January 2002
Summary of news for the entire month.
For recent and daily news, please go to: InterNetwork
January 24, 2002 SEA - NLF Udate Line
Family Update
January 24, 2002 POWs or Not?
Are they prisoners of war, or not? Beyond the debate over whether the 144 Taliban and al-Qaeda detainees being held in open-air cages in Cuba are being treated humanely, that is the fundamental question that will determine what could happen to the detainees and what their rights are.
January 19, 2002 SEA - NLF Udate Line
Summary of News
January 18, 2002 Somalia - Black Hawk Down - The True Story - History Channel Special
On October 4, 1993, the world was witness to the graphic images of dead American soldiers being dragged through the streets of Somalia. What had been planned as a 30-minute military mission had erupted into one of the most intense gun battles of recent U.S. history.
January 17, 2002 SEA - NLF Update Line
Family Update
January 17, 2002 The Real Heroes
Chief Warrant Officer Rodney 'Sam' Shamp, an Army helicopter pilot, admitted to shedding quiet tears as he watched "Black Hawk Down," a new film about the Army's October 1993 battle in Mogadishu, Somalia, against Mohamed Farrah Aidid's militia.
January 16, 2002 Afghan - Geneva Conventions & POW Rights
Battlefield prisoners taken from Afghanistan to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Thursday initially will have legal rights similar to those due prisoners of war.
January 16, 2002 Army Declares BHD Authentic
When Jerry Bruckheimer met with Gen. John M. Keane at the Pentagon, the Hollywood film producer told the Army vice chief of staff he planned to make a movie about the Army's 1993 battle in Mogadishu, Somalia.
January 15, 2002 SEA - Ambassador Burghardt's Testimony
The United States in its relations with Vietnam will continue to put a high priority on the fullest possible accounting of U.S. servicemen who were prisoners-of-war or missing-in-action, according to Raymond F. Burghardt, the U.S. ambassador-designate for Vietnam.
January 14, 2002 Gilman & Lugar Remarks
Two Republican lawmakers have very different assessments of progress in the recovery of Americans missing-in-action (MIA) from the wars in Korea and Vietnam. Senator Richard Lugar (Republican of Indiana) sees progress being made in the recovery of American MIAs from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, while Representative Benjamin Gilman (Republican of New York) takes a more critical view of actions Pyongyang and Hanoi have taken to assist the United States.
January 13, 2002 NAF Bits 'N' Pieces
Summary of News
January 11, 2002 NLF Update Line
Family Update
January 10, 2002 JTFFA News Release
Over the past several days, televisions around the world have been filled with scenes of U.S. Marine Corps. and U.S. Army honor guards carrying flag-draped caskets of fallen comrades from Afghanistan. Much like those scenes, Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA) joint honor guards solemnly escorted six sets of remains thought to be those of fallen Americans from the Vietnam War during a repatriation ceremony Dec. 11 at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.
January 09, 2002 CILHI-JTFFA News Release
Recovery operations kick off next week for American service members unaccounted for from the Vietnam War and World War II. There are about 100 personnel deploying from here the week of Jan. 7 on the 68th Joint Field Activity to Vietnam to recover service members from four crash sites and two isolated burials.
January 08, 2002 PG - Michael Scott Speicher
The Virginian-Pilot has posted a 6 part series on Persian Gulf POW-MIA Michael Scott Speicher.
January 07, 2002 SEA - Reunion, 40 Years Later
Luis Velez Sr. (pictured, right with his son) was a political prisoner in Cuba when he sent his 8-year-old son to America in the 1950s. Velez Jr. and his dad lost touch as the years went by.
January 06, 2002 SEA - Rocky Versace Receives Medal of Honor
President George W. Bush on Dec. 28 signed into law legislation that included the authority for him to award the Medal of Honor to the late Capt. Humbert R. "Rocky" Versace in Vietnam. The law sets aside time limitations.
January 05, 2002 US Avoids POW Designation
The United States is reserving the right to try al-Qaida and Taliban captives on its own terms and isn't calling them ``prisoners of war,'' although the Red Cross says it is getting full access to them for now.
January 04, 2002 WW II - Former POW Receives Bronze Star
A World War II veteran was honored by the military with several awards Wednesday, although they were 56 years late.
January 03, 2002 Black Hawk Down
The tragic events of 03 October 1993, the battle of Magadishu, Somalia, left 18 soldiers dead, 73 wounded and one POW.
January 01, 2002 A Happy, Healthy and Blessed New Year
POW-MIA Issue Update February 2002