From: jewell@mace.cc.purdue.edu (Larry Jewell)
Newsgroups: soc.veterans
Subject: 'NamVet Newsletter, Vol.5, no.12 (3/7)
Date: 15 Aug 92 23:45:24 GMT


     
     NAM VET Newsletter                                         Page 29
     Volume  5, Number 12                            December 17, 1991

                   Politicians Lax n' Lazy re our MIA/POWs
                        by John Fellows, Minnesota
                                EDITORIAL
                         Input by Marsha Ledeman
                       NamVet MIA/POW Section Editor
                        VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA
                              (413) 443-6313
     
       After  three days of hearings conducted by the new Senate Select 
     Committee on POW/MIA Affairs,   as a POW/MIA family member I don't 
     feel capable of an objective account.
       The  hearings  can be a draining experience.   Outrage is heaped 
     on outrage. While Chairman John Kerry repeatedly states that he is 
     starting  with  the assumption that there may be living  Americans 
     held  prisoner  in  Southeast Asia,  his casual remarks  betray  a 
     prejudice against it. Each witness is asked if it would matter for
     normal relations to be established.
       At  one point Kerry made the oft-heard official line of the  DOD 
     concerning the photo of Robertson, Lundy, and Stevens:    "The DOD
     has  not  been able to prove it a fake --  yet."  The daughter  of 
     Robertson  was quick to ask if he wouldn't stop saying "yet",  but 
     Kerry doesn't even realize what he has done.
       Most  of  the  time,  only  a few members of the  committee  are 
     present to hear the witnesses. They include Kerry, former POW John 
     McCain, Senator Nancy Kassenbaum,  Kansas and Harry Reid of Nevada 
     --  both  obviously  ignorant of the entire issue.  Also,  Senator 
     Charles  Smith  of New Hampshire and Senator Charles  Grassley  of 
     Iowa -- both  staunch supporters of the families. They are the men 
     who made the committee possible.
       Senator  Helms  is  sometimes there.  He sponsored  the  Foreign 
     Relations   Committee  investigation   that  preceded  the  Select 
     Committee  creation,  but  it was Grassley who did  the  footwork, 
     though;  without  Helms  participation,  it  would not  have  been 
     possible.  Senator Herbert Kohl was present part of the time,  and 
     asked some tough questions of the Defense Director Cheney, General 
     Vessey, and Tracy Usry.
       McCain was brutal in his questioning of Usry. Both men obviously 
     dislike  each other.  Usry is cocky,  confident --  he is a former 
     Army investigator and takes no guff from anyone.
       McCain is transparent. As the popular new phrase of the computer 
     age  says it,  "what you see is what you get."   Subtlety is not a 
     stock in his portfolio. 
       Presidential  Candidate,  Kerry,  of Nebraska,  did not attend a 
     single hearing, though he is a member of the Committee.
       And the Press is sitting this one out.
       Though Kerry says he stated at the beginning that there would be 
     no revelations during this first round of hearings -- described as 
     "baseline"  hearings  designed  to  set the stage for  the  coming 
     months, there were revelations.
       For instance,  on the second day,  the new head of the U.S.  MIA 
     office  in Hanoi testified that he is certain that as many as  ten 
     men  were  left  behind  in Vietnam after the  war.  He  said  the 
     information  on  the men was known previously,  but not  confirmed 
     until he was able to talk to villagers and others.
       He gave no names.
       Kerry  indicated that most of the work of the committee will  be 
     done behind closed doors through the taking of depositions,  or by 
     closed  hearings.  It  does  not sound as if the old  mistrust  of 
     Congress  will  be saved if this is the case.  There  is  constant 
     
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     Volume  5, Number 12                            December 17, 1991

     reference  to  discussions in closed session as  the  conversation 
     gets  to  sensitive areas and the practice of classifying  20-year 
     old information will die hard.
       A  former  high-ranking Vietnamese propagandist,  Bui  Tin,  was 
     brought  in to testify.  It was obvious from stories leading up to 
     the  hearing  that  he  had  come to say  that  thoughts  of  live 
     Americans  are  silly,  and that normalization of relations  would 
     quickly resolve these questions. This, despite the fact that he is 
     supposed  to  be  a defector,  having left Vietnam last  Fall  for 
     Paris.
       He is the man who accepted the surrender of South Vietnam Saigon 
     in 1975, as the highest-ranking officer at the scene. He fought in 
     the South during the war. At one point Kerry, very serious,  asked 
     him  where  he was in 1967-68.  Before he  could  answer,  someone 
     shouted  "that's  when he (Kerry)  was shot".   Tin thought for  a 
     moment  and  said he was in Quang Tri Province.  Kerry was  on  an 
     armored river patrol boat in Vietnam, with the Navy.
       Tin  has already disclosed that he had questioned McCain at  the 
     time Mc Cain was a POW in Hanoi.  MCCain says he was in a hospital 
     the time  and "in tough shape"  and doesn't have any memory of the 
     incident. Tin's notes of the incident have been turned over to the 
     State Department, as well as his diary.
       He  joined  the  Vietnamese Army 40 years ago,  initially  as  a 
     member of the Viet Minh fighting the French, then with Ho Chi Minh 
     against the South and Americans.
       Tin   read  his  initial  lines  as  expected,   appealing   for 
     brotherhood  and  a  new era in  relations.  The  U.N.  Vietnamese 
     ambassador attended the hearings,  having recently been allowed to 
     travel outside New York City.
       But as soon as Tin's formal statement was finished,  he began to 
     put his foot in his mouth.
       First,   he   stated  that  some  American  prisoners  had  been 
     interrogated  by Cubans and Soviet personnel.  This was a  misstep  
     because it contradicted a statement made minutes before by Senator 
     McCain   that  none  of  the  men  who  were  returned  were  ever 
     interrogated by  Soviets.
       Tin's statements indicated that some men were held as prisoners, 
     but  never  returned,  a nd that Hanoi should able to account  for 
     them.
       Tin  said  he  had no knowledge that any men were  sent  to  the 
     Soviet Union. He insisted that he would have been informed if they 
     had, though he described himself only as a journalist.
       He  said  the Soviets were extremely interested in men  who  had 
     knowledge  of electronic warfare systems.  His statement  verified 
     what  NSA agents Mooney and Minarcin have stated --  that men with 
     this   knowledge  were  turned  over  to  the  Soviet  Union   for 
     interrogation.  They  say  the Soviets took the men to the  Soviet 
     Union.
       McCain  said he was very interested in this area because he  was 
     aware  that the electronics systems crew members of B52s were  not 
     returned.
       Tin  went  on to say  that voluminous files were required to  be 
     maintained  for each prisoner,  with entries  each day  indicating 
     the prisoners attitude,  and details such as what he ate.  he said 
     these  records were in excellent condition,  and kept today in the  
     Defense Ministry's Enemy Propaganda Department.
       Tin  assured  the  committee that been any   Americans  kept  in 
     Vietnam  after the war,  he would have known about it,  because it 
     was  a special responsibility of his.  He had access to all of the 
     
