February 1998
Summary of news for the entire month.
For recent and daily news, please go to: InterNetwork
00 FEB 98: The 'official' unaccounted for figures are as follows - 2,097 Americans are still missing and unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War: Vietnam - 1,565 (North, 571; South, 994); Laos - 449; Cambodia - 75; the Peoples Republic of China territorial waters - 8. 486 Americans have been accounted-for from the Vietnam War: Vietnam - 361; Laos - 117; Cambodia - 6; and, China - 2. 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 98: Red Cross officials announced that Afghanistan's warring factions released 307 prisoner of war. Red Cross officials also said that Taliban is still holding 4,000 war prisoners, while the northern opposition holds another 1,500.
Opposition forces in Tajikistan released 12 prisoners of war captured during the republic's civil war. Official figures show 150 pro-government soldiers remain in camps, while 1,500 rebel figures are held in government jails.
03 FEB 98: The Discovery Channel will air the program "Vietnam POWs: Stories of Survival," on March 8th at 9 P.M. EDT. This documentary tells powerful and emotional stories of life in captivity for American POWs during the Vietnam War and their journey home in 1973.
04 FEB 98: The remains of two American servicemen previously unaccounted-for from Southeast Asia have been identified and returned to their families for burial in the United States. They are identified as Col. Paul G. Underwood, of Goldsboro, N.C.; and Capt. Donald B. Bloodworth, of San Diego, CA, both U.S. Air Force.
05 FEB 98: The Pentagon announces that the remains of the Vietnam Unknown had been found with shreds of a pilot's suit, part of an ejection seat, money, and two ID cards belonging to Air Force 1stLt. Michael J. Blassie. The DoD is considering mtDNA testing on the remains.
10 FEB 98: Acting VA Secretary Togo West has directed that the POW/MIA flag be flown daily at the VA Central Office at 810 Vermont Ave., Wash., DC. Public Law 105-85 requires the flag to be flown on six specified days a year.
11 FEB 98: Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson announced that the POW/MIA flag will be flown at RNC headquarters beginning on February 12, the 25th anniversary of the release of the 591 American POWs held captive by North Vietnam.
DPMO announces research efforts to review documents in the repositories of Cambodia and the International Committee of the Red Cross on POW/MIA related information. DPMO is also planning to publish the first Personnel Missing - Korea database (PMKOR).
12 FEB 98: The gates at Hanoi's infamous Hoa Lo (Hanoi Hilton) prison swung open 25 years ago today, releasing the first wave of U.S. prisoners of war who had been tortured and starved in retaliation for battling the communist regime in Vietnam.
Senate passes S. Res. 177 - Recognizing, and calling on all Americans to recognize, the courage and sacrifice of the members of the Armed Forces held as prisoners of war during the Vietnam conflict and stating that the American people will not forget that more than 2,000 members of the Armed Forces remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam conflict and will continue to press for the fullest possible accounting for all such members whose whereabouts are unknown.
15 FEB 98: AP reports that hundreds of American servicemen were shuttled through a clandestine network of prison camps in China during the Korean War, say formerly secret U.S. Army intelligence reports. Declassified reports in the files of the Army's assistant chief of staff for intelligence now make it clear that the U. S. knew of the prisoners, closely tracked their movements and feared for their lives. It has been well documented that China, with Russian help, ran most of the POW camps in North Korea. The lingering question is what happened to the American prisoners held in the POW camps in China.
16 FEB 98: Cambodian POW/MIA Chairman Nuon Sareth announced that in Phnom Penh, remains that could be those of missing Americans were repatriated to the United States. The remains turned over were from two crash sites, one a helicopter and one an F-4. Archival research and oral history efforts are continuing in Cambodia, as well as field investigations and excavations. Although 90% of the loss incidents occurred in areas under Vietnamese control, Vietnam has yet to provide records believed to be available on U.S. losses.
19 FEB 98: Former Allied prisoners of war and civilian internees appealed to Japan's government to take moral responsibility for its past. The plaintiffs represent six organizations from Britain, the United States, Australia and New Zealand which jointly launched a lawsuit in January 1995 demanding an official apology and compensation of $22,000 each from the Japanese government for inhumane treatment during their captivity. Japan has maintained that the issue of war compensation is closed, and that all claims were settled in 1951 under the San Francisco peace agreements.
24 FEB 98: A mass grave of Vietnamese soldiers who fought against the U.S.-backed government in the former Saigon has been recovered in Vietnam's central highlands. Authorities excavated 17 sets of remains in Kon Tum province, said Lt. Col. Le Ngoc Son. A ceremony was held to bury the remains at the unknown soldiers grave in the district military cemetery. An investigation is under way to trace the soldiers' identities.
25 FEB 98: DPMO has announced that the "missing" volumes of the aircraft search and rescue (SAR) records maintained at JTF-FA have been located in the National Archives at College Park, Maryland. The records contain the 1966 and 1967 records of the Third Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Group. Records pertaining to the Korean War have also been reviewed by DPMO archivists at the St. Louis National Personnel Records Center. Four servicemen previously classified as KIA/BNR, were in fact repatriated to the U.S. Their names have been removed from the "Persons Missing/Korean War" database.
REMINDER - 03/07/98 - Proposed Family Update - League Region VII - Orange Co., CA
REMINDER - 03/14/98 - Proposed Family Update - League Region V - Scott AFB, IL
REMINDER - 03/28/98 - DPMO Proposed Family Update - Dallas/Ft Worth, TX
POW-MIA Issue Update March 1998