NEWSLETTER:  April 28, 2008

AMERICANS ANNOUNCED AS ACCOUNTED FOR:  There are now 1,761 US personnel listed by the Defense POW/MIA Office as missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.  Until the most recent two names were released, there had been no announced identifications since December of last year, a continuing delay on several Vietnam War identifications that is frustrating and defies logical explanation.  90+% of the 1,761 still missing and unaccounted-for were lost in Vietnam or in areas of Laos and Cambodia under Vietnam’s wartime control.   Since last summer, the names of 12 Americans previously missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War have been announced as accounted for: 

Staff Sergeant James K. Caniford, USAF, MIA 3-29-72, LA, RR 11-21-06,  MD

Major John L. Carroll, USAF, KIA/BNR, 11-7-72, LA, RR 4-9-07, GA

Lieutenant Johnie C. Cornelius, USAF, MIA 6-26-68, LA, RR 10-19-04, AZ

Gunnery Sergeant Richard W. Fischer, USMC, MIA 1-8-68, VS, RR 10-7-04, WI

Major Perry H. Jefferson, USAF, MIA 4-3-69, VS, RR 3-14-01, CO

Airman First Class George W. Long, USAF, KIA/BNR 5-12-68, VS, RR 6-9-93, KS

Specialist 4th Class Maurice H. Moore, USA, MIA 5-12-68, VS, RR 10-30-06, MD

Captain Warren R. Orr, Jr., USA, MIA 5-12-68, VS, RR 6-9-93, IL

Lieutenant Junior Grade Norman L. Roggow, USNR, MIA 10-8-67, VS, RR 8-12-05, IA

Lieutenant Junior Grade Donald F. Wolfe, USNR, MIA 10-8-67, VS, RR 8-15-05, MT

Major Robert F. Woods, USAF, KIA/BNR 6-26-68, VN, RR 1-9-04, UT

Captain Barclay B. Young, USAF, MIA 3-29-72, LA, RR 11-21-06, FL

The identification of the remains of these Americans brings to 822 the number of US personnel returned since the end of the VN War in 1975.  An additional 63 US personnel were accounted for between 1973 and 1975, for a grand total of 875.  These Americans were accounted for by unilateral US or US and allied efforts in areas where the US could gain access at that time, not due to government-to-government cooperation with the post-war governments of Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia. 

STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTS TO CONGRESS ON VIETNAM’S POW/MIA COOPERATION:   As required by law, the Department of State just issued its official Determination to Congress reporting on the level of cooperation that Vietnam provides to the US on the POW/MIA issue.  As required, State must certify that Vietnam is “fully cooperating in good faith” on the accounting, or the bilateral relationship would revert to pre-normalization levels, an absurd proposition that would never fly in today’s era of normal trade relations and increased prosperity.  That leverage was lost in the early 1990s and is a matter of the past, having no bearing on the issue today – that is our reality. 

The importance of State Department’s report is the added language on what Vietnam can and should do on its own to provide archives and remains that can’t be jointly recovered.  Originally signed by the President in his certification in 2002, since signed by the Secretary of State, the determination explains:  “To further strengthen that cooperation, however, I urge Vietnam to work aggressively to improve tangibly its unilateral provision of POW/MIA-related documents and records, focused initially on archival data pertaining to Americans captured, missing, or killed in areas of Laos and Cambodia under wartime Vietnamese control.  Vietnam should also focus greater attention on locating and providing information on discrepancy cases, with priority on those last known alive in captivity or in immediate proximity to capture, and to locating and repatriating the remains of those who died while in Vietnamese control that have not yet been returned.  I also call upon Vietnam to continue permitting our recovery teams to have access to restricted areas for the sole purpose of conducting our humanitarian accounting operations.” 

The determination concludes with commitment and a pledge of continued priority: “Finally, in making this determination, I wish to reaffirm my continuing personal commitment to the entire POW/MIA community, especially to the immediate families, relatives, friends, and supporters of these brave individuals, and to reconfirm that achieving the fullest possible accounting for our prisoners of war and missing in action remains one of the most important priorities in our relations with Vietnam.” 

Executive Director Comment: We welcome this determination.  It defines four specific steps that Vietnam should take, again reinforcing the need for unilateral actions.  Despite the praiseworthy field operations of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, augmented by the Defense Intelligence Agency’s special POW/MIA investigation team, the fullest possible accounting can not be achieved without authorization by Vietnam’s leadership to take the unilateral actions outlined in the Determination to Congress.  

