January 1997

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

01 JAN 97: Within the last three months, the Department of Defense has announced the accounting of 16 personnel, bringing to 2,134 the number still missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. The U.S. servicemen's remains were recovered in 1988, 1989, 1992 and 1994-1996 from Vietnam and Laos. Total accounted for from the Clinton administration now stands at 96: 52 from Laos; 40 from Vietnam; and 4 from Cambodia. 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 JAN 97: Reuters reports that the Central Intelligence Agency had begun a declassification review of documents that would shed new light and open up many secrets. The review involves all records that flowed in and out of the office of the director of central intelligence for the past 50 years. Among the areas reviewed are Cold War, Korea and Vietnam. The documents will be turned over to the National Archives.

04 JAN 97: Speaking in the Washington Post, Sen. Craig Thomas vows hearing on U.S. Envoy to Vietnam. Republicans have appeared to have dropped opposition to President s Clinton s nominee, Pete Peterson. A spokesman for Sen. Craig, chairman of the Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia, said that holding a hearing on the ambassador to Vietnam is one of the senator's highest priorities. The hearing could be scheduled for late January or early February.

06 JAN 97: Fighter pilot missing since 1944 is finally laid to rest. 1st Lt. Roger True Lane missing since Dec. 24, 1944 over Nazi Germany was recovered in June 1993 when two young Germans were scouring a field with a metal detector. They discovered a machine gun, a scrap of parachute and human remains. After his identification, he could not be returned home without a family member's authorization.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms spokesman Marc Thiessen predicted smooth sailing for Pete Peterson to be ambassador to Vietnam. The constitutional impediment is out of the way and Thiessen sees no reason for confirmation. The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi is currently headed by Desaix Anderson, a career foreign service officer with the title of charge d'affaires.

07 JAN 97: Congressman Peter King introduces H. Res. 16 - To establish a Select Committee on POW and MIA Affairs. The select committee shall conduct a full investigation of all unresolved matters relating to any U.S. personnel unaccounted for from the Vietnam era, the Korean conflict, or World War II, including MIAs and POWs.

AP reports that leaders of the germ-warfare unit (731) in the Japanese Imperial Army arranged their answers to questioning by the occupation forces to cover up their experiments on prisoners, including injection of various disease-causing bacteria, human vivisection, and shrapnel-induced gangrene. This document is the first direct evidence that the leaders of Unit 731 systematically concealed what they did. The leaders of Unit 731 were exempted from the charges of the Tokyo tribunal in exchange for giving the U.S. information about the experiments.

09 JAN 97: Congressman Ben Gilman introduces THE POW/MIA RESTORATION ACT, H.R. 409. In the Congressional Record of this date Gilman states: ...while H.R. 4000 was passed unanimously by the House, it fell victim to the procedural rules of the Senate which were skillfully used by the bill's opponents to ensure that it was not taken up for consideration before Congress adjourned.

Reuters reports that Sen. John McCain thinks President Clinton is the best politician he has ever seen. The 60-year old Arizona lawmaker, a Vietnam ex-POW, has good reason to study Clinton carefully. Speaking in the interview, McCain said that he is thinking about running for president himself.

12 JAN 97: AP reports that U.S. forensic experts examined human remains and debris from a B-24 bomber that crashed during WW II in southern China. The discovery was made public by Chinese President Jiang Zemin when he turned over photographs of five dog tags taken from the aircraft, as well as a videotape of the site to President Clinton. The B-24 had a crew of 10 according to Army records.

14 JAN 97: The Washington Times reports that North and South Korea are expected to join U.S. and Chinese officials later this month in a joint briefing to plan a four-nation conference on the final peace agreement for the Korean War. According to U.S. officials, one of the talking points each year has been the presentation of a list of prisoners of war who have not been accounted for.

16 JAN 97: In The Vietnam Business Journal, the following statistics are offered: INVESTMENT BY COUNTRY: Taiwan-No. of projects 273-Total capital in US$ Million-4,100; Japan-167-2,696;Singapore-148-2,507; Hong Kong-188-2,390; South Korea-174-2,321; United States-63-1,319; Malaysia-51-1,006; France-79-760. In 1996, Vietnam had $7 billion in Foreign Direct Investment of which $2.3 billion was disbursed. In 1995, $6.6 billion of which $1.8 billion was disbursed.

