February 2000
Summary of news for the entire month.
For recent and daily news, please go to: InterNetwork
01 FEB 00: 2,031 Americans remain unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War: ARMY: 640 (VN-10, VS-488; LA-107; CB-35); NAVY: 413 (VN-282, VS-92; LA-28; CB-3; CH/OW-8); USMC: 263 (VN-24, VS-203; LA-22; CB-14); USAF: 675 (VN-233; VS-165; LA-260; CB-17); and COAST GUARD: 1 (VS-1). 39 civilians remain unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War: VS-22, LA-12, and CB-5. 552 Americans have been accounted-for post 1973: VN-401, LA-142, CB-7, and CH-2. 183 Americans have been accounted-for during the present administration. Persian Gulf War - unsatisfactory accounting. Korean War - 8,139 remain unaccounted-for, 42 possible remains returned, 4 identifications. World War II - Over 78,000 remain unaccounted-for.
02 FEB 00: From the League of Families - "Teams of JTF-FA and CILHI specialists are now in Laos and Cambodia conducting joint field operations, assisted in Cambodia by a DIA Stony Beach official. In Laos, 3 primary sites are being excavated, and in Cambodia, 10 cases are being investigated and 3 sites are being excavated. Early indications are positive concerning results in both countries. In Cambodia, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/MIA Affairs Bob Jones visited the incident sites, including one covered by the media that involved the May 1975 Mayaguez incident. These field operations are the 46th in Laos and the 18th in Cambodia since January 1992. A US Archival Research Team is also working with Lao officials to copy for US use excerpts of possibly useful wartime film footage."
03 FEB 00: DOD held its 6th Annual POW/Missing Personnel Prayer Breakfast. Attendeding were Ex-POWs and their families and the families of unaccounted-for POWs and MIAs, advocates, activists, veterans and other who care.
04 FEB 00: Who Is Really Telling The Truth? The US is proposing that North Korea come back and sit down to arrange talks and maybe plan some recovery operations. The North Koreans are saying they have 415 sets of US Korean War remains... the US says nope, they have 2 and proposing humantarian aid, the US says nope, they didn't ask for aid. A war of words and for all the noise, nothing is ever really said or heard. In the long-run, the Berlin talks broke down completely after the North Koreans asked for big time economic assistance tied to remains recovery. Hey, it worked for Vietnam, North Korea is just following suit.
05 FEB 00: North Korea now says it has the dog tags of Charles Sizemore, missing since the Korean War. The caveat? Although they have the dog tags, they assure us that they cannot correlate them to any set of remains in their possession. The same case for Vietnam can be found in North Korea... military museums feature artifacts and effects of US POWs and MIAs on display for all to see, except the families of prisoner and missing.
07 FEB 00: Following the announcement that communist North Korea has hundreds of sets of possible US remains, the US has renewed its efforts to bring NK to the table and agree to talks. One of the main issues to be discussed - just how many sets of remains does North Korea have access to? The US believes the communists have 2 sets of remains, the North Koreans say they have 415. Where the truth lies may never be ascertained given the chilled relations between the two adversaries and the North Korean penchant for destruction of remains, commingling , recovery without benefit of historical tracking and non-anthropological exhumations. In his Rand series, Dr. Paul Cole stated repeatedly that hundreds, if not thousands of remains could be recovered in North Korea, South Korea and at the Punchbowl. The series of events over the past several months seem to be proving the good Dr. Cole right. The Punchbowl was the site of several dozen 'Unknown' exhumations last year and now the admissions from North Korea may prove that North Korea, if it wants, has the ability to produce a staggering number of US remains.