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE VISITS JPAC:  US Secretary of Defense Bob Gates visited the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) on Feb. 21st.  New JPAC Commander, RADM Donna Crisp, USN, hosted him at JPAC headquarters, Hickam AFB, for a command overview, briefing and demonstration of the field recovery process.  The Secretary toured the Central Identification Laboratory (CIL), largest forensic ID laboratory in the world, where he received information on the science behind the ID process related to Americans previously missing and unaccounted for from our nation’s past wars.  The League is pleased that Secretary Gates included a visit to JPAC during his trip to the US Pacific Command (PACOM), Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii.  

PACOM COMMANDER SUPPORTS JPAC:  Admiral Tim Keating, USN, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) testified before Congress in mid-March that PACOM’s budget for Fiscal Year 2009 (FY09) included funding to complete design of the long-sought new headquarters building for JPAC.  He also pledged that PACOM’s request for FY10 would include authorization and funding for construction, estimated currently to be just over $100M dollars.  That news is long overdue, but most welcome.  Expanding JPAC’s capabilities will help them meet increased demands for recovering remains of those lost before the Vietnam War, back to WWII. This is also an important signal to those serving today in the global war on terrorism, but especially in Iraq and Afghanistan.  They must be able to depend on all of us should they be captured or become missing in action while serving our country and defending our freedom. 

Excerpt of PACOM Commander’s Testimony before House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, March 12, 2008, re: Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC): ”In FY09, PACOM will complete the design for the new JPAC headquarters at Hickam AFB.    In FY10, we will seek congressional authority and military construction funds for this $105 million headquarters/analysis building.  This Navy requested world-class facility would house state of the art laboratories to speed the identification of the dead and missing from our nation’s wars, past and present.”  

Excerpt of Testimony of PACOM Commander, Senate and House Armed Services Committees, March 11 and 12, 2008, re: Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command.  “USPACOM has no more important and honorable mission than achieving the fullest possible accounting of Americans missing from our nation’s conflicts.  Our Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) successfully accomplished more than fifty missions globally last year.  Additionally, JPAC Central Identification Laboratory identified 62 unaccounted individuals from the Vietnam War, Korean War, and World War II.  In conducting its mission, JPAC relied upon cooperation from Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, the Republic of Korea, Japan, the Pacific Islands, and several countries in Europe.  We anticipate similar results in the coming year.  JPAC has also received tentative approval to conduct a recovery mission in the People’s Republic of China and to engage Government of India officials regarding potential recovery missions in Northeast India.  Operations in North Korea remain suspended, but JPAC is prepared to resume operation once conditions in North Korea are again appropriate.  This year, with the support of the Department, USPACOM will complete the design for a new JPAC headquarters at Hickam AFB.  In FY10, we will seek congressional authority and military construction funds for this $105 million project.”

REAR ADMIRAL DONNA CRISP, USN, NEW JPAC COMMANDER:  At the January 4th Change of Command Ceremony, PACOM Commander Admiral Keating officiated, thus honoring JPAC and both outgoing and incoming JPAC Commanders, also giving high praise and commendation to the National League of POW/MIA Families for outstanding contributions over the years to the accounting mission.  BG Michael Flowers, USA, relinquished command to the first US Navy Officer and first female, RADM Donna Crisp, USN.  She returns to Hawaii from the Pentagon, having spent the last three+ years as the Director for Manpower and Personnel, Joint Chiefs of Staff. A native of Bay Shore, NY, RADM Crisp was commissioned at the Naval Officers Training School, Newport, RI, in 1974 and has received many awards and decorations over her career.  The Detachment Commanders from Bangkok, Hanoi and Vientiane participated with JPAC colleagues in the Change of Command Ceremony, attended by Ambassador Charles Ray, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/MIA Affairs, League Executive Director Ann Mills Griffiths, returned POWs, veteran and civic leaders, and family and friends of the senior officers being relieved and assuming command of JPAC. 

LEAGUE ACTIONS:  In conjunction with the trip to attend the JPAC Change of Command, the League Executive Director met with Admiral Keating who had visited Vietnam and Laos in December of last year.  Key topics included use of the US Navy ship for underwater surveys and recoveries and the importance of getting DIA’s Stony Beach specialists permanently assigned in Vietnam and Laos.  In addition, she met with US Ambassador to Laos Ravic Huso, RADM Crisp, several JPAC officials, DIA Stony Beach and a very knowledgeable Navy civilian who provided a detailed briefing on the Navy’s hydrographic ship proposed for use along Vietnam’s coastline.  

