July 2003

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

July 31, 2003 IRAQ - Piestewa May Be Eligible For POW Medal Family Briefed
Mrs. Waters said the family recently had returned from a briefing on what had happened during the ambush. Lori was driving the Jeep, and was hit by mortar fire. She already had received several honors from the Army, but new information qualifies her for Prisoner of War awards as well. Mrs. Waters said she evidently was not killed immediately but died later at the Iraqi hospital after being captured.

July 31, 2003 Mass Honors POWs Who Built, Used Chapel
A Mass and picnic will mark the 60th anniversary of the construction of the Chapel in the Meadow at Camp Atterbury by Italian prisoners of war. The festivities, open to the public, are sponsored by the Italian Heritage Society of Indiana and the Indiana German Heritage Society.

July 31, 2003 WW II - Trading Cigarettes for Potatoes
It's been nearly 60 years since Verle Kooistra was held captive for five months by German soldiers during World War II. He remembers walking more than 100 miles to a concentration camp, trading cigarettes for potatoes and losing more than 70 pounds during his time as a prisoner of war.

July 30, 2003 SWA - Stranger in a Strange Land
He is Ukrainian, his real name is Gennady Anatolevich Tsevma, and he is one of dozens of former prisoners of war and deserters left behind in Afghanistan from the 10-year-long Soviet occupation of the country in the 1980's. Trapped for so long during two decades of war in Afghanistan, Mr. Tsevma is married and settled now with a family, but he is torn by yearning for home and a reluctance to leave the life he has become used to in Afghanistan.

July 29, 2003 SEA - Former POW Inspires
Hubbard, in an appearance sponsored by the local Edward Jones investment office, drew on his experience as a prisoner of war in a North Vietnamese prison camp for 6 1/2 years to explain how people can expand their accomplishments despite adversity.

July 29, 2003 WW II - 59 Years Later, Unknown Grave May Be Brother's
Paul Lubben, 73, was in eighth grade when he last saw his older brother, U.S. Army Air Corps 2nd Lt. John Lubben. At age 28, John Lubben went missing Dec. 12, 1944, as he piloted an airplane attacking Wollstein, Germany. Today, Paul Lubben of Wisconsin Rapids is a little closer to finding his long-lost brother, thanks to Manfred Klein, a soldier in Germany's Army Reserve, who thinks he has located John Lubben in an unknown soldier's grave at the Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium.

July 29, 2003 KW - CW - Efforts to Recover MIAs 50 Years Later
The Defense Department on July 14 announced it would send teams to Unsan County, about 60 miles north of Pyongyang, and to sites at the Chosin Reservoir, in the northeast part of North Korea, in September and October of this year. The searches will constitute the 26th and 27th attempts since July 1996 to recover the remains of soldiers, airmen and Marines killed, missing or taken prisoner in North Korea.

July 29, 2003 SEA - Ex-POW Flies High in Possible Senate Race
It's nothing new for political candidates to launch their campaigns by flying around the state, but retired Air Force Major Gen. John Borling hopes to give it a new twist. The decorated fighter pilot and potential U.S. Senate candidate wants to be the one at the controls, criss-crossing the state in a variety of airplanes old and new--including some vintage open-cockpit "old warbirds."

July 28, 2003 WW II, Korean War, Cold War, SEA, PGW - Bob Hope Passes

July 28, 2003 KW - CW - War Not Over Until Every American Accounted-For
"The Korean War will not really end until every American is brought home or accounted for." So stated Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz to several thousand veterans and family members about the "forgotten war" during the Defense Department's recognition of the 50th anniversary of armistice that brought about a cease-fire to the Korean War.

July 28, 2003 IRAQ - 4 GIs Investigated For EPW Abuse
Four US soldiers have been charged with physically abusing inmates at a prisoner-of-war camp in Iraq. The four, members of the US Armyıs 320th Military Police Battalion, face up to five charges each of assault and mistreating prisoners at the US-run Camp Bucca.

July 28, 2003 KW - CW - The Search Goes On
They enlisted together in the U.S. Army and fought in the same unit during the Korean War. They also became part of the list of missing in action Nov. 2, 1950. The secretary of the Army declared Cpl. John Kyle and Cpl. Earle Henry Markle, both of York, Pa., dead on Dec. 31, 1953. Their bodies never were recovered. They are not alone.