21 JAN 97: AP reports that towards the end of the Civil War, President Lincoln sent a letter and photo with a confederate prisoner of war to Confederate Lt. Stephens, who was not only a political leader of the South, but who had been friend and ally to Lincoln in the old Whig Party while serving in Congress together, hoping for an exchange of prisoners and to attempt to end the war. A week after Lincoln met with Stephens, prisoners were exchanged. The meeting failed to start negotiations at ending the Civil War.

24 JAN 97: The Asian Wall Street Journal reports that another accommodation to the Clinton administration is being made. Early February hearings of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to confirm Pete Peterson as ambassador to Vietnam are made. U.S. businessmen have pressuring the White House to post an ambassador as soon as possible so that normalization of relations can be speeded up. Stanley Roth who is expected to be assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and would replace Winston Lord, told reports of his interest in restoring bipartisanship in Asian policy.

AFP Hanoi reports that Communist Party General Secretary Do Muoi is not pleased with U.S.- Vietnam relations. Do Muoi said: We have an embassy but no ambassador and economic relations but no trade agreement. Certain groups in the U.S. were using the issue of Americans missing in action during the Vietnam War as a pretext to slow down the rate of normalization of ties. Do Muoi also complained that talks on trade issues have been dragging on for months with little progress.

28 JAN 97: The Department of Defense has issued the following figures for Americans Unaccounted For In Southeast Asia:

COMPONENT - COUNTRY OF LOSS - TOTAL

ARMY - VN 10 - VS 506 - LA 110 - CB 36 - CH 0 - 662
NAVY - VN 290 - VS 94 - LA 31 - CB 2 - CH 8 - 425
MARINE CORPS - VN 31 - VS 206 - LA 22 - CB 14 - CH 0 - 273
AIR FORCE - VN 253 - VS 181 - LA 279 - CB 19 - CH 0 - 732
COAST GUARD - VN 0 - VS 1 - LA 0 - CB 0 - CH 0 - 1
CIVILIANS - VN 0 - VS 23 - LA 13 - CB 5 - CH 0 - 41
TOTALS: VN 584 - VS 1011 - LA 455 - CB 76 - CH 8 = 2134*

*Includes 470 at sea/over water losses

29 JAN 97: The Department of Defense has issued the following information on Live Sighting Reports: SUMMARY OF REPORTS

Firsthand Live Sightings - 1818
Crash/Grave sites - 4682
Hearsay Sightings Reports - 4079
Dogtags - 9037
TOTAL: 19616

A.) Of the 1,818 firsthand reports received since 1975, 1,757 (97%) reports are resolved:
-- 1,235 (68%) reports were equated to Americans who are accounted for (i.e., PW returnees, missionaries, civilians jailed at various times for violation of Vietnamese codes.
-- 45 (3%) reports were correlated to wartime sightings of military personnel or pre-1975 sighting of civilians who remain unaccounted for.
-- 477 (26%) reports were determined to be fabrications.
B.) The remaining 61 (3%) unresolved firsthand reports represent the focus of the U.S. Government analytical and collection efforts:
-- 46 (2%) pertain to Americans reported in a captive environment.
-- 15 (1%) reported sightings of Americans in a non-captive environment (i.e., working as truck drivers; married with Vietnamese family).
C.) The following timeline presents an overview of unresolved firsthand sightings by the year of the sighting:

TIMELINE: UNRESOLVED LIVE SIGHTING REPORTS
Pre-76- 38
76-80-10
81- 0
82- 0
83- 0
84- 0
85- 0
86- 1
87- 1
88- 2
89- 1
90- 1
91- 1
92- 1
93- 1
94- 1
95- 1
96- 1
97- 1
Total: 61

30 JAN 97: The Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii reports that since 1973, the U.S. has accounted for 449 Americans from Southeast Asia.

AMERICANS ACCOUNTED FOR POST-1973
Vietnam - 331*
China - 2**
Laos - 111
Cambodia - 5
TOTAL 449***

Notes:
* 31 remains from the Official Died in Captivity Lists provided by the Vietnamese in 1973.** 2 ashes returned from China.
*** 4 remains were recovered and turned over to the U.S. by indigenous personnel: 1 from North Vietnam and 3 from Laos.

POW-MIA Issue Update February 1997