Prepared Testimony of Dr. Jeffery Donahue

Ladies and gentlemen of the Committee:

As the resume submitted to you shows, I have spent an enormous amount of my time, energy, heart and money trying to account for my brother, Major Morgan Jefferson Donahue, Missing-in-Action in Laos since December 13, 1968. There is only one reason why I have done this: because he and many others in Laos WERE ABANDONED BY THEIR GOVERNMENT -- by the government which they willingly and honorable served in the belief they were doing the right thing for their country.

Very simply, the POWs in Laos were abandoned through the mundane and mendacious conduct of international diplomacy. Laos was the ultimate secret war, funded and operated by the CIA and its Thai mercenary army. The Indochina War tore this country apart. In the rush to disengage from it, Messrs Kissinger and Nixon swept the POWs off the board as if they never existed. They did exist, and they exist today. Until they are brought home, this country will not be whole.

I have submitted statements and documents to this Select Committee from the Defense Department, the State Department, the Pathet Lao and the Vietnamese regarding American Prisoners-of-War in Laos during the Vietnam War. All affirmed that Americans were alive and in the hands of the Pathet Lao. Indeed, several of the documents from our own government not only gave the precise locations of POW camps holding Americans in Laos but also the number of Americans in those camps. The proof of the existence of U.S. POWs in Laos during the War and after the signing of the Paris Peace Accord is immutable.

Thus, can you imagine my feelings and those of my mother and father and the families of so many servicemen lost in Laos while we were watching Operation Homecoming on T.V. and no prisoners came home who had been imprisoned in Laos? Can you imagine the intensity of my hopes and prayers, saying to myself, "O.K. God, the next one is going to be from Laos -- maybe it will be Morgan and we'll celebrate as powerfully as those other families who are running to the aircraft to hug and kiss their fathers, sons and brothers who had come back from the two Vietnams.

No POWs held captive in Laos came back despite all the proof. With that commenced a new dimension in human suffering for their families and loved ones. And, there also commenced a new erosion in the integrity of our government.

Some of us have kept our lives moving even with our suffering; others have not. Oh, how I weep for them and for their loved ones left behind to face mean, cruel fates in the POW camps and jungles of Indochina.

Just as sadly, that suffering inevitably warped itself into a tragic twist which I believe ONLY YOU by your actions can untie: LOSS OF FAITH IN OUR COUNTRY and a firm perception that it cannot and will not do the right thing, which is to bring home the live POWs from Laos even at this late date. Indeed, loss of faith in our country over and above our government is truly heartbreaking because we all were among the most intense lovers of our country. We were as patriotic as could be.

And beyond OUR suffering and loss of faith is the greater and growing awareness by so many OTHER Americans -- based on the facts -- that servicemen were abandoned in captivity by their government. This goes beyond the polls, Ladies and Gentlemen, because when we as a country begin to lose faith in government then all is lost. I think this country does recover from a lot of its trials and tribulations and moves to a higher plane of political and economic awareness, but that is not the case when our government leaves behind live POWs. There is only a downside for our future.

That downside, in addition, is not going to be transmuted into upside by the present process of normalization of relations with Indochina, and I would like to say a few brief words about this. I need to first note, though, that IF THIS COMMITTEE DOES NOT INTERVENE TO BRING HOME THE LIVE POWS THEN YOU WILL HAVE SANCTIONED LEAVING THEM BEHIND IN THE FIRST PLACE. If, as we know, they were alive during and after the War, then some and hopefully many of them are alive today. Nothing could be greater cowardice than for someone to say (as the representatives of the State and Defense Departments so often do), "Well, we don't have any proof they're alive today." Such statements are worthy of nothing but scorn, opprobrium and contempt and are nothing more than another way to obfuscate the truth of the POW-MIA issue.

