 'all the POWs are home.'
After its release, the damage control teams ran rampant. Countless nay-sayers were brought out to declare the 1205 Document everything from poorly translated to an outright fraud. Yet, irregardless of the denials, the truth was the USG had a report in hand authenticating the Document, and, most importantly, the Document dovetailed with so much that had been said, known or suspected all these years. The pieces fit. The following materials reflect 4 very important aspects of the 1205 Document discovery. The Document itself, the Authentication of the Document, and the sworn testimony of Dr. Stephen Morris and that of Mr. George A. Carver, Jr. By looking at all four, we can appreciate and understand the 1205 Document, and be provided further insight into the continued deceit and cover-up of a humanitarian issue that became a political agenda.
Suggested Reading by AII POW-MIA:On the '1205 Document':
Original Translated Text of the The Quang or '1205' Document
USG Documentation Proving The Authentication of the '1205' Document
Discovery of the Document by The Testimony of Dr. Stephen Morris
Submission on Vietnam POW/MIA Matters
by George A. Carver. Jr.
John M. Olin Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies
POWS and POLITICS:
How Much Does Hanoi Really Know?
The '1205 Document': Another View
Testimony of George J. Veith - June 19th, 1998
Before the House Subcommittee on Military Personnel
Testimony of George J. Veith - September 17th, 1996
Before the House Subcommittee on Military Personnel