July 28, 2003 SEA - MUST READ - At The Wall
I don't remember just when I started wearing the name of another man on my right wrist. More than 25 years ago, that's for sure. Although we have never met face to face, Buzz Ellison and I have been friends all this time. I visit him as often as possible, or at least whenever I am in Washington, D.C. But on Saturday, Buzz came to see me.

July 28, 2003 KW - CW - An Armistice Message on the Mall
Fifty years to the day after two stony-faced generals signed the armistice that brought the Korean War to an uneasy cease-fire, Americans once sent to fight on the faraway peninsula gathered on a grassy wedge of the Mall to receive their nation's gratitude for that service and sacrifice.

July 28, 2003 WW II - Missing In Action
Your husbandıs aircraft did not return to base from patrol. He and his crewman are presumed lost at sea.² The time was January 1942, six short weeks after the Japanese raid at Pearl Harbor. That was the message received by Mrs. Mildred ³Mid² Hart, wife of LTJG John Paul Hart, US Naval Pilot.

July 28, 2003 American Ex-POWs... Making A Difference
World War II prisoner of war spoke of two living conditions in his life at the Veterans on the Lake Resort last Thursday. The first living condition was one he could not change, as a prisoner in Stalag 7B in Germany after parachuting into France on D-Day. The second living condition was one he could, as a guest at Veterans on the Lake, sweltering in one of the cabins.

July 28, 2003 KW - CW - Recovery Efforts Will Go On, Wolfowitz
He promised that the United States will continue, despite current strains in relations with North Korea, working with the North to retrieve remains of soldiers still listed as missing in action. Two joint recovery operations have been agreed for this year, and negotiations are planned in November to plan recovery operations for next year.

July 27, 2003 POW-MIA Freedom Radio Broadcast Schedule
News and Views :: Mr. Ted Barker :: Mr. Bob Dumas

July 27, 2003 Korean War 50th Armistice Anniversary Commemoration
Fifty years ago today, what would come to be known as the Forgotten War, ended with an Armisitice, ceasing formal hostilties. The final toll bespeaks a brutal war waged in intense heat, frigid cold, mud, meadow and madness.

July 26, 2003 KW - CW - 50 Years and Still Waiting
Soldiers shouting in the darkness for more grenades to hold off the advancing enemy, wondering if theyıd live through the night. Soldiers hunkering down in the trenches theyıd driven the communist Chinese forces from, staring desolately at the small cache of enemy ammunition that fueled their last hope to hold their position.

July 26, 2003 KW - CW - Frostbite, Famine and Forgotten... No More
Major Bill Baumer is among the thousands of veterans worldwide who have never forgotten what has been dubbed "the Forgotten War." He couldn't forget if he tried - because of that war, Baumer lost not only several years of his life, but his fingers, part of his foot and ears.

July 26, 2003 Preserving the Past for the Future
The Vermillion men have so far talked to a Pearl Harbor survivor, a prisoner of war and a soldier who liberated the Dachau concentration camp, Hofman said. "We want to get as many vets as we can," he said. "They are telling incredible stories."

July 26, 2003 KW - CW - Korean War POW Who Refused to Die
Walter Nickells crawled under the porch of a South Korean home, praying that the North Korean soldiers above wouldn't hear nor see him. That night, they slept right on top. He had to urinate and used his empty canteen. He made no noise. The next day, the North Korean soldiers haggled with the farmer next door to give them his chickens. They picnicked after chasing the birds.

July 26, 2003 KW - CW - The Long Ride Home
It wasnıt until Dolores Pietz had stepped off the train that she realized she had been so near to her older brother on his last journey in the physical world. She was on her way from Minneapolis to Northern Wisconsin to attend the burial service for her brother ‹ Pfc. Harlan R. Cockerham, of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines ‹ when she saw a casket being removed from the train.

July 26, 2003 Ship Missing 110 Years, Discovered in Baltic
A 19th century Russian vessel that sank in the Baltic Sea with 177 sailors aboard has been discovered off the Finnish coast, Estonian researchers said. The Russalka - Russian for mermaid - belonged to the czarist fleet and sank in 1893. It was found 15 miles from Helsinki.

July 25, 2003 SEA - Antiwar Song Lifted POWs' Spirits at Hanoi Hilton
"I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die" was a big hit at anti-war rallies, and an even bigger hit with the grunts in Vietnam. But the ones who loved it most were the American POWs in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton," a fact McDonald learned years later from a former POW named Phil Butler, who was imprisoned for seven years.

