VVA CA State Council

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2 ... ch-for-POW
Another 'No Easy Day' revelation: dramatic SEAL search for POW

The Pentagon and US government have been tight-lipped about Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only POW in the Afghanistan war. 'No Easy Day' sheds light on SEAL efforts to rescue him.


By Anna Mulrine, Staff writer / September 6, 2012, Washington

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only POW from the Afghanistan war, went missing from his fortified base on June 30, 2009, under circumstances that are not entirely clear before being captured by the Taliban.

Sergeant Bergdahl, now thought to be in the hands of a terrorist network, is hardly a household name in America. The Pentagon for its part rarely discusses him, and the US government has been criticized for lack of attention to his case.

In May his mother, Jani Bergdahl, told The New York Times that President Obama “has never contacted us. We haven’t gotten a Hallmark card, we haven’t gotten a note signed by an aide, nothing.”

'No Easy Day': Six revelations from the book

Now “No Easy Day,” the controversial new book by Matt Bissonnette, a former member of the Navy’s SEAL Team 6 that killed Osama bin Laden, is giving a gripping insider account of the Pentagon’s behind-the-scenes efforts to rescue Bergdahl.

“When an American soldier went missing at the start of the summer,” writes Mr. Bissonnette, who wrote the book under the pen name Mark Owen, “we dropped everything to find him.”

The book sheds light on the issue of POWs, a seldom-discussed topic today, particularly in comparison with the Vietnam War era.

In part, this is because there were far more POWs in Vietnam than in Iraq or Afghanistan, where US troops have largely been confined to heavily-fortified bases.

In 1973, in keeping with the peace accords, Hanoi returned 591 American POWs to the United States. Today, there remain 1,660 US troops who are unaccounted for, according to Department of Defense (DOD) statistics.

Each year, the DOD’s Prisoner of War/Missing Person’s office hosts “family updates” to discuss ongoing efforts to find the US military’s missing with relatives.

Attendance at these events has been growing steadily from 645 in 2001 to 1,161 in 2011.

The meetings offer updates on the 73,681 US troops who are still considered “unaccounted for” from World War II, as well as the nearly 8,000 from the Korean War

The Pentagon, which says there are six US troops still missing from the First Gulf War to the present, has not commented on reports that Bergdahl may have wandered off his fortified base in Paktika Province, near the border with Pakistan, before being captured.

This book cover image shows 'No Easy Day,' the controversial new book by Matt Bissonnette, a former member of the Navy's SEAL Team 6 that killed Osama bin Laden.
Dutton/AP

Subscribe Today to the What is clear is that Sergeant Bergdahl was soon in the hands of Taliban forces that “quickly moved him closer to the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan in hopes of getting him across,” Bissonnette writes.
US intelligence analysts had tracked leads after his disappearance, and the SEALs had launched “several rescue attempts, but came up empty,” he reports. “It was a race to get him back before they smuggled him to Pakistan.”

The fear among US officials, he adds, was that the insurgents who captured him would eventually sell him to a more formidable terrorist group – namely, the Haqqani Network, allied with the Taliban but known for having greater organization and more brutal tactics against US forces.

Obama vs. Romney 101: 5 ways they differ on military issues

It appears, in the end, that this is what happened. A spokesman for US Central Command, which runs the war in Afghanistan, told the weekly newspaper Human Events in May that Bergdahl is believed to be held by the Haqqani Network.

“We’re still actively looking for him and following leads whenever we can get them,” spokesman John Wagner said. “The Haqqanis are known for their communications security. They are just very quiet, and we’ve asked that they release him, and let him go back to his family.”

His captors did release five videos between December 2009 and May 2011 featuring Bergdahl.

On an evening just after the first video was released, the SEALs got information that Bergdahl was being held south of Kabul, Bissonnette writes. “We don’t have much intel to go off of,” he reports his troop commander saying as he pointed to a map of central Afghanistan, “but this is a priority.”

Using a small, extendable ladder that he carried on his back for the mission, Bissonnette reports that he launched a grenade in the direction of enemy fighters who were escaping the compound where they believed Bergdahl was being held.

Among the insurgent fighters the SEAL team killed, they found morphine kits and grenades. “They were professionals,” he writes, “not some farmers who picked up AK-47s when the crops weren’t in season.”

Ultimately, the SEALs failed to find Bergdahl during that mission, or during the remainder of their deployment.

“But in my gut, I think he was there at some point,” Bergdahl writes. “We probably missed him by a few hours, or maybe in the fight they were able to escape



There were several reasons for writing this book, not the least of which, is the “loser” mentality of many Vietnam vets today. If you will read my flyer below carefully I believe you can see that I have made a good case for what I perceive to be “victory” by American and allied vets, not a lost war as described by liberals like Tom Hayden, Jane Fonda and the media. We lost 58,000 troops while killing 1.3 million communists, including some 300,000 KIA body not recovered, 150,000 of which are unaccounted-for today. Unlike the French before us we did not go to Vietnam to open coal mines or gold mines, or tea or rubber plantations. We went there to close with, and kill, destroy or capture the enemy. This was our mission and we definitely accomplished it. We did not go to Southeast Asia in order to conquer Vietnam or make it a colony of the United States. We all knew we would be coming home, we simply didn’t know when. Due to the efforts made by Vietnam Vets, today one quarter of the population of the earth is living under democratically elected governments. The citizens of two of the world’s largest Muslim nations are able to freely worship Islam. During the American War in Vietnam our military forces never lost a major battle and the USSR’s involvement in supporting the communists while we were fighting there led to the collapse of the Soviet Union, the disbanding of the Communist Party and a clear victory of the Cold War for Vietnam war vets. America’s Vietnam Vets can hold their heads high and be proud for their service during one of the most critical periods of American history. The struggle is not over, the two most important issues remaining are a full and transparent accounting for our unreturned veterans and democracy for the Vietnamese people.


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Leave No Man Behind: Bill Bell and the Search for American POW/MIAs from the Vietnam War by Garnett "Bill" Bell

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"No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now. Rarely have so many people been so wrong about so much. Never have the consequences of their misunderstanding been so tragic." (Nixon)

"Psychologists or sociologists may explain some day what it is about that distant monochromatic land, of green mountains and fields merging with an azure sea, that for millennia has acted as a magnet for foreigners who sought glory there and found frustration, who believed that in its rice fields and jungles some principle was to be established and entered them only to recede in disillusion." (Henry Kissinger, White House Years, 1979. Reminiscing about Vietnam)

Leave No Man Behind: An eyewitness account of the Vietnam War from its early stages through the last day of the Republic, 30 April 1975. A startling new look at the postwar era and the issue of America's unreturned veterans listed as POW/MIA, an issue that has haunted America since the beginning of American involvement. 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. Government's only official office in postwar Vietnam provides an insider's account of that effort. The challenges he faced in dealing with U.S. politicians, including Vietnam veterans, Senators John McCain and John Kerry, are an ardent reminder of the many similarities in the bloody wars fought by American troops in both Vietnam and Iraq-Afghanistan. In an illuminating and deeply personal memoir, the government's top missing persons investigator in Southeast Asia, who later became a member of the U.S. Congressional Staff, 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 a dedicated group of professionals who, against great odds, were able to uphold the proud military traditions of duty, honor and country.

Every American fighting in Afghanistan should read 'Leave No Man Behind.'
As the US Marine Corps helicopter lifted from the roof of the American Embassy in Saigon at daybreak on April 30, 1975, I thought about the carnage that would result from a heat-seeking missile fired by Vietnamese Communist forces gradually encircling the besieged capital of the dying Republic of Vietnam (RVN). Exhausted by a lack of sleep for the previous several days, I no longer felt fear, only curiosity. Tears welled up in my eyes, perhaps due in part to the anguish of witnessing the tragic events unfolding before me, but also from caustic smoke belched out of rooftop incinerators glowing cherry-red from reams of frantically burned secret US Government documents. Feeling a sense of relief, I nevertheless harbored an even stronger sense of guilt. On the Republic of Vietnam's final day, as I looked down into the gradually diminishing compound and into the terrified eyes in the upturned faces of hundreds of Vietnamese nationals and citizens of other countries friendly to the United States, who were being left behind, I knew that I would be haunted for many years to come. As the venerable 'Sea Stallion' throbbed its way through the damp morning air toward a helicopter carrier anchored off the coast at Vung Tau, blazing multicolored tracers rising from the dark-canopied jungle below bade farewell to America and to an era known as the Vietnam War.

During the more than 30 minute flight into the future I sat angry and confused after some 10 years of involvement with a faraway place called Vietnam. I wondered whether the sacrifices in lives and national treasure made by America had been worthwhile or in vain. After contemplating the issue for many years, I believe it is now time to take stock of the American War in Vietnam so that Americans, especially those of us who served there, can finally decide whether or not we now have cause for a celebration or the lingering agony of defeat.

With the fall of the RVN, as many analysts had predicted, jubilant communist forces quickly invaded and occupied the populated areas. Hundreds of thousands of former military and civilian officials were required to be screened, classified and registered as enemies of the revolution to be detained in remote, isolated concentration camps under horrific conditions. Thousands died due to disease and malnutrition, many never to be heard from again by family members. At the same time, the communist leadership insisted that the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the north and the Provisional Revolutionary Government in the south be united as one.

From that day forward, according to the constitution, only one political party, the Vietnam Communist Party, would be allowed to exist. On official letterheads of government stationery the three previously used terms comprising the national motto of the communist north: 'Freedom, Independence and Democracy' were changed forever to read 'Freedom, Independence and Happiness.' To the Vietnamese people this change in terminology, especially the reference to happiness, would provide one of the few sources of humor during a desperate time. To add insult to injury, the graves of fallen RVN military personnel were razed by bulldozers in cemeteries across the country. Typewriters, radios, televisions and anything that could be used for propagation or communication were required to be registered with the 'Military Management Committee' responsible for political security under the new 'Socialist Republic of Vietnam.' As interest began to wane, occasional references to the Vietnam War coined phrases such as ‘a noble cause' or 'an unnecessary war.' The question as to whether the Vietnam War was or was not necessary was just as divisive in postwar debate as it was during the days following the 1968 'Tet’ Offensive. In my own assessment of both the necessity for and the outcome of the Vietnam War two primary considerations were the U.S. national interest at the time and the mission of the U.S. Military Forces that fought in Southeast Asia.

The overall mission of U.S. military forces for the latter part of the 20th century began to take shape shortly after the conclusion of World War II. At that time the policy of the United States was one of containment of Communism. I believed that this policy was fully justified, because it was obvious that the Communist International, especially Russia and China, sought to 'liberate' the entire world. This policy of containment became known as the 'Cold War.' Although there were numerous clashes involving air crews during missions involving special operations and reconnaissance, the first major battlefield of that war erupted in 1950 on the Korean Peninsula, where the successful accomplishment of the mission of containing communism there was dubbed by the media as a 'stalemate.'

At the beginning of the War in Vietnam, the basic mission of American soldier worldwide was to kill, destroy, or capture the enemy, or repel his assault by fire. Over one million men and women answered their nation's call, and they did their level best to carry out their mission in Southeast Asia. As a result, some 58,000 Americans and some 225,000 allied personnel made the ultimate sacrifice, while by comparison, communist Vietnam suffered the loss of over 1,300,000 personnel, including 150,000 personnel who were killed-in-action but never recovered. I personally witnessed the strongest blow struck at communist forces by hard-fighting American and South Vietnamese troops that occurred during the January 31, 1968, 'Tet' offensive. The bodies of thousands of communist personnel were stacked in piles around installations throughout South Vietnam, and losses were so heavy for the communist side that the entire military rank structure was temporarily abandoned and cadre selected to command and control units were assigned based on position or job title only, rather than actual military rank. The loss of life to the communist side was nothing less than staggering, and any U.S. military commander whose losses approached even a small percentage of actual communist fatalities at that time would most likely have been relieved of command.

Even though America's servicemen and women fought valiantly during the 1968 'Tet' offensive, the U.S. and international media nevertheless managed to reshape their hard-earned victory into a political defeat. Vietnamese communist propaganda experts were so skillful that they were able to convince many members of the media and even some military analysts that two separate governments, the National Liberation Front in South Vietnam and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the North, existed side by side and that both were involved in a 'civil war.' It has since been proven that both the NLF and the DRV were tightly controlled by the Vietnam Communist Party and both governments were actually one and the same. Moreover, personnel of the two purported military organizations of both illusionary governments, the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the Viet Cong (VC), were in reality members of the Peoples Army of Vietnam (PAVN).

Admittedly, in terms of national treasure the Vietnam War was not cheap. Depending on which expert's figures are used, the total cost of the Vietnam War to America was somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 billion dollars. By comparison the overall U.S. defense budget during postwar, peacetime years exceeded that amount annually. In reality one million men could not have been trained at U.S.-based training centers for a 10 year period, even using blank ammunition, for a lesser amount. While the Vietnam War was certainly a drain on the U.S. economy, during the decade of our of engagement there the former Soviet Union also provided significant amounts of financial and material support to communist forces deployed throughout Southeast Asia. Support by the USSR to Vietnam, the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan and a badly managed, centrally controlled economy all combined to bring the former Soviet Union to its knees and bring about the collapse of the Communist Party. Ultimately this collapse led to the end of the Cold War. Veterans of the Cold War, especially those who fought in Korea and Vietnam, now enjoy the gratitude of the peoples of many European, East Asian and Southeast Asian nations. It is now clear that as a result of the sacrifices made by American and allied veterans, today the people of Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia are living under freely elected governments. This accounts for one quarter of the earth's population. Radical Muslims bent on Jihad should pause to remember that the citizens of the two largest Islamic nations, Malaysia and Indonesia, are able to freely worship Islam due in large to the sacrifices made on their behalf by Americans fighting against Communism throughout Southeast Asia.
Obviously, the true losers of the Vietnam War are the Vietnamese people, not just the people of the former Republic of Vietnam, but citizens from all areas of the country, including the north. Although millions of Vietnamese 'voted with their feet' by escaping on small boats across dangerous ocean currents, resulting in staggering losses to mankind, today millions more freedom-loving Vietnamese still yearn to be free. I believe that the two most important bilateral issues remaining between the U.S. and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam are an accounting for the almost 1,800 Americans still missing from the Vietnam War and democracy for the Vietnamese people.