I fundamentally believe that the process of normalization and, ostensibly, accounting for the POWs-MIAs as laid out by the State and Defense Departments -- the so-called "Roadmap" -- itself fully embodies the lie that the Executive Branch of government has perpetuated for so many years: no Americans were left behind alive nor are alive today. The Defense and State Departments continue to perpetuate this lie so deliberately and so rigorously that it is incorporated into the Roadmap such that no live POWs will be brought home. Two questions affirm this to me, and I feel strongly that you should investigate them as thoroughly as you can:

(1) Why are we not making normalization CONTINGENT UPON a return of the live POWs throughout Indochina, i.e., why are we giving up the great leverage we have to negotiate a return of the live POWs in exchange for normalization? The Vietnamese are desperate for our investment, trade and diplomatic recognition -- are we not desperate for our POWs? Is this not the substance of negotiated deals rather than give-aways? To give the Vietnamese and Laotians everything they want in exchange for some undefined "progress" on the POW-MIA issue, as presently is the course laid out in the Roadmap, IS TO FOREVER ABANDON THE LIVE POWS. Is that what this Committee and, indeed, the entire United States Senate wishes to endorse?

(2) Why is the Roadmap classified and what exactly are the judgmental elements of progress? The fact that they are judgmental was stated to me and others in meetings with Messrs Kenneth Quinn and Carl Ford this September. When asked what constituted progress, they simply said, "Progress is a judgement call". Ladies and Gentlemen, that is not the way the fate of the POWs who were left behind should be negotiated. I beg you to seek the declassification of the Roadmap so we the people may have input and, if necessary, change its direction. Again, the Roadmap is not going to heal the great wound this country feels as the result of the abandonment of those who served it.

You see, here the problem is but one thing: secrecy. The war in Laos was a secret war; the POWs in Laos were a secret; the POW intelligence is a secret; and, the Roadmap is a secret. To me, everything is a secret only because some people are hiding the truth. And, to them the truth is TOO POWERFUL for this country, TOO DESTRUCTIVE for the morale of our Armed forces, and TOO DEBILITATING to our national honor for it to be told. Thus, in the eyes of the individuals who have lied about the subject for so many years, the country is better off by the secret NOT being told and by the POWs forever "serving their country" rotting away in Indochina. Therefore, to these incredibly morally bankrupt individuals the secret -- and the lie -- must prevail and the truth must never be told.

Until the truth is told, Ladies and Gentlemen, and until the live POWs are brought home, there is no honor, there is no dignity, and there is no morality in the armed forces and foreign policy of this country. The Roadmap embodies the secrecy and the lie and it is up to you to change that. Please, we cannot have an honest POW-MIA policy until we have honesty about the issue. The fact that live Americans were abandoned makes the blood boil of everyone I know -- EXCEPT those warped policy-makers involved in the secrecy and the lie.

I must therefore ask this Committee to request the White House to defer normalization of relations with Indochina until you have finished your research and investigations and have issued your conclusions and recommendations. With the Roadmap, the White House is running away from you and will persevere with the lie and abandon the live POWs. I think this Committee is too distinguished for that. The POWs are, their families are, and so is this country.

I'm tired, Ladies and Gentlemen. My parents are tired and my mother has a broken heart. We have spent over 22 years trying to bring my brother back from Laos. We have no faith in our government and we are on the verge of losing it in our country. I guess in this latter regard we would join my brother. Does anyone in this room think that it is his faith in his country which has kept him alive? I dare say not; rather, it probably is his faith in his creator and his family, knowing that WE would not abandon him as his country has. Please, please help us regain our faith in our country. Please do the right thing and intervene in the POW-MIA process and bring the live POWs home now.

I would like to add that to me solving the Indochina POW-MIA issue and bringing home the live POWs is incredibly straightforward process: THE PRESIDENT puts the Secretary of State on an airplane and sends him to Hanoi and Vientiane with a mandate: using our levers of investment, trade and diplomatic recognition negotiate with the Vietnamese and Laotians to bring home the live POWs; to do so you must also give them a face-saving way of giving the men back.

It is that simple. I think he needs your encouragement to do it.

Thank you very much.

Dr. Jeffrey C. Donahue

Brother of Major Morgan Jefferson Donahue, USAF, Missing-in-Action in Laos since December 13, 1968

Director - National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia (also served as a Director in the mid-1970's);

Director - International Institute for Prisoners of War;

Member - National Alliance of Families of America's Missing Servicemen - World War II/Korea/Cold War/Vietnam War;

Member - POW-MIA Connecticut Forget-Me-Nots, Inc.

