POW/MIA UPDATE: March 10, 2011
Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2011 12:53 pm
AMERICANS IDENTIFIED: There are now 1,698 Americans listed by the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) missing and unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. DPMO just posted the news that the remains of LCDR William P. Egan, USN have been identified. Previously listed as missing in Laos, his remains were recovered December 22, 2009 and identified February 11, 2011. In mid February, DPMO posted the news that the remains of CDR Frank Green, Jr., USN, MSgt Ralph Reno, Jr., USA, and SFC James Moreland, USA,have been identified. CDR Green, listed as MIA in North Vietnam on July 10, 1972, was recovered December 9, 2008, and his remains were identified November 1, 2010. MSgt Reno was recovered August 29, 2000, and his remains were identified as part of a group on October 5, 2010. SFC Moreland, recovered April 12, 1995, was identified October 13, 2010. The League is deeply grateful that these four Americans can at long last receive the honor they deserve and that their families no longer endure uncertainty. The number of Americans returned and identified since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 is now 885; another 63 US personnel, recovered post-incident and identified before the end of the war, bring the total to 947. Of the 1,698 American POW/MIAs from the Vietnam War, our unreturned veterans, 90% were lost in Vietnam or in areas of Laos and Cambodia under Vietnam wartime control: Vietnam 1,301 (VN-477, VS-824); Laos 332; Cambodia 59; Peoples Republic of China territorial waters 7. Over 450 were over-water losses.
LEAGUE DELEGATION NOW IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: League Executive Director Ann Mills-Griffiths and Senior Policy Advisor Richard T. Childress will be meeting with US Ambassadors and senior foreign officials in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia over the next several days. Now in Bangkok, the delegation travels first to Laos, where they will also visit excavation sites in the south, then on to Vietnam on March 16th and to Cambodia on March 20th, before returning to Bangkok in route back to the US.
ACCOUNTING COOPERATION: MG Stephen Tom, USAR, Commander of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) recently was in Cambodia, visiting two excavation sites, one a Recovery Team (RT) and the other an Underwater Recovery Team (URT). He then visited Laos where he held POW/MIA consultations.
The 117th Joint Field Activity (JFA), scheduled to begin January 14th had to be canceled due to the lack of certified helicopter support and the Lao Government’s unwillingness to permit the teams to travel by truck on surface roads. They did approve issuing 45-day visas that will enable 30-day operations at sites to be extended, if needed for completion. The Lao also supported JPAC requests related to team safety that are most welcome but is still not allowing the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Stony Beach Lao specialist to participate in in-country investigations, a disappointing decision that also requires further, timely attention.
Although there have been serious obstacles to overcome in ensuring availability of helicopter support in both Laos and Vietnam, and these issues continue to seriously jeopardize JPAC’s ability to conduct field operations. We are grateful that these latest challenges appear have been resolved favorably to enable JFAs to take place in both countries, at least for now. There are still several steps that must be addressed before the helicopter situation is resolved, one being a reasonable cost for contracted helicopter support, but the JFAs are now ongoing in both countries.
FUTURE OF US-RUSSIA JOINT COMMISSION (USRJC) ON POW/MIA AFFAIRS STILL UNCLEAR: After sending letters to the President and senior Obama Administration officials, the League, VFW, DAV, JWV, AMVETS and The American Legion were invited, along with other family group representatives to a January 12th meeting. It was hosted by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs (DPMO) Bob Newberry, with National Security Council staff Director for Russian Affairs Leslie Hayden participating. Proposals raised by Hayden and Newberry were unanimously opposed by all veteran and family representatives, as they would dramatically alter the Commission’s independence and support structure, as well as destroy its effectiveness by putting DPMO in a position to control, rather than assist, the Commission’s work. Even maintaining the “status quo” is untenable as the DPMO leadership continues to chip away at the USRJC’s funding and personnel, reassigning specialists to other duties and diverting funds to other purposes. All veteran and family groups support General Robert Foglesong, USAF (Ret) and his efforts to ensure that the USRJC remains valid, productive and independent.
THE LEAGUE IS NATIONALLY ELIGIBLE FOR COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN (CFC) DONATIONS,#10218
LEAGUE DELEGATION NOW IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: League Executive Director Ann Mills-Griffiths and Senior Policy Advisor Richard T. Childress will be meeting with US Ambassadors and senior foreign officials in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia over the next several days. Now in Bangkok, the delegation travels first to Laos, where they will also visit excavation sites in the south, then on to Vietnam on March 16th and to Cambodia on March 20th, before returning to Bangkok in route back to the US.
ACCOUNTING COOPERATION: MG Stephen Tom, USAR, Commander of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) recently was in Cambodia, visiting two excavation sites, one a Recovery Team (RT) and the other an Underwater Recovery Team (URT). He then visited Laos where he held POW/MIA consultations.
The 117th Joint Field Activity (JFA), scheduled to begin January 14th had to be canceled due to the lack of certified helicopter support and the Lao Government’s unwillingness to permit the teams to travel by truck on surface roads. They did approve issuing 45-day visas that will enable 30-day operations at sites to be extended, if needed for completion. The Lao also supported JPAC requests related to team safety that are most welcome but is still not allowing the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Stony Beach Lao specialist to participate in in-country investigations, a disappointing decision that also requires further, timely attention.
Although there have been serious obstacles to overcome in ensuring availability of helicopter support in both Laos and Vietnam, and these issues continue to seriously jeopardize JPAC’s ability to conduct field operations. We are grateful that these latest challenges appear have been resolved favorably to enable JFAs to take place in both countries, at least for now. There are still several steps that must be addressed before the helicopter situation is resolved, one being a reasonable cost for contracted helicopter support, but the JFAs are now ongoing in both countries.
FUTURE OF US-RUSSIA JOINT COMMISSION (USRJC) ON POW/MIA AFFAIRS STILL UNCLEAR: After sending letters to the President and senior Obama Administration officials, the League, VFW, DAV, JWV, AMVETS and The American Legion were invited, along with other family group representatives to a January 12th meeting. It was hosted by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs (DPMO) Bob Newberry, with National Security Council staff Director for Russian Affairs Leslie Hayden participating. Proposals raised by Hayden and Newberry were unanimously opposed by all veteran and family representatives, as they would dramatically alter the Commission’s independence and support structure, as well as destroy its effectiveness by putting DPMO in a position to control, rather than assist, the Commission’s work. Even maintaining the “status quo” is untenable as the DPMO leadership continues to chip away at the USRJC’s funding and personnel, reassigning specialists to other duties and diverting funds to other purposes. All veteran and family groups support General Robert Foglesong, USAF (Ret) and his efforts to ensure that the USRJC remains valid, productive and independent.
THE LEAGUE IS NATIONALLY ELIGIBLE FOR COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN (CFC) DONATIONS,#10218