POW/MIA UPDATE: September 22, 2010
Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 12:27 pm
UPDATE: September 22, 2010
AMERICANS IDENTIFIED: There are now 1,708 Americans listed as missing and unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. On September 20th, the Defense POW/MIA Office (DPMO) posted the news that the remains of three US personnel had been recovered and were now identified. Those whose names were released include Air Force Major Woodrow W. Vaden, of Tennessee, listed KIA/BNR on December 10, 1964, South Vietnam. His remains were recovered July 18, 1984 and identified August 11, 2010. Also announced were Army Master Sergeant Charles V. Newton, Texas, and Sergeant First Class Douglas E. Dahill of Ohio, both listed as MIA on April 17, 1969 in south Vietnam. Their remains were recovered November 11, 1991, and identified as a group in 2007 and 2008. Others have been identified, but not yet announced by DPMO as they are awaiting family notification by the Service Casualty Offices. The number of Americans returned and identified since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 is now 875, though another 63 US personnel, recovered post-incident and identified before the end of the war, bring the total to 938. Of the 1,708 unreturned veterans, 90% were lost in Vietnam or in areas of Laos and Cambodia under Vietnam’s wartime control: Vietnam - 1,307 (VN-478 VS-829); Laos – 335; Cambodia - 59; Peoples Republic of China territorial waters – 7. Over 450 were over-water losses.
NATIONAL POW/MIA RECOGNITION DAY: Secretary of Defense Bob Gates and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General James Cartwright, USMC, hosted the national ceremony at the Pentagon. Secretary Gates’ remarks reiterated DoD’s commitment to the issue, reassuring all present that “their country’s efforts to get them home will never cease,” adding that DoD’s “commitment to prisoners of war, the missing and their families is deep and abiding.” General Cartwright’s focus was also on assurances of continued effort and commitment. The Missing Man Flyover was said to be spectacular and impressive.
Comment: Assurances by DoD leaders are always welcome and appreciated, especially commitments to sustain and increase funding and personnel. In this instance, no such specifics were provided, nor did either senior official signal the need for greater unilateral action by foreign governments, in particular Vietnam and Russia, to provide archival materials and records that would facilitate the accounting. There was no commitment to engage at their level, despite welcome expansion of military ties with countries whose cooperation we seek and upcoming opportunities in New York City, Washington, Moscow and Hanoi. High-level interventions by US officials demonstrate seriousness and priority on the part of the United States as nothing else can, whether with officials in Vietnam, Russia, the PRC, Laos, Cambodia, India or North Korea. Only when DoD again takes the accounting issue seriously enough to engage counterpart foreign officials at the highest levels are we likely to see the significant progress and increased results that could occur and are available.
AIR FORCE CHIEF MASTER SERGEANT AWARDED MEDAL OF HONOR: Though it took 42 years, Chief Master Sergeant Richard L. Etchberger, USAF, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama at a White House Ceremony on September 21st. The nation’s highest award was presented to Chief Etchberger’s three sons in front of an audience that included the Secretary of Defense, Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, director of the Central Intelligence Agency and countless flag and general officers, plus dozens of USAF Non-Commissioned Officers, as was appropriate. Of great significance was that three of the pilots who flew the Air America rescue helicopters were also on hand, as was a survivors of the Lima site 85 incident, the largest loss of USAF personnel at one time during the Vietnam War. Perched on the top of Phou Pha Thi, one of the highest peaks in Laos, this radar tracking station was highly classified until the mid-1990s, when the official USAF Report was declassified. There are still ten US personnel unaccounted for from the Lima Site 85 incident. More can be read of this ceremony and the incident on the League website.
COMMISSION ON POW/MIA AFFAIRS EXPANDS: At long last, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has selected a replacement for the late Representative Lane Evans to fill the seat reserved for a House Democrat on the US-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIA Affairs (USRJC). Representative Tim Walz (D-MN) serves on the Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, and Transportation & Infrastructure Committees. Although Senator John Kerry (D-MA) is listed as a Commissioner, he has never taken any active role in the Commission, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has repeatedly been asked to name a replacement, thus far to no avail. The League strongly supports expanding the USRJC’s role under the leadership of General Robert H. Foglesong, USAF (Ret), supported by Executive Secretary Norm Kass, Director of the Joint Commission Support Directorate (JCSD), a Directorate in DPMO, and his staff of skilled specialists.