Author of THE INDOCHINA POW TIMELINE and MANIFESTOS ON THE INDOCHINA POW-MIA ISSUE;

Director and President - Friends for Humanitarian Aid to Laos, Inc.

Among the first Americans invited to Hanoi after the fall of South Vietnam (invited by Phan Hien, then Deputy Foreign Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, in October 1976 to discuss the provision of reconstruction and development aid to the SRV in return for an accounting of American POW-MIAs);

Travelled to Laos, 1974, 1975, 1988. 1990 (twice) and 1991 and to Thailand several dozen times in 1984-88;

I have been employed by Union Carbide Corporation for the past thirteen and one-half years. I presently hold the position of Manager of Project Finance and Treasurer of Latin America and Africa.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Committee:

This Committee was formed to put the POW-MIA issue to rest and with it the suffering, acrimony, confrontation, distortion and deceit which has characterized it from all sides. The turmoil and tragedy surrounding the issue has done nothing but pit the public against their Government. A recent national poll shows 70% of Americans believe POWs were left behind. Yet, the Government maintains it did not happen.

Thus, your charter is a profound one. Your efforts will require serious research on the POW-MIA issue including going through the classified intelligence data in the Defense Intelligence Agency and Central Intelligence Agency. Indeed, the very fact that this data is classified is one of the principal problems obfuscating the issue. In addition, your efforts will have to go beyond the Vietnam War to the Korean War and World War II as many feel the Vietnam POW-MIA issue had a strong precedent in those wars.

Moreover, you will need to hear the testimony of the experts outside Government and the POW-MIA organizations such as Stephen Arkin, William Paul and James Sanders. Individuals such as these have conducted many years of research of the subject. Beyond them you should hear the testimony of both the Government and individuals outside Government involved in the issue. Indeed, I am honored to have the opportunity to appear before you.

Very basically, the elements of your mandate are straightforward. Fulfilling them is the only way to put the issue to rest and help this country heal. The elements are:

To conclude whether American servicemen were left behind in captivity in Indochina and, if so, why. (Fulfilling this mandate will make a very important contribution toward precluding future POW-MIA debacles such as we have experienced in Indochina.)

To recommend alternatives for securing as full as possible an accounting for the POW-MIAs. This should include a plan to bring home the live POWs. You will have to address whether an accounting should be a PRECONDITION to normalization of relations -- THIS IS AN IMMEDIATE CONCERN FOR THE COMMITTEE.

To conclude whether American servicemen were left behind in captivity in Korea and, if so, why. Also to recommend alternatives for securing as full as possible an accounting for them.

To conclude whether American servicemen were left behind in captivity in World War II and, if so, why. Also, to recommend alternatives for securing as full as possible an accounting for them.

To opine as to the efficacy of both the Government's efforts to obtain an accounting and its POW-MIA intelligence operations. However, I strongly recommend you adopt a "no fault" policy in doing so.

To investigate the Glomar Java Sea incident, as it is closely linked to the POW-MIA issue.

To set standards which will delineate what is "as full as possible an accounting for the POW-MIAs." Participants outside Government should work with you in this regard such that the public accepts a final accounting. This is because so very few people trust the Government regarding an accounting. Indeed, the polls indicate the American public is deeply suspicious of the Government's policy and actions on POW-MIAs.

I firmly hope that you will approach this complex subject with open minds and clear slates. It deserves your most complete attention.

Dr. Jeffrey C. Donahue
Brother of Major Morgan J. Donahue, MIA in Laos since 12/13/68
October 29, 1991

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Committee:

The loud and in many cases credible voices charging a conspiracy and cover-up on the POW-MIA issue will not go away until you address the two things most responsible for the charges:

1. The large and growing body of evidence clearly showing that servicemen were abandoned alive and in captivity at the end of the Vietnam War and the growing body of evidence indicating that POWs are still alive in Vietnam and Laos;

2. The fact that POW-MIA intelligence data still is classified despite the War having been over for 18 years. Indeed, POW-MIA intelligence still is classified for the Korean War and World War II. As long as the Government classifies such data, charges of a conspiracy and cover-up will stick; it is just not possible to understand why such data is classified unless the Government is trying to hide the truth about live POWs. "National security" is an excuse which simply does not hold water after so many years.