Successive administrations in Washington, D.C. have pressed for democracy in many countries around the world, including Russia, Haiti, South Africa, Afghanistan and Iraq. But there has been very little interest shown in gaining democracy for Asians, and this double standard is difficult to understand. It is almost as though we Americans have a collective mentality whereby we believe that peoples with yellow skin cannot manage freedom, and that tight control is the only option available.
The American business community, aggressively buying up cheap products manufactured in Asia for resale on the U.S. market, is blinded by the lack of labor unions, cheap wages and fear of violent reprisals against labor strikes. It is ironic that after some 58,000 fine young Americans died in Vietnam while fighting for democracy the American business community is now steadily developing the economy of communist controlled Vietnam, insuring that the Vietnam Communist Party will not only remain in power, but that it will increasingly have the ability to maintain an even larger and more powerful military force. Concerning the plight of the families of Vietnam War POWs and MIAs, democracy can also go a long way to help in this regard. I believe that most Americans, especially Vietnam veterans, will agree that for the most part the Vietnamese people are honest and hardworking. Like our people right here at home, I can't imagine a situation where the people of Vietnam would be willing to hide the remains of anyone's loved one in order to extort money from them. Although during the past 30 years the ruling communists have gradually doled out bits and pieces of skeletal remains and personal effects in return for large monetary sums, once the Vietnam Communist Party has collapsed the Vietnamese people will rise to the occasion and provide whatever assistance is necessary to resolve the issue of our missing men. We should all be doing everything we can to make sure that day comes.
Garnett 'Bill' Bell, a native of Texas and a retired GM-14, DoD, went to Vietnam as an infantryman in 1965 and served four tours there. Bell was awarded 20 individual decorations and numerous unit awards. Bell later served as an instructor in the Department of Exploitation and Counterintelligence, U.S. Army Intelligence Center and school. During his career Bell served in the 327th Airborne Battle Group, 101st Airborne Division, the 1/35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, the 2/506th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, the 101st MI Company, the 525th Military Intelligence Group, the Defense Language Institute, the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command, the 6th Special Forces Group, the Joint Casualty Resolution Center (JCRC), the Four Party Joint Military Team (FPJMT) and the Joint Task Force Full-Accounting (JTFFA). Bell's wife and son were killed and a daughter critically injured in April 1975, when the families of U.S. officials assigned to the American Embassy in Saigon were evacuated in conjunction with the 'Operation Babylift' program. After being evacuated by helicopter from the roof of the American Embassy on the final day of the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) (30 April 1975), Bell returned to postwar Vietnam as the first official U.S. representative after the war ended when he was assigned as the Chief of the U.S. Office for POW/MIA Affairs in Hanoi. He served more than 12 years on the POW/MIA Search Teams. An Airborne-Ranger and Jumpmaster, Bell eventually became a member of the Congressional Staff, U.S. House of Representatives. Fluent in Vietnamese, Thai and Laotian, Bell is a graduate of Chaminade University and the author of 'Leave No Man Behind.' Bell is a life member of the VFW, Combat Infantrymens Association (CIA) and the Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH). Bell is employed as an investigator in the 12th Judicial District western Arkansas.

This book is one of the most accurate and detailed accounts of the Vietnam War from beginning to end. It is arguably the very best book ever written concerning the important POW/MIA issue. No one, military, civilian, or private citizen, has contributed as much as Bill Bell to the national effort to recover and repatriate America's unreturned veterans from the Vietnam War. Every veteran of any war definitely needs to read this important work, which is destined to become an icon that will withstand the test of time. Bill Bell certainly deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his courageous efforts."
Michael De Paulo, Vietnam Vet, USMC and National Service Officer, Rolling Thunder Inc.

This book isn't just for the soldier, student, or history buff. It's also for the average American who should know more about the Vietnam War, how people in our CURRENT government felt and behaved then, and how the war in Afghanistan might have a similar outcome. 474 pages, semi-hardback: ISBN 096476634-5,
Signed copy available at billbell@pinncom.com for $20, or from http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/ ... le?ie=UTF8
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September 3, 2012
Vietnam POW to speak at 7th Annual POW/MIA Convocation

The Americus Times-Recorder

AMERICUS — National Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) Recognition Day is Friday, Sept. 21. In observance of that day, the National Park Service, the Friends of Andersonville, and Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) are hosting the 2012 National POW/MIA Convocation at 11 a.m. Sept.19 in the Jackson Hall Auditorium on the campus of GSW. The public is invited.

This year’s featured speaker is Bill Arcuri. A graduate of West Point, Acuri served his first six-month tour in Southeast Asia from May to October 1972, in support of Operation Bullet Shot, also known as LineBacker I, and was assigned with the 64th Bomb Squadron at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. On Dec. 20, 1972, at the beginning of his second tour and while flying a combat mission of LineBacker II, his aircraft was struck by three surface-to-air missiles while bombing the railroad marshalling yards in Yin Vien, just north of Hanoi, North Vietnam. Forced to bail out, he was injured and immediately captured by villagers.

Arcuri was held captive in the Hanoi Hilton prison complex for the next 55 days. As a result of his injuries he was in the first group of returning POWs as part of Operation Homecoming, flown from Hanoi and to Clark Air Force Base on Feb. 12, 1973. Arcuri resigned his commission in the Air Force in July 1976, and began a civilian career. He is now retired and resides in Jupiter, Fla.

The annual Convocation begins four days of area events in recognition of National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Rolling Thunder’s annual “The Ride Home” event will bring the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall to the GSW campus fro Thursday, Sept. 20 through Saturday, Sept. 22. The wall is a three-fifths replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and is nearly 300 feet in length. Rolling Thunder ceremonies to remember military service members still listed as Missing in Action and to honor former POWs will also occur on the campus of GSW.

More information on the “The Ride Home” event may be found at http://theridehome.com/

The weekend of National POW/MIA Recognition Day is also a final opportunity or the public to visit the “We Can Forgive But Never Forget” temporary exhibit at the National Prisoner of War Museum at the Andersonville National Historic Site. Developed to honor the 70th anniversary of the fall of the Philippines, this exhibit features photographs and personal belongings from prisoners held by the Japanese during World War II who fought on Bataan and Corregidor.

Andersonville National Historic Site is located 10 miles south of Oglethorpe and 10 miles northeast of Americus on Ga. Highway 49. The national park features the National Prisoner of War Museum, Andersonville National Cemetery and the site of the historic Civil War prison, Camp Sumter. Andersonville National Historic Site is the only national park within the National Park System to serve as a memorial to all American prisoners of war. Park grounds are open daily from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. with the museum opening at 9 a.m. Admission is free.

For more information on the park, call 229 924-0343, visit on the web at www.nps.gov/ande/, or on Facebook at facebook.com/AndersonvilleNPS

UPDATE: September 5, 2012

AMERICANS ACCOUNTED-FOR: There are still 1,660 personnel listed by the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) as missing and unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. Announced on August 16th was the identification of SGT John R. Jones, USA, TX, listed as MIA in South Vietnam on June 4, 1971. SGT Jones’ remains were recovered on September 8, 2011 and identified July 23, 2012. Recently announced is Lt Col Clarence Finley “Bill” Blanton, USAF, listed as KIA/BNR in Laos on March 11, 1968 when the TACAN radar installation (Lima Site 85) on top a mountain in Houaphan Province was overrun by Vietnamese forces. His remains were recovered January 18, 2008 and identified July 12, 2012. The identification of PFC James Rickey Maxwell, USMC and PFC Richard William Rivenburgh, USMC, was posted on DPMO’s website on July 20th. PFC Maxwell and PFC Rivenburgh were killed on May 15, 1975 during an attempted rescue of the SS Mayaguez crew when their HH53 helicopter crashed near Koh Tang, Cambodia. Their remains were recovered December 6, 1995 and identified January 23, 2012. The number of Americans announced as returned and identified since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 is now 923. Another 63 US personnel, recovered post-incident by the US and identified before the end of the war, bring the official total recovered and identified from the Vietnam War to 986. Of the unaccounted-for 1,660 personnel, 90% were lost in Vietnam or in areas of Laos and Cambodia under Vietnam’s wartime control: Vietnam–1,281 (VN-470, VS-811); Laos–317; Cambodia–55; PRC territorial waters–7; more than 450 were over-water losses.

MOVEMENT ON ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS: During Technical Talks held May 4th in Hanoi, Vietnam turned over long-requested archival documents. This has been a League and US Government priority for decades during which appeals have been made for unilateral provision of such archival records. Lists prepared and updated by DPMO’s Research Analysis Directorate (RA) and JPAC’s Intelligence Directorate (J2) were repeatedly raised by the US and by League Delegations to Vietnamese officials at the highest level. This welcome responsiveness is encouraging and reflects a decision by Vietnam’s leaders that is deeply appreciated. The current political and regional security environment is prompting expanded military-to-military relations between the US and Vietnam, with increases in cooperation on all matters pertaining to bilateral interests. Vietnam has long recognized the important role that the POW/MIA issue played as their “bridge” to expanding and broadening bilateral relations.

CHANGES IN DPMO: Major General W. Montague “Q” Winfield, USA (Ret) arrived in the office on May 21st as the new Deputy Assistant Secretary (DASD) for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs and Director of the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO). He replaced former DASD Bob Newberry. Also no longer in the DPMO front office are former Principal Director Edward Frothingham and former Acting Chief of Staff Colleen Getz. They have now been replaced by Ms. Alyssa Stack, Principal Director, and COL John Potts, USA, Chief of Staff. The League looks forward to working with DASD Winfield, Ms. Stack and COL Potts and will consult, cooperate and assist in every reasonable, appropriate way toward achieving ever greater success.

AIR FORCE MAJOR GENERAL KELLY McKEAGUE TO COMMAND JPAC: The Department of Defense just announced that Air Force Maj Gen Kelly McKeague, currently serving as Special Assistant to the Chief, National Guard Bureau, will assume command of JPAC at the end of October. He served previously as Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for National Guard Matters. Commissioned in 1981 through the Georgia Institute of Technology Air Force ROTC program, he served as a civil engineering officer in a variety of assignments at base, major command, and Headquarters USAF levels, entering the Maryland Air National Guard in 1985. Gen McKeague replaces MG Stephen Tom, USAR, who will retire upon relinquishing command of JPAC.

CONSULTATIONS WITH LAO, CAMBODIAN AND VIETNAMESE OFFICIALS: JPAC Commander MG Stephen Tom, USAR, held talks with Lao counterparts in Vientiane on August 22nd to cement commitments made in July to Secretary of State Clinton on permitting ground transportation to, and base-camping near, incident sites. This flexibility was sought to enable field operations to continue despite the Lao Government’s unwillingness thus far to make acceptable arrangements for smaller-scale helicopter transport for conducting investigations and recoveries. US Ambassador to Laos Karen Stewart, a staunch supporter of the POW/MIA accounting effort since her first tour in Laos many years ago, participated in the talks, as did the outgoing and incoming Deputy Chiefs of Mission (DCMs) and officials from DPMO and JPAC’s Detachment 3 in Vientiane. Following these talks, the US delegation moved on to Phnom Penh where talks were held to thank the Cambodian Government for facilitating US operations in their country and to define future efforts to account for the 55 US personnel still missing and unaccounted for in their country. Cambodia has the highest level POW/MIA Committee, with the greatest leadership backing and responsiveness, of any of the Southeast Asian countries. The League is also pleased that US Ambassador to Cambodia, William Todd, is also much engaged in supporting the bilateral accounting process. MG Tom will lead Technical Talks in Hanoi next week.

FIELD OPERATIONS: In mid-October, Joint Field Activities (JFAs) will resume in Laos and Vietnam, and a large team will conclude operations in Vietnam this week. With the impetus provided by high level visits and the resulting commitments, the League is hopeful that the pace and scope of US efforts to account for Vietnam War missing personnel will continue to expand. Time is growing short to enable getting answers before witnesses are no longer available and remains have disintegrated completely due to acidic soil in the region. Near the conclusion of the last JFA in Laos, the Lao permitted travel by road (a longstanding request) when the helicopter in which the teams were being transported was grounded due to bad weather. This prompt, flexible decision by the Lao was the first implementation of one of the commitments made to Secretary Clinton during her July visit to Vientiane. Nevertheless, the scale of field operations in Laos has been dramatically reduced and won’t be increased unless and until the Lao Government takes steps to facilitate helicopter support for access to remote sites. Earlier this year, JPAC conducted a successful JFA in Cambodia, though with only one Recovery Team, plus one trilateral Investigation Team working with Cambodian and Vietnamese counterparts. Field operations in Cambodia must be more frequent to achieve accounting objectives before it is too late.

JPAC field operations are also ongoing now in Belgium, South Korea, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and one just concluded in the Solomon Islands – all dealing with World War II (WWII) recoveries, except the JPAC Korea Forward Element (KFE) that was conducting coordination and investigation operations with United Nations Command/Military Assistance Command (UNCMAC) and the Korean JPAC-equivalent, MAKRI, plus a JPAC Joint Forensic Review Team (JFRT). In a few weeks, an Underwater Recovery Team (URT) will begin work on a possible WWII site in Corsica. JPAC’s work continues to expand into more and more countries, recovering more and more US personnel who served and sacrificed for our country. The League is pleased and grateful that our consistent work from 1970 until the present have resulted in the enormous effort now being made. The League strongly supports such efforts, so long as achieving the fullest possible accounting for missing Vietnam War personnel is not reduced or jeopardized in any way, but instead fully funded and pursued.

RECOGNITION DAY- SEPTEMBER 21, 2012: National, local and state ceremonies will be held once again to honor returned POWs and MIAs, but most importantly for the issue, to renew national commitment to accounting for America’s veterans not yet home from war. Look for announcements that will be coming soon on countless ceremonies to be held at military bases, posts and stations, cities, counties and at the Pentagon, 11:00 a.m. on September 21st. for the national ceremony

UPDATE: August 30, 2012

AMERICANS ACCOUNTED-FOR: There are still 1,660 personnel listed by the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) as missing and unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. Announced on August 16th was the identification of SGT John R. Jones, USA, TX, listed as MIA in South Vietnam on June 4, 1971. SGT Jones’ remains were recovered on September 8, 2011 and identified July 23, 2012. Recently announced is Lt Col Clarence Finley “Bill” Blanton, USAF, listed as KIA/BNR in Laos on March 11, 1968 when the TACAN radar installation (Lima Site 85) on top a mountain in Houaphan Province was overrun by Vietnamese forces. His remains were recovered January 18, 2008 and identified July 12, 2012. The identification of PFC James Rickey Maxwell, USMC and PFC Richard William Rivenburgh, USMC, was posted on DPMO’s website on July 20th. PFC Maxwell and PFC Rivenburgh were killed on May 15, 1975 during an attempted rescue of the SS Mayaguez crew when their HH53 helicopter crashed near Koh Tang, Cambodia. Their remains were recovered December 6, 1995 and identified January 23, 2012. The number of Americans announced as returned and identified since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 is now 923. Another 63 US personnel, recovered post-incident by the US and identified before the end of the war, bring the official total recovered and identified from the Vietnam War to 986. Of the unaccounted-for 1,660 personnel, 90% were lost in Vietnam or in areas of Laos and Cambodia under Vietnam’s wartime control: Vietnam–1,281 (VN-470, VS-811); Laos–317; Cambodia–55; PRC territorial waters–7; more than 450 were over-water losses.

MOVEMENT ON ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS: During Technical Talks held May 4th in Hanoi, Vietnam turned over long-requested archival documents. This has been a League and US Government priority for decades during which appeals have been made for unilateral provision of such archival records. Lists prepared and updated by DPMO’s Research Analysis Directorate (RA) and JPAC’s Intelligence Directorate (J2) were repeatedly raised by the US and by League Delegations to Vietnamese officials at the highest level. This welcome responsiveness is encouraging and reflects a decision by Vietnam’s leaders that is deeply appreciated. The current political and regional security environment is prompting expanded military-to-military relations between the US and Vietnam, with increases in cooperation on all matters pertaining to bilateral interests. Vietnam has long recognized the important role that the POW/MIA issue played as their “bridge” to expanding and broadening bilateral relations.