The Department of State and Defense Intelligence Agency have recently named replacements for their Commission seats, so the League anticipates an increase in Commission actions in the coming months. The Russian Federation is also reportedly naming its new Co-Chairman in the next few weeks. At present, two JCSD specialists, Svetlana Shevchenko and Danz Blasser, are in Moscow, seeking greater access to archives of the former Soviet Union that pertain to the Vietnam War.
MOSCOW IN THE NEWS: Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs (DPMO) Bob Newberry is now in Moscow, accompanied by Deputy Director of JCSD Roger Schumacher. Though the DASD’s specific objectives are unknown, it is hoped he will hold useful discussions with Russian counterparts to push the need for access to Vietnam War-related archives. Presumably, he also will meet with US Embassy and JCSD-Moscow personnel to receive on-the-ground updates and assessments.
National Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Richard Eubanks and VFW Executive Director Bob Wallace are also in Moscow where they will meet with officials and veterans of the former USSR who served in Vietnam (and, possibly, Laos) during the Vietnam War. Russian Veterans, and those who were from Ukraine other states that were then part of the USSR, have been a primary JCSD focus for quite some time, due in no small part to the fact that the Russian Federation has thus far been uncooperative in providing Vietnam War-related archival documents and records, desp8ite repeated urging and formal requests.
ACCOUNTING COOPERATION: A comparatively small-scale 100th Joint Field Activity (JFA) just concluded in Vietnam, though one investigation team was extended. Preceded two weeks earlier by an advance team, two excavation teams and two investigation teams conducted operations from August 2nd to September 7th. At the conclusion of the JFA, a Field Forensic Review (FFR) was conducted by Dr. Bob Mann, Director of JPAC's Forensic Science Academy, and remains were selected for further study at JPAC's Central Identification Laboratory (CILHI). A US Navy ship, with a JPAC underwater archeologist and master diver, participated in a side-scanning sonar search in waters off Cambodia on a short operation that concluded August 10th. From June 22nd to the end of July, three JPAC Recovery Teams participated in a 30-day JFA in Laos where three aircraft crash sites, associated with four individuals, were excavated in two Lao provinces. This was the 115th JFA in Laos, again noticeably smaller than the 50-person cap allowed by the Lao Government for each JFA. The 116th JFA in Laos will begin soon.
AMERICANS IDENTIFIED: There are now 1,708 Americans listed as missing and unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. On September 20th, the Defense POW/MIA Office (DPMO) posted the news that the remains of three US personnel had been recovered and were now identified. Those whose names were released include Air Force Major Woodrow W. Vaden, of Tennessee, listed KIA/BNR on December 10, 1964, South Vietnam. His remains were recovered July 18, 1984 and identified August 11, 2010. Also announced were Army Master Sergeant Charles V. Newton, Texas, and Sergeant First Class Douglas E. Dahill of Ohio, both listed as MIA on April 17, 1969 in south Vietnam. Their remains were recovered November 11, 1991, and identified as a group in 2007 and 2008. Others have been identified, but not yet announced by DPMO as they are awaiting family notification by the Service Casualty Offices. The number of Americans returned and identified since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 is now 875, though another 63 US personnel, recovered post-incident and identified before the end of the war, bring the total to 938. Of the 1,708 unreturned veterans, 90% were lost in Vietnam or in areas of Laos and Cambodia under Vietnam’s wartime control: Vietnam - 1,307 (VN-478 VS-829); Laos – 335; Cambodia - 59; Peoples Republic of China territorial waters – 7. Over 450 were over-water losses.
NATIONAL POW/MIA RECOGNITION DAY: Secretary of Defense Bob Gates and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General James Cartwright, USMC, hosted the national ceremony at the Pentagon. Secretary Gates’ remarks reiterated DoD’s commitment to the issue, reassuring all present that “their country’s efforts to get them home will never cease,” adding that DoD’s “commitment to prisoners of war, the missing and their families is deep and abiding.” General Cartwright’s focus was also on assurances of continued effort and commitment. The Missing Man Flyover was said to be spectacular and impressive.