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     Volume  5, Number 12                            December 17, 1991

     prisoner of war camps during the war and visited them regularly to 
     interview the prisoners. He was editor of  the military newspaper, 
     and  was gathering material for a book on the POWs.  He  outranked 
     the camp commanders, as a Lt. Colonel.  His good friend and former 
     classmate was responsible for POWs, and his office was less than a 
     block away.
       The  existence  of any Americans would not have been  kept  from 
     him, he said.
       Then,  Kerry asked about Robert Garwood --  the POW who returned 
     in  1979  --  according to Kerry,  through the efforts of a  third 
     country.  Tin  replied that he didn't know anything about Garwood, 
     but  heard  that  people  around  DaNang knew  a  lot  about  him.  
     Astonished,  Kerry  pointed  out  that  if he  didn't  know  about 
     Garwood,  it's  possible there were others he did not know  about. 
     But Tin assured him that couldn't be.
       Tin says that Hanoi is operating and should be trusted, but adds 
     that because they have lied so many times in the past they are not 
     trusted.
       Tin  was questioned in detail about men shot down over Laos.  He 
     said if a plane was shot down over Vietnam,  but  crashed in Laos,  
     the  Pathet Lao would turn the pilot over to  the  Vietnamese.  He 
     said they would do it willingly as relations were good between the 
     two groups, and the Pathet Lao were "very disciplined".
       Tin  was quoted as a government spokesman  by the Press the war, 
     during  Operation Homecoming,  saying the Americans should talk to 
     the Pathet Lao because they were holding Americans. This is one of 
     the  gaping  holes in the history of the end of the  war,  because 
     Kissinger had protested when he realized that none of the names of 
     men  held  by  the Pathet Lao were on the list given  him  by  the 
     Vietnamese, of men to be released. His protests finally caused the 
     Vietnamese  to  produce nine additional prisoners,  who they  said 
     were  the  Pathet Lao prisoners.  The DOD has always claimed  that 
     these  men  were  never Pathet Lao prisoners.  The  men  had  been 
     produced from a statistical vacuum,  as the Vietnamese had already 
     said they had already accounted for all the men they held.
       Tin's  explanation was that he was ordered to make the statement 
     about men held in Laos, by a Vietnamese General.
       Tin's  explanation  for the capture of so few pilots who  bailed 
     out over Laos is that the jungle is very thick, and they could not 
     be found.
       He  said  he didn't know if there were any or Cambodia,  but  he 
     trusted they were not interested in POWs.
       The last people to testify at the end of the three days were the 
     family  members of the men portrayed in the photos which  surfaced 
     this past July. Their frustration   was evident,  and though their 
     experience  was  recent,  there were the echoes in their words  of 
     many families over many years.
       They  told how they  had to fight for information,  and how  the 
     DIA sat on information.
       At one point Albro Lundy told how he discovered that the DIA had 
     prints  of  his father which had been submitted with the photo  of 
     his father,  but which he had never been told of.  He asked if the 
     DIA  had checked the prints against prints in his father's service 
     record?  He was told the DIA didn't do that unless the next of kin 
     requested -- then they refused to do it at his request,  insisting 
     he -- as a son of an MIA -- was not next of kin.
       They  then  said  Lundy's fingerprints were not in  his  service 
     record,  but  Lundy pointed out a page in the service record  that 
     stated  that a fingerprint card was supposed to be attached --  it 
     