CHANGES IN DPMO: Major General W. Montague “Q” Winfield, USA (Ret) arrived in the office on May 21st as the new Deputy Assistant Secretary (DASD) for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs and Director of the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO). He replaced former DASD Bob Newberry. Also no longer in the DPMO front office are former Principal Director Edward Frothingham and former Acting Chief of Staff Colleen Getz. They have now been replaced by Ms. Alyssa Stack, Principal Director, and COL John Potts, USA, Chief of Staff. The League looks forward to working with DASD Winfield, Ms. Stack and COL Potts and will consult, cooperate and assist in every reasonable, appropriate way toward achieving ever greater success.

AIR FORCE MAJOR GENERAL KELLY McKEAGUE TO COMMAND JPAC: The Department of Defense just announced that Air Force Maj Gen Kelly McKeague, currently serving as Special Assistant to the Chief, National Guard Bureau, will assume command of JPAC at the end of October. He served previously as Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for National Guard Matters. Commissioned in 1981 through the Georgia Institute of Technology Air Force ROTC program, he served as a civil engineering officer in a variety of assignments at base, major command, and Headquarters USAF levels, entering the Maryland Air National Guard in 1985. Gen McKeague replaces MG Stephen Tom, USAR, who will retire upon relinquishing command of JPAC.

JPAC CONSULTATIONS WITH LAO AND CAMBODIAN OFFICIALS: JPAC Commander MG Stephen Tom, USAR, held talks with Lao counterparts in Vientiane on August 22nd to cement commitments made in July to Secretary of State Clinton to permit ground transportation to, and base-camping near, incident sites. This flexibility was sought to enable field operations to continue despite the Lao Government’s unwillingness thus far to make acceptable arrangements for smaller-scale helicopter transport for conducting investigations and recoveries. US Ambassador to Laos Karen Stewart, a staunch supporter of the POW/MIA accounting effort since her first tour in Laos many years ago, participated in the talks, as did the outgoing and incoming Deputy Chiefs of Mission (DCMs) and officials from DPMO and JPAC’s Detachment 3 in Vientiane. Following these talks, the US delegation moved on to Phnom Penh where talks were held to thank the Cambodian Government for facilitating US operations in their country and to define future efforts to account for the 55 US personnel still missing and unaccounted for in their country. Cambodia has the highest level POW/MIA Committee, with the greatest leadership backing and responsiveness, of any of the Southeast Asian countries. The League is also pleased that US Ambassador to Cambodia, William Todd, is also much engaged in supporting the bilateral accounting process.

FIELD OPERATIONS: Joint Field Activities (JFAs) will resume soon in Laos and a large team is just concluding operations in Vietnam. With the impetus provided by high level visits and the resulting commitments, the League is hopeful that the pace and scope of US efforts to account for Vietnam War missing personnel will continue to expand. Time is growing short to enable getting answers before witnesses are no longer available and remains have disintegrated even more due to acidic soil in the region. Near the conclusion of the last JFA in Laos, the Lao permitted travel by road (a longstanding request) when the helicopter in which the teams were being transported was grounded due to adverse weather. This prompt, flexible decision by the Lao was the first implementation of one of the commitments made to Secretary Clinton during her July visit to Vientiane. Nevertheless, the scale of field operations in Laos has been dramatically reduced and won’t be increased unless and until the Lao Government takes steps to facilitate helicopter support for access to remote sites. Earlier this year, JPAC conducted a successful JFA in Cambodia, though with only one Recovery Team, plus one trilateral Investigation Team working with Cambodian and Vietnamese counterparts. Field operations in Cambodia must be more frequent to achieve accounting objectives before it is too late.

JPAC field operations are also ongoing now in Belgium, South Korea, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and one just concluded in the Solomon Islands – all dealing with World War II (WWII) recoveries, except the JPAC Korea Forward Element (KFE) that was conducting coordination and investigations operations with United Nations Command/Military Assistance Command and the Korean JPAC-equivalent, MAKRI, plus a JPAC Joint Forensic Review Team (JFRT). In a few weeks, an Underwater Recovery Team will begin work on a possible WWII site in Corsica. JPAC’s work continues to expand into more and more countries, recovering more and more US personnel who served and sacrificed for our country. The League is pleased and grateful that our efforts from 1970 until the present has resulted in the enormous effort now being made and strongly supports such efforts, so long as achieving the fullest possible accounting for missing Vietnam War personnel is not reduced or jeopardized in any way, but instead fully funded and manned.

RECOGNITION DAY- SEPTEMBER 21, 2012: National, local and state ceremonies will be held once again to honor returned POWs and MIAs, but most importantly for the issue, to renew national commitment to accounting for America’s veterans not yet home from war. Look for announcements that will be coming soon on countless ceremonies to be held at military bases, posts and stations, cities, counties and at the Pentagon, 11:00 a.m. on September 21st. for the national ceremony.


UPDATE: August 30, 2012
AMERICANS ACCOUNTED-FOR: There are still 1,660 personnel listed by the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) as missing and unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. Announced on August 16th was the identification of SGT John R. Jones, USA, TX, listed as MIA in South Vietnam on June 4, 1971. SGT Jones’ remains were recovered on September 8, 2011 and identified July 23, 2012. Recently announced is Lt Col Clarence Finley “Bill” Blanton, USAF, listed as KIA/BNR in Laos on March 11, 1968 when the TACAN radar installation (Lima Site 85) on top a mountain in Houaphan Province was overrun by Vietnamese forces. His remains were recovered January 18, 2008 and identified July 12, 2012. The identification of PFC James Rickey Maxwell, USMC and PFC Richard William Rivenburgh, USMC, was posted on DPMO’s website on July 20th. PFC Maxwell and PFC Rivenburgh were killed on May 15, 1975 during an attempted rescue of the SS Mayaguez crew when their HH53 helicopter crashed near Koh Tang, Cambodia. Their remains were recovered December 6, 1995 and identified January 23, 2012. The number of Americans announced as returned and identified since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 is now 923. Another 63 US personnel, recovered post-incident by the US and identified before the end of the war, bring the official total recovered and identified from the Vietnam War to 986. Of the unaccounted-for 1,660 personnel, 90% were lost in Vietnam or in areas of Laos and Cambodia under Vietnam’s wartime control: Vietnam–1,281 (VN-470, VS-811); Laos–317; Cambodia–55; PRC territorial waters–7; more than 450 were over-water losses.

MOVEMENT ON ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS: During Technical Talks held May 4th in Hanoi, Vietnam turned over long-requested archival documents. This has been a League and US Government priority for decades during which appeals have been made for unilateral provision of such archival records. Lists prepared and updated by DPMO’s Research Analysis Directorate (RA) and JPAC’s Intelligence Directorate (J2) were repeatedly raised by the US and by League Delegations to Vietnamese officials at the highest level. This welcome responsiveness is encouraging and reflects a decision by Vietnam’s leaders that is deeply appreciated. The current political and regional security environment is prompting expanded military-to-military relations between the US and Vietnam, with increases in cooperation on all matters pertaining to bilateral interests. Vietnam has long recognized the important role that the POW/MIA issue played as their “bridge” to expanding and broadening bilateral relations.

CHANGES IN DPMO: Major General W. Montague “Q” Winfield, USA (Ret) arrived in the office on May 21st as the new Deputy Assistant Secretary (DASD) for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs and Director of the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO). He replaced former DASD Bob Newberry. Also no longer in the DPMO front office are former Principal Director Edward Frothingham and former Acting Chief of Staff Colleen Getz. They have now been replaced by Ms. Alyssa Stack, Principal Director, and COL John Potts, USA, Chief of Staff. The League looks forward to working with DASD Winfield, Ms. Stack and COL Potts and will consult, cooperate and assist in every reasonable, appropriate way toward achieving ever greater success.

AIR FORCE MAJOR GENERAL KELLY McKEAGUE TO COMMAND JPAC: The Department of Defense just announced that Air Force Maj Gen Kelly McKeague, currently serving as Special Assistant to the Chief, National Guard Bureau, will assume command of JPAC at the end of October. He served previously as Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for National Guard Matters. Commissioned in 1981 through the Georgia Institute of Technology Air Force ROTC program, he served as a civil engineering officer in a variety of assignments at base, major command, and Headquarters USAF levels, entering the Maryland Air National Guard in 1985. Gen McKeague replaces MG Stephen Tom, USAR, who will retire upon relinquishing command of JPAC.

JPAC CONSULTATIONS WITH LAO AND CAMBODIAN OFFICIALS: JPAC Commander MG Stephen Tom, USAR, held talks with Lao counterparts in Vientiane on August 22nd to cement commitments made in July to Secretary of State Clinton to permit ground transportation to, and base-camping near, incident sites. This flexibility was sought to enable field operations to continue despite the Lao Government’s unwillingness thus far to make acceptable arrangements for smaller-scale helicopter transport for conducting investigations and recoveries. US Ambassador to Laos Karen Stewart, a staunch supporter of the POW/MIA accounting effort since her first tour in Laos many years ago, participated in the talks, as did the outgoing and incoming Deputy Chiefs of Mission (DCMs) and officials from DPMO and JPAC’s Detachment 3 in Vientiane. Following these talks, the US delegation moved on to Phnom Penh where talks were held to thank the Cambodian Government for facilitating US operations in their country and to define future efforts to account for the 55 US personnel still missing and unaccounted for in their country. Cambodia has the highest level POW/MIA Committee, with the greatest leadership backing and responsiveness, of any of the Southeast Asian countries. The League is also pleased that US Ambassador to Cambodia, William Todd, is also much engaged in supporting the bilateral accounting process.

FIELD OPERATIONS: Joint Field Activities (JFAs) will resume soon in Laos and a large team is just concluding operations in Vietnam. With the impetus provided by high level visits and the resulting commitments, the League is hopeful that the pace and scope of US efforts to account for Vietnam War missing personnel will continue to expand. Time is growing short to enable getting answers before witnesses are no longer available and remains have disintegrated even more due to acidic soil in the region. Near the conclusion of the last JFA in Laos, the Lao permitted travel by road (a longstanding request) when the helicopter in which the teams were being transported was grounded due to adverse weather. This prompt, flexible decision by the Lao was the first implementation of one of the commitments made to Secretary Clinton during her July visit to Vientiane. Nevertheless, the scale of field operations in Laos has been dramatically reduced and won’t be increased unless and until the Lao Government takes steps to facilitate helicopter support for access to remote sites. Earlier this year, JPAC conducted a successful JFA in Cambodia, though with only one Recovery Team, plus one trilateral Investigation Team working with Cambodian and Vietnamese counterparts. Field operations in Cambodia must be more frequent to achieve accounting objectives before it is too late.
JPAC field operations are also ongoing now in Belgium, South Korea, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and one just concluded in the Solomon Islands – all dealing with World War II (WWII) recoveries, except the JPAC Korea Forward Element (KFE) that was conducting coordination and investigations operations with United Nations Command/Military Assistance Command and the Korean JPAC-equivalent, MAKRI, plus a JPAC Joint Forensic Review Team (JFRT). In a few weeks, an Underwater Recovery Team will begin work on a possible WWII site in Corsica. JPAC’s work continues to expand into more and more countries, recovering more and more US personnel who served and sacrificed for our country. The League is pleased and grateful that our efforts from 1970 until the present has resulted in the enormous effort now being made and strongly supports such efforts, so long as achieving the fullest possible accounting for missing Vietnam War personnel is not reduced or jeopardized in any way, but instead fully funded and manned.

RECOGNITION DAY- SEPTEMBER 21, 2012: National, local and state ceremonies will be held once again to honor returned POWs and MIAs, but most importantly for the issue, to renew national commitment to accounting for America’s veterans not yet home from war. Look for announcements that will be coming soon on countless ceremonies to be held at military bases, posts and stations, cities, counties and at the Pentagon, 11:00 a.m. on September 21st. for the national ceremony.
Check the League’s website, www.pow-miafamilies.org, Facebook page, or call the League office for more information. Emails can be sent to Lacy.Rourke@pow-miafamilies.org.
Ann Mills-Griffiths
Chairman of the Board
National League of POW/MIA Families
5673 Columbia Pike, Suite 100
Falls Church, VA 22041
703-465-7432
www.pow-miafamilies.org

*Please use www.iGive.Com for all of your Internet searches and shopping;
designate National League of POW/MIA Families as your iGive cause.
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http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2 ... ch-for-POW
Another 'No Easy Day' revelation: dramatic SEAL search for POW

The Pentagon and US government have been tight-lipped about Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only POW in the Afghanistan war. 'No Easy Day' sheds light on SEAL efforts to rescue him.


By Anna Mulrine, Staff writer / September 6, 2012, Washington

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only POW from the Afghanistan war, went missing from his fortified base on June 30, 2009, under circumstances that are not entirely clear before being captured by the Taliban.

Sergeant Bergdahl, now thought to be in the hands of a terrorist network, is hardly a household name in America. The Pentagon for its part rarely discusses him, and the US government has been criticized for lack of attention to his case.

In May his mother, Jani Bergdahl, told The New York Times that President Obama “has never contacted us. We haven’t gotten a Hallmark card, we haven’t gotten a note signed by an aide, nothing.”

'No Easy Day': Six revelations from the book

Now “No Easy Day,” the controversial new book by Matt Bissonnette, a former member of the Navy’s SEAL Team 6 that killed Osama bin Laden, is giving a gripping insider account of the Pentagon’s behind-the-scenes efforts to rescue Bergdahl.

“When an American soldier went missing at the start of the summer,” writes Mr. Bissonnette, who wrote the book under the pen name Mark Owen, “we dropped everything to find him.”

The book sheds light on the issue of POWs, a seldom-discussed topic today, particularly in comparison with the Vietnam War era.

In part, this is because there were far more POWs in Vietnam than in Iraq or Afghanistan, where US troops have largely been confined to heavily-fortified bases.

In 1973, in keeping with the peace accords, Hanoi returned 591 American POWs to the United States. Today, there remain 1,660 US troops who are unaccounted for, according to Department of Defense (DOD) statistics.

Each year, the DOD’s Prisoner of War/Missing Person’s office hosts “family updates” to discuss ongoing efforts to find the US military’s missing with relatives.

Attendance at these events has been growing steadily from 645 in 2001 to 1,161 in 2011.

The meetings offer updates on the 73,681 US troops who are still considered “unaccounted for” from World War II, as well as the nearly 8,000 from the Korean War

The Pentagon, which says there are six US troops still missing from the First Gulf War to the present, has not commented on reports that Bergdahl may have wandered off his fortified base in Paktika Province, near the border with Pakistan, before being captured.

This book cover image shows 'No Easy Day,' the controversial new book by Matt Bissonnette, a former member of the Navy's SEAL Team 6 that killed Osama bin Laden.
Dutton/AP

Subscribe Today to the What is clear is that Sergeant Bergdahl was soon in the hands of Taliban forces that “quickly moved him closer to the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan in hopes of getting him across,” Bissonnette writes.
US intelligence analysts had tracked leads after his disappearance, and the SEALs had launched “several rescue attempts, but came up empty,” he reports. “It was a race to get him back before they smuggled him to Pakistan.”