UNDERWATER SURVEYS BY USN SHIP:  The USNS Bruce Heezen radiographic ship has not yet been scheduled for underwater survey mission.  There is no lack of serious interest and commitment at the top from PACOM Commander ADM Keating or US Ambassador to Vietnam Michael Michalak, and the issues are complex.  In reality, the level of priority varies within both governments’ bureaucracies, but there is plenty of “fault” on both sides:  1) Vietnam’s failure thus far to complete inter-ministerial coordination; and 2) Despite the PACOM Commander’s strong support, the US Government’s failure to present the formal proposal that, logically, should have come first. The optimum timing for underwater operations is May-June; this year, the USNS Mercy is scheduled to conduct a humanitarian dental mission to Vietnam during that time, a project the League certainly supports, having helped initiate humanitarian assistance to Vietnam in the mid-1980s.  Due to the timing, however, this important bilateral step in POW/MIA accounting cooperation – sought by the League since 1994, agreed to by Hanoi in October 2006, formalized between the two governments in November 2006, and made logical and timely by the improved and improving military-to-military relationship – has been postponed until FY09!     

STATUS OF DIA’S STONY BEACH SPECIALISTS:  Another long-pursued League objective is permanent assignment of Stony Beach personnel in Vietnam and Laos.  Stony Beach has long been permanently assigned in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and regularly contributes through onsite investigations. A US Defense Attaché (DATT} has been posted in Hanoi for many years, a step the League supported at the time; however, the Vietnamese government continues to delay approving these specialists as value-added members of the POW/MIA accounting team, working under the auspices of the DATT, COL Mark Chakwin, USA.  The Lao Government agreed last year to exchange DATTs in FY08, and though it will be delayed until the end of calendar-year 2008 in December, the office of the DATT in Vientiane will include a Stony Beach Lao specialist.  The League is very pleased with this long-encouraged action by the Lao Government. 

JPAC COMMANDER TRAVELS:  Since assuming command on January 4th, RADM Crisp has traveled extensively, meeting counterpart officials in several countries.  She first visited South Korea to discuss ways to expedite cooperation on Korean War losses.  RADM Crisp went on to Beijing to meet with PRC officials in an effort to restore WWII and Cold War recovery operations in that country.  She then traveled to Cambodia and Vietnam for an orientation visit to meet officials in both countries, having postponed her initial visit to Laos due to Secretary Gates’ visit to JPAC, noted above.  This first visit to Laos was just completed, and she returned to Vietnam for a second time, holding POW/MIA consultations in both countries. Shortly after returning to Hawaii, she will visit Papua New Guinea, then on to Cambodia for a second visit and annual consultations there.  Just before her second visit to Southeast Asia, RADM Crisp visited India to pursue plans for conducting WWII recovery operations there.    

UPDATE ON JPAC OPERATIONS:  Joint field operations in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam are conducted often and for varying periods of time in-country, with different numbers of US personnel involved, depending upon the incidents being investigated and/or excavated and the agreements between the respective governments and the US. 

Detachment 3 in Vientiane controls the overall field operations process when teams are in Laos.  JPAC sends a team of 53 US personnel five times each year, for a 30-day period to locations throughout the country proposed by the US and approved by the Lao Government. US proposals are not always accepted, but cooperation has increased dramatically, with initiatives for improvement coming from Lao officials and greater flexibility in the field being permitted.  Despite the lack of Vietnamese documents on cases of US personnel captured or missing in Laos, downed aircraft incident sites have been located in all but 19 cases.  With guidance from JPAC Headquarters and DPMO, US and Lao delegations hold semi-annual POW/MIA consultations to review progress to date, propose and agree upon plans for future operations and sort out any logistics hurdles that arise or other matters requiring policy level intervention or support.  US Ambassador to Laos Ravic Huso stays much involved in the POW/MIA accounting mission, as does his staff.  JPAC’s Detachment 3 Commander, LTC Brandt Deck, USA Special Forces, is on a two-year assignment to Laos.     