The talks would needless center on the number of remains currently available to US forensic specialists, the ability to locate more burial sites (Death March trails have historically been counted as significant), the willingness of North Korea to allow US search and recovery teams to work within its borders, the manner of repatriation, and, even though it has not been clearly stated, what North Korea expects in return. Pentagon officials say, "They apparently have agreed to discuss the number of remains and the conflict in the accounting, and we would assume there would be a full discussion of returning those remains." The disparity in the current figure, 2 vs. 415, apparently comes from the North Korean admission (earlier) that it had 2 sets of remains. Previous to this, the US estimated 400 POW-MIAs might be accounted-for as a result of combat in the Unsan region, where the 2 sets were found. Whether North Korea is simply parroting previous US assessments or it indeed has the 413, or access to them is unknown.All we do know is that 50 years is too long to wait. North Korea is playing the same game North Vietnam has played, successfully, for years. The issue of live POWs, at any time and place, is always superceded by the emotional hot-button that gets pushed every time we hear there are remains left on foreign soil. If it is truly a humanitarian gesture, with no quid pro quo, no strings, then send the remains back to the US, let science do its best to identify them and tell the families. The remains, the POWs and MIAs, and the families are being held hostage and will continue to be so until Washington DeCeit and all the other agencies and governments stop playing political football with people's lives and loved ones.
08 FEB 00: Following the introduction of the POW-MIA stamp several years ago, the US Post Office unveiled two new stamps honoring Vietnam War Veterans. Part of a commemorative series on the century, one stamp is part of the 1960s series, the other found in the 1980s series. The 1960 stamp shows combatants jumping out of a chopper on a LZ while the 1980 stamp shows a boonie-hatted Vet touching The Wall. The other significant events that were deemed imporatnt enough to become part of history with portrayal on a stamp run a spectrum of mostly pop ciulture icons. To view, please go to - http://www.stampsonline.com/gallery/ctc.htm
09 FEB 00: In an ongoing effort to create a POW-MIA Related Histories section, we have added new images and histories. The entire section may be found at - http://www.aiipowmia.com/histories/histmnu.html
10 FEB 00: Following the Trip Report filed by DASD Jones, newswire reports on the Cambodian wittnesses offer the following - Two former Khmer Rouges soldiers assisted US personnel in locating the grave of a Mayaguez Marine. BACKGROUND: Incident - TheMerchant freighter Mayaguez was captured by the Khmer Rouges on May 12, 1975. The vessel, bound for Thailand, was captured when theCambodian guerillas assaulted it with two gunboats and boarded it. The Khmer Rouges charged the 39 crewmembers with espionage and heldthem. Two days of intense attacks insued and the Mayaguez was retaken by US forces when an amphibious assault of US Marines stormed her.The crew had already been released. American Casualties: 18 hostile KIA, Marine amphibious personnel. The accounts by the former guerillas were that they fired on a helicopter and buried one of the US casualites. leaving two others in the sea. The US will excavate the gravesite on Koh Tang Island and return whatever remains and artifacts found to CILHI for identification. Said Jones, "I'm so pleased that the Cambodian people and the Khmer Rouge are willing to come forward and share with us their experiences,'' and "This demonstrates that, in the passage of time, adversaries during war can come together on a humanitarian mission and have successful relations.'' Let's not pat the 'former' Khmers on the back too quickly... they murdered 2/3 of their countrymen, some for no reason more than the poor people wore glasses (classing them an 'intellectual' and not of poor vision) and it's taken 25 years for their memories to be jarred.
11 FEB 00: Back from Russia, the US-Russia Joint Commission released a summary of the 16th Plenum held November 1999. The report may be found at - http://www.aiipowmia.com/reports/16plenum.html
14 FEB 00: Even though North Korea balked and walked (again) from discussions with the US, their propaganda paper published a mention of the longterm unrepatriated prisoners still being held in South Korea and called for their immediate, unconditional release. It's clear that all should call for the unconditional, immediate release of ANY POW in ANY country
15 FEB 00: Because of the family updates conflicting with Spring observances, DPMO has published a revised schedule. Please mark your calendars. Please note the double date, although Saturday family briefings are for families, the Friday evening sessions are open to veterans and other carin citizens.
Veterans Family Update:
Mar 24 / Mar 25 - New Orleans, La.
Apr 14 / Apr 15 - Indianapolis, Ind.
May 19 / May 20 - Charleston, S.C.
July 28 / July 29 - Milwaukee, Wisc.
Aug 25 / Aug 26 - Knoxville, Tenn.
