Re: NAF Bits 'N' Pieces

Date: February 10, 2004

"BITS 'N' PIECES
THE NEWSLETTER OF THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF FAMILIES
FOR THE RETURN OF AMERICA'S MISSING SERVICEMEN
+ WORLD WAR II + KOREA + COLD WAR + VIETNAM + GULF WAR +


February 7, 2004

POW/MIA Flag Flap - During the past week another writer, in his opinion column, took aim at the POW/MIA flag, asking "When can we get rid of those black POW/MIA flags that have been flying under the American flag for the past 30 years? Or are we stuck with them forever?"

The column, which appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times prompted, what we can only imagine was, a huge email response. Based on that response, the columns author sent the following email, which was forwarded to us. The email states, in part:

"This is about as clear as I can say it. I took aim at what I see is a certain view about the government, and seem to have hit a lot of proud vets and grieving relatives, and for that I am truly sorry. What tears me up is that I already firmly believe the things you and your fellows are telling me. I'll be revisiting this topic in my column next Wednesday....."

In a response to the original column, Lynn O'Shea of the National Alliance of Families wrote:

Dear Mr. Steinberg:

I read your February 4th piece asking the questions, "When can we get rid of those black POW/MIA flags that have been flying under the American flag for the past 30 years? Or are we stuck with them forever?" with astonishment.

Clearly you know nothing about the POW/MIA issue, and your opinions have been formed by reading Dept. of Defense Press releases, and no independent research.

Here is but a sampling of what you do not know about the POW/MIA issue:

In 1993, the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs concluded that a "small number" of men had been left behind at the end of the war. Mr. Steinberg, what is a "small number," is it one, five, ten or one hundred? How small would that number be to you, if it represented your father, brother or uncle?

In 1985, the Vietnamese returned remains of Navy pilot Lt. Clemie McKinney. Forensic evidence concluded that McKinney died no earlier than 1975. That's two years after President Nixon stated all the POWS were home.

There is no "Rambo Paranoia." The sad fact is that American service personnel were left behind in Vietnam. American Service personnel were also left behind at the end of Gulf War I, the Korean/Cold War and World War II. Intelligence reports and documents of the time reflect that fact.

Have you ever heard of Richard Desautels? Captured during the Korean War, no fewer than 19 returned POWs reported having seen or spoken with Desautels during their captivity. Here are quotes from two of those debriefs.

"The above-mentioned POW was taken into China . . . He returned to Camp No. 5, in March 1952, at that time he mentioned if he should disappear to make inquires concerning his whereabouts with the proper military authorities . . ." Statement of former POW Joseph [last name unreadable] - 16 June 1954.

"When we were repatriated, I saw him. He was taken away cause he could speak Chinese, so they took him out of the camp. They said he was a rumor spreader and blamed everything that went on in camp on him. So they took him away and when I was released I saw him in Pyoktong village. He must of been held." Statement of former POW Richard Grenier - 12 June 1954.

Did you know that more than 20 South Korean soldiers captured by the North, during the Korean War, have escaped the North over the last 8 - 10 years? If South Korean soldiers survived the brutality of North Korea, why not American or Allied Personnel.

In March 1996, a paper titled "Accountability of Missing Americans From the Korean War Live Sighting Reports" was prepared by analyst I.O. Lee, of the Defense POW/MIA Office (DPMO).

This "Background Paper" talks of two distinct groups of Americans'. The first is a "small group of four personnel comprised of American soldiers who defected to North Korea in the 1960's."

The paper goes on to discuss Prisoner of War stating: "A second, larger group of Americans is comprised of US service members, most likely POWs from the Korean War and possibly Vietnam War era."

Lee continues: "One of the most compelling reports received over the years was a sighting reported to DOD by a Romanian in 17 Feb 1988."

"On October 1979, Mr. Oprica, a former Romanian, now a naturalized U.S. citizen, along with other Romanians employed at a North Korean factory in Pyongyang was on a North Korean Government sponsored sight seeing trip. During this bus trip, the bus driver appeared to be disoriented and drove the bus through a collective farm. During this trip, he observed 7 - 10 Caucasians, including one individual with blue eyes, working in the fields. The workers appeared to be in their 50's Mr. Oprica was told by a female passenger that the Caucasian farmers were American prisoners of war. Mr. Oprica was unable to recall who the lady was and how she determined the Caucasian farmers were American POWs. On 24 Nov 95, another passenger on the bus, Mr. Florin Tomescu was finally located in Romania and interviewed. He confirmed seeing Caucasians working on a farm and the location of the collective farm to be somewhere between Pyongyang and the city of Nampo."

Lee concluded his report saying: "There are too many live sighting reports, specifically observations of several Caucasians in a collective farm by Romanians and the North Korean defectors' eyewitness of Americans in DPRK to dismiss that there are no American POWs in North Korea."

Did you know that the process of identifying remains recovered from Vietnam, do not require the presence of remains? In one case, 1550 individually unidentifiable bone fragments were used to identify 10 men. This includes one individual who made voice contact with Search and Rescue (SAR), an obvious sign he had successfully parachuted out of the aircraft. This voice contact was explained away by officials as having come from the one known survivor. The problem . . . the survivor has stated he never made voice contact with SAR!