Comment: Assurances by DoD leaders are always welcome and appreciated, especially commitments to sustain and increase funding and personnel. In this instance, no such specifics were provided, nor did either senior official signal the need for greater unilateral action by foreign governments, in particular Vietnam and Russia, to provide archival materials and records that would facilitate the accounting. There was no commitment to engage at their level, despite welcome expansion of military ties with countries whose cooperation we seek and upcoming opportunities in New York City, Washington, Moscow and Hanoi. High-level interventions by US officials demonstrate seriousness and priority on the part of the United States as nothing else can, whether with officials in Vietnam, Russia, the PRC, Laos, Cambodia, India or North Korea. Only when DoD again takes the accounting issue seriously enough to engage counterpart foreign officials at the highest levels are we likely to see the significant progress and increased results that could occur and are available.
AIR FORCE CHIEF MASTER SERGEANT AWARDED MEDAL OF HONOR: Though it took 42 years, Chief Master Sergeant Richard L. Etchberger, USAF, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama at a White House Ceremony on September 21st. The nation’s highest award was presented to Chief Etchberger’s three sons in front of an audience that included the Secretary of Defense, Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, director of the Central Intelligence Agency and countless flag and general officers, plus dozens of USAF Non-Commissioned Officers, as was appropriate. Of great significance was that three of the pilots who flew the Air America rescue helicopters were also on hand, as was a survivors of the Lima site 85 incident, the largest loss of USAF personnel at one time during the Vietnam War. Perched on the top of Phou Pha Thi, one of the highest peaks in Laos, this radar tracking station was highly classified until the mid-1990s, when the official USAF Report was declassified. There are still ten US personnel unaccounted for from the Lima Site 85 incident. More can be read of this ceremony and the incident on the League website.
COMMISSION ON POW/MIA AFFAIRS EXPANDS: At long last, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has selected a replacement for the late Representative Lane Evans to fill the seat reserved for a House Democrat on the US-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIA Affairs (USRJC). Representative Tim Walz (D-MN) serves on the Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, and Transportation & Infrastructure Committees. Although Senator John Kerry (D-MA) is listed as a Commissioner, he has never taken any active role in the Commission, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has repeatedly been asked to name a replacement, thus far to no avail. The League strongly supports expanding the USRJC’s role under the leadership of General Robert H. Foglesong, USAF (Ret), supported by Executive Secretary Norm Kass, Director of the Joint Commission Support Directorate (JCSD), a Directorate in DPMO, and his staff of skilled specialists.
The Department of State and Defense Intelligence Agency have recently named replacements for their Commission seats, so the League anticipates an increase in Commission actions in the coming months. The Russian Federation is also reportedly naming its new Co-Chairman in the next few weeks. At present, two JCSD specialists, Svetlana Shevchenko and Danz Blasser, are in Moscow, seeking greater access to archives of the former Soviet Union that pertain to the Vietnam War.
MOSCOW IN THE NEWS: Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs (DPMO) Bob Newberry is now in Moscow, accompanied by Deputy Director of JCSD Roger Schumacher. Though the DASD’s specific objectives are unknown, it is hoped he will hold useful discussions with Russian counterparts to push the need for access to Vietnam War-related archives. Presumably, he also will meet with US Embassy and JCSD-Moscow personnel to receive on-the-ground updates and assessments.
National Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Richard Eubanks and VFW Executive Director Bob Wallace are also in Moscow where they will meet with officials and veterans of the former USSR who served in Vietnam (and, possibly, Laos) during the Vietnam War. Russian Veterans, and those who were from Ukraine other states that were then part of the USSR, have been a primary JCSD focus for quite some time, due in no small part to the fact that the Russian Federation has thus far been uncooperative in providing Vietnam War-related archival documents and records, desp8ite repeated urging and formal requests.
ACCOUNTING COOPERATION: A comparatively small-scale 100th Joint Field Activity (JFA) just concluded in Vietnam, though one investigation team was extended. Preceded two weeks earlier by an advance team, two excavation teams and two investigation teams conducted operations from August 2nd to September 7th. At the conclusion of the JFA, a Field Forensic Review (FFR) was conducted by Dr. Bob Mann, Director of JPAC's Forensic Science Academy, and remains were selected for further study at JPAC's Central Identification Laboratory (CILHI). A US Navy ship, with a JPAC underwater archeologist and master diver, participated in a side-scanning sonar search in waters off Cambodia on a short operation that concluded August 10th. From June 22nd to the end of July, three JPAC Recovery Teams participated in a 30-day JFA in Laos where three aircraft crash sites, associated with four individuals, were excavated in two Lao provinces. This was the 115th JFA in Laos, again noticeably smaller than the 50-person cap allowed by the Lao Government for each JFA. The 116th JFA in Laos will begin soon.