Please take a minute for our future POWs

Hello,

My name is George Fallon... most folks just call me Gunny.

Several years ago, I was a small part of a group of people who started Operation Just Cause (http://www.ojc.org), a non-funded, international POW support organization that promotes awareness of the POW issue and seeks to reach a just
resolution of that issue through respectful but persistent petition of our elected and appointed officials.

We have an important request of all of those who care about our uniformed service members... those unselfish and remarkably courageous men and women who safeguard our way of life.

    Today, the Vietnam POW issue is not receiving much if any air time and many in the opposition hope to see it fade away completely.

Why is this issue such an important one for this country?

Because, as long as we have enemies we will have conflicts with them. Wars, declared and undeclared, are a fact of living in an imperfect world.

    Hostilities in Vietnam ended decades ago and a significant cross-section of the world population believes all those who remain unaccounted for in SE Asia are dead and their remains will never be recovered. We are not as easily convinced as the members of that cross-section. We believe there are answers
yet to be learned about men like David Hrdlicka, Morgan Donahue, Frank Gould, Sean Flynn and others as well as women like Eleanor Vietti, a civilian physician not heard from since her abduction in May 1962.

   But the POW issue is important not only because of the men and women lost in past wars… It is important because there will be new POWs in the conflicts yet to come.
    Today we have troops in Iraq. The combat is officially ended and the Iraqi army is no longer a viable threat, but men and women are still being killed by pro-Sadaam loyalists. The threat of terrorist attack against those service members working to bring peace and democracy to Iraq is an ongoing reality. They don't attack large forces but the numerous fundamentalist factions have a history of kidnapping lone Westerners and holding them prisoner. Unfortunately, due to a little known twist in the reality of armed conflict, uniformed service members who are kidnapped, abducted, or otherwise taken prisoner by terrorist factions, are not considered Prisoners of War, but hostages or captives.

What's in a name? In this case, Everything!!!

  Prisoners of War are entitled to certain special considerations under international law. Parties to military conflict are required to provide specifically defined care to captured troops and among other requirements, to insure the safety of those prisoners.

  In February 1988, a month and a half after taking command of UN Observer Group Lebanon, US Marine Lt/Col Rich Higgins was captured by Hezbollah terrorists. At some unknown later date he was murdered by his captors. During his time in captivity he was interrogated and tortured, and at one point, his captors announced to the world that they intended to try Colonel Higgins for war crimes since he had served in Vietnam.

   A year and a half after he was taken, his inert body was seen on television screens around the world, hanging by the neck. More than two years later -- December 1991 - his remains were dumped on a Beirut street. Although captured and held by armed enemies of the United States while on military assignment with UN Forces, Colonel Higgins was never designated a Prisoner of War. He was never afforded the protections that POWs are guaranteed under international law. His captors have never been prosecuted and the governments that supported and sheltered them have never been held to account.

   We'd like to ask each of you to take a moment to visit
http://operationhiggins.org. It won't take more than a few minutes to read the two simple pages. See what you as a citizen can do prevent this from happening again to another American Soldier, Sailor, Marine or Airman.

Learn what you can do spare another family the grief that Colonel Higgins' family and friends endured.

   For the record, there is nothing partisan about this issue.
No political party is at fault. No government agency is to blame. The problem rests in the wording of the law, a law written before the abduction and murder of Colnel Higgins could have been anticipated. Times have changed and it is now time to amend the wording of the law.

Durning The Periods 1964 & 1975 Over2.59 million

American Serviceman and Women

Served Their Country in The Vietnam War

58,202 made the UlitmateSacrafice.

Region I Coordinator
National League of Families For POW/MIAs

February 17, 2005

Vietnam War MIA remains believed found in Cambodia

Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia. Remains believed to be of American service members killed in Cambodia during the Vietnam War decades ago began their journey back to the United States where forensic tests will determine their identities.
After a brief ceremony Thursday at Phnom Penh International Airport, a U.S. military transport plane left with the remains of an unknown number of people to be evaluated at a military laboratory in Hawaii, said Lt. Col. Michael Jaje, a deputy commander of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command.

The remains were found earlier this month by a U.S. team searching a suspected Vietnam War-era crash site in Kampong Thom, about 80 miles north of Phnom Penh.

U.S. ground troops fought in eastern Cambodia for several months in 1970, and the Air Force flew bombing and support missions over the country in 1970-73.

"At a time when our country continues to send its sons and daughters to the far corners of the earth, our gathering here today in honor of our colleagues is a poignant reminder that their sacrifices in protecting our nation's interests and the cause of peace will never be forgotten." U.S. Ambassador Charles Ray said at the airport ceremony.

Since the Vietnam War ended in 1975, the United States has solved the cases of more than 700 Americans who went missing while fighting in Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia.

Nevertheless, more than 1,800 U.S. service members are still listed as missing in action from the Vietnam War, with 55 unaccounted for in Cambodia.