The information is endless ... the documentation monumental... the conclusion... men were left behind at the end of each of America's wars.

If you did the research, and looked past official Dept. of Defense Press Releases and rebuttals, you could reach no other conclusion.

As for your comment: "The flags will probably disappear one by one, as those who care passionately about them move on. A good thing, too" All I can say is:

DON'T COUNT ON IT!

Very truly yours,
Lynn O'Shea
Director of Research
National Alliance of Families for the Return of America's Missing Servicemen
World War II - Korea - Cold War - Vietnam - Gulf War

Now for the original piece, written by: Neil Steinberg e-mail: nsteinberg@suntimes.com

"When can we get rid of those black POW/MIA flags that have been flying under the American flag for the past 30 years? Or are we stuck with them forever? I'm all for honoring vets, but the black flag has always had negative overtones, having originated in Rambo paranoia centered around the belief that American prisoners were still in Vietnam years after the war ended and the government was for some reason concealing the fact. The flags, in addition to honoring sacrifice, also suggest, unfairly, something shameful about the country, or at least they did."

"Now vets say they are just a generic tribute to all the prisoners of war and missing in action. Perhaps. But there are better ways to honor U.S. service personnel. The flags will probably disappear one by one, as those who care passionately about them move on. A good thing, too."

Update - From Bits N Pieces November 1, 1997 "On Tuesday October 28th, the Associated Press reported: "Laos has returned the possible remains of an American aviator missing in action from the Vietnam War to U.S. officials. The remains were presented Tuesday to U.S. Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin by Soubanh Srinthirath, Laotian vice minister for foreign affairs...."

".... The remains were the first returned under a new program in which Laotian teams unilaterally investigate leads on cases that joint U.S.-Laotian teams have been unable to resolve..."

According the the AP story the remains are believed to be "those of an Air Force pilot lost Dec. 24, 1970, over Xiangkhouang province in northeastern Laos."

Based on the location and date of loss, we concluded the article referred to the possible remains of Major Albro L. Lundy Jr.

On March 26, 2002 those remains were officially identified as Major Albro L. Lundy Jr. At that time, the family chose not to accept the identification, pending independent examination and testing.

That independent review is now complete. In a note dated January 2004, sent to family and friends, the Lundy family states: "We have independently confirmed through multiple DNA testing that the remains returned by the Laotian Government are his and we will inter them at Arlington National Cemetery on April 7th 2004 with a hero's farewell."

The note continues: "We don't know exactly what happened to him between the time that he parachuted out of his plane on December 24, 1970 and the day his remains were returned. But we do know that we are finally able to lay him and our hopes to rest."

To the Lundy family we offer our prayers and support during this difficult time.

Why Does Johnie Webb still have a job???????????

Leave No Man Behind - If you haven't already done so, order "Leave No Man Behind" by Garnett "Bill" Bell with George J. "Jay" Veith. The publishers web site describes the book as follows:

"The Vietnam War's POW/MIA issue has haunted America since the early stages of the war. Shrouded in controversy, a subject of great emotion amid charges of governmental conspiracy and Communist deceit, the possibility of American servicemen being held in secret captivity after the war's end has influenced U.S. policy toward Southeast Asia for three decades. Now, the first chief of the U.S. POW/MIA office in postwar Vietnam provides an insider's account of that effort. In an illuminating and deeply personal memoir, the government's top POW/MIA field investigator discusses the history of the search for missing Americans, reveals how the Communist Vietnamese stonewalled U.S. efforts to discover the truth, and how the standards for MIA case investigations were gradually lowered while pressure for expanded commercial and economic ties with communist Vietnam increased. Leave No Man Behind is the compelling story of one man's quest, at great individual cost, to find the truth about America's missing in action from the Vietnam War."

We read the outline for the first several chapters and all we can say is that we can't wait to get our copy. To order visit: http://www.goblinfernpress.com/bookpage_lnmb.html

Vietnam Magazine - the April 2004 edition of Vietnam Magazine, on sale in February, contains an article by Bill Bell on the case of four soldiers captured April 21, 1967. The four, Spc4 Thomas Mangino and PFC's Paul Hasenbeck, Daniel Nidds and David Winter were members of the 4/31 196 Light Infantry Brigade. Listed as "Last Known Alive" the four remain unaccounted for. For more information on this case visit http://www.nationalalliance.org/four/index.htm

Sidenote: We're having difficult locating this magazine, at local book store and magazine stands. If anyone reading this does get the magazine, we ask that you scan the article and email it to us at lynn@nationalalliance.org Thanks!

Letter of Endorsement Needed for National POW/MIA Memorial - The Memorial is scheduled for construction in 2004 at the Riverside national Cemetery, in Riverside California. Show your support of this memorial by sending letters to the:

Riverside National Cemetery Support Committee
Attn: POW/MIA Memorial Project=20
Paul Adkins
22495 Van Buren Blvd.
Riverside, California 92518

This is a worthwhile project and we hope you will support this effort.

