October 1997

Summary of news for the entire month.
For recent and daily news, please go to: InterNetwork

00 OCT 97: The 'official' unaccounted for figures are as follows - Southeast Asia, 2,109; 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.

The Associated Press reported North Korea proposed using Ross Perot as an intermediator to address suspicions American MIAs were still there from the Korean War. The "Clinton administration concluded that the offer . . . was an empty gesture . . ."

The DOD announced the remains of seven American servicemen previously unaccounted for from Southeast Asia have been identified and were returned to their families for burial in the United States. They are identified as Capt. Peter H. Chapman, Centerburg, Ohio; 1st Lt. John H. Call III, Potomac, Maryland; Tech. Sgt. Allen J. Avery, Auburn, Massachusetts; Tech. Sgt. Roy D. Prater, Tiffin, Ohio; and, Sgt. William R. Pearson, Webster, New Hampshire, all U.S. Air Force personnel. The identity of the two others has not been released at the request of their families.

02 OCT 97: The International Committee of the Red Cross has announced that Iran has freed 46 Iraqi prisoners of war held since the 1980-88 Gulf War between Iran and Iraq.

04 OCT 97: Reuters reports a former Japanese military police officer became the first to admit in civil court he committed atrocities as part of the infamous Unit 731. Yutaka Mio, 83, while testifying said "It was all a big secret. We didn't know what the unit did, but we knew it was a frightening unit and that once you were sent there, you never came back alive. Sending someone to Unit 731 was an act of murder."

07 OCT 97: North Korea has invited a small group of family members and veteran's organization officials to the site of a joint operation to recover the remains of Americans missing in action from the Korean War. A DOD team recently arrived in N. Korea to begin the 4th joint field recovery operation. In three previous operations, remains believed to be those of six servicemen were repatriated in formal military ceremonies.

11 OCT 97: A recovery team from CILHI has concluded an excavation of a WW II crash site in Guam. The team successfully recover remains, personal effects and other crew related artifacts.

The DOD announced remains believed to be of an American soldier who died during the Korean War have been recovered in Unsan County, North Korea. DPMO had been excavating in an area where several hundred Americans are known to have been lost in fierce combat with Chinese forces.

13 OCT 97: Videotapes about the POW experience have been developed by the staff of the VA Medical Center in Miami, FL. The tapes contain vignettes of former prisoners of war talking about their military experiences. Veterans were encouraged to use memorabilia to tell their stories. The tapes are introduced by Dr. Seymour Feld, physician coordinator of the Ex-Prisoners of War Program at the Miami facility. Additional veterans are continuing to add to the video history project. This interesting and unusual program was designed to help former prisoners of war and to educate members of the community about the POW experience. Theirs is an important story for all Americans to hear, not just dedicated therapists and clinicians.

15 OCT 97: From DPMO - "Staff members of the U.S.- Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs Vietnam Working Group are currently in Moscow pursuing leads and information discussed during the 14th Plenary last July. This effort is in tandem with an archival research program, which for the first time, allows DPMO investigators access to Korean War documents held in the Ministry of DefenseÕs repository in Podolsk, outside of Moscow."

16 OCT 97: It was announced that a WW II crash site has been slated for excavation. CIL-HI will travel to China in a recovery effort of the B-24 which was lost on 31 August 1944 on its return from a bombing run over Japan. Dogtags, effects and other materials were turned over to the US by the Chinese government. Communist country officials have also stated that intact remains are with the craft. 10 men are believed to have been lost during this crash... perhaps 10 families may find answers.

17 OCT 97: Stating, "Press and publication activities must be under the leadership of the party," Vietnam today launched an attack on newspapers and reporters. Citing their concerns that all press reports must fit within the government sanctioned party-line, Vietnam is seeking to control the press. Until the present, information on POW-MIAs has been halfway decent with respect to Vietnam's reporting. The question is how will the new crackdown impact information from SEA.

21 OCT 97: In a stunning move, North Korea has admitted that four American defectors, former soldiers, remain in the communist country. The men are believed to have defected in the 1960's. North Korea then stated that if the US wished to contact these men, they do so through letters. North Korea has forbidden direct contact with the men, which the US would prefer in their ongoing investigation into Korean War POW-MIAs.

22 OCT 97: Congressman Steve Buyer, Chairman of the House Military Personnel Subcommittee, has announced a meeting regarding POW-MIA. Buyer plans to briefly discuss the Conference Committee results on HR 409 and its Senate companion bill S. 755, the Missing Personnel Authority Act which has been an attempt to repair the worthless Missing Service Personnel Act that was foisted upon us last year. The meeting is scheduled for 29 October from 2:00 - 3:00 pm EDT in Rayburn House Office Building Rm 2212.