The fear among US officials, he adds, was that the insurgents who captured him would eventually sell him to a more formidable terrorist group – namely, the Haqqani Network, allied with the Taliban but known for having greater organization and more brutal tactics against US forces.

Obama vs. Romney 101: 5 ways they differ on military issues

It appears, in the end, that this is what happened. A spokesman for US Central Command, which runs the war in Afghanistan, told the weekly newspaper Human Events in May that Bergdahl is believed to be held by the Haqqani Network.

“We’re still actively looking for him and following leads whenever we can get them,” spokesman John Wagner said. “The Haqqanis are known for their communications security. They are just very quiet, and we’ve asked that they release him, and let him go back to his family.”

His captors did release five videos between December 2009 and May 2011 featuring Bergdahl.

On an evening just after the first video was released, the SEALs got information that Bergdahl was being held south of Kabul, Bissonnette writes. “We don’t have much intel to go off of,” he reports his troop commander saying as he pointed to a map of central Afghanistan, “but this is a priority.”

Using a small, extendable ladder that he carried on his back for the mission, Bissonnette reports that he launched a grenade in the direction of enemy fighters who were escaping the compound where they believed Bergdahl was being held.

Among the insurgent fighters the SEAL team killed, they found morphine kits and grenades. “They were professionals,” he writes, “not some farmers who picked up AK-47s when the crops weren’t in season.”

Ultimately, the SEALs failed to find Bergdahl during that mission, or during the remainder of their deployment.

“But in my gut, I think he was there at some point,” Bergdahl writes. “We probably missed him by a few hours, or maybe in the fight they were able to escape



There were several reasons for writing this book, not the least of which, is the “loser” mentality of many Vietnam vets today. If you will read my flyer below carefully I believe you can see that I have made a good case for what I perceive to be “victory” by American and allied vets, not a lost war as described by liberals like Tom Hayden, Jane Fonda and the media. We lost 58,000 troops while killing 1.3 million communists, including some 300,000 KIA body not recovered, 150,000 of which are unaccounted-for today. Unlike the French before us we did not go to Vietnam to open coal mines or gold mines, or tea or rubber plantations. We went there to close with, and kill, destroy or capture the enemy. This was our mission and we definitely accomplished it. We did not go to Southeast Asia in order to conquer Vietnam or make it a colony of the United States. We all knew we would be coming home, we simply didn’t know when. Due to the efforts made by Vietnam Vets, today one quarter of the population of the earth is living under democratically elected governments. The citizens of two of the world’s largest Muslim nations are able to freely worship Islam. During the American War in Vietnam our military forces never lost a major battle and the USSR’s involvement in supporting the communists while we were fighting there led to the collapse of the Soviet Union, the disbanding of the Communist Party and a clear victory of the Cold War for Vietnam war vets. America’s Vietnam Vets can hold their heads high and be proud for their service during one of the most critical periods of American history. The struggle is not over, the two most important issues remaining are a full and transparent accounting for our unreturned veterans and democracy for the Vietnamese people.


http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_ ... man+behind

Leave No Man Behind: Bill Bell and the Search for American POW/MIAs from the Vietnam War by Garnett "Bill" Bell

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Leave No Man Behind
by Garnett Bill Bell
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"No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now. Rarely have so many people been so wrong about so much. Never have the consequences of their misunderstanding been so tragic." (Nixon)

"Psychologists or sociologists may explain some day what it is about that distant monochromatic land, of green mountains and fields merging with an azure sea, that for millennia has acted as a magnet for foreigners who sought glory there and found frustration, who believed that in its rice fields and jungles some principle was to be established and entered them only to recede in disillusion." (Henry Kissinger, White House Years, 1979. Reminiscing about Vietnam)

Leave No Man Behind: An eyewitness account of the Vietnam War from its early stages through the last day of the Republic, 30 April 1975. A startling new look at the postwar era and the issue of America's unreturned veterans listed as POW/MIA, an issue that has haunted America since the beginning of American involvement. 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. Government's only official office in postwar Vietnam provides an insider's account of that effort. The challenges he faced in dealing with U.S. politicians, including Vietnam veterans, Senators John McCain and John Kerry, are an ardent reminder of the many similarities in the bloody wars fought by American troops in both Vietnam and Iraq-Afghanistan. In an illuminating and deeply personal memoir, the government's top missing persons investigator in Southeast Asia, who later became a member of the U.S. Congressional Staff, 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 a dedicated group of professionals who, against great odds, were able to uphold the proud military traditions of duty, honor and country.

Every American fighting in Afghanistan should read 'Leave No Man Behind.'
As the US Marine Corps helicopter lifted from the roof of the American Embassy in Saigon at daybreak on April 30, 1975, I thought about the carnage that would result from a heat-seeking missile fired by Vietnamese Communist forces gradually encircling the besieged capital of the dying Republic of Vietnam (RVN). Exhausted by a lack of sleep for the previous several days, I no longer felt fear, only curiosity. Tears welled up in my eyes, perhaps due in part to the anguish of witnessing the tragic events unfolding before me, but also from caustic smoke belched out of rooftop incinerators glowing cherry-red from reams of frantically burned secret US Government documents. Feeling a sense of relief, I nevertheless harbored an even stronger sense of guilt. On the Republic of Vietnam's final day, as I looked down into the gradually diminishing compound and into the terrified eyes in the upturned faces of hundreds of Vietnamese nationals and citizens of other countries friendly to the United States, who were being left behind, I knew that I would be haunted for many years to come. As the venerable 'Sea Stallion' throbbed its way through the damp morning air toward a helicopter carrier anchored off the coast at Vung Tau, blazing multicolored tracers rising from the dark-canopied jungle below bade farewell to America and to an era known as the Vietnam War.

During the more than 30 minute flight into the future I sat angry and confused after some 10 years of involvement with a faraway place called Vietnam. I wondered whether the sacrifices in lives and national treasure made by America had been worthwhile or in vain. After contemplating the issue for many years, I believe it is now time to take stock of the American War in Vietnam so that Americans, especially those of us who served there, can finally decide whether or not we now have cause for a celebration or the lingering agony of defeat.

With the fall of the RVN, as many analysts had predicted, jubilant communist forces quickly invaded and occupied the populated areas. Hundreds of thousands of former military and civilian officials were required to be screened, classified and registered as enemies of the revolution to be detained in remote, isolated concentration camps under horrific conditions. Thousands died due to disease and malnutrition, many never to be heard from again by family members. At the same time, the communist leadership insisted that the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the north and the Provisional Revolutionary Government in the south be united as one.

From that day forward, according to the constitution, only one political party, the Vietnam Communist Party, would be allowed to exist. On official letterheads of government stationery the three previously used terms comprising the national motto of the communist north: 'Freedom, Independence and Democracy' were changed forever to read 'Freedom, Independence and Happiness.' To the Vietnamese people this change in terminology, especially the reference to happiness, would provide one of the few sources of humor during a desperate time. To add insult to injury, the graves of fallen RVN military personnel were razed by bulldozers in cemeteries across the country. Typewriters, radios, televisions and anything that could be used for propagation or communication were required to be registered with the 'Military Management Committee' responsible for political security under the new 'Socialist Republic of Vietnam.' As interest began to wane, occasional references to the Vietnam War coined phrases such as ‘a noble cause' or 'an unnecessary war.' The question as to whether the Vietnam War was or was not necessary was just as divisive in postwar debate as it was during the days following the 1968 'Tet’ Offensive. In my own assessment of both the necessity for and the outcome of the Vietnam War two primary considerations were the U.S. national interest at the time and the mission of the U.S. Military Forces that fought in Southeast Asia.

The overall mission of U.S. military forces for the latter part of the 20th century began to take shape shortly after the conclusion of World War II. At that time the policy of the United States was one of containment of Communism. I believed that this policy was fully justified, because it was obvious that the Communist International, especially Russia and China, sought to 'liberate' the entire world. This policy of containment became known as the 'Cold War.' Although there were numerous clashes involving air crews during missions involving special operations and reconnaissance, the first major battlefield of that war erupted in 1950 on the Korean Peninsula, where the successful accomplishment of the mission of containing communism there was dubbed by the media as a 'stalemate.'

At the beginning of the War in Vietnam, the basic mission of American soldier worldwide was to kill, destroy, or capture the enemy, or repel his assault by fire. Over one million men and women answered their nation's call, and they did their level best to carry out their mission in Southeast Asia. As a result, some 58,000 Americans and some 225,000 allied personnel made the ultimate sacrifice, while by comparison, communist Vietnam suffered the loss of over 1,300,000 personnel, including 150,000 personnel who were killed-in-action but never recovered. I personally witnessed the strongest blow struck at communist forces by hard-fighting American and South Vietnamese troops that occurred during the January 31, 1968, 'Tet' offensive. The bodies of thousands of communist personnel were stacked in piles around installations throughout South Vietnam, and losses were so heavy for the communist side that the entire military rank structure was temporarily abandoned and cadre selected to command and control units were assigned based on position or job title only, rather than actual military rank. The loss of life to the communist side was nothing less than staggering, and any U.S. military commander whose losses approached even a small percentage of actual communist fatalities at that time would most likely have been relieved of command.

Even though America's servicemen and women fought valiantly during the 1968 'Tet' offensive, the U.S. and international media nevertheless managed to reshape their hard-earned victory into a political defeat. Vietnamese communist propaganda experts were so skillful that they were able to convince many members of the media and even some military analysts that two separate governments, the National Liberation Front in South Vietnam and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the North, existed side by side and that both were involved in a 'civil war.' It has since been proven that both the NLF and the DRV were tightly controlled by the Vietnam Communist Party and both governments were actually one and the same. Moreover, personnel of the two purported military organizations of both illusionary governments, the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the Viet Cong (VC), were in reality members of the Peoples Army of Vietnam (PAVN).

Admittedly, in terms of national treasure the Vietnam War was not cheap. Depending on which expert's figures are used, the total cost of the Vietnam War to America was somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 billion dollars. By comparison the overall U.S. defense budget during postwar, peacetime years exceeded that amount annually. In reality one million men could not have been trained at U.S.-based training centers for a 10 year period, even using blank ammunition, for a lesser amount. While the Vietnam War was certainly a drain on the U.S. economy, during the decade of our of engagement there the former Soviet Union also provided significant amounts of financial and material support to communist forces deployed throughout Southeast Asia. Support by the USSR to Vietnam, the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan and a badly managed, centrally controlled economy all combined to bring the former Soviet Union to its knees and bring about the collapse of the Communist Party. Ultimately this collapse led to the end of the Cold War. Veterans of the Cold War, especially those who fought in Korea and Vietnam, now enjoy the gratitude of the peoples of many European, East Asian and Southeast Asian nations. It is now clear that as a result of the sacrifices made by American and allied veterans, today the people of Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia are living under freely elected governments. This accounts for one quarter of the earth's population. Radical Muslims bent on Jihad should pause to remember that the citizens of the two largest Islamic nations, Malaysia and Indonesia, are able to freely worship Islam due in large to the sacrifices made on their behalf by Americans fighting against Communism throughout Southeast Asia.
Obviously, the true losers of the Vietnam War are the Vietnamese people, not just the people of the former Republic of Vietnam, but citizens from all areas of the country, including the north. Although millions of Vietnamese 'voted with their feet' by escaping on small boats across dangerous ocean currents, resulting in staggering losses to mankind, today millions more freedom-loving Vietnamese still yearn to be free. I believe that the two most important bilateral issues remaining between the U.S. and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam are an accounting for the almost 1,800 Americans still missing from the Vietnam War and democracy for the Vietnamese people.

Successive administrations in Washington, D.C. have pressed for democracy in many countries around the world, including Russia, Haiti, South Africa, Afghanistan and Iraq. But there has been very little interest shown in gaining democracy for Asians, and this double standard is difficult to understand. It is almost as though we Americans have a collective mentality whereby we believe that peoples with yellow skin cannot manage freedom, and that tight control is the only option available.
The American business community, aggressively buying up cheap products manufactured in Asia for resale on the U.S. market, is blinded by the lack of labor unions, cheap wages and fear of violent reprisals against labor strikes. It is ironic that after some 58,000 fine young Americans died in Vietnam while fighting for democracy the American business community is now steadily developing the economy of communist controlled Vietnam, insuring that the Vietnam Communist Party will not only remain in power, but that it will increasingly have the ability to maintain an even larger and more powerful military force. Concerning the plight of the families of Vietnam War POWs and MIAs, democracy can also go a long way to help in this regard. I believe that most Americans, especially Vietnam veterans, will agree that for the most part the Vietnamese people are honest and hardworking. Like our people right here at home, I can't imagine a situation where the people of Vietnam would be willing to hide the remains of anyone's loved one in order to extort money from them. Although during the past 30 years the ruling communists have gradually doled out bits and pieces of skeletal remains and personal effects in return for large monetary sums, once the Vietnam Communist Party has collapsed the Vietnamese people will rise to the occasion and provide whatever assistance is necessary to resolve the issue of our missing men. We should all be doing everything we can to make sure that day comes.
Garnett 'Bill' Bell, a native of Texas and a retired GM-14, DoD, went to Vietnam as an infantryman in 1965 and served four tours there. Bell was awarded 20 individual decorations and numerous unit awards. Bell later served as an instructor in the Department of Exploitation and Counterintelligence, U.S. Army Intelligence Center and school. During his career Bell served in the 327th Airborne Battle Group, 101st Airborne Division, the 1/35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, the 2/506th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, the 101st MI Company, the 525th Military Intelligence Group, the Defense Language Institute, the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command, the 6th Special Forces Group, the Joint Casualty Resolution Center (JCRC), the Four Party Joint Military Team (FPJMT) and the Joint Task Force Full-Accounting (JTFFA). Bell's wife and son were killed and a daughter critically injured in April 1975, when the families of U.S. officials assigned to the American Embassy in Saigon were evacuated in conjunction with the 'Operation Babylift' program. After being evacuated by helicopter from the roof of the American Embassy on the final day of the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) (30 April 1975), Bell returned to postwar Vietnam as the first official U.S. representative after the war ended when he was assigned as the Chief of the U.S. Office for POW/MIA Affairs in Hanoi. He served more than 12 years on the POW/MIA Search Teams. An Airborne-Ranger and Jumpmaster, Bell eventually became a member of the Congressional Staff, U.S. House of Representatives. Fluent in Vietnamese, Thai and Laotian, Bell is a graduate of Chaminade University and the author of 'Leave No Man Behind.' Bell is a life member of the VFW, Combat Infantrymens Association (CIA) and the Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH). Bell is employed as an investigator in the 12th Judicial District western Arkansas.

This book is one of the most accurate and detailed accounts of the Vietnam War from beginning to end. It is arguably the very best book ever written concerning the important POW/MIA issue. No one, military, civilian, or private citizen, has contributed as much as Bill Bell to the national effort to recover and repatriate America's unreturned veterans from the Vietnam War. Every veteran of any war definitely needs to read this important work, which is destined to become an icon that will withstand the test of time. Bill Bell certainly deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his courageous efforts."
Michael De Paulo, Vietnam Vet, USMC and National Service Officer, Rolling Thunder Inc.