Teams of up to 100 US personnel are deployed to Vietnam for a 45-day period, working in provinces throughout the country, except for sensitive areas where JPAC teams are not permitted, some of them in the Western Highlands. In these areas deemed sensitive by the Vietnamese, there are unresolved incidents; however, in such locations, the Vietnamese are being compensated to conduct unilateral excavations and investigations, monitored by US forensic anthropologists and analysts at a distance.  While perhaps not perfect, it is hoped that Vietnam will maximize this opportunity to locate and repatriate remains that can’t be recovered jointly in the field, as cited in repeated Certifications to Congress.  Also in Vietnam, the prospect of utilizing another underwater investigation team (UIT) without the US Navy hydrographic ship is likely this year.  Technical talks between the US and Vietnam take place occur twice each year, and a larger 20-year assessment is anticipated this fall.  Many routine matters are handled by Detachment 2 Commander LTC James Saenz, USA Special Forces, and his staff under the guidance and direction of the JPAC Commander, as is the case with all three Detachments.  Higher level discussions are needed to focus on the unilateral actions outlined by the President and successive Secretaries of State.  

Executive Director Comment:  Once started, a bureaucratic process can be very hard to stop, as has been the case with Joint Forensic Reviews (JFRs), once necessary, but only occasionally required in this era of joint excavations.  In reality, JFRs should be held only when remains are recovered and provided by indigenous personnel or one of the “host” governments, NOT as a result of joint recovery. (End Comment)

The pace of joint field operations in Cambodia was expanded over the past two years, under the capable direction of Detachment 1 Commander LtCol Pete Huddle, USAF, headquartered in Bangkok.  The Cambodian Government is willing and able to facilitate as much humanitarian POW/MIA cooperation as the US proposes.  The Cambodian POW/MIA Committee – comprised of an extremely high level group of respected, capable officials – has been and is very helpful, cooperative and supported fully by Prime Minister Hun Sen, long personally involved in the issue. Two DIA Stony Beach specialists facilitate the investigation and interview processes.  They are assigned to the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, under the direction of the Defense Attaché, COL Mike Norton, USA.    

World War II recovery missions continue to expand, though without the additional funding and personnel needed to sustain indefinitely the current level of operations in Southeast Asia.  Korean War missions have also increased, but in South Korea only, as access to North Korea is still impeded by policy concerns about nuclear proliferation and arming states that sponsor terrorism, such as Syria.  Within the last two years, JPAC has conducted WWII missions on the island of Iwo Jima, in Vanuatu, The Netherlands, Hungary, Austria, France, the Island of Corsica, Germany, Luxembourg, Palau, Papua New Guinea and the Marianas Islands.  JPAC hopes to resume operations in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Burma (Myanmar), and has opened talks to begin operations in India. 

Executive Director Comment:  The League has always fully supported the expansion of WWII recovery missions and Korean War/Cold War accounting efforts, but strongly advocates increased funding and personnel to meet the increased requirements.  We are calling on all POW/MIA family members – including WWII, Korean War, and Cold War – to join the League and national veterans organizations in urging Congress to define the expanded mission and appropriate funds to meet the increased requirements.  Today’s all-volunteer military depends on all of us to stand behind them should they be captured or become missing.  It is our nation’s promise to do its best to account for those who serve the cause of freedom.  There is no doubt that effectively accomplishing the greatly expanded accounting mission in our lifetime now requires – or will soon require – additional funding and personnel.  It is clear, and we need unified efforts to make it happen.

ARCHIVAL RESEARCH:  There is widespread disappointment – in DPMO, JPAC and the League – in responses to the US Government-funded archival research programs, especially in Vietnam, long known to have extensive archival records, but still unwilling to provide relevant material to US specialists.  A three-year program with Laos was completed, and it was disappointing that the Lao Government was either unable or unwilling to provide the limited documents that are known to be or have been in their possession.  The program with Vietnam has been ongoing for several years, but archival records known to exist have not yet been provided.  Thus, there are continued calls by President Bush and successive Secretaries of State for unilateral actions by Hanoi.  Bilateral talks with Vietnam on archival research should be focused on gaining unilateral SRV responses.  Funding for unilateral Vietnamese archival research or field investigations should be designed with this goal in mind, not just doling out equal payment for success or failure. 

US-RUSSIA JOINT COMMISSION ON POW/MIA AFFAIRS:   The League strongly supports the US-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIA Affairs (USRJC) and its staff, the Joint Commission Support Directorate (JCSD), within the Defense POW/MIA Office (DPMO), and JCSD’s office in Moscow, located at the US Embassy.  JCSD continuously pushes the agenda, seeking answers with approaches that demonstrate initiative and commitment.  This was evident at the Region IV Meeting last fall, held at Scott AFB, and again when JCSD briefed the Board of Directors at their April 11-12th meeting, reinforcing the confidence already held in JCSD and its mission to support the USRJC.  To his credit, and despite inadequate support from the Congressional leadership, USRJC Chairman General Robert Foglesong, USAF (Ret), is retaining his position.     