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     Volume  5, Number 12                            December 17, 1991

     had been removed.
       All of the families said the fingerprints had been removed.  The 
     Borah  family had been provided fingerprints supposed to be  their 
     son's,  but  they now question whether they are really their son's 
     -- so deep is the level of mistrust in the government.
       Perhaps  the  most heartbreaking narration was provided  by  the 
     daughter  of  MIA John Robertson.  She told how she  had  recently 
     spent  five  days in Hanoi as the guest of a Scottish news  agency 
     doing  a  documentary of the POW issue.  She was given  the  royal 
     tour,   conducted  to  former  prisons,   and  visited  with  high 
     Vietnamese  officials  who assured her that ideas  concerning  the 
     existence of her father were foolish.
       To  prove their point they gave her a copy of a Washington  Post 
     article saying as much.
       But  it was a U.S.  document they provided her that shocked her. 
     It  was a full report from the DIA which informed them not only of 
     the  reported  details of her fathers whereabouts,  and the  names 
     people  holding him,  but the sources who provided the information 
     to the DIA.
       Kerry asked if he could see the document, and she kiddingly said 
     she  could not,  it was classified by the U.S.  government and not 
     even members of  Congress could see the sources and methods -- but 
     the Vietnamese could.
       The  information was especially shocking because Judge  Hamilton 
     Gayden had  just reported that an escape attempt had recently been 
     made  by a POW along  with three men who assisted them.  They were 
     caught trying to cross the Mekong River.  The POW was ALbro Lundy. 
     One of the sources was a Cambodian minister.
       The  credibility of some of the "known fabricators of  evidence" 
     was  given a big boost at the hearings.  The DIA has long tried to 
     discredit  men such as Al Shinkle and Jack Bailey --  retired  Air 
     force  intelligence  officers now retired,  who devote their  days 
     tracking down POW/MIA intelligence. 
       Bailey testified at the hearing. It became quickly apparent that 
     he did not act alone, because he was accompanied  by J.  Turner -- 
     like  Bailey  a  retired Air Force Officer   (Lt.  Col).  He  also 
     indicated that Larry Stark -- a former POW worked with him.
       Lundy's  son is an eloquent attorney.  The Senators --  most  of 
     whom  are  attorneys --  found themselves  seated across from  two 
     judges, and another attorney,   two retired high-ranking officers, 
     as  well  as  the very eloquent daughters  of  Lundy,  and  Gladys 
     Fleckenstein -- mother of Robert Stevens.
       MIA John Robertson's daughter, Shelby Robertson-Quast, expressed 
     a  point that frustrates every P OW activist and family member  -- 
     the  apparent  success of the DOD in giving disinformation to  the 
     Press  about  the  photos.  The DOD  successfully  associated  the  
     photos  with some previous photos which were obvious  fakes.  Now, 
     the  Press routinely refers to all of the photos as  fakes.   Yet, 
     Robinson pointed out that:
       1.  None  of the fake photos provided by the DIA accompanied the 
           current photos.
       2.  All  of  the  photos  have been  positively  identified  as  
           genuine  by forensics experts,  including but not limited to 
           the internationally renowned Dr. Michael Charney.
       3.  The  DOD said they found a French/Lao man who posed for  the 
           Borah photo,  but Judge Gayden submitted the photo to police 
           forensics  experts in his district,  who said the Government 
           photo, not the family photo, had been doctored. They pointed 
           out,  for instance,  that shadows on the face of the Lao man 
     
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     Volume  5, Number 12                            December 17, 1991

           did   not   correspond  with  shadows  on  nearby   objects, 
           indicating that the face had been "dropped"  on the photo to 
           make the man look like Borah. Kerry, on hearing this,  asked  
           for the DIA man who had provided the government photo. "He's 
           on his way to Laos, for that very reason", he was told.  The 
           DIA had known  what the families would say.
       4.  There  are now two photos of Stevens,  positively identified 
           through computer analysis. Thus, Lundy, Stevens, Borah,  and 
           Carr  have  all been positively identified through  computer 
           enhancement and analysis of the photos.
       Gladys  Fleckenstein --  mother of Stevens,  read the government 
     analysis  of the Lundy/Robertson/Stevens photo said that logically 
     it didn't make sense that the photo could be real, because the men 
     were  wearing Russian uniforms,  and were carrying bundles of WWII 
     rifles, however;  it concluded,  they found that the photo had not 
     been  altered  (except for the writing on the sign in the  photo), 
     and  that  they could not prove that the photo was a  fake.  Thus, 
     none of the photos have been shown to be fakes.
     








































     NAM VET Newsletter                                         Page 34
     Volume  5, Number 12                            December 17, 1991

                          POW FREEDOM FOUNDATION
                            P. O. Box 65, MCRD
                           San Diego, CA  92140
                    (619) 283-9879  FAX:(619) 283-0850
     
     Did  the United States knowingly abandon American Prisoners of War 
     to Communist Governments world wide?
     
     Does evidence exist of these abandonments?
     
     Are  American  Service  Personnel (ASP)  still alive  as  POWs  in 
     Communist countries?
     
     Why would the U.S. Government (USG) leave our POWs behind?
     
     Why  would  the  Communists  keep and continue  to  keep  American 
     Service Personnel?
     
     What can YOU do to help?
     
     PLEASE  SPEND FIVE MINUTES READING THIS SHEET [ARTICLE]  THEN  YOU 
     DECIDE AND ACT!
     