This book isn't just for the soldier, student, or history buff. It's also for the average American who should know more about the Vietnam War, how people in our CURRENT government felt and behaved then, and how the war in Afghanistan might have a similar outcome. 474 pages, semi-hardback: ISBN 096476634-5,
Signed copy available at billbell@pinncom.com for $20, or from http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/ ... le?ie=UTF8
http://americustimesrecorder.com/local/ ... onvocation

September 3, 2012
Vietnam POW to speak at 7th Annual POW/MIA Convocation

The Americus Times-Recorder

AMERICUS — National Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) Recognition Day is Friday, Sept. 21. In observance of that day, the National Park Service, the Friends of Andersonville, and Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) are hosting the 2012 National POW/MIA Convocation at 11 a.m. Sept.19 in the Jackson Hall Auditorium on the campus of GSW. The public is invited.

This year’s featured speaker is Bill Arcuri. A graduate of West Point, Acuri served his first six-month tour in Southeast Asia from May to October 1972, in support of Operation Bullet Shot, also known as LineBacker I, and was assigned with the 64th Bomb Squadron at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. On Dec. 20, 1972, at the beginning of his second tour and while flying a combat mission of LineBacker II, his aircraft was struck by three surface-to-air missiles while bombing the railroad marshalling yards in Yin Vien, just north of Hanoi, North Vietnam. Forced to bail out, he was injured and immediately captured by villagers.

Arcuri was held captive in the Hanoi Hilton prison complex for the next 55 days. As a result of his injuries he was in the first group of returning POWs as part of Operation Homecoming, flown from Hanoi and to Clark Air Force Base on Feb. 12, 1973. Arcuri resigned his commission in the Air Force in July 1976, and began a civilian career. He is now retired and resides in Jupiter, Fla.

The annual Convocation begins four days of area events in recognition of National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Rolling Thunder’s annual “The Ride Home” event will bring the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall to the GSW campus fro Thursday, Sept. 20 through Saturday, Sept. 22. The wall is a three-fifths replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and is nearly 300 feet in length. Rolling Thunder ceremonies to remember military service members still listed as Missing in Action and to honor former POWs will also occur on the campus of GSW.

More information on the “The Ride Home” event may be found at http://theridehome.com/

The weekend of National POW/MIA Recognition Day is also a final opportunity or the public to visit the “We Can Forgive But Never Forget” temporary exhibit at the National Prisoner of War Museum at the Andersonville National Historic Site. Developed to honor the 70th anniversary of the fall of the Philippines, this exhibit features photographs and personal belongings from prisoners held by the Japanese during World War II who fought on Bataan and Corregidor.

Andersonville National Historic Site is located 10 miles south of Oglethorpe and 10 miles northeast of Americus on Ga. Highway 49. The national park features the National Prisoner of War Museum, Andersonville National Cemetery and the site of the historic Civil War prison, Camp Sumter. Andersonville National Historic Site is the only national park within the National Park System to serve as a memorial to all American prisoners of war. Park grounds are open daily from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. with the museum opening at 9 a.m. Admission is free.

For more information on the park, call 229 924-0343, visit on the web at www.nps.gov/ande/, or on Facebook at facebook.com/AndersonvilleNPS

UPDATE: September 5, 2012

AMERICANS ACCOUNTED-FOR: There are still 1,660 personnel listed by the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) as missing and unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. Announced on August 16th was the identification of SGT John R. Jones, USA, TX, listed as MIA in South Vietnam on June 4, 1971. SGT Jones’ remains were recovered on September 8, 2011 and identified July 23, 2012. Recently announced is Lt Col Clarence Finley “Bill” Blanton, USAF, listed as KIA/BNR in Laos on March 11, 1968 when the TACAN radar installation (Lima Site 85) on top a mountain in Houaphan Province was overrun by Vietnamese forces. His remains were recovered January 18, 2008 and identified July 12, 2012. The identification of PFC James Rickey Maxwell, USMC and PFC Richard William Rivenburgh, USMC, was posted on DPMO’s website on July 20th. PFC Maxwell and PFC Rivenburgh were killed on May 15, 1975 during an attempted rescue of the SS Mayaguez crew when their HH53 helicopter crashed near Koh Tang, Cambodia. Their remains were recovered December 6, 1995 and identified January 23, 2012. The number of Americans announced as returned and identified since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 is now 923. Another 63 US personnel, recovered post-incident by the US and identified before the end of the war, bring the official total recovered and identified from the Vietnam War to 986. Of the unaccounted-for 1,660 personnel, 90% were lost in Vietnam or in areas of Laos and Cambodia under Vietnam’s wartime control: Vietnam–1,281 (VN-470, VS-811); Laos–317; Cambodia–55; PRC territorial waters–7; more than 450 were over-water losses.

MOVEMENT ON ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS: During Technical Talks held May 4th in Hanoi, Vietnam turned over long-requested archival documents. This has been a League and US Government priority for decades during which appeals have been made for unilateral provision of such archival records. Lists prepared and updated by DPMO’s Research Analysis Directorate (RA) and JPAC’s Intelligence Directorate (J2) were repeatedly raised by the US and by League Delegations to Vietnamese officials at the highest level. This welcome responsiveness is encouraging and reflects a decision by Vietnam’s leaders that is deeply appreciated. The current political and regional security environment is prompting expanded military-to-military relations between the US and Vietnam, with increases in cooperation on all matters pertaining to bilateral interests. Vietnam has long recognized the important role that the POW/MIA issue played as their “bridge” to expanding and broadening bilateral relations.

CHANGES IN DPMO: Major General W. Montague “Q” Winfield, USA (Ret) arrived in the office on May 21st as the new Deputy Assistant Secretary (DASD) for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs and Director of the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO). He replaced former DASD Bob Newberry. Also no longer in the DPMO front office are former Principal Director Edward Frothingham and former Acting Chief of Staff Colleen Getz. They have now been replaced by Ms. Alyssa Stack, Principal Director, and COL John Potts, USA, Chief of Staff. The League looks forward to working with DASD Winfield, Ms. Stack and COL Potts and will consult, cooperate and assist in every reasonable, appropriate way toward achieving ever greater success.

AIR FORCE MAJOR GENERAL KELLY McKEAGUE TO COMMAND JPAC: The Department of Defense just announced that Air Force Maj Gen Kelly McKeague, currently serving as Special Assistant to the Chief, National Guard Bureau, will assume command of JPAC at the end of October. He served previously as Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for National Guard Matters. Commissioned in 1981 through the Georgia Institute of Technology Air Force ROTC program, he served as a civil engineering officer in a variety of assignments at base, major command, and Headquarters USAF levels, entering the Maryland Air National Guard in 1985. Gen McKeague replaces MG Stephen Tom, USAR, who will retire upon relinquishing command of JPAC.

CONSULTATIONS WITH LAO, CAMBODIAN AND VIETNAMESE OFFICIALS: JPAC Commander MG Stephen Tom, USAR, held talks with Lao counterparts in Vientiane on August 22nd to cement commitments made in July to Secretary of State Clinton on permitting ground transportation to, and base-camping near, incident sites. This flexibility was sought to enable field operations to continue despite the Lao Government’s unwillingness thus far to make acceptable arrangements for smaller-scale helicopter transport for conducting investigations and recoveries. US Ambassador to Laos Karen Stewart, a staunch supporter of the POW/MIA accounting effort since her first tour in Laos many years ago, participated in the talks, as did the outgoing and incoming Deputy Chiefs of Mission (DCMs) and officials from DPMO and JPAC’s Detachment 3 in Vientiane. Following these talks, the US delegation moved on to Phnom Penh where talks were held to thank the Cambodian Government for facilitating US operations in their country and to define future efforts to account for the 55 US personnel still missing and unaccounted for in their country. Cambodia has the highest level POW/MIA Committee, with the greatest leadership backing and responsiveness, of any of the Southeast Asian countries. The League is also pleased that US Ambassador to Cambodia, William Todd, is also much engaged in supporting the bilateral accounting process. MG Tom will lead Technical Talks in Hanoi next week.

FIELD OPERATIONS: In mid-October, Joint Field Activities (JFAs) will resume in Laos and Vietnam, and a large team will conclude operations in Vietnam this week. With the impetus provided by high level visits and the resulting commitments, the League is hopeful that the pace and scope of US efforts to account for Vietnam War missing personnel will continue to expand. Time is growing short to enable getting answers before witnesses are no longer available and remains have disintegrated completely due to acidic soil in the region. Near the conclusion of the last JFA in Laos, the Lao permitted travel by road (a longstanding request) when the helicopter in which the teams were being transported was grounded due to bad weather. This prompt, flexible decision by the Lao was the first implementation of one of the commitments made to Secretary Clinton during her July visit to Vientiane. Nevertheless, the scale of field operations in Laos has been dramatically reduced and won’t be increased unless and until the Lao Government takes steps to facilitate helicopter support for access to remote sites. Earlier this year, JPAC conducted a successful JFA in Cambodia, though with only one Recovery Team, plus one trilateral Investigation Team working with Cambodian and Vietnamese counterparts. Field operations in Cambodia must be more frequent to achieve accounting objectives before it is too late.

JPAC field operations are also ongoing now in Belgium, South Korea, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and one just concluded in the Solomon Islands – all dealing with World War II (WWII) recoveries, except the JPAC Korea Forward Element (KFE) that was conducting coordination and investigation operations with United Nations Command/Military Assistance Command (UNCMAC) and the Korean JPAC-equivalent, MAKRI, plus a JPAC Joint Forensic Review Team (JFRT). In a few weeks, an Underwater Recovery Team (URT) will begin work on a possible WWII site in Corsica. JPAC’s work continues to expand into more and more countries, recovering more and more US personnel who served and sacrificed for our country. The League is pleased and grateful that our consistent work from 1970 until the present have resulted in the enormous effort now being made. The League strongly supports such efforts, so long as achieving the fullest possible accounting for missing Vietnam War personnel is not reduced or jeopardized in any way, but instead fully funded and pursued.

RECOGNITION DAY- SEPTEMBER 21, 2012: National, local and state ceremonies will be held once again to honor returned POWs and MIAs, but most importantly for the issue, to renew national commitment to accounting for America’s veterans not yet home from war. Look for announcements that will be coming soon on countless ceremonies to be held at military bases, posts and stations, cities, counties and at the Pentagon, 11:00 a.m. on September 21st. for the national ceremony

UPDATE: August 30, 2012

AMERICANS ACCOUNTED-FOR: There are still 1,660 personnel listed by the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) as missing and unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. Announced on August 16th was the identification of SGT John R. Jones, USA, TX, listed as MIA in South Vietnam on June 4, 1971. SGT Jones’ remains were recovered on September 8, 2011 and identified July 23, 2012. Recently announced is Lt Col Clarence Finley “Bill” Blanton, USAF, listed as KIA/BNR in Laos on March 11, 1968 when the TACAN radar installation (Lima Site 85) on top a mountain in Houaphan Province was overrun by Vietnamese forces. His remains were recovered January 18, 2008 and identified July 12, 2012. The identification of PFC James Rickey Maxwell, USMC and PFC Richard William Rivenburgh, USMC, was posted on DPMO’s website on July 20th. PFC Maxwell and PFC Rivenburgh were killed on May 15, 1975 during an attempted rescue of the SS Mayaguez crew when their HH53 helicopter crashed near Koh Tang, Cambodia. Their remains were recovered December 6, 1995 and identified January 23, 2012. The number of Americans announced as returned and identified since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 is now 923. Another 63 US personnel, recovered post-incident by the US and identified before the end of the war, bring the official total recovered and identified from the Vietnam War to 986. Of the unaccounted-for 1,660 personnel, 90% were lost in Vietnam or in areas of Laos and Cambodia under Vietnam’s wartime control: Vietnam–1,281 (VN-470, VS-811); Laos–317; Cambodia–55; PRC territorial waters–7; more than 450 were over-water losses.

MOVEMENT ON ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS: During Technical Talks held May 4th in Hanoi, Vietnam turned over long-requested archival documents. This has been a League and US Government priority for decades during which appeals have been made for unilateral provision of such archival records. Lists prepared and updated by DPMO’s Research Analysis Directorate (RA) and JPAC’s Intelligence Directorate (J2) were repeatedly raised by the US and by League Delegations to Vietnamese officials at the highest level. This welcome responsiveness is encouraging and reflects a decision by Vietnam’s leaders that is deeply appreciated. The current political and regional security environment is prompting expanded military-to-military relations between the US and Vietnam, with increases in cooperation on all matters pertaining to bilateral interests. Vietnam has long recognized the important role that the POW/MIA issue played as their “bridge” to expanding and broadening bilateral relations.

CHANGES IN DPMO: Major General W. Montague “Q” Winfield, USA (Ret) arrived in the office on May 21st as the new Deputy Assistant Secretary (DASD) for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs and Director of the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO). He replaced former DASD Bob Newberry. Also no longer in the DPMO front office are former Principal Director Edward Frothingham and former Acting Chief of Staff Colleen Getz. They have now been replaced by Ms. Alyssa Stack, Principal Director, and COL John Potts, USA, Chief of Staff. The League looks forward to working with DASD Winfield, Ms. Stack and COL Potts and will consult, cooperate and assist in every reasonable, appropriate way toward achieving ever greater success.

AIR FORCE MAJOR GENERAL KELLY McKEAGUE TO COMMAND JPAC: The Department of Defense just announced that Air Force Maj Gen Kelly McKeague, currently serving as Special Assistant to the Chief, National Guard Bureau, will assume command of JPAC at the end of October. He served previously as Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for National Guard Matters. Commissioned in 1981 through the Georgia Institute of Technology Air Force ROTC program, he served as a civil engineering officer in a variety of assignments at base, major command, and Headquarters USAF levels, entering the Maryland Air National Guard in 1985. Gen McKeague replaces MG Stephen Tom, USAR, who will retire upon relinquishing command of JPAC.

JPAC CONSULTATIONS WITH LAO AND CAMBODIAN OFFICIALS: JPAC Commander MG Stephen Tom, USAR, held talks with Lao counterparts in Vientiane on August 22nd to cement commitments made in July to Secretary of State Clinton to permit ground transportation to, and base-camping near, incident sites. This flexibility was sought to enable field operations to continue despite the Lao Government’s unwillingness thus far to make acceptable arrangements for smaller-scale helicopter transport for conducting investigations and recoveries. US Ambassador to Laos Karen Stewart, a staunch supporter of the POW/MIA accounting effort since her first tour in Laos many years ago, participated in the talks, as did the outgoing and incoming Deputy Chiefs of Mission (DCMs) and officials from DPMO and JPAC’s Detachment 3 in Vientiane. Following these talks, the US delegation moved on to Phnom Penh where talks were held to thank the Cambodian Government for facilitating US operations in their country and to define future efforts to account for the 55 US personnel still missing and unaccounted for in their country. Cambodia has the highest level POW/MIA Committee, with the greatest leadership backing and responsiveness, of any of the Southeast Asian countries. The League is also pleased that US Ambassador to Cambodia, William Todd, is also much engaged in supporting the bilateral accounting process.