Sept 22 / Sept 23 - Seattle, Wash.
Oct 20 / Oct 21 - Pittsburgh, Pa.
Nov 17 / Nov 18 - Miami, Fla.
16 FEB 00: From DPMO -"MEMORIAL TO COLD WAR MIAs PROPOSED - The U.S. Ambassador to Latvia, James H. Holmes, has informed DPMO of a proposal by Latvian officials to honor the service of a U.S. Navy crew shot down in 1950 off the coast of Latvia. The aircraft, a Navy PB4Y2 Privateer, was shot down over international waters on April 8, 1950, with 10 crewmen aboard. The ambassador is working with local officials who have proposed a memorial or plaque near the shoreline where the aircraft was shot down. The Navy Casualty Office has contacted available family members of the crew, all of whom expressed their appreciation for the effort to honor their loved ones. Additionally, DPMO is informing family and veterans organizations of the initiative. This newsletter will report additional details as the plans are made final."
18 FEB 00: The gutted, rutted path that was no more than a muddy foot path in 1959, that wove it's way through jungles, that carried Communist troops, materiels, fleeing civilians and endless POWs on death marches is slated to become a two-lane national highway. In an official announcement the COMMUNIST government of Vietnam plans to overhaul the 1,000 mile long roadway that winds from Ha Tay in the north to the former Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City. There is currently only one north-south road, Highway 1, that is besieged by monsoons and congested traffic. Estimated to run US$375 million and three and a half years to complete, the road will eventually be turned into a six-lane highway in the future. We can only wonder whether there will be excavations during the building process... many a POW was known to have collapsed and perished during the arduous death march trek... one lady, Betty Olsen, is one of them. We can only pray that forced labor and POWs are not used to accomplish the task of turning the Trail into a Turnpike.
19 FEB 00: We've received an interesting letter from a crewmember of the Glomar Java Sea. If you are interested, please go to - Glomar Java Sea - http://www.aiipowmia.com/sea/gjs2k.html
21 FEB 00: Thought for the day - Today is 'Presidents Day'... for most a day off from school and work, a sale day at 'The Maul' where shoppers get grreat prices and mauled. And, historically a day when we honor past Presidents such as Lincoln and Washington. But there's another meaning... rarely noticed by most... In looking at the names of so very many POWs and MIAs we find something... so very many are named for Presidents... Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Jefferson, Franklin and Coolidge... There's Taft, Celveland and McKinley, Ulysses, Harding, Grover and Hancock... so many named in some part, in honor of our Presidents. How ironic and tragic and that their families thought enough to honor them with the name of a President when every President since then has thought nothing more than to abandon them.
22 FEB 00: The Clinton Badministration tried to fast-track a trade pact with communist Vietnam, knowing full-well that unless a bilateral trade agreement could be hammered out by the first of the year, the talks would go down the tubes and the phone wouldn't be ringing until after the 2000 Presidential elections, if at all. And their fast-track just became a no-starter according to whiz bang analysts who stated it wasn't possible to reignite the negotiations. Only those points agreed to thus far would be discussed for clarification. The US wants to move forward, the Vietnamese want to have further talks to clarify what has already been discussed and/or agreed to and to possibly renegotiate what has already taken 4 years to negotiate. (can you say bureaucracy?) Previously, Vietnam has agreed (in principle) to a trade arragement that would hopefully boost the floundering economy of what was touted as the new Asian Tiger... the Tiger is apparently a de-clawed, toothless old pussycat if the businesses bailing from the red-tape laden country is any indication. The analysts blame the Communist Party, still the only party in town, for the delay. The Party apparently has reservations about opening themselves up to capitalism and thus loosing control.
Same stuff, different day.
23 FEB 00: From the Pentagon - "No. 095-00 IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 25, 2000 KOREAN WAR 50TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION ANNOUNCED A wreath layings and opening ceremonies on June 25, 2000, will be the first in a series of events for the 50th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration. The commemoration, authorized by Congress and conducted by DoD, will thank and honor Korean War veterans and their families; especially those who lost loved ones. Over a four-year period, more than 35 commemorative events are scheduled to show that a "Grateful Nation Remembers" their service and sacrifice. From 2000 to 2003, events will take place throughout the United States, Republic of Korea and the pacific region, reflecting the U.S. military, its allies and the United Nations' concerted efforts during the Korean War. This year's commemorative events include:
June 25 - Commemoration Wreathlayings and Opening Ceremonies - Seoul, Korea/Washington D.C.