For some time, the League has actively sought support from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to replace Senator John Kerry (D-MA) who has never participated in the work of the USRJC, serving as a commissioner in name only.  The League has also repeatedly asked Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to fill the House Democrat vacancy left by former Representative Lane Evans’ retirement two years ago due to illness.  Congressional participation in the USRJC is critical.  We have a strong, credible US Chairman in General Robert Foglesong, USAF (Ret), and two outstanding Republican Commissioners in Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Representative Sam Johnson (R-TX) who is also a returned POW from the Vietnam War.  To strengthen the USRJC, family members and all interested veterans and other Americans are urged to contact Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, asking each to appoint active interested participants to serve as Democrat Congressional Commissioners.     

STAFF SERGEANT MAUPIN’S REMAINS RECOVERED & IDENTIFIED:  Staff Sergeant Keith “Matt” Maupin, USA, listed as missing-captured in Iraq for almost four years, known publicly as POW/MIA, was interred last weekend.  Thankfully for his parents, family, friends and Operation Iraqi Freedom brothers-in-arms, SGT Maupin’s remains were recently recovered and identified, thus ending their agonizing uncertainty.  Those who exerted extraordinary efforts included a very special League friend, LTG Jim Campbell, USA, recently retired from his post as Director of the Army Staff.  As the third Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA) Commander, General Campbell was very concerned that SGT Maupin’s case was handled well and was sensitive to the parents of this young soldier.  The League expresses heartfelt gratitude to all who supported the Maupin family and to those who helped to end their uncertainty in a relatively short time.  Those of us who still await answers can best understand and appreciate the true meaning of an often overused word, closure. 

ANOTHER SELECT COMMITTEE ON POW/MIA AFFAIRS – NOT!  With much experience in working to overcome negative results from prior select committees and special commissions, the League strongly opposes H. Res. 111.  Introduced again by Representative Peter King (R-NY), the measure is being pushed by some Korean War/Cold War and WWII families and veterans organizations, focused not only on previously disproven claims of conspiracy and cover-up, but also the need for comprehensive investigations into what was and was not done by successive administrations from the Korean War to the present.

Executive Director Comment:  Such investigations over the years have completely tied up assets and resources.  Though DPMO has not yet replied to the League’s unanimous resolution opposing another select committee, the massive requirements of responding to inquiries from Congress will fall directly on DPMO (for DoD and DIA), JPAC, PACOM and all other POW/MIA support-related organizations.  There are legitimate questions that can and should be addressed, such as the need for increased funding and personnel, operational priorities and the identification process, but the real answers do not lie in US Government files, as was shown by the Senate Select Committee in 1992.  Current focus should be on motivating foreign governments to provide answers, not again whip-lashing ourselves. There are established congressional committees with investigation and oversight jurisdiction; any questions to be addressed can and should be handled by this existing structure.  The League will continue to oppose another wasteful, time-consuming select committee unless and until there is nothing further that can be done constructively to account for our missing men.  In that event, the League could reconsider, but that time is NOT now!

COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN (CFC):  Though technically now concluded, the League was notified that the stringent criteria for the 2007 campaign were met; our five-digit number is 10218, assigned by the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Washington, DC.  The League is the ONLY nonprofit organization representing American POW/MIAs, KIA/BNRs and their families eligible for donations through CFC & United Way.  Despite the reality of many competing charities and much need, especially in a time of war, the League is proud of our eligibility, due to tough requirements that must be met.  We have also applied for the 2008 Combined Federal Campaign and, if again successful, our eligibility number will remain the same:  #10218.

39TH ANNUAL MEETING:   The League’s 39th Annual Meeting will take place Thursday, June 19th, through Saturday night, June 21st, again at the Hilton Crystal City Hotel, Arlington, VA.  There will be two very full days of presentations by senior US officials, Members of Congress, guests and the League on the complete range of policy and operational matters affecting the issue.  A three-hour Question & Answer session with US officials will be held on Saturday morning, June 21st, following by the bylaw-required League Business Session on Saturday afternoon.    

