December 14, 1995
Congressman Dornan, members of the Committee, I come here today on behalf of my brother, LT Daniel V. Borah, Jr., Case number 1927.
The name of Daniel Borah is well known in POW/MIA circles. In July 1991, several photographs appeared said to be of my brother. These photos are surrounded in controversy. The only question I will raise about those photos is why Dan Borah?
Our family was not active in the POW/MIA issue. We accpeted, without question, all information presented to us by the government. We did not question or challenge the Presumptive Finding of Death made in July 1977. We believed Dan did not survive, because that is what we were told. We did not participate in POW/MIA rallies. We did not make speeches. So why pick Dan Borah as the object of a hoax, if indeed it was a hoax? I have my own opinion regarding the photos. However, this forum is not the place for opinions. This forum is for facts and that is what you will get from me today.
As background, Dan was shot down over Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam on 24 September 1974, 4 months and 3 days before the signing of the Paris Peace Accords.
According to the Forward Air Controller {FAC}, Dan safely ejected from his aircraft and was alive in his parachute. From his chute, Dan radioed "Nail so, Saddleback One in chute." According to a case narrative dated June 5th, 1989, for 30 seconds after the chute was down, aircraft personnel monitored several, and this is a quote "several short-burst manual beeper transmissions." Short bursted manual transmission, puts Dan alive on the ground.
Search and Rescue crews reported seeing Dan's chute being removed from the trees. Due to the tree canopy, they could not see who removed the parachute. Veidence leads to the inevitable conclusion that it was Dan who removed the cute. I could not have said that positively 5 years ago, or even one year ago.
Since Dan's shootdown, we have been told continually that there was no voice transmission from the ground. Every report sent to us stated "no voice contact." In June of this year, we learned this statement was not true.
On July 3rd 1973, a memo was written to the Chief U.S. Delegation Four Party Joint Military team. The memo dealt with four categories of Prisoners and Missing. Those categories were; Last Known to Be Alive; Probably Died in Captivity but name does not appear on offiical Died in Captivity list; Died in Incident and enemy should have some knowledge; and Probably Captured. Dan is listed in the category of Last Known Alive. The intelligence summary associated to his name reads: "Gomer all around." We can only surmise that was his way of announcing his imminent capture.
After years of official government denial, we now have proof that Dan was in voice contact from the ground. As to his message "Gomer all around", we can only surmise that was his way of announcing his imminent capture.
In 1992, the National Security Agency submitted a study, to the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs. Of case 1927 the study said, "Between 23 and 24 September {REDACTED} shot down many aircraft and captured alive an unspecified number of pilots {REDACTED} one of the units had shot down {REDACTED} one Navy A-7 aircraft and captured the pilot alive."
Intelligence reports and communications monitored by the National Security Agency reported Dan's capture. Dan was the only U.S. loss on September 24th 1972. He was the only U.S. in Quang Tri Province for 1 month prior and three months after September 24th, 1972. Therefore, the intelligence reports of one pilot captured in Quang Tri can only relate to Dan Borah.
A case summary prepared for the October 1989 meeting in Hanoi between General Vessey and Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach stated in part: "Borah ejected from his plane and was known captured; investigation of his crash site is irrelevant." Yet, JTF-FA wasted time and money and went to the crash site when they have been looking for information on Dan. The only way they will find information on Dan Borah at a crash site is if it is planted.
The narrative continued "U.S. intelligence attributed this strike to the PAVN 120th AAA battalion 284th AAA regiment at Don Lon or Tan Vinh. The pilot was reported captured... manual beeper signals were reported from the ground.
An undated narrative stated "he parachuted to safety and was captured by communist forces in the area within minutes of his shootdown."
The attempts of JTF-FA to resolve this case based on the false witness statements is criminal. The most recent JTF-FA report dated October 1995 states: "When Mr. Toan and his soldiers arrived, the pilot was dead." The JTF-FA report continued Mr. Toan's firsthand account of LT Borah's death and burial provides compelling corroboration to similar information provided by three wartime residents of Cam Chinh village during the 21st Joint Field Activity. These witnesses heard an American pilot whose aircraft had been shot down near the village in the summer of 1972 was killed and his body buried in a crater.