23 OCT 97: Associated Press is reporting that North Korea has threatened to halt any further POW-MIA cooperation. The threat comes as part of North Korea's demand that Americans who traveled to the Communist nation last week report only 'positive' comments with respect to the country. The Korean - Cold War Association of the Missing visited North Korea as part of a delegation seeking answers for the nearly 8,100 men who remain unaccounted for there. Family members were astonished to find their questions unanswered and the issue set aside while being repeatedly admonished that any and everything they say back in the states would be monitored and any negative comments or impressions would result in the shutdown of North Korean cooperation.

DPMO announced that a 4 person team would meet with Russian officials on the US-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs to discuss a Cold War Shootdown. DPMO will also host a conference on Personnel Recovery conference next week at the Army War College, Carlisle Carracks, PA.

24 OCT 97: DOD announced that four sets of remains, believed to beAmerican, were repatriated across the demilitarized zone. The remains were recovered as the result of a joint US-North Korean effort beginning on 04 OCT 97. This is the fourth such recovery effort since 1996. Seven sets of remains have been repatriated with one identification so far.

25 OCT 97: A name that still chills, invokes memories and inspires films... Hanoi Hilton, the infamous prison built in 1896 that endured through the war to hold within its walls captive American POWs. Partly demolished to clearspacefor a housing-office-hotel complex, the remains of the prison were made an historic andmark by the Vietnamese earlier this year, and a museum telling the story of the prsion, in the heart of Hanoi, was opened to the public this week.

26 OCT 97: "General Electric Aviation Lecture: In "Seven Years a POW", Col. Fred Cherry, an Air Force pilot in both Korea and Vietnam, recalls his harrowing experiences as a prisoner of war in a Vietnamese POW camp. Cherry endured 702 days in solitary confinement, beatings and surgery without benefit of anesthesia. Thursday, Nov. 13, at 7:30 p.m. in Langley Theater, National Air and Space Museum, http://www.si.edu/ .

27 OCT 97: Last week the DOD released the following press release -"The Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs J. Alan Liotta will provide an update on the U.S.-North Korean joint field excavation recently conducted in Unsan County, North Korea. The briefing will be given at 1:30 p.m. (EDT) on Friday, Oct. 24, 1997 in the DoD Briefing Room, room 2E781, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C."

To read briefing - North Korea - http://www.aiipowmia.com/faxnet/liotta1024nk.html

29 OCT 97: From Bob Necci - THE BUYER MEETING ON MISSING PERSONS PROVISIONS
HOUSE - SENATE CONFERENCE, FY 98 DOD AUTHORIZATION ACT
October 29, 1997
Chairing this meeting of family members, family member organizations, veteran service organizations, former civilian and military POWs and concerned citizens was Representative Steven Buyer, Chairman, Military Personnel Subcommittee of the House National Security Committee. Also present were Representatives Gene Taylor, James Talent and Sam Johnson.

The Conference negotiations were extremely tough. Let me state a fact, if Sen. John McCain wanted to kill this Conference, he could have. Each senator has the power to stop passage of a bill from the House even it passes unanimously. Sen. McCain did not do this. He chose the course of compromise. Of the 20 items that were placed on the table, 13 survived the conference. While we did not all that we wanted, overall, we did make good progress.

Allow me to make two observations of the dynamics of what I saw come from this meeting. First, we almost had total agreement, the Missing Persons provisions of the Conference will strengthen current law. This is of primary importance. Secondly, Representative Buyer has committed his committee to oversight on this issue.

Let me paraphrase Rep. Talents remarks: You have been able to accomplish the impossible. For the last three years, this issue has almost singlehandedly shut down Defense. So if someone tells you there is no interest in POW/MIAs, they are wrong.

Representative Buyer has asked for our input into the oversight process. Lets make sure we get that information to him.

The Military Personnel Subcommittee
2340 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.
Voice: (202) 225-7560
Fax: (202) 226-0789

It would also be appropriate for us to thank those on this committee for obtaining for our servicemembers and civilians these new protections.

The committee is Buyer, Talent, Bartlett, Lewis, Watts, Thornberry, Graham, Bono, Ryun, Taylor, Skelton, Pickett, Underwood, Harman, Kennedy and Maloney.

30 OCT 97: In a formal ceremony, Laos returned possible American remains. The remains were retpatriated as the result of a unilateral search on the behalf of Laos. Under an agreement, when cases are unresolved as the result of joint searches and excavations, a Laotian team may be used. Recovered from the Xiangkhouang province in northeastern Laos, they will be sent to US Army CIL-HI.

31 OCT 97: REMINDER - 11/22/97 - Family Update - St Petersburg, FL

POW-MIA Issue Update November 1997