Registration:  The form to register for the 39th Annual Meeting is enclosed with this newsletter.  Simply complete and return it to the League office with your check for the registration fee ($40 per League member; $50 for non-League attendees) and $50 per person payment for the 39th Annual Dinner.  IF you register by May 15th for both the meeting and the dinner, you will save $5 per person, sending only $85 total for each person registering.   

Transportation:  As authorized by Congress, the Secretary of Defense has again authorized transportation (COIN Assist) for two family members representing each Vietnam War missing and unaccounted for US serviceman and civilian to attend the annual meeting and hear official presentations.   Service Casualty Offices have sent or will soon send information to some family members regarding the 39th Annual Meeting and forms to complete for requesting COIN Assist transportation, file reviews, attendance at Service-hosted luncheons, and transportation to the Friday evening concert, if confirmed. 

Executive Director Comment:  In a move that ignores the intent of Congress and tries to undercut the League and the POW/MIA families, the Navy Casualty Office sent four pages of misleading and inaccurate material to PNOK (primary-next-of-kin) ONLY, with no mention of the 39th Annual Meeting and no League Registration or Hilton Hotel Reservation Forms.  Reportedly, the Navy plans to send more information in a follow-up mailing ONLY to those designated by the PNOK to travel by COIN Assist.  Since the mid-1990s, made worse by the vicious actions in 2005 of a former DPMO Director, the Service Casualty Offices have distributed misleading and confusing material.  Air Force Casualty made the best of things and sent good information to ALL their families.  Reportedly, the Marine Corps and Army also opted to mail ONLY to the PNOK, or previously designated points of contact; but at least sent full information, including on the 39th Annual Meeting.  In authorizing COIN Assist, Congressional intent was to ensure that each unaccounted for American would be represented at the League’s annual meeting. (DPMO later initiated changes so the language now states “an annual meeting at which USG briefings will be given.”} The Navy, Marine Corps and Army have virtually removed that possibility in cases where there is no contact between the PNOK and others in the missing man’s family. Information was NOT restricted to PNOK in earlier years.  It is now more understandable  that most attending recent annual meetings are USAF families. ALL FAMILY MEMBERS ARE ELIGIBLE TO ATTEND LEAGUE ANNUAL MEETINGS AT WHICH OFFICIAL BRIEFINGS WILL BE GIVEN.  If you have questions, call the League office at the number given on the letterhead.     

Hotel Reservations:  To reserve your room(s) at the Hilton Crystal City hotel, complete the enclosed form; fax it to the Hilton at the listed number and provide a credit card number with signature.  Or, send it to the address provided and enclose a $165 (round figure) check to guarantee the first night reservation.  This form is also available to print from the League’s web site, www.pow-miafamilies.org or www.POWMIALeague.org.

Special Events:  The 39th Annual Dinner & Candlelight Ceremony will be on Thursday, June 19th, an event that is always inspirational; cost this year was increased to $50 each. Friday night will be the tour and concert at the beautiful new USAF Memorial, and Bingo Night will wrap up all activities on Saturday night, June 21st.  

Silent Auction: There will again be a Silent Auction, though smaller in scope and open limited hours.  Sorely as are needed the funds generated by this highly successful, three-day event, it is very labor-intensive and demanding. In view of the tremendous success of last year’s Silent Auction, we are again seeking suitable items for display and purchase.  Please be very selective in accumulating and sending items.  Either bring the item(s) with you and deliver to the Board Room, 1st floor, or send the item(s) with an itemized list stating the value of each item to the League office.    

Program Ad Rates:  Each year, the League publishes a beautiful program that includes individual ads honoring missing US personnel, organizational ads sending best wishes to the families gathered for the meeting, ads promoting POW/MIA-related and other products, etc.  Enclosed is a flyer with PROGRAM AD RATES for 2008; the deadline is June 1st, as stated.  Please send payment to the League office; send your ad camera-ready with the payment or by email to powmiafam@aol.com.   

Testimony of Ann Mills Griffiths, Executive Director

National League of POW/MIA Families

Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian & Pacific Affairs

March 12, 2008

Thank you, Madam Chairman, Members of the Subcommittee, for inviting League participation in this hearing. 

I’m pleased to be able to join you and give the views of the Vietnam War POW/MIA families whom I have represented for three decades, though my personal involvement began much earlier.  On September 21, 1966, my brother, LCDR James B. Mills, USNR disappeared in an F4B flying off the USS Coral Sea over northern Vietnam, his second such tour of duty, the first being on the USS Midway.  He deployed from Alameda Naval Air Station, listing Bakersfield, California, as his home of record, the state where the vast majority of the extended Mills family still resides. 