July 25, 2003 Korean War and SEA POW-MIA Families Sought
A nationwide search for family members of servicemen still listed as missing in action from the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Volunteers want DNA samples that could identify bodies turned over to the United States by other countries.

July 25, 2003 SEA - 1,700 Vietnamese MIAs Recovered in Cambodia
The remains of about 1,700 Vietnamese soldiers killed during Hanoi's decade-long occupation of Cambodia have been recovered and repatriated during the 2002-2003 dry season.

July 25, 2003 KW - CW - Forgotten War Remembered
Gerald Brown can't specifically isolate July 27, 1953, in his memory because he didn't hear about the armistice signed that day until mid-September. For him, July 27 was just another day spent in a prisoner of war camp, sharing the little food he was given with the tapeworm maturing in his gut.

July 25, 2003 Flag Fliers Find Supporters
Dori and Ralph McIlvaine are getting support to help pay fees and penalties for flying their POW/MIA flag in defiance of condominium association rules. Jack and Sandy Battagliawho, like the McIlvaines, flew an unauthorized "Support Our Troops" flag but who decided to take it down, were not fined. But the McIlvaines, who refused to take their flag down, were fined $50 and will have to pay over $1,000 in legal fees as part of an agreement reached with the association Wednesday.

July 24, 2003 82nd's NCO of the Year Served With MIA Recovery Team
In 1996, he served on a POW/MIA research team in Vietnam, excavating sites that were believed to hold the remains of missing U.S. soldiers from the Vietnam War.

July 24, 2003 POW-MIA Flag Can Stay (For Now)
The POW/MIA flag that has been flying in front of Ralph and Dori McIlvaine's house since May without their housing association's approval should be allowed to stay, an appeals committee of the Evergreen homeowners' association decided last night.

July 23, 2003 SEA - Vietnam Still Bent Over US Congressional Action
The bill, it added, would adversely affect the growing ties of cooperation between the two nations, including those in which the US has an interest, such as combating terrorism, transnational crime, the search for Americans Missing in Action and other humanitarian issues.

July 23, 2003 KW - CW - Gone But Never Forgotten
There were two Marines, James Kiser and Ray Thompson, and one soldier, Charles Ray Rines. Four years earlier, Rines weighed 158 pounds when he left his home in the Southern community, bound for Ft. Knox and basic training. But as he stood before the welcoming crowd that day in 1953, only 88 pounds of flesh and skin stretched tight against his bones.

July 22, 2003 WW II - A Story of Survival
Memories flooded back for Raymond Beaune as he took a weekend flight on North America's only airworthy Lancaster, the same kind of bomber he piloted on 23 missions almost 60 years ago. The Grand Bend native flew the harrowing missions over Germany during the Second World War. He was shot down and captured on his last run.

July 22, 2003 PGW - First They Fought Saddam, then for Survival... Now Uncle Sam
Tortured ex-POWs find they must sue Uncle Sam to collect damages from Saddam. Lt. Col. Richard Dale Storr of Spokane, Wash., one of the plaintiffs, shown here a day before he was shot down during the Gulf War in 1991.  

July 22, 2003 WW II - Search and Recovery Possible for WW II Air Crew
For the past six decades, an unmarked grave on the slopes of a volcano on Kiska island in the Aleutians has held the remains of seven PBY-5 air crew members who were lost during a World War II mission. Now a team of nine forensic experts from the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii hopes to bring these servicemen back for a proper military burial. The Army is relying on the findings of a professor who discovered aircraft wreckage two years ago while he was conducting research on Kiska.

July 22, 2003 IRAQ - PFC Lynch Returns Home, Women In Combat Issues Rages On
The emotional homecoming to West Virginia of former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch after months of recuperation from multiple injuries sustained in Iraq has re-ignited the debate on combat roles for women in the military.

July 22, 2003 Flag Flier Faces Fines
Well-manicured lawns decorated with small American flags and the occasional yellow ribbon dot Ralph and Dori McIlvaine's age-restricted Evergreen development. It doesn't look like the kind of place that would give its residents a hard time for putting patriotic displays on their property. But a hard time and the threat of $25 daily fines from Evergreen's governing board starting today is what the McIlvaines and one of their neighbors say they are facing for their patriotism.