     Fact sheet paid for from donations to: POW FREEDOM FOUNDATION
     
     WWII HISTORY OF POWs
       German records pertaining to Allied POWs showed 20,000 ASPs were 
     in  German  POW camps that had been,  or would  be,  liberated  by 
     Soviet  Forces.   Some had been "liberated"  as early as  February 
     1945.
       It was later learned that Allied POWs "liberated" by the Soviets 
     had  been transported to Siberia,  with all Soviet troops that had 
     also been POWs.
       In  1946,  the USG declared all World War II POWs and MIAs dead, 
     even though many were known to be held in Siberia.
       To  declare these personnel dead,  the USG used the authority of 
     the one year clause of the MISSING PERSONS ACT OF 1942.
       In  1945,  John  Noble,  a U.S.  civilian,  was taken from  East 
     Germany  to  Siberia  for  9-1/2 years of  slave  labor.   He  was 
     released  only  because a third country asked the USG why  he  was 
     there.
       PFC Howard Humble, a "liberated" U.S.  POW also disappeared from 
     East Germany.   He was declared dead in 1946,  only because he had 
     not been seen, or heard of, for one year.
     
     KOREAN AND COLD WAR
       The  USG expected more than 10,000 POWs from North Korea.   Less 
     than 6,000 returned.  Since 1953 the status of 8,000 POWs is still 
     undetermined.
       Allied POWs have been reported in North Korean slave labor camps 
     as late as 1979.
       USG  intelligence  reported  nearly 3,000 ASPs were  moved  from 
     China to Siberia in 1953 and 1954.
       Eleven ASPs, captured in Korea in 1952, were released from China 
     in  1955,  but  only  after the Secretary General  of  the  United 
     Nations brought them to the attention of the USG.
       John Downey and Richard Fecteau (pilots)  were captured by China 
     in  1952.   Fecteau returned in 1971 and Downey in 1973 as part of 
     the Vietnamese POW exchange.
     
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     Volume  5, Number 12                            December 17, 1991

       Reports  indicate that crew members of a U.S.  Navy plane,  shot 
     down  in  the Baltic Sea in 1950,  were captured by  the  Soviets.  
     Since  1954,  200 ASPs have disappeared during brushes with Soviet 
     Forces.
       All  have  been declared dead under the MISSING PERSONS  ACT  OF 
     1942.   In  1954  all U.S.  POW/MIAs were declared dead under  the 
     MISSING PERSONS ACT OF 1942.
     
     THE VIETNAM WAR
       The first American was imprisoned in Southeast Asia in 1961, the 
     last  in  1973,  the  last MIA in 1975.   In  1973,  the  USG  was 
     expecting  more  than 1,200 POWs for Operation  Homecoming.   Only 
     POWs 591 came home, some known live POWs did not.
       Of the 569 ASP MIAs in Laos,  nearly half were known to be POWs.  
     No POWs, held by any Laotian Forces were released.   No accord was 
     signed between Laos and the U.S.  Col.  Charles E.  Shelton,  shot 
     down  over Laos April 29,  1965 on his 33rd birthday,  is the only 
     American  still officially listed as a PRISONER OF WAR by the U.S. 
     Government.
       Except  for Col.  Shelton,  in 1979 all ASPs were declared  dead 
     under the MISSING PERSONS ACT OF 1942.  As of May 1991,  there are 
     2,274 Americans still unaccounted for in SE Asia.
       Of  the  POWs,  MIAs  and Killed In  Action-Body  Not  Recovered 
     (KIA-BNR), 80 percent are pilots and flight crews, only 20 percent 
     are ground personnel.
     
     EVIDENCE OF ABANDONMENT
       POWs  came from 13 separate camps.   U.S.  Intelligence knew  of 
     only  9  camps  so we received POWs from 4 camps we did  not  know 
     existed.   The  USG  received  some POWs back in 1973  we  had  no 
     knowledge were in captivity.
       In 1979,  PFC Robert Garwood,  USMC,  was returned from Vietnam.  
     He  claimed  he  had knowledge of four Communist POW  camps  still 
     active.
       In 1985, Special Forces Major Mark Smith and Sgt Melvin McIntyre 
     filed  suit  against  the  U.S.   Government  alleging  they  were 
     prevented from acting on evidence of POWs in SE Asia.
       In 1987, Hun Sen, Premier of Kampuchea, accused the USG of never 
     having  directly asked his Government about MIAs lost there.   The 
     USG  confirmed  that  it  has no  intention  of  contacting  Sen's 
     Government directly on the POW issue.
       In 1989, a Buddhist monk was released by Hanoi after 14 years of 
     imprisonment.   He  identified  6 ASPs being held as POWs  by  the 
     Communists.
       Also in 1989, Stan Cottrell, a long distance runner and a member 
     of the Billy Graham Crusade,  said he witnessed about 20 Americans 
     entering "heavily camouflaged tunnels" north of Hue, Vietnam.
       In  October 1990,  Vietnam's Deputy Premier Nguyen Co Thach told 
     the USG that his government was holding an American.  This man has 
     since  been identified as a civilian member of the GLOMAR JAVA SEA 
     which  sunk  off the coast of Vietnam during a typhoon in  October 
     1983. Other survivors are thought to still be there.
       An interim Senate report released n October 1990 states that the 
     DOD  "IN APRIL 1974 CONCLUDED BEYOND A DOUBT THAT SEVERAL  HUNDRED 
     LIVING AMERICAN POWs REMAINED IN CAPTIVITY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA".
     
     IMPORTANT POW/MIA QUOTES
     "Accounting for Americans Missing in Action is a matter of highest 
     national priority."  -  PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH -  JUL 28,  1989 and 
     
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     Volume  5, Number 12                            December 17, 1991

     again, JUL 1990.
     