These three decades encompass the entire spectrum of the postwar bilateral relationship between Vietnam and the United States.  The issue I represent played a central role in the normalization process and its evolution.  Vietnam agrees, citing the POW/MIA issue as their bridge to normalization of relations.   

The League did not support immediate post-war normalization of relations, due to Vietnam’s failure to implement provisions in the 1973 Paris Peace Accords calling for a full accounting for unreturned American POW/MIAs. The process became one of fits and starts, dialogue and movement, stalling, backtracking and resumption, but not with focused priority on obtaining answers until 1981.  President Reagan came into office with a commitment to this issue that was well known to the returned POWs, as it was to the MIA families, especially those of us in California.

The policies developed, approved and implemented from 1981-1989 formed a solid basis on which to build a mutually beneficial bilateral relationship.  In the lead throughout that time was the POW/MIA Interagency Group, on which I served as the only non-government member. Without diplomatic relations, I frequently served as a direct communication link between Washington and Hanoi, most often in New York City.   Such a meeting with the late Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach brought subsequent bilateral discussions with senior US officials, a sensitive prospect at the time due to Vietnam’s military occupation of neighboring Cambodia.  All members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) strongly objected to Vietnam’s presence.  My participation in such high level discussions offered assurance that the primary purpose was humanitarian, not, as ASEAN could have thought, a back-door, premature effort by the US to normalize bilateral US-SRV relations.  Yes, those were unique times…..not yet adequately chronicled.  

A September 1982 League delegation to Vietnam and Laos was credited with jump-starting cooperation between these two governments and the US.   Progress during those early years was hard-earned and sporadic, but the families’ expectations, with very few exceptions, were realistic and based squarely on US Government evidence and analysis.  We have always recognized that this issue could be solved only through government-to-government efforts; yet I’ve often said I could paper my walls with agreements reached with and broken by Vietnam.  There were frequent disappointments, none more damaging to the issue than US and Vietnamese violations of the 1991 “roadmap” to normalization of relations developed by the POW/MIA Interagency Group. 

The three-phase “roadmap” specified actions by Vietnam to address accounting issues and reciprocal steps by the US, leading to withdrawal of Vietnamese forces from Cambodia and normalization of bilateral US-SRV relations.  With agreement to proceed along the “roadmap” course of action, Vietnam began withdrawing troops from Cambodia, and pressure rose within the US bureaucracy on the need to respond positively, despite Vietnam’s stalling on specified POW/MIA accounting steps.  The process continued to erode with the altered priorities that came in 1993, leading fairly quickly to normalization of political relations in 1995, a bilateral trade agreement in 2001, and permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) in 2006.    

Throughout these years, the League has relied on sustainable information provided by the US Government.   Since 1982, I have conveyed these facts and our well-founded expectations to officials in Hanoi, Vientiane and Phnom Penh, most recently in October 2006.  I believe that was my 29th visit to Hanoi, a beautiful, historic city.  I’ve also visited Bangkok, Moscow and elsewhere to appeal for help from those willing and able.  Each time, the League commended Vietnam for support provided to joint field operations, past and present. 

The joint field operations aspect of the accounting process has improved dramatically in quality and scope.  Our highly skilled and motivated personnel in Hanoi, Vientiane, Bangkok and Phnom Penh continue to find ways to make improvements.  This is especially true when compared with efforts in the early 1990s that focused more on form than substance in an effort to visibly demonstrate cooperation and openness, whether or not real.  At the time, the higher priority was generating support for political and economic objectives, never fully grasping that pursuing POW/MIA accounting and those priorities was, in reality, quite doable and complimentary. 

But that is past, and today we have 820 US personnel returned and accounted for since the actual end of the war in 1975, with the assistance of the Vietnamese, Lao and Cambodia Governments, 569 of them from Vietnam.  Remains of another 63 US personnel were recovered and identified before the end of the war, but without the bilateral cooperation that is the subject of today’s hearing. 

In that regard, and even though this hearing is focused solely on the US-Vietnam relationship, I would be remiss if I failed to commend Cambodia for its unfettered cooperation and Laos for the extraordinary effort they have made over the years, always working to improve the process and be responsive to the families.  That is especially true when considering the fact that approximately 90% of all the 1,763 still listed as unaccounted for from the Vietnam War were lost in Vietnam or in areas of Cambodia and Laos under Vietnam’s wartime control.