FIELD OPERATIONS: Joint Field Activities (JFAs) will resume soon in Laos and a large team is just concluding operations in Vietnam. With the impetus provided by high level visits and the resulting commitments, the League is hopeful that the pace and scope of US efforts to account for Vietnam War missing personnel will continue to expand. Time is growing short to enable getting answers before witnesses are no longer available and remains have disintegrated even more due to acidic soil in the region. Near the conclusion of the last JFA in Laos, the Lao permitted travel by road (a longstanding request) when the helicopter in which the teams were being transported was grounded due to adverse weather. This prompt, flexible decision by the Lao was the first implementation of one of the commitments made to Secretary Clinton during her July visit to Vientiane. Nevertheless, the scale of field operations in Laos has been dramatically reduced and won’t be increased unless and until the Lao Government takes steps to facilitate helicopter support for access to remote sites. Earlier this year, JPAC conducted a successful JFA in Cambodia, though with only one Recovery Team, plus one trilateral Investigation Team working with Cambodian and Vietnamese counterparts. Field operations in Cambodia must be more frequent to achieve accounting objectives before it is too late.

JPAC field operations are also ongoing now in Belgium, South Korea, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and one just concluded in the Solomon Islands – all dealing with World War II (WWII) recoveries, except the JPAC Korea Forward Element (KFE) that was conducting coordination and investigations operations with United Nations Command/Military Assistance Command and the Korean JPAC-equivalent, MAKRI, plus a JPAC Joint Forensic Review Team (JFRT). In a few weeks, an Underwater Recovery Team will begin work on a possible WWII site in Corsica. JPAC’s work continues to expand into more and more countries, recovering more and more US personnel who served and sacrificed for our country. The League is pleased and grateful that our efforts from 1970 until the present has resulted in the enormous effort now being made and strongly supports such efforts, so long as achieving the fullest possible accounting for missing Vietnam War personnel is not reduced or jeopardized in any way, but instead fully funded and manned.

RECOGNITION DAY- SEPTEMBER 21, 2012: National, local and state ceremonies will be held once again to honor returned POWs and MIAs, but most importantly for the issue, to renew national commitment to accounting for America’s veterans not yet home from war. Look for announcements that will be coming soon on countless ceremonies to be held at military bases, posts and stations, cities, counties and at the Pentagon, 11:00 a.m. on September 21st. for the national ceremony.


UPDATE: August 30, 2012
AMERICANS ACCOUNTED-FOR: There are still 1,660 personnel listed by the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) as missing and unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. Announced on August 16th was the identification of SGT John R. Jones, USA, TX, listed as MIA in South Vietnam on June 4, 1971. SGT Jones’ remains were recovered on September 8, 2011 and identified July 23, 2012. Recently announced is Lt Col Clarence Finley “Bill” Blanton, USAF, listed as KIA/BNR in Laos on March 11, 1968 when the TACAN radar installation (Lima Site 85) on top a mountain in Houaphan Province was overrun by Vietnamese forces. His remains were recovered January 18, 2008 and identified July 12, 2012. The identification of PFC James Rickey Maxwell, USMC and PFC Richard William Rivenburgh, USMC, was posted on DPMO’s website on July 20th. PFC Maxwell and PFC Rivenburgh were killed on May 15, 1975 during an attempted rescue of the SS Mayaguez crew when their HH53 helicopter crashed near Koh Tang, Cambodia. Their remains were recovered December 6, 1995 and identified January 23, 2012. The number of Americans announced as returned and identified since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 is now 923. Another 63 US personnel, recovered post-incident by the US and identified before the end of the war, bring the official total recovered and identified from the Vietnam War to 986. Of the unaccounted-for 1,660 personnel, 90% were lost in Vietnam or in areas of Laos and Cambodia under Vietnam’s wartime control: Vietnam–1,281 (VN-470, VS-811); Laos–317; Cambodia–55; PRC territorial waters–7; more than 450 were over-water losses.

MOVEMENT ON ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS: During Technical Talks held May 4th in Hanoi, Vietnam turned over long-requested archival documents. This has been a League and US Government priority for decades during which appeals have been made for unilateral provision of such archival records. Lists prepared and updated by DPMO’s Research Analysis Directorate (RA) and JPAC’s Intelligence Directorate (J2) were repeatedly raised by the US and by League Delegations to Vietnamese officials at the highest level. This welcome responsiveness is encouraging and reflects a decision by Vietnam’s leaders that is deeply appreciated. The current political and regional security environment is prompting expanded military-to-military relations between the US and Vietnam, with increases in cooperation on all matters pertaining to bilateral interests. Vietnam has long recognized the important role that the POW/MIA issue played as their “bridge” to expanding and broadening bilateral relations.

CHANGES IN DPMO: Major General W. Montague “Q” Winfield, USA (Ret) arrived in the office on May 21st as the new Deputy Assistant Secretary (DASD) for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs and Director of the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO). He replaced former DASD Bob Newberry. Also no longer in the DPMO front office are former Principal Director Edward Frothingham and former Acting Chief of Staff Colleen Getz. They have now been replaced by Ms. Alyssa Stack, Principal Director, and COL John Potts, USA, Chief of Staff. The League looks forward to working with DASD Winfield, Ms. Stack and COL Potts and will consult, cooperate and assist in every reasonable, appropriate way toward achieving ever greater success.

AIR FORCE MAJOR GENERAL KELLY McKEAGUE TO COMMAND JPAC: The Department of Defense just announced that Air Force Maj Gen Kelly McKeague, currently serving as Special Assistant to the Chief, National Guard Bureau, will assume command of JPAC at the end of October. He served previously as Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for National Guard Matters. Commissioned in 1981 through the Georgia Institute of Technology Air Force ROTC program, he served as a civil engineering officer in a variety of assignments at base, major command, and Headquarters USAF levels, entering the Maryland Air National Guard in 1985. Gen McKeague replaces MG Stephen Tom, USAR, who will retire upon relinquishing command of JPAC.

JPAC CONSULTATIONS WITH LAO AND CAMBODIAN OFFICIALS: JPAC Commander MG Stephen Tom, USAR, held talks with Lao counterparts in Vientiane on August 22nd to cement commitments made in July to Secretary of State Clinton to permit ground transportation to, and base-camping near, incident sites. This flexibility was sought to enable field operations to continue despite the Lao Government’s unwillingness thus far to make acceptable arrangements for smaller-scale helicopter transport for conducting investigations and recoveries. US Ambassador to Laos Karen Stewart, a staunch supporter of the POW/MIA accounting effort since her first tour in Laos many years ago, participated in the talks, as did the outgoing and incoming Deputy Chiefs of Mission (DCMs) and officials from DPMO and JPAC’s Detachment 3 in Vientiane. Following these talks, the US delegation moved on to Phnom Penh where talks were held to thank the Cambodian Government for facilitating US operations in their country and to define future efforts to account for the 55 US personnel still missing and unaccounted for in their country. Cambodia has the highest level POW/MIA Committee, with the greatest leadership backing and responsiveness, of any of the Southeast Asian countries. The League is also pleased that US Ambassador to Cambodia, William Todd, is also much engaged in supporting the bilateral accounting process.

FIELD OPERATIONS: Joint Field Activities (JFAs) will resume soon in Laos and a large team is just concluding operations in Vietnam. With the impetus provided by high level visits and the resulting commitments, the League is hopeful that the pace and scope of US efforts to account for Vietnam War missing personnel will continue to expand. Time is growing short to enable getting answers before witnesses are no longer available and remains have disintegrated even more due to acidic soil in the region. Near the conclusion of the last JFA in Laos, the Lao permitted travel by road (a longstanding request) when the helicopter in which the teams were being transported was grounded due to adverse weather. This prompt, flexible decision by the Lao was the first implementation of one of the commitments made to Secretary Clinton during her July visit to Vientiane. Nevertheless, the scale of field operations in Laos has been dramatically reduced and won’t be increased unless and until the Lao Government takes steps to facilitate helicopter support for access to remote sites. Earlier this year, JPAC conducted a successful JFA in Cambodia, though with only one Recovery Team, plus one trilateral Investigation Team working with Cambodian and Vietnamese counterparts. Field operations in Cambodia must be more frequent to achieve accounting objectives before it is too late.
JPAC field operations are also ongoing now in Belgium, South Korea, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and one just concluded in the Solomon Islands – all dealing with World War II (WWII) recoveries, except the JPAC Korea Forward Element (KFE) that was conducting coordination and investigations operations with United Nations Command/Military Assistance Command and the Korean JPAC-equivalent, MAKRI, plus a JPAC Joint Forensic Review Team (JFRT). In a few weeks, an Underwater Recovery Team will begin work on a possible WWII site in Corsica. JPAC’s work continues to expand into more and more countries, recovering more and more US personnel who served and sacrificed for our country. The League is pleased and grateful that our efforts from 1970 until the present has resulted in the enormous effort now being made and strongly supports such efforts, so long as achieving the fullest possible accounting for missing Vietnam War personnel is not reduced or jeopardized in any way, but instead fully funded and manned.

RECOGNITION DAY- SEPTEMBER 21, 2012: National, local and state ceremonies will be held once again to honor returned POWs and MIAs, but most importantly for the issue, to renew national commitment to accounting for America’s veterans not yet home from war. Look for announcements that will be coming soon on countless ceremonies to be held at military bases, posts and stations, cities, counties and at the Pentagon, 11:00 a.m. on September 21st. for the national ceremony.
Check the League’s website, www.pow-miafamilies.org, Facebook page, or call the League office for more information. Emails can be sent to Lacy.Rourke@pow-miafamilies.org.
Ann Mills-Griffiths
Chairman of the Board
National League of POW/MIA Families
5673 Columbia Pike, Suite 100
Falls Church, VA 22041
703-465-7432
www.pow-miafamilies.org

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designate National League of POW/MIA Families as your iGive cause.
Donate to the League at CFC #10218



UPDATE: August 30, 2012

AMERICANS ACCOUNTED-FOR: There are still 1,660 personnel listed by the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) as missing and unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. Announced on August 16th was the identification of SGT John R. Jones, USA, TX, listed as MIA in South Vietnam on June 4, 1971. SGT Jones’ remains were recovered on September 8, 2011 and identified July 23, 2012. Recently announced is Lt Col Clarence Finley “Bill” Blanton, USAF, listed as KIA/BNR in Laos on March 11, 1968 when the TACAN radar installation (Lima Site 85) on top a mountain in Houaphan Province was overrun by Vietnamese forces. His remains were recovered January 18, 2008 and identified July 12, 2012. The identification of PFC James Rickey Maxwell, USMC and PFC Richard William Rivenburgh, USMC, was posted on DPMO’s website on July 20th. PFC Maxwell and PFC Rivenburgh were killed on May 15, 1975 during an attempted rescue of the SS Mayaguez crew when their HH53 helicopter crashed near Koh Tang, Cambodia. Their remains were recovered December 6, 1995 and identified January 23, 2012. The number of Americans announced as returned and identified since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 is now 923. Another 63 US personnel, recovered post-incident by the US and identified before the end of the war, bring the official total recovered and identified from the Vietnam War to 986. Of the unaccounted-for 1,660 personnel, 90% were lost in Vietnam or in areas of Laos and Cambodia under Vietnam’s wartime control: Vietnam–1,281 (VN-470, VS-811); Laos–317; Cambodia–55; PRC territorial waters–7; more than 450 were over-water losses.

MOVEMENT ON ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS: During Technical Talks held May 4th in Hanoi, Vietnam turned over long-requested archival documents. This has been a League and US Government priority for decades during which appeals have been made for unilateral provision of such archival records. Lists prepared and updated by DPMO’s Research Analysis Directorate (RA) and JPAC’s Intelligence Directorate (J2) were repeatedly raised by the US and by League Delegations to Vietnamese officials at the highest level. This welcome responsiveness is encouraging and reflects a decision by Vietnam’s leaders that is deeply appreciated. The current political and regional security environment is prompting expanded military-to-military relations between the US and Vietnam, with increases in cooperation on all matters pertaining to bilateral interests. Vietnam has long recognized the important role that the POW/MIA issue played as their “bridge” to expanding and broadening bilateral relations.

CHANGES IN DPMO: Major General W. Montague “Q” Winfield, USA (Ret) arrived in the office on May 21st as the new Deputy Assistant Secretary (DASD) for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs and Director of the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO). He replaced former DASD Bob Newberry. Also no longer in the DPMO front office are former Principal Director Edward Frothingham and former Acting Chief of Staff Colleen Getz. They have now been replaced by Ms. Alyssa Stack, Principal Director, and COL John Potts, USA, Chief of Staff. The League looks forward to working with DASD Winfield, Ms. Stack and COL Potts and will consult, cooperate and assist in every reasonable, appropriate way toward achieving ever greater success.
AIR FORCE MAJOR GENERAL KELLY McKEAGUE TO COMMAND JPAC: The Department of Defense just announced that Air Force Maj Gen Kelly McKeague, currently serving as Special Assistant to the Chief, National Guard Bureau, will assume command of JPAC at the end of October. He served previously as Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for National Guard Matters. Commissioned in 1981 through the Georgia Institute of Technology Air Force ROTC program, he served as a civil engineering officer in a variety of assignments at base, major command, and Headquarters USAF levels, entering the Maryland Air National Guard in 1985. Gen McKeague replaces MG Stephen Tom, USAR, who will retire upon relinquishing command of JPAC.

JPAC CONSULTATIONS WITH LAO AND CAMBODIAN OFFICIALS: JPAC Commander MG Stephen Tom, USAR, held talks with Lao counterparts in Vientiane on August 22nd to cement commitments made in July to Secretary of State Clinton to permit ground transportation to, and base-camping near, incident sites. This flexibility was sought to enable field operations to continue despite the Lao Government’s unwillingness thus far to make acceptable arrangements for smaller-scale helicopter transport for conducting investigations and recoveries. US Ambassador to Laos Karen Stewart, a staunch supporter of the POW/MIA accounting effort since her first tour in Laos many years ago, participated in the talks, as did the outgoing and incoming Deputy Chiefs of Mission (DCMs) and officials from DPMO and JPAC’s Detachment 3 in Vientiane. Following these talks, the US delegation moved on to Phnom Penh where talks were held to thank the Cambodian Government for facilitating US operations in their country and to define future efforts to account for the 55 US personnel still missing and unaccounted for in their country. Cambodia has the highest level POW/MIA Committee, with the greatest leadership backing and responsiveness, of any of the Southeast Asian countries. The League is also pleased that US Ambassador to Cambodia, William Todd, is also much engaged in supporting the bilateral accounting process.

FIELD OPERATIONS: Joint Field Activities (JFAs) will resume soon in Laos and a large team is just concluding operations in Vietnam. With the impetus provided by high level visits and the resulting commitments, the League is hopeful that the pace and scope of US efforts to account for Vietnam War missing personnel will continue to expand. Time is growing short to enable getting answers before witnesses are no longer available and remains have disintegrated even more due to acidic soil in the region. Near the conclusion of the last JFA in Laos, the Lao permitted travel by road (a longstanding request) when the helicopter in which the teams were being transported was grounded due to adverse weather. This prompt, flexible decision by the Lao was the first implementation of one of the commitments made to Secretary Clinton during her July visit to Vientiane. Nevertheless, the scale of field operations in Laos has been dramatically reduced and won’t be increased unless and until the Lao Government takes steps to facilitate helicopter support for access to remote sites. Earlier this year, JPAC conducted a successful JFA in Cambodia, though with only one Recovery Team, plus one trilateral Investigation Team working with Cambodian and Vietnamese counterparts. Field operations in Cambodia must be more frequent to achieve accounting objectives before it is too late.