     "There  are  today,  Americans held against their will in  foreign 
     lands  and Americans who are unaccounted for."   PRESIDENT BUSH  - 
     JAN 20, 1989.
     
     "There  is  quite  a lot of evidence given by people who  have  no 
     ulterior  motives  and  no reasons to lie,  and they  are  telling 
     things they have seen.  I do think there has to be ...  there have 
     to be live Americans there."  -  FORMER NAT'L SEC.  ADVISOR ROBERT 
     McFARLANE - OCT 9, 1985
     
     "During my tenure as Director, I saw more information on POWs than 
     any  other  man  in the world.   I was convinced then,  and  I  am 
     convinced today,  that Americans are being held against their will 
     by  the Communists in SE Asia.   There could be 50-60 in  Vietnam, 
     maybe more."   FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE DEFENSE INTEL AGENCY,  LtGen 
     EUGENE TIGHE - 1986
     
     "Look, the nation knows they (the POWs) are there, everybody knows 
     they are there,  but there's no groundswell of support for getting 
     them  out.   Certainly  you  are not suggesting we pay  for  them, 
     surely  not  saying we could do anything like that with no  public 
     support?"  FORMER CIA DIRECTOR WILLIAM CASEY - OCT 7, 1986
     
     "There  is no longer any question that there are live Americans in 
     SE Asia.   The question is who they are and how many of them there 
     are.  There could be Americans in the mountains, in the caves,  in 
     areas  beyond their control.   For God's sake,  bring them  home." 
     CONGRESSMAN G. SOLOMON - 1986
     
     "By  the  end of the war there was probably close to 480 names  on 
     the list of MIAs which I carried around... 302 to 304 alive.  Only 
     a  small  percent  were  returned.   If you  find  anybody  at  my 
     operational  level that said we got 'em all back,  I'll be totally 
     surprised."  FORMER NAT'L SECURITY AGENCY ANALYST,  JERRY MOONEY - 
     1986.
     
     "My  plan  was to be totally honest and forthcoming on the  entire 
     issue  and aggressively pursue innovative actions and concepts  to 
     clear  up the live sighting business.   I became painfully  aware, 
     however,  that  I  was  not  really in charge of  my  own  office. 
     Practically  all  analysis is directed to finding fault  with  the 
     source.  The policy people manipulating the affair have maintained 
     their distance and remained hidden in the shadows, while using the 
     Office  as  a TOXIC WASTE DUMP to bury the whole  MESS.   Whatever 
     happens in the issue, DIA takes the blame,  while the real players 
     remain invisible."  CHIEF OF THE SPECIAL OFFICE FOR POW/MIAs,  COL 
     MILLARD A. PECK, Request for Relief - 12 FEB 1991
     
     THE USG LEFT OUR POWs BEHIND
       Every  administration  since the Nixon administration  has  been 
     unable   to  recover  the  ASPs  in  SE  Asia.    Each  subsequent 
     administration   has  compounded  the  tragedy  and  would  become 
     directly  accountable for the men who died during their tenure  in 
     office.
       In  1973  the pressure to withdraw from SE Asia was immense  and 
     Congress  refused  to appropriate the 3.4 billion dollars  in  war 
     reparations that had been promised by President Nixon.
     
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       There has been a conspiracy of silence and clear lack of resolve 
     to  address  the  POW issue.   There has been a  long  history  of 
     neglect   and  incompetence,   protection  of  individual   career 
     interest,  poor judgment and insufficient correlation,  synthesis, 
     processing and dissemination of POW data.
     
     THE COMMUNISTS STILL KEEP ASPs
       Our  representatives at the Paris Peace Accords failed to demand 
     the return of all of our POWs.   Hanoi never released them because 
     we never asked for them.
       The  countries  of Laos and Cambodia did not participate in  the 
     Paris  Peace  negotiations which led to an agreement only  between 
     the  U.S.  Government  and  North  Vietnam.   No  direct,   formal 
     negotiations for POWs were ever conducted with either country.
       Prisoners  could have been retained as insurance against the 3.5 
     billion dollars that the Vietnamese termed a "blood debt".
       Remaining  American POWs were to be used as a bargaining tool if 
     the  planned  military objectives against South Vietnam  were  not 
     successful.
       POWs were retained for purposes of internal propaganda.
       The  countries  of  Vietnam,  Laos and  Cambodia  included  many 
     different  regional  and political factions.   These factions  may 
     have held POWs outside of "official government control"  in remote 
     areas.
       Many  of  the  missing  men who were  not  returned  had  highly 
     specialized  expertise or advanced training in areas of particular 
     value.  A very small number of these "high priority captures" such 
     as  the Electronics Warfare Officer (EWO)  on the F-4 Phantom  jet 
     were ever returned.
       Basic mechanical, repair and maintenance skills were also needed 
     by  an underdeveloped Vietnam.   Many of the enlisted men captured 
     and not returned had valuable "hardware" skills.
       The  Communists  consider POWs as "war criminals"  who  are  not 
     entitled to the protection of the Geneva convention which requires 
     the  return of POWs after a negotiated settlement.   Further,  the 
     Vietnamese  do  not  feel  bound to recognize these  men  as  POWs 
     because  the  U.S.  Government  never officially declared  war  in 
     Vietnam.
     