July 21, 2003 PGW - Speicher Informant... Lying Lie-Detector Detected?
Captured Saddam Hussein loyalists in Iraq are proving adept at beating lie-detector tests, frustrating attempts to find banned weapons and to learn what happened to Navy Capt. Michael Scott Speicher. U.S. officials and military officers say trained interrogators in Baghdad have caught Iraqi Ba'ath Party loyalists lying while hooked up to the machine, which showed they were not being deceptive.

July 21, 2003 KW - CW - 50 Years Later, Ex-POW Discharged From Army
On Sept. 24, 2001, the South Korean army's "Tiger" division gave Sgt. Kim an honor guard ceremony, discharging him after counting him as killed in action for half a century. "I couldn't tell whether it was a dream or not," says Kim, 75, a slight, wrinkled man with a shy smile. For Kim, it was a long journey home. When he escaped North Korea in 2001 after five decades of captivity, he was one of the last Korean War prisoners to return home from the communist North.

July 21, 2003 Kerry's POW-MIA CV in His Own Words

July 19, 2003 POW-MIA Freedom Radio Broadcast Schedule
News and Views :: Ms. Ann Holland :: Mr. Robert F. Dorr

July 19, 2003 NJ Army Vet to be Fined for POW-MIA Flag Display
McIlvaine said the flag will still be outside his house Tuesday morning, with or without a fine.

July 19, 2003 IRAQ - Lynch Returning Home to Mountain of Good Wishes
An entire cell in the old Wirt County Jail -- now a courthouse annex and office building -- was piled to the ceiling this week with gifts for her. The Wirt County Sheriffıs Department has checked them to make sure nothing dangerous was inside, and five huge boxes outside the cell hold even more parcels that also have been scanned for derogatory messages and catalogued so acknowledgements can be sent.

July 19, 2003 Australian POW Memorial to be Dedicated

July 19, 2003 IRAQ - NAACP Convention Honors Former POW
Possibly the most honored person at the NAACP's 28th Annual Armed Services and Veterans Affairs award dinner was not a high-ranking dignitary or any of the scheduled awardees. However, this invited guest was special: Spc. Shoshana Johnson, former POW from Operation Iraqi Freedom.

July 18, 2003 PGW - Report Debunks Some Speicher Sightings
A secret Pentagon report appears to cast doubt about the chances that Capt. Michael Scott Speicher, a naval pilot shot down during the gulf war, is still alive. The classified internal Defense Department document questions the credibility of the Iraqi defector who said he had seen Speicher alive in 1998, according to The Washington Times, which obtained a copy of the report.

July 18, 2003 KW - CW - Missing & Missed

July 18, 2003 IRAQ - Ex-POW Johnson Honored
Former prisoner of war Shoshana Johnson took the stage in Miami Beach Wednesday night to accept a civilian award from the NAACP. Johnson was one of five soldiers captured in an ambush near Nasiriya during the Iraqi war. She wore her full dress uniform and a blue walking cast on her right leg to the ceremony held at the Fountainbleu Hotel.

July 18, 2003 SEA - Award Named for Lance Sijan
The award, created in 1981, is named in honor of the first Air Force Academy graduate to receive the Medal of Honor. Sijan was shot down over Vietnam Nov. 9, 1967 and successfully evaded capture for 45 days despite suffering severe injuries. He later died from his injuries while in a Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp. Sijan was presented the Medal of Honor posthumously for his heroism as a POW.

July 18, 2003 WW II - France FINALLY Says Thank You
Robert Smith spent 300 days as a prisoner of war in Stalag VII A in Moosburg, Germany, after being captured in the fight for the liberation of France. Louis Perrott of Titusville, one of the more than two dozen World War II veterans who received a certificate of thanks from the French government Wednesday says many soldiers survived through sheer luck.

July 17, 2003 PGW - Senator Asks for Classified Speicher Report
Sen. Bill Nelson has asked the Pentagon for a copy of a classified report on missing Navy Capt. Michael Scott Speicher that casts doubt on the credibility of an Iraqi defector who claimed to have seen the downed pilot alive in 1998.

July 17, 2003 SEA - Vietnam Condemns US Supplement
The US House of Representatives has approved supplements to the US State Departmentıs External Expense Bill for the 2004-2005 fiscal year. The approval was obviously abnormal as the House of Representatives gave itself the right to approve articles relating to other countries, including Vietnam.

July 17, 2003 PGW - Report Stifles Hope on Speicher
A secret Pentagon report says the Iraqi defector who claims to have seen Navy pilot Michael Scott Speicher (search) alive years after his disappearance has been called a "born liar," a Washington newspaper reported Wednesday.