The U.S. government's July 1990 case narrative states "no civilians inhabited the area prior to 1975, only personnel assigned to PAVN units in the area would have information available on this incident." Why is JTF-FA willing to accept hearsay information from villagers, civilians who were not in the area prior to 1975?
Congressman Dornan, members of the Committee, Dan was alive on the ground and the PAVN unit in the area reported him captured. He was not dead in his chute as recent Vietnamese witnesses told JTF-FA. Dead men don't send beeper signals. Dead men don't remove their parachutes from trees. And dead men son't report their imminent capture. Never forget Dan's last words to U.S. forces, "Gomers all around."
It is interesting to note that as the years passed, in the governments rush to close the POW/MIA issue, wording of the case narratives became less forceful regarding Dan's capture. The October 1989 narrative reads in part:"Borah ejected from his plane and was known captured." The key words are known captured.
A March 1991 case narrative states "Intelligence indicates that Borah was captured." There is a big difference bewteen the words known and indicates. Why the wording change? The answer is easy. Normalization. Wipe off or water down as many cases as possible.
Unknown to us, until 1977, was that fact that Dan's status was changed from Missing to Prisoner of War. A letter signed by James D. Watkins, Vice Admiral,United States Navy stated "LT Borah was placed in a missing in action status. However, the Director of the Personnel Service Division under delegated authority of the Secretary of the Navy on 19 October 1972, determined his status should be changed to captured." Our question - on what was that status chage based? To this day that question has never been answered.
In that same letter, Vice Admiral Watkins informed us that Dan Borah was now officially declared dead. Unfortunately, due to the woefully inadequate Missing Service Personnel Act of 1942, the government was allowed to declare my brother dead solely on the passage of time.
Congressman Dornan, if I might digress for a moment I would like to thank you for all your efforts to update this law. Your support of the "House version" of the Missing Service Personnel Act of 1995 is greatly appreciated.
When the Paris Peace Accords were signed, four months after Dan's shootdown, the North Vietnamese, PRG and Pathet Lao presented a list of POWs to be returned. Some 80 known POWs including my brother, were omitted from the list of 591 POWs acknowledged by Hanoi, the PRG and Pathet Lao. Nor, sis the list of 591 POWs include other known POWs such as Charles Shelton, David Hrdlicka, Ronald Dodge, Robert White and Robert Garwood.
Dr. Kissinger, presented the list of 80 POWs to the Vietnamese negotiators in Paris. Hanoi, the PRG and the Pathet Lao denied any knowledge of the 80 men named by Dr. Kissinger. This in spite of the fact that both Hrdlicka and Dodge were photographed in captivity. Both photos were widely publicized. The photo of LT Ronald Dodge appeared on the cover of Life magazine, November 10th, 1972.
On March 30th, 1973, President Nixon announced - All the POWs are on their way home. But, were they? On April 1, 1973, POW Robert White who Vietnamese negotiators denied any knowledge of, was released. In 1979, POW Robert Garwood who the Vietnamese also denied any knowledge of, was released. Ask yourself this question, why did Hanoi deny knowledge of Robert Garwood when questioned by Dr. Kissinger? Why not say he defected and he does not want to come home? The answer is simple. Garwood, like Dan Borah and all the others, was a POW Hanoi was not ready to return.
Hanoi denied any knowledge of White and Garwood in January 1973. Hanoi lied and continues to lie about Daniel V. Borah jr., and our government allows those lies to go unchallenged.
Dan's name has appeared on no fewer than seven lists, starting with the 'Kissinger List' in January 1973. His name next appeared on a list dated June 1973, discovered by Senator Charles Grassley. That list is titled "Missing and Captured U.S. Military Personnel" and contains 67 names. Among the names on that list are: Charles Shelton, David Hrdlicka, Ronald Dodge and Robert Garwood. POW Rober White unknown to the Vietnamese in January of 1973, was home in June of 1973. All these men and others listed were known to be captured.
Dan's name next appeared on the July 3rd 1973 memo discussed earlier. The October 11, 1979 list of "Citizens and dependents, captured, missing, detained or voluntarily remained in Southeast Asia, accounted for or unaccounted for from January 1, 1961, through current date," prepared by the DIA PW/MIA Branch, lists Daniel Borah's status a "PP" Prisoner of War. When this list was published, Robert Garwood was already home.