Beyond this, though, is the conspiracy and cover-up embodied in the Government's POW-MIA policy itself; the policy, too, is in vital need of your investigation. Very simply, THE GOVERNMENT HAS CONCOCTED AND RIGOROUSLY PURSUES A POW-MIA POLICY WHICH ACTUALLY PRECLUDES THE RETURN OF LIVE POWS! To understand this deliberate paradox, you should consider the elements of the policy:

A. "The POW-MIA issue is humanitarian, not economic." To the Vietnamese the issue never was, is not now and never will be humanitarian. To realize this, all one has to do is read the testimony of Congressmen and other officials who visited Vietnam after the War verifying that to the Vietnamese the issues of POWs and economic reconstruction of Vietnam were ABSOLUTELY LINKED. The Vietnamese consistently raised the two subjects together. And, of course, the Laotians merely mirrored their sentiments.

To me, the Vietnamese still are telling us the issues are linked. They consistently say to us, "We do not have the money or the manpower to search our remote provinces for missing Americans." What they really are saying is, "Look, give us some aid and trade -- and look who we found in the jungle." In other words, THE VIETNAMESE WANT SOMETHING FOR THE POWS AND NEED A FACE-SAVING WAY OF GIVING THEM BACK! They are telling us they have our POWs and want to give them to us, but they need (1) something for them, and (2) a face-saving way to let them go.

Very importantly, this affirms the need to make a return of the live POWs and an accounting for the missing a precondition to normalization of relations with Vietnam and Laos. I firmly believe that unilaterally normalizing relations with Vietnam and Laos will lead them to kill the live POWs because the bargaining power they represent will have been obviated (by us, to compound the paradox).

B. "The answers to the POW-MIA issue are in Hanoi, not Washington." This element of the policy is the ultimate cowardice, and the policy makers who formulated it should be excoriated for their complete avoidance of responsibility. It was OUR Government which sent the servicemen to Indochina, it was OUR Government which abandoned them, and it is OUR Government which is responsible for bringing them home. The answers are in Washington, not Hanoi. The policy makers do not have enough integrity to either tell the truth about the issue nor formulate a policy which will bring the live POWs home. Indeed, to avoid that responsibility they have subordinated the POW-MIA issue to other foreign policy objectives (normalization) such that the POWs are in danger of being forever wiped off the slate. This is something this Committee dearly needs to rectify. When government avoids responsibility for ITS actions as has been happening so long with the POW-MIA issue, we as Americans have lost.

C. "When somebody brings us proof of a live POW, we will move heaven and earth to bring him home." This is fraudulent on three fronts: (1) it shifts responsibility for proof of live POWs away from Government to individuals such as myself; (2) the Government itself is sitting on mountains of classified evidence of live POWs which no one else can see; and (3) even when presented with proof, as in the case of Donald Carr, the Government proves itself impotent.

D. "We have more intelligence resources than ever before dedicated to the POW-MIA issue." This is the classic Government approach to any problem -- throw more money at it (and it still will not be resolved). It does not take 500 intelligence analysts and a POW-MIA office in Hanoi to "resolve" the POW-MIA issue. Indeed, such a smoke-and-mirrors approach is certain to fail because the deceitful policy itself says there are no live POWs! All it takes is the Secretary of State getting on an airplane to Hanoi and Vientiane with a mandate from the President to negotiate the necessary deal to bring home the live POWs. And, we have all the bargaining chips we need in the form of normal commercial and diplomatic relations to strike such a deal. It is that simple.

E. "We have looked into our files and we can't find any proof of live POWs." Here, the Government is trying to have its cake and eat it, too. THIS COMMITTEE needs to do the looking. The evidence is overwhelming that POWs were left behind alive and in captivity, the evidence is overwhelming that they still are alive today, and the Committee needs to take the initiative and do the right thing: tell the truth and bring the men home.

Much of the problem regarding the POW-MIAs boils down to no one in our Government, including five Presidents, having the courage to serve them as they served their country, and no one in our Government having the integrity to be accountable for them (which is the real issue of accountability). Won't this Committee please change that? The time is due; the POWs deserve it, their families deserve it, and the country deserves it. Time and results clearly demonstrate that the Defense and State Departments are not going to honorably and decently resolve the Indochina POW-MIA issue; rather, they are trying to make it go away through their ruthless deceit and cowardice.