June 28 - Task Force Smith Commemoration - Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va.
July 5 - Twilight Tattoo - Ellipse, Washington, D.C.
Sept. 13 - Breakout of Pusan Perimeter Commemoration- Teagu, Republic of Korea
Sept. 15 - 17 Inchon Landing/Pusan Perimeter Commemoration - Norfolk, Va.
Nov. 11 - Changjin (Chosin) Reservoir Commemoration - Seoul, Republic of Korea
Nov. 27 - Changjin (Chosin) Reservoir Commemoration - Camp Pendleton/San Diego, Calif.
Dec. 12 - Hungnam Redeployment and Evacuation Commemoration - Navy Memorial, Washington, D.C.
In addition to these events, local commemorative groups throughout the nation will recognize veterans and their families by hosting local events and supporting school programs that teach the history of the Korean War. The commemorative community program was the foundation for the World War II commemoration where more than 7,800 groups actively participated. The commemorative community program continues during the Korean War commemoration. Local programs will use educational products developed by the anniversary committee - maps, posters, books, fact sheets, stickers, flags etc. - and Korean War veterans to help tell people of all ages about the Korean War. For more information about the 50th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration, call (703) 604-0820 or visit the web site at http://korea50.army.mil "
24 FEB 00: Wow... what an undertaking. Much respect goes out to these folks. Although the lists from Korea and Southeast Asia have been available for a long time, the lists from World War II are daunting to say the least. Over 78,000 Prisoners and Missing, over 400,000 casualties. There is a database now available for searches on World War II names... The result is Name, Rank, Branch of Service, Selective Servive Number, Unit, Home of Record, KIA or PFOD Date, Status, Burial Site for Remains or Marker Placement for Unaccouted-For, Commendations. The database contains the 172,218 names of those buried at American Battle Monuments Commission cemeteries, those Missing in Action and those buried or lost at sea. It does not contain the names of the 233,181 Americans returned to the United States for burial. Please go to - American Battle Monuments Commission
25 FEB 00: Through the years there has been an incessant trickle of information that supports the inescapable conslusion that US POWs were transferred to the former Soviet Union and its Soviet Bloc satellites. Reports, testimony, news, intelligence, much of it authored by the USG itself has steadfastly supported this. Today the AP Military Wire is reporting that the memoirs of a Russian emigre who has asserted he learned of US POWs from World War II and Korea while in internal exile are now in the possession of the Pentagon. For decades the fomer USSR sent their own people into internal exile... to Sharashkas, Gulags, psychiatric prisons, into the Urals and former haunts of the Bloody Bolsheviks, and to Gorky Park. According to the memoirs ' dozens of US servicemen were sent to Siberian labor camps.. ' and 22 of them are named in the memoirs. AP goes on -
"The assertions, while not confirmed, appear to support, and in some important respects strengthen, a case the Pentagon has been building for several years: U.S. servicemen in the 1940s and 1950s were silently swallowed up in the U.S.S.R.'s brutal Gulag system of forced labor, never to be heard from again. "There has to be something to this,'' said Norman Kass, who helped translate the unpublished personal memoir from Russian and interviewed the author on behalf of the Pentagon agency in charge of prisoner of war and missing personnel affairs."