     WHAT CAN YOU DO?
       CALL/WRITE  your Congressman,  Senator and President weekly  and 
     demand that HR 1730, The Missing Service Personnel Act replace The 
     Missing  Persons  Act  of 1942.   Demand that  all  Servicemen  be 
     accounted for and that our POWs be brought home - NOW!
       DISPLAY  THE POW flag and stickers,  WEAR a POW bracelet and  T-
     shirt and GIVE ten friends a copy of this fact sheet.
       SUBSCRIBE  to the FREEDOM FIGHTER newsletter and keep current on 
     POW issues.  Donate what you can to a POW/MIA organization.
     
                     REMEMBER THEM - THEY STILL WAIT!
     








     NAM VET Newsletter                                         Page 38
     Volume  5, Number 12                            December 17, 1991

                     POW ITEMS AVAILABLE VIA DONATIONS
                                              QTY/TOTAL
     POW Flag, 3' X 5'   $20                 ____/_____
      Double sided/Outdoor
     
     T-Shirt             $10                 ____/______
      M  L  XL  XXL
     
     POW Newsletter (yr) $15                 ____/______
     
     POW/MIA Bracelet    $ 5                 ____/______
     
     POW Patch           $ 5                 ____/______
     
     Run FT Wall Patch   $ 5                 ____/______
     
     POW Window Sticker  $ 3                 ____/______
     
     POW Lapel Pin       $ 3                 ____/______
     
     Postage & Handling                       $ ________
       ($1 for each $5 ordered)
     
     Total Enclosed                           $ ________
      (VISA & MASTERCARD AVAILABLE)
     
     ___________________________________________________
     (Name)
     
     ___________________________________________________
     (Address)
     
     ___________________________________________________
     (Address)
     
     The  POW  FREEDOM  FOUNDATION  is  a  nonprofit,   tax  deductible 
     organization  [501(c)(3)]  (IRS  #33-0384562)   dedicated  to  the 
     freedom  of American and Allied POW/MIAs through public education, 
     awareness  and direct action.   The FOUNDATION is the organizer of 
     the  annual RUN FOR THE WALL veterans POW awareness "run"  between 
     San  Diego  and Washington,  D.C.  each May.   Thank you for  your 
     support.
     
                          POW FREEDOM FOUNDATION
                            P. O. Box 65, MCRD
                           San Diego, CA  92140
                    (619) 283-9879  FAX: (619) 283-0850
     











     NAM VET Newsletter                                         Page 39
     Volume  5, Number 12                            December 17, 1991



     ==================================================================
                                 Sister Vets
     ==================================================================

                  Vietnam Women's Memorial Project, Inc.
                              "Sister Search"
                        Submitted by: Martha Green
                        VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA
                              (413) 443-6313
     
     The  Vietnam  Women's  Memorial Project's  "SISTER  SEARCH"  is  a 
     program  designed  to locate the military and civilian  women  who 
     served their country during the Vietnam War.
     
     The  goals of "SISTER SEARCH"  are to facilitate hope and  healing 
     among women veterans; to provide a network for them; and to assist 
     research efforts on women who served during the Vietnam War.
     
     Vietnam   era  women  veterans  are  asked  to  provide  as   much 
     information  as they feel comfortable sharing.   Although  "Sister 
     Search" is NOT a locator service,  should an inquiry be made as to 
     whereabouts of a person included in the "SISTER SEARCH"  database, 
     the VWMP will pass the inquiry along in writing to the individual, 
     allowing her to decide whether she would like to respond.   If the 
     individual  is deceased,  the inquiry will be sent to the  closest 
     family member identified by the VWMP.
     
     All   women  veterans  in  the  "SISTER  SEARCH"   database   will 
     periodically  receive  information on the Project's  progress  and 
     ultimately  receive an invitation to the dedication ceremonies  in 
     Washington, D.C.
     
     The  Vietnam Women's Memorial Project is a  non-profit,  volunteer 
     organization  with the threefold purpose of:  educating the public 
     about  the women who served during the Vietnam era;  locating  and 
     providing  a  network  for these women;  and placing  a  realistic 
     representation  of  a Vietnam woman veteran on the grounds of  the 
     Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC.   The Project has the 
     support  of every major veterans group in America,  including  the 
     Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.
     
     For more information, contact:
     
                              "SISTER SEARCH"
                              Vietnam Women's Memorial Project
                              2001 'S' Street NW
                              Suite #302
                              Washington DC  20009
     










     NAM VET Newsletter                                         Page 40
     Volume  5, Number 12                            December 17, 1991

     
            Even a small donation
     
                        can make a monumental difference.
     
     
     Efforts are now underway to erect a monument on the grounds of the
     Vietnam Veterans Memorial that recognizes the role played by women
     veterans.  The Vietnam Women's Memorial Project is conducting this
     drive  as part of a  larger effort to  educate all Americans about
     the vital services provided  by over  265,000 women,  military and
     civilian, during the Vietnam War.
                                         O
         O                              O
          O                            O
           O                          O
            O                        O
             O                      O
              O                    O Your contribution, large or small,
               O                  O will help ensure that these women's
                O                O  sacrifices are not forgotten.
                 O __________   O
                  O          ) O
                 /(O)       / O\
                /          / O  \
               / VIETNAM  /      \
              /  WOMEN'S /HONORING\
             / MEMORIAL /\   THE   \
            /  PROJECT /  \ WOMEN   \
           /          /    \ WHO     \
          /          /      \ SERVED /
         (__________/        \      /
                              \    /
                               \  /
                                \/
      _
     /_/ Yes, I want to help honor America's Women Vietnam veterans.
         My tax-deductible contribution is enclosed.
      _
     /_/ Send me more information about how I can help make this dream
         a reality.
      _
     /_/ I am a woman who served during the Vietnam era.
     