Dr. Jeffrey Donahue
Brother of Maj. Morgan J. Donahue, MIA in Laos since 12.12.68
October 29, 1991

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Committee:

(Please also refer to the attached document, "The National League of Families: Undemocratic, Unfair and Unswervingly Dedicated to Defending the U.S. Government's Lies, and Deceit on the Indochina POW-MIA Issue")

I have been a member of the League since 1971. I served two terms on the Board of Directors in the mid-1970's and was elected to the current board this past summer with the second-highest vote count.

You may be aware that the Executive Director of the League and the past Board opposed the formation of the Select Committee. Indeed, the Executive Director and leadership of the League oppose almost every initiative which is not "policy correct", i.e., which is not supportive of the Government's POW-MIA policy. And now, the Executive Director of the League and her entrenched minions on the Board continue to hold this Committee in high contempt, as evidenced by their statements to the membership in the League Newsletter. For example, the Executive Director states in the October 21, 1991 Newsletter, "Hopefully, the (Select) Committee will not attempt to determine whether POWs are held or the extent to which accountability can be achieved. . ." To the family members, as opposed to the totally pro-Government Executive Director, these certainly should be two of the Committee's principal mandates.

The Executive Director and the entrenched members of the Board serve but one purpose which, sadly, is not the POW-MIA families. Rather, it is serving and only serving the Government's POW-MIA policy, a policy itself which has been formulated and is being pursued to make sure that no living POWs return from Indochina to the embarrassment of the Government. The League is little more than a mouthpiece for the Government and the Executive Director is for all practical purposes a spokesperson for the Government. The statistics for family participation in the League activities affirm the families' dismay and frustration regarding League activities: only 22% of eligible family members even bothered to vote in the last election of Directors, and 25% quorum consistently cannot be raised at the League Annual Meetings. It would appear that the families have given up hope on the League. Furthermore, the League's financial support primarily is through NON-FAMILY contributions including United Way.

I ran for the Board of Directors hoping to transform the League into an entity serving the families instead of the Government. I now realize that this is impossible. Even though I am a Director of the League, I cannot have access to the League mailing list. Nor can I have any comments inserted into the Newsletter. Other barriers against family members seeing anything but official Government policy go far beyond this; indeed, no voices contrary to the Government's policy are ever invited to address the League or have their comments in the Newsletter. This includes well-known experts on the POW-MIA issue. The League is entirely a one-sided player, and the current League leadership is firmly dedicated to keeping it that way.

The Government's POW-MIA policy would not have what little credibility it does were it not for its very successful co-option of the League in the early 1980's. By bringing the Executive Director under its wings President Reagan could say, as does President Bush today, that he had the support of the family members in his "highest national priority" POW-MIA policy. Such a statement was and is part of the conspiracy which has deliberately kept the POWs from coming home. With so few families participating in the League and with those who do only being fed the pro-Government line, neither the League nor the Government can claim that the families support Government policy. Indeed, the League cannot validly claim to represent the families.

I believe the standard for evaluating the effectiveness of the League, and for that matter the effectiveness of the Government's POW-MIA policy, is accounting for the POW-MIAs and bringing home the live POWs. I cannot imagine any other standard which is relevant. The League and the Government have utterly and unequivocally failed. They have failed the live POWs, they have failed their families and they have failed their country. For the Select Committee to not prevail where the League and the Government have failed would be to lose the greatest opportunity ever to set the record straight on America's POW-MIAs and to deny this country the chance to finally close the books on the Vietnam War and get on with its future.

I would like to note that I do not believe the Executive Director of the League and certain Board members do not want the live POWs to come home. Rather, in blindly accepting the Government's POW-MIA policy they are unwittingly endorsing abandoning the live POWs because the policy has exactly that purpose and consequence.