JPAC field operations are also ongoing now in Belgium, South Korea, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and one just concluded in the Solomon Islands – all dealing with World War II (WWII) recoveries, except the JPAC Korea Forward Element (KFE) that was conducting coordination and investigations operations with United Nations Command/Military Assistance Command and the Korean JPAC-equivalent, MAKRI, plus a JPAC Joint Forensic Review Team (JFRT). In a few weeks, an Underwater Recovery Team will begin work on a possible WWII site in Corsica. JPAC’s work continues to expand into more and more countries, recovering more and more US personnel who served and sacrificed for our country. The League is pleased and grateful that our efforts from 1970 until the present has resulted in the enormous effort now being made and strongly supports such efforts, so long as achieving the fullest possible accounting for missing Vietnam War personnel is not reduced or jeopardized in any way, but instead fully funded and manned.

RECOGNITION DAY- SEPTEMBER 21, 2012: National, local and state ceremonies will be held once again to honor returned POWs and MIAs, but most importantly for the issue, to renew national commitment to accounting for America’s veterans not yet home from war. Look for announcements that will be coming soon on countless ceremonies to be held at military bases, posts and stations, cities, counties and at the Pentagon, 11:00 a.m. on September 21st. for the national ceremony.

Check the League’s website, www.pow-miafamilies.org, Facebook page, or call the League office for more information. Emails can be sent to Lacy.Rourke@pow-miafamilies.org.

Ann Mills-Griffiths
Chairman of the Board
National League of POW/MIA Families
5673 Columbia Pike, Suite 100
Falls Church, VA 22041
703-465-7432
www.pow-miafamilies.org

*Please use www.iGive.Com for all of your Internet searches and shopping;
designate National League of POW/MIA Families as your iGive cause.
Donate to the League at CFC #10218





Last Patrol 87, Roll call 25 years later

Alamo to the Wall..........." A Journey to Remember " for the POW/MIA issue
Bomber John............accounted for
Jerry Dickerson, accounted for.
Calvin Harris........accounted for
Mike Wise.........accounted for.
Steve Cox..........accounted for.......kia
Pat Callahan..........mia ........extended sick leave..
Dave " Smitty " Smith.........mia.
Robert Blackwell..........sick call.
Big Jim Holt.........accounted for
Michael Martin...........sick call
Tim Holiday..........accounted for.
Gary Bradberry............mia or kia
James Wilccoxon ..........mia or kia......
Michael Bruscino..........present
Dan Mauldin............present..
Charles Memphis Slim...........mia
Ron Grizzle...........accounted for.
Richard Chism..........mia........
Dee Beavers .........present
David Wiley.........present.
Dane Prothro.........present............most of the time


From: johnsailors@comcast.net
To: johnsailors@comcast.net
Sent: 9/2/2012 5:59:24 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time
Subj: FW: Fw: C-130s involved in getting our people out of North Vietnam
This comes from friend John Sailors. The little known story of two C-130s that flew into North Vietnam after the war to bring home the remains of thirty-six of our POWs who died in captivity. I want you to notice something else here, how the NVA ground controllers tried to spoof the planes to crash as they moved the beacons, and then think about what I told you about what happened to Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown's plane that was spoofed into a cloud covered mountainside in Croatia. While that is another story, this episode just tells how easily the North Vietnamese did it.

Hal
Subject: C-130s involved in getting our people out of North Vietnam



> This is a story from Joe Kittinger. It's about retrieving our KIA/POW dead from North
> Vietnam using C-130s. It is told only by someone who may have
> bombed Hanoi and wasn't about taking any crap even in enemy
> territory. He also makes it humorous at times with the things they
> did in landing and taking off at the airport in Hanoi.
>
>
> by Joe Kittinger.......
> I'm sorry this has taken so long. I would be a great procrastinator
> if I ever got around to it!!
>
> I've been toying for years about writing the full story, but just
> haven't done it. May still do it some day.
>
> I'll give you a down and dirty version so I don't waste too much of your time.
>
> A little background first: I had flown in and out of Hanoi twice
> before---flying out of U-Tapao AB, Thailand---with the peace
> negotiating team. Both times, we were ordered to wear civilian
> clothes and be nice to them. They took our pictures as we sat around
> a table for a briefing. The infamous "Rabbit" was in charge. At
> least that's who we thought it was. Big ears. They then took us to
> a hotel and fed us in a banquet room. The food was delicious and we
> were ordered to drink their beer when offered. It didn't taste too
> bad and was only about 2-3% so the brass weren't concerned about us
> being able to fly afterwards. Then they took us to museums---their
> War Museum on the first mission. They had parts of our warplanes
> that had been shot down and also showed us the gun where Hanoi Jane
> Fonda sat for that infamous picture. I don't know if it was the real
> gun or not---didn't matter---I think they just wanted a
> reaction. They got none from any of us. We were allowed to take
> photos of certain areas. They wouldn't let us take pix of their rail
> marshaling yard which was full of bomb craters and wrecked
> engines---I got some anyway with my little Minox spy camera.
>
>
> On the next trip they took us to the Peace Museum. Absolutely
> stunning!!! Lots of HUGE White Jade figures. A beautiful
> museum. Our bombs never got close to it. Strangely enough---they
> told us that the wrecked train yard was where they were fixing their
> engines. If you didn't know better, it could have looked
> true. There was not a single bomb crater outside of the yard. All
> buildings were intact!! A lot more happened there, but don't want
> to bore you with all the details. They were very proud of their
> many manhole covers in the sidewalks which they used to hide from our
> bombing raids. All three trips were interesting!!
>
>
> Anyway, that was why I was chosen to lead a two ship formation to
> retrieve out Heroes. I just happened to be TDY at U-Tapao from Clark
> AB where I was stationed. That should set the stage. a little too
> wordy, but it should help you to understand my involvement.
>
>
> I was one of only a few crew member on either plane to have been
> there before. Our Mission Commander was Col Novas and we had a One
> Star on board with an open line to President Nixon. It was a fairly
> high priority mission.
>
>
> After stopping in Saigon for a final briefing in Saigon, our two
> C-130E's (with augmented crews) left Tan son Nhut AB and went "feet
> wet" up the coast of Vietnam. We stayed about 30 miles off the coast
> so as not to bother anyone. We hit the mouth of the Red River and
> turned upstream toward our destination---Gia Lam Airport just east of
> Hanoi. We were encountering broken clouds which were getting
> worse. After going over Thuan Nghiep, the river straightens out
> considerably so I requested we drop to about 1500 ft so I could
> better make out the landmarks---both on radar but mainly
> visual---when I could see the ground. I wasn't about to trust the
> radio aids from Gia Lam nor Hanoi. Before we descended, we could
> easily make out Hai Phong harbor on our radar about 40 miles to the
> Northeast so we were on track.
>
>
> We made contact with Hanoi and advised them of our impending approach
> into their territory. This had all been pre-arranged, so no problem
> there. It was on up-river that they started screwing around with us
> and trying to subtly get us confused. They were trying to get us
> lost and force us to abort the mission so they could say we caused an
> international incident by not picking up those who died in captivity
> when everything had been arranged. That's another reason I had been
> picked to lead. They tried to spoof us on earlier missions by moving
> the ADF and VORTAC ever so slightly to locations which would cause us
> to fly into restricted airspace. In fact, a crew a few weeks earlier
> bought the spoof and was threatened with a "shoot down" if they
> didn't abort the mission, so that made this mission even more
> critical. If you were watching closely enough, you could see the
> needles quiver a little each time they changed location. They were
> good at it though, so I had the other nav continually watch for that
> in case we lost visual or radar contact. I had my head out the front
> searching for ground fixes.
>
>
> Then, they really tried to get us fouled up. The second plane was
> following closely, mainly by keeping us on their radar---depending on
> us to lead them in. Hanoi Approach Control called us and told us to
> take up a heading to final. The pilot started to turn and I
> virtually screamed into the mike "Negative, Negative--Maintain
> Heading". That was the first of three times they tried to get us to
> turn too soon. After the second time, Col Novis told the pilot to
> ignore the tower and go by my direction only. I knew we were still
> about 30-45 miles out and they were doing their best to get us off
> course and lost in that bad weather with low ceilings and get us to
> an area with which we were not familiar. The weather was really
> bad---the cloud cover was closer to full than "broken". We would get
> a break in the undercast every mile or so. We descended to about
> 1000 ft which helped some.
>
>
> Now---remember that bridge that they tried so hard to take down
> during the war?? We lost a lot of Thuds & F-4's there. That bridge
> and a huge sand bar about 3 miles downstream were my aiming
> points. I was getting a little concerned when they weren't coming in
> view as fast as I thought they should. Guess I was just overly
> anxious. I checked radar and found both about 15 miles ahead. I
> alerted the pilot to be ready to turn and he relayed to #2 that we
> would turn in a couple of minutes. Ground Approach had given up
> trying to get us to turn early after a few scoldings from them that
> we were ignoring their instructions. We did not answer. We
> descended a little farther so I could get a visual on both the sand
> bar and the bridge. I remembered where we had turned on my earlier
> approaches. We flew about 30 seconds past the sand bar, and with the
> bridge in sight, I told the pilot to turn to the appropriate
> heading---I seem to recall it was 335 degrees---but not sure
> now. Descent was begun and both planes broke out at about 750
> feet. There it was---right in front of us. I strapped myself
> in. The other aircraft radioed a "Talley Ho" so we knew everything
> was fine---or so we thought.
>
>
> After we landed, Ground Control took over and marshaled us to the
> proper area to pick up the remains of our Guys. There were two green
> tents and they were having us come in and turn so that our prop wash
> would flow directly on the tents---probably blowing them away. Our
> Aircraft Commander called for neutral props and warned the second
> aircraft to do likewise. Both planes coasted in to a nice easy stop
> in the right place---I'm sure to the disappointment of the martialling crews.
>
>
> Col Novas made the decision on the spot to set up an Honor Guard in
> front of each tent. This time, we were in our Class A's and were not
> under orders to associate with the enemy. We all felt better about
> that!! He sent us out two at a time at 15 minute intervals, Each pair
> did facing movements to relieve the previous pair as time dictated.
> The first pair at our tent was Col Novas and our pilot. The tent
> flaps were tied wide open. What the first set of Honor Guards---and
> ultimately all of us---saw was several stacks of green boxes with a
> rock on them with white painted names and dates. The sight was
> shocking and really ticked us off. Unfortunately, I do not remember
> any of the names. The boxes---which in reality were coffins----were
> about 30 inches by 18 inches by 18 inches. It tore us up to think
> that our guys who had suffered so much were in those tiny green
> boxes. We all decided individually and as a team that the Vietnamese
> would never touch our fallen comrades again.
>
>
> The Honor Guard rotation was maintained for well over two hours while
> the final release papers were being signed at their government
> offices in downtown Hanoi. Obviously, the North Vietnamese didn't
> know what to think of the Honor Guard. We saw the guys who had been
> our escorts on earlier trips. They smiled and waved at us. We glared
> back at them. Some civilians tried to get close to watch---they were
> chased back over the dikes by armed guards.
>
>
> We were finally given the OK to load our precious cargo onto the
> waiting C-130's---their cargo ramps open, sat waiting. As the word
> came that we could begin returning our Guys to American Soil---in
> this case---our C-130's, the North Vietnamese moved in to begin
> loading. We immediately formed a cordon around the tents and, though
> unarmed, we motioned for them to stop and basically dared the armed
> Northern troops to try us. They stopped with a puzzled look on their
> faces---but never tried to cross the line. They had touched our
> Heroes for the last time.
>
>
> It was early evening by then and the General was back by then and
> became part of our new makeshift Honor Guard---set up on both sides
> of the ramps. I was part of three pairs who tenderly picked up a
> "coffin" with its' "headstone" and proceeded up the ramp. two more
> were inside the plane to place an American Flag over each man as he
> came on board. We exited thru the crew door to go retrieve another
> Hero. The General led the others on either side of the ramps in a
> "Hand Salute" as each box of remains passed on board. I don't
> remember exactly how many bodies we recovered---seems like 36---but
> each was treated with ultimate respect. We took our time to make
> sure all were properly honored. It took a considerable amount of
> time, but we didn't care. We did it right.
>
>
> We finally all boarded and buttoned up the aircraft. As we were
> getting all four turning, I noticed the pilot had a wicked smile on
> his face. I listened on a discreet channel while he suggested to the
> other pilot to change pitch after they began moving and turn the
> planes so that the prop wash would now hit the tents and the Vietnam
> officials and soldiers gathered around them. The turn was smooth,
> slow and graceful until the Load master gave the word. Suddenly
> eight turboprops were at full forward pitch for about 3-5 seconds and
> brakes on. They changed the pitch back to the taxi setting but we
> got turned around in time to see the tents flying and some of the
> folks we left were on the ground. We received departure instructions
> from the tower and thus began an uneventful trip back to Saigon and
> on to U-Tapao to the Identification folks stationed there. The
> General informed President Nixon that extraction had been completed
> successfully.
>
>
> Further ID would be performed at Hickam AFB as necessary. Our Heroes
> were taken to Hickam AFB by C-141's. I have talked to many people
> about this extraction of our Fallen Comrades---and to a man---they
> thought that the C-141's did the entire mission. I hope someone will
> set the story straight someday. In fact, I have never seen anything
> about C-130's being involved with the extraction of the first of
> those who died in captivity. Believe me----I know they were!! I may
> have missed some story about it because I had to get busy for my PCS
> stateside the next month. I have never heard anything about that
> mission since.
>
>
> Well, Bill, that's about it. As I said a lot more little things
> happened on all three trips---even some funny things on the first
> two, but that third mission was the best thing I ever did in my 24
> year USAF career. Sorry to be so wordy, and focused on "I" & "me",
> but I'm not sure how else I could tell it with any conviction.
>
>
> PS: Somehow, I forgot to turn in my log and charts from the mission,
> and no one else thought about it. I had them for a long time, but
> they disappeared---probably on my move to CO from AL. I sure wish I
> could find them again!! They are really historical documents.
>
>
> I did meet a woman at one of our OCS reunions whose husband was
> onboard that day. I was completely speechless as she thanked me.
>


http://www.wtop.com/807/3013352/Drone-s ... for-US-POW
Drone strike complicates search for U.S. POW

Thursday - 8/30/2012, 7:03am ET

FILE - This file image provided by IntelCenter on Wednesday Dec. 8, 2010 shows a framegrab from a video released by the Taliban containing footage of a man believed to be Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, left. President Barack Obama called Bowe's parents to assure them that he and the U.S. Department of Defense were doing everything in their power to free him three years after his capture in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/IntelCenter) MANDATORY CREDIT: INTELCENTER; NO SALES; EDS NOTE: "INTELCENTER" AT LEFT TOP CORNER ADDED BY SOURCE
J.J. Green, wtop.com
WASHINGTON - A deadly trio of thundering U.S.-launched drone strikes on Aug. 24 rattled a militant hideout in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region. In the haze after the attack, word came that a member of the powerful Haqqani network had been killed. Badruddin Haqqani, one of 18 alleged victims, is the youngest of the Haqqani brothers. There is still doubt, however, about whether he was actually killed.