Another list titled U.S. Military Personnel Who Died While Captured in the Vietnmam War 1957-1985, lists Dan as death as "hostile died captured." This list contains 113 names including; Charles Shelton, David Hrdlicka, and Ronald Dodge. Of these three only the remains of Ronald Dodge have been returned.
Dan was one of the original 119 Vessey Discrepancy Cases. After many questionable revisions that list now numbers 55. Among the 55 names is that of Dan Borah.
Another memo, dated January 1992, "Titled Stored Remains Vietnam" evaluated the status of each of the original 119 Discrepancy Cases. This memo categorized my brother as an "individual with circumstances of loss which suggest storage." You must remember in 1992 no one in the U.S. government entertained any possibility of live POWs. They were and are only interested in remains. However, to his family those words could easily read "circumstances of loss which prove capture."
On July 26, 1991, former National Security Agency analysis Jerry Mooney gave a deposition on my brothers incident. That deposition stated in part "... Borah successfully ejected and landed safely on the ground. He was captured alive and came under the immediate command and control of the 337th/673 Division operating in the general Khe Sahn area. Its tactical instruction at the time of the incident were to capture pilots alive. These two divisions, Force 16, did execute captured prisoners during its operations in Quang Tri. However, that practice was not in effect at the time of Borah's capture. He was taken alive and as a matter of tactical operations, he was transported across the DMZ north to known holding facilities in the general Ron Ron area on Quang Binh Province. At this location, he came under the direct command and control of the 376th Division. It was at this location, the Ron Ron area, that Borah's fate was decided."
Mooney entertained two possibilities as to Dan's fate. The first was "He would be transported north to Hanoi to be held for return. At the time, North Vietnam's leaders knew our high concern for POWs and it was important to them to jack up the POW returnees..."
The second possibility was, according to Mooney, "... enemy forces were currently bogged down in the Quang Tri Province. They were active consolidating their forces and resupplying thus requiring a major logistics effort. This, it was probable, Borah, if in good health and physically fit, would be diverted to labor at the Thach Ban/Long Dai facilities."
Jerry Mooney's credentials are impeccable. The recent discovery of an NSA memo by researcher Jay Veith confirmed Mooney's statements regarding the execution of 10 American POWs in early 1972. Mooney's statement regarding this matter were debunked by many. Now we have proof. I believe if we can locate the NSA regarding Dan's loss, Jerry Mooney will once again be vindicated. It is truly sad that a man with Mr. Mooney's background, expertise and credentials must constantly defend charges made against him by the very men who know Mooney's statements to be completely accurate.
My families belief in Dan's survival is not wishful thinking. The evidence clearly and without equivocation indicates that Dan Borah was captured. Taking that premise one step further, that means the Vietnamese could easily resolve his case by returning him alive or returning his fully identifiable remains.
It saddens me to say that I have no trust or confidence in the men charged with locating my brother. Too much information remains hidden from us. Where are the National Security messages of September 24th, October 5th and November 24th, 1972? What information did the government hold in October 1972 to change Dan's status from missing to prisoner? Why did the government deny Dan was in voice contact from the ground?
We know that Dan Borah was among th many American servicemen held in Southeast Asia, after the end of the war. We know he survived his incident uninjured. Dan was young and strong, physically and mentally. He could certainly be among the many POWs still held in Southeast Asia. I often wonder what Dan must be thinking. Does he still hope that one day his government will come for him?
We hear of "superb" Vietnamese cooperation. It is a lie. The Vietnamese know exactly where Dan Borah is, today. We know they kept excellent records. Instead of dealing with the case of Dan Borah on a truthful basis, the Vietnamese lead JTF-FA on wild goose chases to a crashsite that has no bearing on the fate of Dan Borah. Instead of the truth, the Vietnamese provide witnesses who could not possibly have knowledge of Dan's fate. The only thing "supreb" regarding Vietnams so called cooperation is the public relations job done by the Defense POW/MIA Office and the Administration in general to create the illusion of Vietnamese cooperation.
The struggle to get information regarding Dan's captivity is a long, hard, uphill battle. My parents health has suffered and our family has sacrificed much in our search for the truth regarding Dan's capture and his location today. Our sacrifice, is minimal, compared to Dan's.
We console ourselves with the words of Jeremiah 31:16-17: Thus saith the Lord; refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord: And they shall come again from the land of the enemy; and there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border.