Dr. Jeffrey Donahue
Brother of Maj. Morgan J. Donahue, MIA in Laos since 12.12.68
October 29, 1991

The U. S. Government's POW-MIA policy has been debilitated by a series of coverup allegations over the years from individuals within Government and individuals and entities outside Government. Each time, the Defense Department or the State Department "investigate" the allegations and say, "Trust us; we've taken a look and affirmed there is no coverup." One thing the American public can count on is the inevitability of more allegations because anytime the Government says, "Trust us," you can bet it is lyin g. The Indochina POW-MIA issue is no different in this regard than Watergate or the Iran-Contra deal. Thank God that the American public knows better.

One way the Government perpetuates its lies on the issue is through the National League of Families of American Prisoners of War and Missing in Southeast Asia. The League is merely a mouthpiece for the Government's policy, and this brief statement explains how the League does it.

Fundamentally, dissenting opinion has no forum within the League. Members are forbidden access to the membership roster or the League mailing list. Questions at the Annual Meeting are severely limited and no press is allowed during the General Session at the Annual Meeting.

Once upon a time, dissenting opinion could be put before the membership in the form of resolutions passed at Regional Meetings. Those resolutions were distributed to the membership for voting prior to the Annual Meeting in mailings accompanied by the voting for Board members. However, the Board also exhorted members to vote against resolutions which were considered contrary to League "direction." Thus, members would read only the resolutions and the recommendations to vote against them. No defense or ex planations of the resolutions were allowed. And, the recommendations to vote against the resolutions usually were paragraphs or a page long when the resolutions themselves were only a few sentences. Members never had a chance to hear the other side and never had a chance to even ask questions. This year, the Regional Meetings were dropped, so not even the resolutions can be put before the membership.

At the other extreme, the Executive Director of the League has a totally unencumbered forum from which to espouse the Government's POW-MIA policy. She also distributes her personal views at will in periodic mailings (for example, her 6/14/91 letter) at League expense and in the Newsletter. Opposing opinions are never printed in any League document; rather, opinions and events contrary to her opinion are attacked without the membership ever having the chance to make up their own minds by being given both s ides of the story.

The Executive Director and the Board say that the League speaks for the POW_MIA families on the issue, and State/DoD often cite the League as the "voice" of the families. This, true to League form, is just another deception. In the first instance, many families have joined the National Alliance of Families for the Return of America's Missing Servicemen - World War II/Korean War/Cold War/Vietnam War. In the second, there is a universe of POW-MIA families and nobody knows how many belong to the League such that it represents the "voice." Finally, it is not certain as to what comprises a "family." In all probability the League would have folded years ago if membership had not been extended to aunts, uncles and grandparents.

Dissenting opinions are vehemently suppressed at the Annual Meeting and dissenters who either state or distribute opposing opinions are threatened with the hotel Security Department and arrest, as I was at last year's Meeting for merely passing out some literature. Questions are not allowed of Government officials at the Meeting except to innocuous junior-level personnel such as those representing CILHI and JCRC.

Experts on the POW-MIA issue from outside Government whose knowledge or opinions differ from the Government/League position never are invited to appear at the Annual Meeting, nor are their positions ever printed in League documents. Some of these individuals are widely acclaimed for their knowledge and research on the POW_MIA issue; examples include Bill Paul, Tom Ashworth, Jim Sanders, Eugene Tighe, Sen. Robert Smith, former Cong. John Rowland, former Cong. Billy Hendon and members of the POW-MIA research team of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Republican staff. The only opinions presented to the League membership are those in support of Government policy. Does anyone think, concomitantly, the Col. Millard Peck, who recently resigned as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency's Special POW-MIA Office, will be invited to appear at the Annual Meeting to present a different view of the Government's policy? Of course not. Indeed, the League has become a party to the Government's coverup.

Of course, who will be invited to appear before the Annual Meeting? Only representatives of the U. S. Government -- the very same people who formulated and now perpetuate the Government's lies on the issue.

Sadly, the whole POW-MIA issue has come to the point where to know the truth one has to go outside the League and the Government. The truth is that American servicemen were knowingly abandoned alive and in captivity in Indochina and remain there today. The League and the Government are so dedicated to suppressing that truth and instead lying about the issue that they have concocted a policy which precludes the live POWs from coming home.

If the Government and the League wanted the live POWs home, they would be home. It is that simple.