July 17, 2003 SEA - Vietnam Angered by US Congress Amendment
A Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman has warned the amendment could affect Vietnamese-US cooperation on anti-terrorism issues and Washington's continued search for its soldiers missing in action from the Vietnam War.

July 17, 2003 WW II - Bataan Death March Survivor Honored
He is a survivor of the Bataan March, during which thousands of people were killed. He himself was tortured and beaten. And through the years, he's been quite an advocate for veterans.

July 16, 2003 VA Considers Extending POW Benefits Requirements
Considering this White House ran on the promise to get rid of the Veterans Disability Tax - also known as "The Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2003" - and has now agressively acted to see it never goes through - and Bud Day's "Tricare For Life" lawsuit was refused by the Supreme Court - don't hold your breath that this will pass unless there is some political gain to be achieved.

July 16, 2003 KW - CW - US-NK Conclude Talks
The Department of Defense announced today that U.S. and North Korea representatives concluded talks in Bangkok about arrangements to conduct joint operations aimed at recovering the remains of American servicemen still missing from the Korean War.

July 16, 2003 PGW - Pentagon Report: Bad News In Speicher Case
A secret Pentagon report states that once-promising leads in the hunt for Capt. Michael Scott Speicher in Iraq have turned up no evidence of his whereabouts, contradicting public official comments that the search was producing positive results.

July 16, 2003 SEA - NLF Update Line
Family News Summary

July 16, 2003 WW II - It's Never Too Late
David Sutherland was nine months old when his father Jack's bomber was shot down on a mission over Germany in 1944. Today, he watched as the father he never knew and five other airmen - three Australians and two Britons - were buried with full military honours in the Berlin war cemetery, 59 years after they were reported missing in action, presumed dead.

July 15, 2003 IRAQ - Media Turns Ugly & Against Lynch, US Recovery
For the past 60 years, former POWs were honored, respected, and left alone to live their lives in peace. A number wrote books that elevated the public's awareness of their experiences and added to the historical record and understanding of the horrific plight of captivity. A number spoke publicly about how they endured, what kept them going and many were looked upon as inspirational and motivational speakers. Even a handful spoke out about POWs and MIAs who remained unaccounted-for. With the exception of a reurned bracelet, a prayer breakfast or reunion, everyone had the decency to leave them be.

July 15, 2003 PGW - 4 Kuwaiti POWs, 1 Woman, ID'd & Buried as Martyrs
Four martyred Kuwaiti POWs, including the first woman POW, were put to final rest at the Sulaibikhat cemetery Wednesday. A large crowd of people including Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammed Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, some senior citizens and MPs joined the burial ceremony of the four martyred POWs

July 15, 2003 KW - CW - US to Pay NK for Remains Search
The United States will pay North Korea $2.1 million to conduct four searches this summer and fall for remains of American servicemen missing from the Korean War, the Pentagon said Monday.

July 15, 2003 WW II - Ex-POW Receives Medal 58 Years Later
Days on end are missing from Clifford Vose's memory of being held as a prisoner of war in Japan during World War II. Most of the experience, though, he can recall all too well.

July 15, 2003 KW - CW - US - NK Conclude Remains Recovery Talks
The Department of Defense announced today that U.S. and North Korea representatives concluded talks in Bangkok about arrangements to conduct joint operations aimed at recovering the remains of American servicemen still missing from the Korean War.

July 14, 2003 WW II - River Kwai Museum Has Stories to Tell
The fruit of this morning's excavation is headed for a bulging repository of artifacts from the Death Railway, which spelled the deaths of some 100,000 Allied POWs and Asian slave laborers forced to build a line between Thailand and Myanmar for the Japanese army during World War II.

July 14, 2003 KW - CW - US- NK to Being MIA Search
The U.S. and North Korea will jointly search for the remains of U.S. soldiers still missing from the 1950-1953 Korean War, the Defense Department said.

July 13, 2003 POW-MIA Freedom Radio Broadcast Schedule
News and Views :: Rich Daly :: Guy Gruters

July 13, 2003 NAF Bits 'N' Pieces
News Summary

July 13, 2003 IRAQ - MIA-KIA Parents Want More Answers
Her oldest son, alone in the desert. That's the image that lingers with Arlene Walters, who on Tuesday read for the first time the Army's account of what happened to her son, Sgt. Donald Walters. The 33-year-old Salem father of three was killed during the March 23 ambush of the 507th Maintenance Company.