Over the years, we have overcome countless obstacles that were raised, either in this country or overseas.  These ranged from speculation in 1978 that bugs had probably eaten the archival records and the elements had ravaged most of the remains, to disbelief that Vietnam was storing large quantities of remains.  These excuses have been proven false.  Sufficient archival material has been provided to reinforce long-held analysis on Vietnam’s ability to provide relevant archival documents, and Vietnam’s postwar repatriation of stored remains began in earnest in the mid-1980s.  It is now widely accepted: much can yet be achieved jointly and unilaterally by the Government of Vietnam. 

Today’s challenges are most succinctly outlined in the State Department’s determination to Congress assessing the level of Vietnam’s cooperation, as required by Section 109 of the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2008 (P.L 110-161) The standard determination language citing Vietnam as “fully cooperating in good faith” on the accounting effort lists some specific criteria that have not been met, but the precise language is required or the bilateral relationship would revert to pre-normalization levels.  That would be absurd, and no objective observer or participant would support such a drastic course.  The most helpful aspect of this required determination was added by President Bush in 2002, outlining how cooperation can be improved.    

Originally signed by the President in his certification in 2002, since signed by the Secretary of State, the determination explains:  “To further strengthen that cooperation, however, I urge Vietnam to work aggressively to improve tangibly its unilateral provision of POW/MIA-related documents and records, focused initially on archival data pertaining to Americans captured, missing, or killed in areas of Laos and Cambodia under wartime Vietnamese control.  Vietnam should also focus greater attention on locating and providing information on discrepancy cases, with priority on those last known alive in captivity or in immediate proximity to capture, and to locating and repatriating the remains of those who died while in Vietnamese control that have not yet been returned.  I also call upon Vietnam to continue permitting our recovery teams to have access to restricted areas for the sole purpose of conducting our humanitarian accounting operations.” 

The determination concludes with commitment and a pledge of continued priority:   “Finally, in making this determination, I wish to reaffirm my continuing personal commitment to the entire POW/MIA community, especially to the immediate families, relatives, friends, and supporters of these brave individuals, and to reconfirm that achieving the fullest possible accounting for our prisoners of war and missing in action remains one of the most important priorities in our relations with Vietnam.”

We welcome this determination.  It defines four specific steps that Vietnam should take, again reinforcing the need for unilateral actions.  Despite the praiseworthy field operations of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, augmented by the Defense Intelligence Agency’s special POW/MIA investigation team, the fullest possible accounting can not be achieved without authorization by Vietnam’s leadership to take the unilateral actions outlined in the determination to Congress.  

Knowing the importance of the POW/MIA Issue to America – both government and people – major decisions during and after the war were historically made by Politburo consensus.  Relations with the United States, a long-desired Vietnamese objective, was mismanaged and flubbed more than once, but it remains a matter of high national security interest to Vietnam, and understandably so, to retain a balance of  powers, as well as regional economic health and political equilibrium.       

We continue to hope that Vietnam’s leaders will authorize the unilateral cooperation long sought.  We urge all US officials, including Members of Congress, to press for the specific actions needed.  To start, they can provide the documents on the list attached to my testimony, a list compiled by the Defense POW/MIA Office and JPAC and presented many times in Hanoi, including my most recent trip, a family member delegation exactly one year ago, and again that fall by Ambassador Charles Ray, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/MIA Affairs.    

Historically, Vietnam has responded best when there was high level executive and legislative branch interest.  Information from the current POW/MIA bureaucracy is pro-forma on the need for unilateral action; therefore, we are concerned that the Vietnamese leadership may believe joint field operations are sufficient to meet requirements. They are not, and Congress can help by passing a bipartisan resolution urging Vietnam to respond to the provisions in the administration’s recent determination.  We respectfully request this action be taken quickly and transmitted to the Vietnamese leadership. 

We deeply appreciate the leading role our Ambassadors have taken to promote cooperation from the host governments and their full support for field operations.   We are indebted to nearly all who served as US Ambassadors in each of these countries, to Presidents who cared, and to senior officials in the NSC, State and Defense who demonstrated by their actions the leadership that was needed.  All Americans and those we elect in Congress have a useful role in fulfilling our nation’s commitment to those who serve – past, present and future – and to signal those serving today, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, that should they be captured or become missing, they won’t be forgotten and, if possible, they will be brought home. 

Madam Chairman, that concludes my testimony, and I would welcome your questions.