According to an interview with Kass, the information offered by the memoirs dovetails with "anecdotal' reports (DoD's words, not ours) from the 1990s of US POWs observed in 'remote labor camps.' Kass is on the US-Russian Joint Commision which just released its 16th Plenum Report as a summary to periodic meetings between the two sides. In 1992, Boris Yeltsin acknowledged that US airmen had been shot down and held captive by the former USSR in the 1950s. Shortly thereafter, the Russians then countered the claim and told the US to prove it. According to the news, the US now plans to use the memoirs in a bid to get to the Russian Archives of each of the Siberian camps mentioned. Additional information from AP on the memoir, "... it identifies by name 22 men said to have been held in late 1951 at the Kirovskij mining camp near the Kamenka River in the sub-Arctic pine forests of the Krasnoyarsk region. The memoir's author cites secondhand accounts of area residents seeing the prisoners, ``wearing bare threads and half-frozen,'' being led from the Kirovskij camp along a road to an undetermined destination - ``a dead-end.'' A witness described as the daughter of the manager of a nearby town told the author that on Christmas Day 1951 she saw ``frostbitten prisoners being led and driven like cattle by the NKVD,'' the former Soviet internal security agency. ``They did not speak Russian. They only said `American, American,' and `eat, eat.' They wanted food,'' the author quoted the woman as recounting to him." The man appears to be credible and said to have unquestionably survived the Gulag system. And he himself asserts meeting an American in the Gulag camp Rybak in January 1953, offering the name and circumstances.
Other segments of the memoirs include - Reference to Chan Jay Park Kim, who began using the name George Leon as a POW to hide his Korean ancestry. Kim is said to have died in Korea in January 1951, BNR, as a result of hostile capture in July 1950. The emigre name for Kim is George Leon, the exact name that Kim was known to have used in camp and which was reported by Ex-POWs who were held in camp with him. The emigre lists George Leon as being held in a Sovet labor camp.
Another case of someone going missing in Korea and being seen in Russia. ( In 1993 a Live Sighting Report of SGT Philip Mandra, USMC, MIA AUG 52 surfaced. Mandra was serving in Korea, and was listed MIA after a firefight. He was declared PFOD in JAN 54, and awarded the Silver Star. In SEP 93, Mandra's sister was accidentally faxed a copy of an LSI report that indicated a former Soviet Colonel named Malinin, had seen Mandra on several occasions in the 1960's... Not in Korea, where he went MIA... but in Russia. During the US-Russian Plenary meetings held in 1994, the Russians made yet another statement that former Soviet officials either saw, met or knew of captive American POWs in the former USSR. General Volkogonov admitted that a soldier, Vladimir Trotsenko, has testified to meeting 4 American fliers in 1951 in a military hospital near Arsenyev. A fifth airman was said to be buried in the hospital cemetery. The men are believed to be part of a crew shot down on ) NOV 51. This account dovetails with the reports of another POW-MIA, SGT Philip Mandra {USMC}, listed as MIA August 1952 in Korea, yet seen on many occasions in prison in the former Soviet Union through the 1960's. Recent reports being investigated by Task Force Russia, indicate he may have survived in captivity until 1979, when he succumbed to throat cancer.)
Then there is a Cold War incident - crewmembers of an USAF B-29 lost 13 JUN 52 over the Sea of Japan. 10 of the 12 missing men are discussed. This craft was the subject of much diplomatic discussion in 1956. State said a crewman had been seen in 1953 north of Magadan in a hospital. The Russian reply was the same as usual, no US servicemen were on Soviet territory. The emigre recounts hearing the names of two of the airmen, 'Bush and Moore." Major Samuel Busch was the commander and MSGT David L. Moore and crewman. According to the memoir, the two men were 'killed - possibly beaten to death," in Khabarovsk. (NOTE - Khaborovsk was where the former Soviets held the War Crimes Tribunal that listened to testimony on Japan's Unit 731 and sentenced a dozen of its members to 20 years hard labor.) Eight other crewmembers from the B-29 loss were placed in solitary in a prison northwest of Khabarovsk near the Chinese border.