July 13, 2003 WW II - Former POW Awaits Acknowledgment
Donald Schroder has his discharge papers from his service in the Army during World War II, but has yet to receive a medal or recognition as a prisoner of war. For serving his country during World War II, Donald Schroder was decorated with several medals, but he has yet to receive a medal that acknowledged him as a member of a select few - a prisoner of war.

July 13, 2003 KW - CW - US & NK in MIA Talks
After a months-long stalemate, North Korea and the United States have agreed to resume talks on recovering remains of American servicemen killed in the Korean War, officials said Tuesday.

July 13, 2003 PGW - Clues Lead to Missing Pilot
On what would be Scott Speicher's 46th birthday Saturday, U.S. intelligence officials examined a 6-month-old Iraqi document that names the Jacksonville Navy pilot who disappeared over Iraq 12 years ago.

July 13, 2003 IRAQ - MIA-KIA Widow Speaks Out
"I think it was April 4th when they came and told me that they had identified his body. I'm not the same anymore. There's a great big hole in my heart, and in my life." says Stacy Walters. It's hole that may never be filled. Stacy, had only called Sgt. Donald Walters her husband for a little over a year.

July 12, 2003 PGW - Scott Speicher's 46th Birthday Saturday 12 JUL 03
There's a flurry of activity surrounding Captain Scott Speicher on the eve of his 46th birthday. Speicher is the Jacksonville Navy pilot shot down on the first night of the Gulf War in 1991 and now listed as a POW in Iraq.

July 12, 2003 IRAQ - Nasiriyah Families Left in Dark after Report Issued
The wife of an Army soldier killed in Iraq says a recent Army report fails to explain why her husband's unit was left unprotected, hours behind other units with few means to defend themselves prior to a deadly ambush.

July 12, 2003 WW II - The POW Priest
Calls have been made to honour a former south-west Catholic priest who helped saved the lives of thousands in a World War II Japanese prisoner of war camp. Father Patrick Scanlan, a Trappist monk, was captured in secluded monastery and taken to a Japanese POW camp at Wei-Hsein, in north-east China.

July 12, 2003 IRAQ - PVT Lynch Coming Home
Randy Coleman, communications director for the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, has confirmed that doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., have said the celebrated former prisoner of war in Iraq can be released before the end of July.

July 12, 2003 Family Members Must Keep Up the Search
Families of service members still missing from the Vietnam War are "the essence of America's strength," according to the general in charge of finding those missing troops.

July 12, 2003 PGW - Speicher - Let the Debunking Begin
Despite a senator's optimistic claims to the contrary, U.S. military officials say they still have no solid clues on what happened to missing Navy Capt. Scott Speicher, the pilot shot down on the first day of the first Gulf War.

July 12, 2003 IRAQ - Ex-POW Miller Receives Silver Star
Pfc. Patrick Miller stood his ground in battle with a malfunctioning weapon, feeding bullets into it by hand to protect two wounded comrades. Even after he was captured, he foiled his captors' attempts to get his radio frequency codes.

July 12, 2003 PGW - 1991 Quotes Witness Who Saw 3 PGW Bodies
 We have obtained a classified report from the Pentagon dated Dec. 9, 1991, that quotes an Iraqi refrigerator technician. The technician said he saw the bodies of three American servicemen that were being kept at a morgue of the Al Rashidia hospital in Baghdad.

July 12, 2003 Units Join Forces to Find POW-MIAs
Two military units deeply involved in the search for fallen GIs from Americaıs past conflicts will be merging into a new command in October. The Hawaii-based Joint Task Force-Full Accounting at Camp Smith, and the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, will become the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command.

July 11, 2003 PGW - Speicher's Name Found in Iraqi POW Document
U.S. officials told NBC News military officials have recovered a 90-page Iraqi document on prisoners of war held by Iraq, which includes Scott Speicher's name. It was not clear whether the document contains any dates or places where Speicher may have been.

July 10, 2003 PGW - Nelson Optimistic Over Speicher Intel
New evidence has been produced ... that is classified, but that gives me reason to be optimistic for the first time in several weeks that I have been pessimistic. That doesn't say that he's alive, but that says that we're beginning to get evidence that, in fact, we might be able to find out.

July 10, 2003 IRAQ - Families Question Nasiriyah Report
A family member of one of the soldiers killed during the Iraq war ambush in which Pfc. Jessica Lynch was captured is frustrated about an official Army report due to be released today.