How Could We Refuse a Request From Our Gold Star Mom's - The following email was sent to Dolores Alfond:

I'm sending along an item I hope you can print in the National Alliance newsletter. Ann Wolcott, president of the American Gold Star Mothers, suggested I send it to you.

We are hoping members of the National Alliance will call their public television stations around the country and ask the program directors there to please air a new documentary, produced by WILL-TV, about Gold Star Mothers. The public television documentary, "Gold Star Mothers: Pilgrimage of Remembrance," looks at the emotional journeys of 6,000 mothers and wives of World War I soldiers who were lost in the war. They went on government-sponsored pilgrimages to see the graves of their loved ones. The program also looks at today's American Gold Star Mothers, many of whom lost a son or daughter in Vietnam.

All stations have the option of airing it free because it is being distributed by PBS Plus. However, each station must make the decision to air it. Calls from interested viewers do have an impact!

Below is the article. We would really appreciate it if you could include it and urge your members to call the PBS station where they live during March, when programmers are making decisions about what to air in May.

Thanks,
Mary Barrineau WILL-TV 217- 244-5080>

Article: Gold Star Mothers: Pilgrimage of Remembrance

Coming to PBS Stations in May - Please call your local PBS station and ask the program director to air this program in May.

For 6,000 women whose sons or husbands were lost in World War I and buried in foreign graves, a pilgrimage to see their loved one's final resting place brought a measure of comfort. In the 1930s, when mothers had heroic stature in the eyes of the nation, the government took thousands of them on trips aross the ocean to visit cemeteries in Europe.

A new one-hour documentary, produced by WILL-TV, tells the story of the emotional Gold Star journeys that, for many women, involved their first travel outside their own communities. It also looks at today's American Gold Star Mothers, many of whom lost a son or daughter in Vietnam. The program also describes how mothers wielded political power to get Congress to approve the Gold Star pilgrimages, and how the segregation of African American women on the trips contributed to the decision of many black voters to leave the Republican Party.

PBS Plus has offered this program to all PBS stations, but each station makes its own decision about whether to air it. Your calls can make a difference! For more information on the program, go to www.will.uiuc.edu/pressroom or contact producer Alison Davis Wood at adwood1@uiuc.edu or (217) 333-1070.

Folks, you know the drill. Let's give our Gold Star Mom's a hand.... make the calls to your local PBS stations.

Ask that they air "Gold Star Mothers: Pilgrimage of Remembrance"

Good News... Bad News - H.Res 103 to Establish a Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, in the House of Representatives, now has 43 co-sponsors, thanks to your efforts. That's the good news.

The Bad News is that H. Res 103 is still stuck in committee. As we have always been honest with you, we have to tell you we are not optimistic about passage of this resolution this year. We're not even sure we now want it passed this year. As we understand it, the resolution requires any committee formed will end with this session of congress, in January 2005. Factoring in scheduled Congressional recesses (Easter, Summer and campaigning), very little time is left to pass the resolution, appoint a committee, hire a staff, conduct investigations and hear testimony.

That said, we continue to ask you to gather support for this resolution. This will better position us in the next session of congress to start early, get the co-sponsors, get the resolution out of committee, and voted on. The earlier we start in 2005, means more time for the kind of investigation we want.

Remember the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs concluded a "small number" of POWs were left behind. Isn't it about time we find out what happened to them?

Jolidon Web Pages - Pages from the "Last Seen Alive" Web site of author Larry Jolidon are now available on our web site. We thank Larry's sister Mimi for allowing us to host his writings on the case of Korean War POW Roger Dumas. Visit the site at http://www.nationalalliance.org/jolidon/jindex.htm

The National Alliance Of Families Fifteenth Annual Forum is scheduled for June 24th - 26th, 2004. Our forum is conducted to coincide with the Governments annual Vietnam POW/MIA Family Briefings. We urge all family members to attend this years government briefings. A separate briefing for Korean/Cold War families will be held April 30 - May 1. The government will provide free airfare to two family members to attend the government briefings. There is no charge or registration fee to attend the government briefings and you do not have to belong to an organization to attend these briefings.

This year the Alliance meeting will be held at the Sheraton Crystal City (same as last year) located at 1800 Jefferson Davis Highway, in Arlington Va. Rate for single or double occupancy is $99.00 per night plus tax.

The hotel is located across the street from both the Crystal City Underground Food Court and the Metro Stop. The Sheraton is within walking distance of the hotel hosting the government briefings. The Alliance is working on transportation between hotels for those who prefer to ride. To make your reservations, call 703-486-1111 and remember to say you want the special National Alliance of Families rate.

The Alliance is an all volunteer organization. Our meetings are open to all, without charge. At this time of year, we actively seek contributions to finance our forum. If you wish to contribute, donations may be mailed to:

National Alliance Of Families
P.O. Box 40327
Bellevue, Wa. 98015.

Remember all contributions are tax deductible.

Contact us here!

DOLORES ALFOND - National Chairperson (dolores@nationalalliance.org)
425-881-1499

LYNN O'SHEA - Director of Research (lynn@nationalalliance.org)
718-846-4350"