     NAME ____________________________________________________________
     ADDRESS _________________________________________________________
     CITY ______________________________________  STATE ______________
     ZIP ____________________ PHONE __________________________________
     
     Clip and mail along with your contribution to:
              VWMP
              2001 S St., NW Suite 710
              Washington, DC  20009
     
                     VIETNAM WOMEN'S MEMORIAL PROJECT
                       A legacy of Healing and Hope
     
     

     NAM VET Newsletter                                         Page 41
     Volume  5, Number 12                            December 17, 1991

                  Vietnam Women's Memorial Project, Inc.
           2001 'S' Street NW - Suite 302 - Washington DC 20009
                    (202) 328-7253  FAX: (202) 328-0063
                        Submitted by: Martha Green
                        VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA
                              (413) 443-6313
     
                               SISTER SEARCH
     
     Name:________________________Vietnam Era Name: ___________________
                                  (If different)
     Address:_____________________________________ Work #: ____/_______
     City:________________ State: __ Zip:________  Home #:
     
     Branch of Service or
     Civilian Organization: ___________________________________________
     
                           In-Country (Vietnam)
     Assignment #1: ___________________________________________________
     Start Date: ___________________________ End Date: ________________
     Assignment #2: ___________________________________________________
     Start Date: ___________________________ End Date: ________________
     Assignment #3: ___________________________________________________
     Start Date: ___________________________ End Date: ________________
     
                          Vietnam Era (1959-1975)
     Assignment: ______________________________________________________
     Start Date: ___________________________ End Date: ________________
     
     The  Project  receives inquires from the press and researchers  in 
     search  of  Vietnam  era women veterans who are willing  to  share 
     their experiences.Your participation as a press/research/education 
     contact is strictly optional.
     
     I  authorize  the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project to  release  my 
     name  to individuals or organizations who are seeking  information 
     on  Vietnam era women veterans for press inquirries,  research  or 
     educational activities.
     
     Signature ________________________________________ Date __________
     
     I  authorize  the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project to  release  my 
     name  to the National Associate Volunteer,  Regional and/or  State 
     Coordinator in my area.
     -------------------|
     FOR OFFICE USE     |
     DATE RECEIVED:     |
                        | Signature ___________________ Date __________
     TRANSFER:          |
                        | Please  list  the names and addresses of  any 
     ENTER:             | other  Vietnam era women veterans you know on 
                        | the back of this form.
                        |
     COMMENTS:          |
     -------------------| Thank you for participating in SISTER SEARCH
     



     NAM VET Newsletter                                         Page 42
     Volume  5, Number 12                            December 17, 1991

                         Silent Night, Holy Night
                              By Gus Gustitus
                        Editor - VVA 65 Newsletter
                        VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA
                              (413) 443-6313
     
     'Twas the Night Before Christmas
        and all through the A Shau Valley of South Vietnam
     Not a creature was stirring..
        not even the enemy.
     
     The North Vietnamese had declared a truce.
       No one would die tonight.
     
     All through the valley
       there were watchtowers,
        bunkers, and small outposts
         manned by Americans,
             some celebrating their first Christmas away from home,
          in a War Zone.
     
     The loneliness was heavy
           but the silence was deafening.
     
     You could hear a pin drop
        and echo up one side and down the other of the valley.
     
     About Midnight... the hour Christ was born,
        far off in the distance,
           much too far to see,
             was heard, "Silent Night,  holy night" -
        off in another direction
                 miles away
            came "All is calm" -
        from another direction,
            "all is bright."
     
     Together they all finished the hymn.
     Then back to dead silence until morning.
     
          ===============================
     
             That's the way it was, Christmas 1968 in Vietnam.
     
                         Merry Christmas, from Gus 
             (I <Gus> wasn't there then, but maybe you were.)
     












     NAM VET Newsletter                                         Page 43
     Volume  5, Number 12                            December 17, 1991



     ==================================================================
                                  In-Touch
     ==================================================================

                           It's Not Finished Yet
                               By: Ed Henry
                 From: Among Friends - a FVVM Publication
     