July 10, 2003 IRAQ - Nasiriyah Ambush Report Completed
The unprecedented speed of the U.S. Army's drive to Baghdad contributed to mistakes that ended in the deaths of 11 troops and capture of six, including Pfc. Jessica Lynch, a report says.

July 10, 2003 JTF-FA & CILHI to Merge
As of Oct.1, Joint Task Forcei Full Accounting at Camp Smith and the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawai'i at Hickam Air Force Base will be known as the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command.

July 09, 2003 PGW - Speicher Case May Be Resolved Soon
A U.S. senator is confident that new CIA evidence could solve the mystery of what happened to Gulf War Navy pilot Michael Scott Speicher, shot down over Iraq more than 12 years ago.

July 09, 2003 SEA - Vietnam Uses DNA to Identify MIAs & KIAs
Vietnam says it has used gene technology to identify the remains of soldiers missing in action during the war with the United States and its intervention in Cambodia.

July 09, 2003 IRAQ - After Releases US Holds 23 POWs
The British government has clarified the fate of some 4,000 prisoners seized by UK troops in Iraq, saying all but 23 had been freed up at the beginning of this month.

July 09, 2003 KW - CW - US & NK to Discuss Remains Recovery
After a months-long stalemate, North Korea and the United States have agreed to resume talks on recovering remains of American servicemen killed in the Korean War, officials said Tuesday.

July 09, 2003 IRAQ - Army Nasiriyah Ambush Report Completed
 The Army will release a report tomorrow on the ambush of the 507th Maintenance Company in Iraq that will show Pfc. Jessica Lynch and another female soldier suffered extensive injuries in a vehicle accident, but not from Iraqi fighters.

July 09, 2003 KW - CW - US & NK to Meet in Bangkok
The United States and North Korea will hold talks in the Thai capital this week on recovering remains of American soldiers missing in action from the Korean War, a US embassy spokesman said Tuesday.

July 08, 2003 PGW - New Information on Search For Speicher Claims Nelson
n a Monday conference call from Kuwait City, Nelson said there was new, highly classified evidence on the search for Speicher, who has been missing since the 1991 Gulf War. "Does that mean he is alive?" Nelson said. "I don't have any proof of that." Nelson said he believes learning Speicher's fate is a priority of military commanders.

July 08, 2003 SEA - NLF Update Line
Family News Summary

July 08, 2003 WW II - Ex-POW Finally Honored With DFC
Rather than jumping to safety from his crippled B-24, he ventured back into the aircraft and saved the life of his pilot, Mark Osborne, who had become trapped in his seat. Both McGory, who lived in Dryden, and Osborne, of Tennessee, safely parachuted from the bomber. Both were captured and spent the remainder of World War II in German prisoner-of-war camps.

July 08, 2003 Another POW-MIA Flag Flap
Ralph McIlvaine of Hamilton says he is living in a community for people ages 55 and up, but in reality he is dealing with children. McIlvaine says his housing development is forcing him to remove a POW-MIA flag that hangs above his home.

July 07, 2003 SEA - Family Won't Give Up Hope
More than three decades after his brother was declared missing in action in Vietnam, Alan Sigafoos says he hasn't given up hope.

July 07, 2003 WW II - New Book: Captured Honor
Review & Info

July 07, 2003 WW II - Fliers Ring Returned After 60 Years
A ring pulled from the ashes of a World War II airplane crash site nearly 60 years ago has been returned to the family of a flier killed when his plane was shot down over Italy.

July 06, 2003 WW II - Pearl Harbor Unknowns Removed to CILHI for ID Process
For almost 62 years, remains believed to be those of servicemen who died during Japanıs attack on Pearl Harbor have reposed in a corner of Honoluluıs National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

July 06, 2003 KW - CW - N Korea Looking For $$$$ For Remains Recovery
Since the recovery program began in 1996, a total of 178 sets of remains have been recovered in 25 operations and returned to the U.S. In this week's meeting, the two sides will discuss when and where a new operation will be conducted and how its expenses will be borne.

July 05, 2003 POW-MIA Freedom Radio Broadcast Schedule
News and Views :: Lynn O'Shea :: Bill Cavalieri

July 05, 2003 PGW - Free Scott Speicher
"There have been thousands of bracelets that have been sold with Scott's name on it and thousands of people remembering him every day," Jim Stafford, president of Friends of Scott Speicher, told Channel 4's Damany Lewis. "Anyone who has on a bracelet is thinking about that person."