26 FEB 00: With the 50th anniversary of the Korean War (yes, it's officialy a war and not a 'conflict' - see NDAA-FY 1999/Section 1067) those of you interested in more Korea-Cold War POW/MIA information should visit the Coalition of Families of Korean & Cold War POW/MIAs. Family members are invited to join, non-family members are invited to join as Associates and receive the group's newsletter. Please visit - http://www.coalitionoffamilies.org/
28 FEB 00: Once again President Clinton has certified Vietnam and says they are doing a 'superb' job. Of particular interest is the following - "... and to reconfirm that the central, guiding principle of my Vietnam policy is to achieve the fullest possible accounting of our prisoners of war and missing in action..." Odd, we always though the 'central, guiding principle' of his Vietnam policy was to lie to families and shove BIG BUSINE$$ in the door. Some things never change. For someone who was in no hurry to go to Vietnam, he sure has been in a hurry to get there as President. It is almost verbatim of his previous Executive Decisions and Presidential Determinations.
29 FEB 00: Edited by AII POW-MIA to show POW/MIA relevant material only.
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000
Excerpts on Classification and Declassification
Congressional Record: November 5, 1999 (House) Page H11630-H11643
CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 1555
Mr. GOSS submitted the following conference report and statement on the bill (H.R. 1555), to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2000 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, the Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and for other purposes:
Conference Report (H. Rept. 106-457) The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendment of the Senate to the bill (H.R. 1555), to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2000 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, the Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and for other purposes, having met, after full and free conference, have agreed to recommend and do recommend to their respective Houses as follows: That the House recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the Senate and agree to the same with an amendment as follows: In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by the Senate amendment, insert the following:
SEC. 308. DECLASSIFICATION REVIEW OF INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATE ON VIETNAM-ERA PRISONERS OF WAR AND MISSING IN ACTION PERSONNEL AND CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF ESTIMATE.
(a) Declassification Review.--Subject to subsection
(b), the Director of Central Intelligence shall review for declassification the following:
(1) National Intelligence Estimate 98-03 dated April 1998 and entitled "Vietnamese Intentions, Capabilities, and Performance Concerning the POW/MIA Issue".
(2) The assessment dated November 1998 and entitled "A Critical Assessment of National Intelligence Estimate 98-03 prepared by the United States Chairman of the Vietnam War Working Group of the United States-Russia Joint Commission on POWs and MIAs".
(b) Limitations.--The Director shall not declassify any text contained in the estimate or assessment referred to in subsection
(a)which would-- (1) reveal intelligence sources and methods; or
(2) disclose by name the identity of a living foreign individual who has cooperated with United States efforts to account for missing personnel from the Vietnam era.
(c) Deadline.--The Director shall complete the declassification review of the estimate and assessment .under subsection (a) not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
29 FEB 00: More From DPMO - "U.S., VIETNAMESE INVESTIGATORS USE NEW LEAD TECHNIQUES - As a follow-up to information gained from Vietnamese documents that helped to identify Vietnamese units responsible for specific aircraft downings along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, DPMO analysts have over the past year introduced a new kind of lead for Vietnamese unilateral investigators. Because many of the units identified are known to be responsible for more than one aircraft loss, analysts are now directing Vietnamese investigators to focus their investigations on veterans and records of a single unit, rather than instructing them to pursue their investigations on a case-by-case basis. Known as the multi-case lead, its difference from past leads appears to be small, but both U.S. and Vietnamese analysts agree that leads consolidated in this manner have led to more comprehensive investigations and more efficient use of resources. Since its introduction, the multi-case lead has helped to identify a network of Vietnamese veterans who as a group have added considerably to what DPMO analysts know about losses along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. This type of lead has been effective for trilateral investigations in areas of Laos. Most importantly, a number of new order-of battle witness leads have been developed for further investigation as a result of the information gained."
29 FEB 00: REMINDER -
DOD/DPMO Family Updates - 24 -25 March, New Orleans, LA
Family Notice - A Northeast Regional Meeting is scheduled for April 29th at the Naval Education Training Center in Newport, RI. Representatives of the JTF-FA, CILHI, DPMO, AFDIL and the Service Casualty Offices will be invited to give briefings. Notices of the meeting will soon be sent to family members in Regions II and III, including NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, WV, VA, DC, ME, NH, VT, MA, CT and RI. Veterans and other concerned citizens are also welcome.
31 AUG 00: REMINDER -
DOD/DPMO Family Updates - 22/23 SEP Seattle, WA
POW-MIA Issue Update March 2000