        In  October (1989)  I began a new endeavor with The Friends  of 
     the  Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington,  D.C.   For the past 
     year  the  organization  has manned an assistance booth  near  the 
     Memorial.   Bob Evans,  a founding member of VVA Chapter 227,  has 
     established   himself  at  the  booth  and  he's  been  doing   an 
     outstanding  job  of meeting the public,  answering the myriad  of 
     questions surrounding the Wall - and the war.
        Bob  and  I have worked on many Vietnam-related projects so  he 
     asked  me  to come down to the Memorial grounds and help him  out.  
     For those of you who have the privilege of knowing Bob, and I know 
     there are many out there,  you know what kind of sensitive bearing 
     he can bring to this solemn place.  Bob will let you know right up 
     front  about how he feel about the Vietnam war and what it did  to 
     him and his brother and sister vets.   He bears the scars of it on 
     his  face,  and in his heart.  He nearly died in the A Shau Valley 
     when an NVA bullet ripped through his lower jaw.
        His story really begins after that horrendous incident,  and he 
     has shared it widely with high school and university audiences and 
     he shares it now with the multitudes of visitors at the wall.   He 
     never  preaches,  he  doesn't proselytize.   He only answers  when 
     asked  about  the  events that have shaped his live as  a  Vietnam 
     veteran.   He  is  especially  good with the  younger  generation.  
     Always patient, he expresses a special need to assist the families 
     and  loved  ones  of those who are now memorialized on  the  black 
     facade.
        One  particularly  beautiful October day I was with Bob at  the 
     booth  near  the  Lincoln Memorial and that day  the  crowds  were 
     fairly heavy.   The site is near the TourMobile stop and it can be 
     an   interesting   day  spent  just  watching  all   the   various 
     nationalities and tourists go by.
        The kids come noisily with not much understanding of the events 
     surrounding  this  monument.   The foreigners approach it with  an 
     interested  curiosity.   The  families of the men and women  whose 
     names  are  on  the  Wall approach it  with  great  solemnity  and 
     silence.   They  also come with anger and bitterness harbored  too 
     long.   They  come with questions that have tugged at their  lives 
     since  the  day  they got the news that someone was no  longer  in 
     their lives.   On this day,  Bob and I were standing there talking 
     about  nothing  in  particular  when three or  four  women  strode 
     abruptly up to our table and practically yelled "It isn't finished 
     yet!" in our faces.
        Bob  and I just looked at each other and then we looked at  the 
     women.  They were about my mother's age, and I felt like a son who 
     had  just  gone a bit too far with the amount of cookies he'd  had 
     that  afternoon.   Bob  spoke  first with the ever  brilliant  and 
     diplomatic  "May  I  help you?"   I chimed in  with  something  as 
     equally brilliant:  "Excuse me, but what did you say?"
        She said "It isn't finished yet.  It's just not done.   I don't 
     like  it.   It needs something more -  a flag or something.   Just 
     something  to  make  it not look so plain.   The  names  are  just 
     startling, and stark.   What do you think about it?   Do you agree 
     
     NAM VET Newsletter                                         Page 44
     Volume  5, Number 12                            December 17, 1991

     with me?"
        After  one great big pregnant pause I decided to break the  ice 
     with introductions all around.   Her name was Marie Nissen and she 
     and her friends were visiting from Waterloo,  Iowa.   She asked if 
     we  were Vietnam veterans and we nodded our heads.   We don't wear 
     fatigues  down there.   We don't promote the fact that we are vets 
     and that in and of itself has a calming effect on the public.
        Bob immediately dove right in with an explanation of the design 
     of the Memorial; how Maya Lin wanted the names above anything else 
     to be the focus of her design.   Both of us talked at length about 
     what the Memorial meant to us as vets,  and what it means to other 
     vets  and  the thousands of families who have been touched by  the 
     war.
        Mrs. Nissen's persistence continued.  She probed and questioned 
     us  about  this  and that and how we felt about the  war  and  its 
     aftermath.   We  soon  found  ourselves embroiled in a  45  minute 
     historical-psychological-political  discussion  that involved  the 
     geo-politics  of twenty or thirty nations.   In the end she  said, 
     "Yes.  But it's not finished YET!"
        Bob and I laughed.  The women from Waterloo laughed.  It dawned 
     on  me  that this provocation was taking on a profound  magnitude.  
     The lady from Waterloo taught me a lesson that day.  While she and 
     Bob talked, and I thought about it,  her every word was correct in 
     the concept.   I finally said,  "You're right.   You're brilliant.  
     In  your  one little statement you've summed up the whole  of  the 
     situation.    This  Memorial  isn't  finished  and  may  never  be 
     finished.   The war isn't finished and that may never be finished, 
     either.  The aftermath isn't finished yet.  We veterans of the war 
     aren't  finished yet in what we have to do with ourselves and  the 
     rest  of  the  population that's been affected  by  the  war.   In 
     summation,  Mrs.  Nissen,  nothing was finished from this thing we 
     called  the  Vietnam  War and discussions about it may  never  get 
     finished.   As  a matter of fact,  Mrs.  Nissen,  because of  your 
     discussion,  I'm off to write an article about all this unfinished 
     business  we  have  on our hands as Vietnam  veterans.   And  when 
     people  tell  me to go away as a Vietnam veteran and stop  talking 
     about  the war and its aftermath,  I'll mention your name and tell 
     them that a woman from Iowa told me it wasn't finished yet!"
        Bob just nodded in agreement and embarrassment, being the saint 
     that he is.  I felt like giving Mrs.  Nissen and her friends a big 
     hug.    I   felt  renewed  and  enlightened  through  this  simple 
     conversation  with the visiting heartlanders.   I thank you,  Mrs. 
     Nissen, for the lesson you taught me that day.   My own process of 
     daily insight isn't finished either.  God bless you, Mrs.  Nissen, 
     and  all  the rest of your generation.   We have so much to  learn 
     from  people like you,  if we would only take the time to listen - 
     closely.  As a Vietnam veteran,  I have a long road ahead of me in 
     trying to finish this thing.
     





-- 
#Larry W. Jewell (ex-USN)     WWII-L Listowner    jewell@mace.cc.purdue.edu # 
#"Sunday's horoscope is noteworthy because of its strange, sudden and wholly#
#unpredictable and inexplicable occurrences, affecting all phases of life." #
#--"Your Horoscope," L.A. Evening Herald Express, Saturday, Dec. 6, 1941.   #