July 05, 2003 Russia Seeks MIA Soldiers
Russia and Azerbaijan have sought Pakistan's assistance to help trace hundreds of their missing soldiers during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

July 04, 2003 God Bless America!

July 04, 2003 New Book: Beyond Glory
Review & Info

July 04, 2003 As Age Takes Its Toll, Ex-POW Chapter Disbands
They survived the Battle of the Bulge and the Bataan Death March and endured harsh conditions - near-starvation and disease - in German and Japanese prisoner-of-war camps. But now the chapter has lost a battle. The blitzkrieg of age has taken its toll, and no amount of courage can stop it.

July 04, 2003 Misery Knows No Boundaries
Lebanese remains may be Israeli soldiers from 1982 battle.

July 04, 2003 SEA - Nation Will Not Forget the Missing
he quest to account for missing servicemen from the Vietnam, Korean and Cold Wars and World War II "is unwavering, untiring and will not fail." That is what Jerry D. Jennings said during the 34th annual National League of Families conclave here June 27.

July 04, 2003 SEA - When the Bracelet is No Longer There
It feels strange to Terry Ingermanson that it's gone, but it was time to take off the bracelet with Denis Anderson's name. Ingermanson, a member of the POW-MIA Awareness of Salina group, has worn a stainless steel bracelet with Anderson's name on it since the late 1980s as a way to remember all the POW and MIA veterans out there.

July 03, 2003 KW - CW - No Longer Forgotten
Often called "The Forgotten War," the Korean Conflict, which was fought from 1950-'53, is being commemorated across the country on the 50th anniversary of the cease-fire on July 27. In the spirit of honoring the veterans, the Wakefield Fourth of July Parade's theme is "The Korean War, No Longer Forgotten."

July 03, 2003 IRAQ - Ex-POWs Awarded Medals
The soldiers were captured by Iraqis and Riley made the difficult decision to surrender. He was physically and mentally abused by his captors.

July 03, 2003 KW - CW - US, NK May Reopen Talks on Remains of MIAs Next Week
Larry Greer, spokesman for the Defense Department's POW-MIA affairs, told Radio Free Asia that North Korea's U.N. mission has agreed to hold talks in Bangkok. The discussions will include the locations for the search, the schedule and needed equipment, Greer said.

July 02, 2003 SEA - Search For MIA Will Go On
The family of Capt. Arnold ³Dusty² Holm, a Waterford native and Army helicopter pilot lost 31 years ago over Vietnam, said that the search for his remains has not yielded any significant clues this year but that the Pentagon is planning a follow-up expedition.

July 02, 2003 KW - CW - NK in Talks on MIAs
North Korea's military says it has agreed to resume talks with the United States on plans for a new hunt for US soldiers listed as missing in action after the 1950-53 Korean War.

July 02, 2003 PGW - Nelson in Iraq Seeking Speicher Info
A U.S. Senator is in Iraq looking for information on missing First Coast pilot Scott Speicher. Speicher has been missing since the opening night of the first Gulf War over a decade ago.

July 01, 2003 WW II - Locals Remember, Pay Tribute to Air Crew
The bomber sank into a marshy pasture, leaving very little evidence of the crash except for a few bits of metal that were picked up by local boys. Several of them travelled to Sibrandabuorren Monday to pay respects to the men who died on the plane.

July 01, 2003 WW II - Once A Sailor, Always A Sailor
Every day, this nation loses thousands of its veterans from World War II and the Korean War, men and women who put aside their duties here to serve their country.

July 01, 2003 CIVIL WAR - POW's Grave Located, Marked
The blue-eyed boy with light hair was not quite 18. His friends called him "Newb." Back at his home near Little Falls, his mother struggled to raise her children single-handedly. And years of hardship lay before him. His 20-year-old brother standing next to him would die and the teenager from Minnesota would be taken as a prisoner of war.

July 01, 2003 IRAQ - Shoshana Johnson Honored
U.S. Army Spec. Shoshana Johnson limped slowly into the press conference at the Rayburn House Office building recently and took a seat at the podium. U.S. Army Spec. Shoshana Johnson was honored for her heroics in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Johnson said humbly it was "an honor I don't feel I deserve."

July 01, 2003 KW - CW - N Korea Threatens to Abandon Armistice... Again
North Korea has threatened to abandoned the Armistice of 27 JUL 53.

POW-MIA Issue Update August 2003