But in the cloak-and-dagger world that is Afghanistan, the strike could have a huge impact on another very sensitive issue hanging in the balance -- the U.S. military attempts to secure the release of America's only known prisoner of war.

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, 26, of Hailey, Idaho was captured near the Afghan town of Yahya Khel in west Paktika province on June 30, 2009 under circumstances that remain a mystery.

All that has been confirmed is that Bergdahl was caught in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan by forces loyal to the Taliban and later ended up in the custody of the Haqqani network.

Sirajuddin Haqqani, who took over the day-to-day operations of the potent weapons trafficking and financial network in recent years from his ailing father, Jalaluddin, "is holding Bowe Bergdahl," says Robert Young Pelton, an expert on Afghanistan, who has lived and worked in the region on and off for long periods of time since the mid-1990s.

The author of "Licensed to Kill, Hired Guns in the War on Terror," Pelton was deeply involved in the search for Bergdahl at the beginning.

"When they first kidnapped Bergdahl, I tracked him in real-time and then handed over the information to the (U.S.) military who put electronic assets in the air and then they lost him," says Pelton, who operates an informal network of information assets in the region.

Liberating Bergdahl has been the focus of extensive U.S. government efforts including secret negotiations with the Taliban about a prisoner exchange that would free several senior Taliban figures now held at the U.S. military-operated Guantanamo Bay prison facility in Cuba.

"The safe return of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl remains a top priority for the Department of Defense, and we continue to work every day, to secure his release and bring him home to his family. We will not discuss the details of those efforts, but there should be no doubt that we are using all military, intelligence, and diplomatic tools at our disposal," says Cmdr. Bill Speaks with Pentagon Public Affairs.

Col. Timothy Marsano, media liaison for the Bergdahl family since 2009, tells WTOP, "Mr. and Mrs. Bergdahl have repeatedly said they're comfortable that the Department of Defense and other U.S. agencies are doing all that can be done to bring their son home."

The recent drone strike, however, may impact efforts to free Bergdahl.

The massive assault, which U.S.-based intelligence analysts say allegedly involved hitting three targets with two missiles each, was a rare development that signals the Haqqani network may have been double-crossed by someone or an organization that gave up information to the U.S. about key players in the network.

"It looks like somebody in the ISI (Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency) has decided to let Haqqani go," says Pelton.

He suspects a significant, back-channel development has taken place.

"The fact (U.S. forces) had such good information so quickly means that they were striking not just one member of the Haqqani family, but probably the entire family," Pelton says.

The intended target of the strike has not been confirmed, but some intelligence analysts suggest if Sirajuddin Haqqani was a part of the target set, it could color his thinking about releasing Bergdahl.

Pelton and other sources familiar with Pakistani politics say that for decades, the Haqqani network has been an important asset for Pakistani intelligence, which would know intimate details about the network, such as where they could be found.

"I think it's entirely possible, but I don't have independent knowledge" that Pakistani intelligence turned on the Haqqanis, says Doug Wankel, managing partner and Afghanistan country manager for the Spectre Group security firm.

Wankel, who lives in Kabul, says, "There's no doubt that the ISI has been working closely with the Haqqanis and there's untold pressure on the ISI to root out and provide information to allow these types of targets to be hit."

The Pakistani government did not respond to questions about what relationship, if any, exists between it and the Haqqani network. But U.S. and foreign intelligence sources suggest that even if the Pakistani government did explain itself, it might not clarify the seemingly adulterous nature of war in the Tribal territories.

Public political maneuvering, according to Pelton, is often driven by covert motives.

Even though the Haqqani network, founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani, has facilitated countless deadly attacks inside Afghanistan, Pelton says, "People like (Afghan) President Karzai went and elected Jalaluddin's brother as the military commander of the Afghan side of the border. So this is a very duplicitous, complicated world."



Soldiers Missing From Vietnam War Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of three servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, were recently identified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

Army Sgt. 1st Class William T. Brown of La Habra, Calif., Sgt. 1st Class Donald M. Shue of Kannapolis, N.C., and Sgt. 1st Class Gunther H. Wald of Palisades Park, N.J., will be buried as a group on Aug. 30, in a single casket representing the three soldiers, in Arlington National Cemetery. Brown and Shue were each individually buried on Sept. 26, 2011, at Arlington and May 1 in Kannapolis, N.C.

On Nov. 3, 1969, the menand six Vietnamese soldiers were part of a Special Forces reconnaissance patrol operating in Quang Tri Province, near the Vietnam-Laos border. The patrol was ambushed by enemy forces and all three Americans were wounded. Brown was reported to have suffered a gunshot wound to his side. Due to heavy enemy presence and poor weather conditions, the search-and-rescue team was not able to reach the site until eight days later. At that time, they found military equipment belonging to Shue, but no other signs of the men.

Between 1993 and 2010, joint United States/Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), conducted multiple interviews on nine different occasions in Quang Tri Province. Additionally, the S.R.V. teams unilaterally investigated this case, but were unable to develop new leads. Among those interviewed by the joint teams were former Vietnamese militiamen who claimed in 1969 they ambushed three Americans in the area near the Laos-Vietnam border. In 2007, a Vietnamese citizen led investigators to human remains that he had discovered and buried near the site of the ambush. In 2008, a military identification tag for Brown was turned over to the U.S. Government from a U.S. citizen with ties to Vietnam. Finally, in April 2010, joint teams excavated a hilltop area near Huong Lap Village, recovering additional human remains, military equipment, another military identification tag for Brown, and a "Zippo" lighter bearing the name "Donald M. Shue" and the date "1969."

Scientists from the JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used circumstantial and material evidence, along with mitochondrial DNA - which matched that of some of the soldiers' family members - in the identification of the remains.



http://www.brecorder.com/general-news/172/1234708/

POWs in Indian jails: government comes under fire in Senate
The government Thursday came under severe criticism for its failure to trace out hundreds of Pakistani Prisoners of War (POWs), languishing in Indian jails despite passage of over three decades. Responding to the senators tough questions on the occasion of defence day, state minister for foreign affairs Malik Amad insisted it had tried its level best but Indian authorities were not responding despite repeated reminders.

At one stage the state minister even refused to accept that there was any POW in the custody of Indian authorities but he had to face embarrassment when Senator Farah Aqil of Awami National Party (ANP), who had recently returned form her tour to India said there are over 350 PoWs, languishing in Indian jails still.

Deputy Chairman Senate Sabir Baloch of ruling PPP, who was chairing the session had to face criticism from Senator Syed Zafar Ali Shah of PML-N, when he reminded the state minister of his party to be proud as it was PPP which brought back over 90,000 POWs from India after the 1971 war.

During the question hour, Amad conceded that they had a list of 23 military personnel, including five officers and 18 others and taken up it with the Indian authorities but they did not respond to it so far. He dispelled the impression the government was not serious about Pakistanis held in India and pointed out that besides several fishermen, some high-profile prisoners, including Dr Chishti, had been brought back to Pakistan.

Senator Muhammad Zahid Khan had asked whether there was a fact that some Pakistani prisoners of wars were still jailed in India, if so, numbers of such prisoners and what steps were being taken by the government for their release. "Many Pakistani fathers, brothers and uncles are waiting for decades for reunion with their loved ones purportedly lodged in Indian confinements. "Isn't it a violation of human rights that they are still there? The government presently enjoys good relations with India, it should ask for their whereabouts and fate," he contended.

Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, Zafar Ali Shah and Rafiq Rajwana contended that there were several options available to the government to push for knowing the exact number of POWs and other prisoners and their status. They contended that though India did not allow ICRC to carry out humanitarian work there and that it was also binding on the neighbouring country to treat POWs under Geneva Convention, the government must go for some out of box solution to the serious and sensitive issue.

Some senators, to another question, complained about their respective provinces' under representation in assignments abroad at Pakistani missions and embassies. Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah of PML-F strongly objected to appointment of 14 non-career ambassadors without adopting any standard procedure and criterion while Zafar Ali Shah noted why it was so that in all the veto power countries, non-career envoys were assigned the important job.

The names of these ambassadors are Salman Bashir (New Delhi), Khalid Khattak (Moscow), Sherry Rehman (Washington), Wajid Shamsul Hasan (London), Abdullah Hussain Haroon ( New York,UN), Jamil A Khan (Abu Dhabi), Safkat Saeed (Paris), M Masood Khan (Beijing),Lieutenant General Masood Aslam (Retd) (Mexico), Fauzia Abbas (Copenhagen), Nawabzada Aminullah Raisani (Muscat), Major General Ahmad Nawaz Saleem (Retd) (Kiev), Major General Syed Khalid Amir (Retd) (Sarajevo) and Major General Ijaz Hussain Awan (Retd) (Brunei).

Opposition senators agitated over the inordinate delay in payment of outstanding amount of US dollar about 800 million by M/S Etisalat after it had purchased 26 per cent shares of PTCL shares several years back. Senators Muhammad Ishaq Dar and Humayun Mandokhail alleged that due to some gray traffic, the company was hesitant to pay the remaining colossal amount to Pakistan. They called for a way out to avoid losses being incurred due to delay in the payment.

Mandokhail claimed he knew a minister, who had gray traffic at his home, who was the most popular among ministers and kept moving here and there. Contrary to these observations, Privatisation Minister Ghaus Bakhsh Mehar denied the reason for non-payment by the foreign firm due to some gray traffic. He insisted the firm had linked payment of remaining amount to transfer of some property to it. However, Senator Dar rejected this contention.







http://www.dvidshub.net/news/94259/page ... isoner-war

27th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs


CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. — “Today is kind of a special occasion…Fifty-nine years ago today I was released from Chinese prison camp.”

His voice chokes up. He takes several breaths before continuing. This was a difficult topic of discussion for Dan McKinney, a native of Clovis, N.M., and Army veteran, as he addressed a classroom of Air Commandos. It became apparent as the 86-year-old spoke – being a prisoner of war is something he’ll never forget.

For the past seven years, McKinney has come to speak about his experiences as a POW with each Airman Leadership School class at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M. He recently reached a monument with the program, giving his 50th talk, Aug. 20, 2012.

Eight years ago, a former ALS commandant approached McKinney's wife, Joyce Anne, to ask if she thought he would be receptive to the idea of speaking to the class of Airmen. Though reluctant at first, he agreed to talk.

“I felt that somebody needed to hear his story,” said McKinney’s wife. “Very few people know of his experiences except close family and friends, which made it hard the first year he spoke at ALS. Talking with the Airmen has made a great difference in his attitude and his life. It has made him more aware of how much he’s helped people and what a difference he’s made.”

McKinney served in World War II during the end of the fight. When he got home from Germany, he separated from active duty and went into the reserve, signing on for three years.

"My time went out in May of 1950 and I thought, well, that's all... I'm through with that. Then the commander of that reserve unit came to me and begged me to sign up again and I did," said McKinney. "The next month the Korean War started, June 25, 1950."

His girlfriend at the time, now his wife of 59 years, set their wedding date for April 23, 1951.

It was on that date that he was captured in Korea by the Chinese - some guys go a long way to get out of getting married, joked McKinney.

"The Chinese wiped us out that night," he said, his voice filled with regret. "They over-ran us, and to this day I suffer from what's called survivor's guilt. Out of 200 [U.S. army] men, when that night was over there were 26 men alive. Out of those 26, 13 were captured."

Over the next 60 days, McKinney and his fellow prisoners were marched more than 600 miles to Camp Changsong, a Korean village that had been converted into a prison camp for American Soldiers. This is where he would spend the next 28 months in captivity.

"They told us if you don't keep up, you are in trouble. If somebody fell out, we tried to pick them up and carry them and a lot of times we didn't. When one fell out - it might be a while - we'd hear a rifle shot.” he said, sucking in a breath. Pausing briefly to gain back his composure, he continued, “We lost a lot of men that way."

"In that walk ... one of the kids - he wasn't in my outfit - he'd been shot," said McKinney. "I carried him for about a week on my back when they made me put him down. They put him down on a road that we crossed and they said the Chinese will pick him up and take him to a doctor. I said 'no I'll carry him'. They wouldn't let me carry him anymore, and I figured I'd never see him again, but after we got released, I got a Christmas card from him and he thanked me for saving his life."

After reaching the camp, the men still faced threats. The soldiers continued to die from drinking contaminated water.

"We buried as high as 25 a day because they wouldn't sterilize the water," said McKinney.

The POWs were grouped into small houses with mud floors. In McKinney's case, there were 10 people rooming with him – all were forced to sleep head to toe.

In a camp full of 18-19 year olds, McKinney, at age 24, felt the need to speak up when the Chinese started their attempts to convert the captive Americans to communism.

As one of the older men in the group, McKinney felt a sense of responsibility. When the Chinese attempted to convert the captive Americans to communism, it was that same sense of responsibility that held McKinney accountable to say something.

"I told the kids, 'don't believe that brainwashing crap'," he said with fervor. "You know what kind of a country we've got back home and you can see what we've got here."

McKinney’s protest wouldn’t go unnoticed. Because of his outspokenness, he was put in solitary confinement for 75 days.

"If you screwed up, they put you in a box," said McKinney. "The one I was in was about the size of a bathtub, too short for me to lay down in, too narrow for me to sit up.”

McKinney and many others did their best to resist, creating mischief for the Chinese keeping them prisoner. The POWs found ways to entertain themselves and developed survival skills to stay alive until they were released. The soldiers leaned on each other for support.

"If you read the six articles in the Code of Military Conduct, you'll see one that covers that," he said. "You don't squeal on your fellow man; you support them."

Many things kept McKinney going, but there was one thing that helped him the most – his faith.
"God was my partner and I got through it because of him," said McKinney. "Your faith will carry you to places you thought you could never get through. I talked to one of the chaplains here [Cannon], who left last month to go to Afghanistan for six months. I told him I couldn't understand why I was spared and he said, ' it's not for you to know or understand'. So you've got to have your faith."

The day he was finally released from prison camp is still fresh in McKinney's memory. He remembers being loaded into trucks and taken to an exchange point. Each captive was walked to a line in the sand by two Chinese guards and released to American forces.

"The first thing we saw was the biggest American flag I'd ever seen in my life," said McKinney, choking back tears. "I don't know when we stopped crying."

It's this love of the flag that inspires many of the Airmen he talks to. Rollefson said that after McKinney's speech, the flag execution is perfect each day when the students raise and lower it because the Airmen are reminded of what the flag stands for and the loyalty it deserves.

"He seemed very moved by what he said, which in turn moved us," said Senior Airman Molly Bloom, 27th Special Operations Civil Engineer Squadron fire protection journeyman and current ALS student. “I never quite realized how much POWs go through."

Many Airmen present agreed that McKinney inspired them to take more pride in their military service and imparted a lesson to never take anything for granted.

"I would like to say thank you [to McKinney] for serving our country and protecting us so other people didn't have to," said Senior Airman Jeremy Sager, 73rd Special Operations Squadron, loadmaster and ALS student. "As a military member, a thank you is one of the greatest things someone can give me to let me know their appreciation. I don't care about anything else. Just a simple thank you warms my heart. I would hope it does the same for him."