Each year, more than 700 U.S. specialists take part in MIA searches in Indochina, conducting archival and field research.
 
Ann Mills Griffiths
Executive Director
National League of POW/MIA Families
1005 North Glebe Road, Suite 170
Arlington, VA 22201
(PH)703-465-7432 (FX) 703-465-7433
www.pow-miafamilies.org

DRÕ¿Õ¬GrafiX

Our State of New Hampshire

 POW MIA

Issues

Since the end of the war, over 10,000 reports relating to American prisoners,

missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S Government. Many authorities who have reviewed this intelligence material, including a former Director of

the Defense Intelligence Agency, believe that hundreds of Americans are

still alive and still being

    held captive.

STATUS OF THE POW/MIA ISSUE:

December 1, 2004

1,845 Americans are still missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War, though over 450 were at sea/over water losses: Vietnam - 1,406 (VN-490; VS-916); Laos ­ 377; Cambodia - 55; Peoples Republic of China territorial waters - 7. The League seeks the return of all US prisoners, the fullest possible accounting for those still missing and repatriation of all recoverable remains.

The League’s highest priority is accounting for Americans last known alive. Official intelligence indicates that Americans known to be in captivity in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were not returned at the end of the war.  In the absence of evidence to the contrary, it must be assumed that these Americans may still be alive.  As a policy, the U.S. Government does not rule out the possibility that Americans could still be held.

Unilateral return of remains by the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) has been proven an effective means of obtaining accountability, as have joint field operations in recent years, though the first joint excavation in northern Vietnam occurred in 1985.   A comprehensive wartime and post-war process was established by Vietnam to collect and retain information and remains; thus, unilateral efforts by Vietnam to locate and return remains and provide records continue to offer significant potential. Hanoi’s recent commitments to expedite interviews to obtain intelligence information and move forward on coastline cases, including working out a bilateral agreement for use of a US recovery ship, are welcome and appreciated.  These topics were stressed during the League Delegation in February 2003 and have now been raised by US officials at the highest levels. Archival research, also a high priority with Vietnam, has produced thousands of documents and photos, but to date all except 1+% pertain to returned POWs and Americans previously accounted-for.

Joint field operations in Laos are very productive.  Over the year, the Lao regularly increased flexibility and the number of US personnel permitted in-country in an effort to improve field operations. Recently, the Lao approved an archival research program that will begin implementation this summer.  Agreements between the U.S. and the Indochina governments now permit Vietnamese witnesses to participate in joint operations in Laos and Cambodia when necessary, but it is a time-consuming, expensive process that could be at least partially alleviated with a decision in Hanoi to unilaterally provide relevant documents, as President Bush stipulated in his certification to Congress, March 20, 2002, and Secretary of State Powell September 7, 2004.  POW/MIA research and field activities in Cambodia have received excellent support, including a full-time DIA Stony Beach representative working out of the US Embassy in Phnom Penh..  Over 80% of US losses in Laos and 90% in Cambodia occurred in areas where Vietnam's forces operated during the war, but Hanoi has not responded to countless US requests for case-specific records on our losses in these countries.  Records research and field operations are the most likely means of increased accounting for Americans missing in Laos and Cambodia.

U.S. intelligence and other evidence indicate that many Americans can be accounted for by unilateral Vietnamese efforts to locate and return remains and provide relevant documents and records.  Despite this reality, President Clinton regularly certified to Congress that Vietnam was “fully cooperating in good faith” to resolve this issue. The League disagrees, but recognizes that legislation requiring the certification includes punitive measures that would reverse political and economic relations to the level in place in 1994.  The League supported steps by the US to respond to concrete results, not advancing political and economic concessions in the hope that Hanoi would respond. The Clinton administration lifted the trade embargo, established the US Embassy in Hanoi, normalized diplomatic relations, posted a US Ambassador to Vietnam, signed a bilateral trade agreement and established normal trade relations.  President George W. Bush also issued the required certification that Vietnam is “fully cooperating in good faith,” but added language to outline steps Vietnam should take to improve cooperation, stating:  “As we look to further strengthen cooperation, Vietnam's unilateral provision of POW/MIA-related documents and records should be improved, 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.  Senior officials from the Departments of State and Defense regularly press Hanoi for answers
.

NATIONAL COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN ELIGIBILITY #1174

POW/MIA STATISTICS

Live Sighting statistics are provided by the Defense POW/MIA Office (DPMO)

Live Sightings: As of September 29, 2004, 1,956 first-hand live sighting reports in Indochina have been received since 1975; 1,942 (99.28%) have been resolved.  1,341 (68.56%) were equated to Americans now accounted for (i.e. returned POWs, missionaries or civilians detained for violating Vietnamese codes); 45 (2.30%) correlated to wartime sightings of military personnel or pre-1975 sightings of civilians still unaccounted for; 556 (28.43%) were determined to be fabrications. The remaining 14 (0.72%) unresolved first-hand reports are the focus of current analytical and collection efforts: 13 (0.66%) concern Americans sighted in a captive environment;  1 (0.05%) are non-captive sightings.  The years in which these 14 first hand sightings occurred is listed below:

Year     Pre-76      76-80         81-85       86-90       91-95      96-2000       01-05        Total
              11               2                0               0            0               0                1               14
 
Accountability: At the end of the Vietnam War, there reportedly were 2,583 unaccounted for American prisoners, missing or killed in action/body not recovered. As of December 1, 2004, there are 1,845 Americans are still so listed by the Defense Department, over 90% of them in Vietnam or in areas of Laos and Cambodia where Vietnamese forces operated during the war.  A breakdown by year of recovery for the 738 Americans now accounted for follows:

1965-1974        War years: (recently identified)                                                      2        
1974-1975                      Post war years:                                                             28
1976-1978                      US/SRV normalization negotiations:                                47
1979-1980                      US/SRV talks break down:                                               1
1981-1984                      1st Reagan Administration                                              23
1985-1988                      2nd Reagan Administration                                            157
1989-1992                      George H.W. Bush Administration                                  115
1993-1996                      1st Clinton Administration                                               251
1997-2001                      2nd Clinton Administration                                                78
2001-2004                      George W. Bush Administration                                        36       

According to CILHI, unilateral SRV repatriations of remains with scientific evidence of storage have accounted for only 177 of the 515 from Vietnam; two were mistakenly listed as KIA/BNR in Vietnam in 1968, but remains were actually recovered at that time.  All but 3 of the 192 Americans accounted for in Laos have been the result of joint excavations.  Four remains were recovered and turned over by indigenous personnel, one from Vietnam and three from Laos.  In addition, three persons identified were recovered in Vietnam before the end of the war. The breakdown by country of the 738 Americans accounted for from the Vietnam War:
 
Vietnam            515*                                     Laos                            192*
China                   3                                      Cambodia                       28   

For the latest information, call the League’s Office

(703) 465-7432 and log onto the League web site:  www.pow-miafamilies.org

Ann Mills Griffiths
Executive Director
National League of POW/MIA Families
1005 North Glebe Road, Suite 170
Arlington, VA 22201
(PH)703-465-7432 (FX) 703-465-7433
www.pow-miafamilies.org

DRÕ¿Õ¬GrafiX

Veterans Legal and Benefits Information provided Online.

 A VETERANS RESOURCES NETWORK (www.veteransresources.net website)

Ray B Davis Jr., Editor

 All items free for use and distribution.

http://www.valaw.org

This information describes federal benefits available to veterans and
their dependents as of Jan 1 2004 Changes may occur during the
year as a result of legislative or other requirements The Department
of Veterans Affairs VA World Wide Web pages are updated
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Selected Reserve and National Guard Current and former mem
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federal service during a period of war or domestic emergency may
be eligible for certain VA benefits such as VA health care compen
sation for injuries or conditions connected to that service and burial
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Readjustment counseling is provided at 206 community based Vet
Centers located in all 50 states the District of Columbia Guam
Puerto Rico and the U S Virgin Islands and is designed to help
combat veterans in their readjustment to civilian life Vet Center staff
provide group individual and family counseling plus a wide range of
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vices employment services VA benefit referral and the brokering of
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Eligible veterans include those who served on active duty in a
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they requested services at a Vet Center before Jan 1 2004

The essential feature of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is the development of characteristic symptoms following exposure to an extreme traumatic stressor involving direct personal experience of an event that involves actual or threatened death or serious injury, or other threat to one's physical integrity; or witnessing an event that involves death, injury,

Traumatic events that are experienced directly include, but are not limited to, military combat, violent personal assault (sexual assault, physical attack, robbery, mugging), being kidnapped, being taken hostage, terrorist attack, torture, incarceration as a prisoner of war or in a concentration camp, natural or manmade disasters, severe automobile accidents, or being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.

The traumatic event can be reexperienced in various ways. Commonly, the person has recurrent and intrusive recollections of the event (Criterion B1) or recurrent distressing dreams during which the event is replayed (Criterion B2). In rare instances, the person experiences dissociative states that last from few seconds to several hours, or even days, during which components of the event are relived and the person behaves as though experiencing the event at that moment (Criterion B3). Intense psychological distress (Criterion B4) or physiological reactivity (Criterion B5) often occurs when the person is exposed to triggering events that resemble or symbolize an aspect of the traumatic event

Stimuli associated with the trauma are persistently avoided. The person commonly makes deliberate efforts to avoid thoughts, feeling, or conversations about the traumatic event (Criterion C1) and to avoid activities, situations, or people who arouse recollections of it (Criterion C2). This avoidance of reminders may include amnesia for an important aspect of the traumatic event (Criterion C3). Diminished responsiveness to the external world, referred to as "psychic numbing" or "emotional anesthesia," usually begins soon after the traumatic event.

The individual has persistent symptoms of anxiety or increased arousal that were not present before the trauma. These symptoms may include difficulty falling or staying asleep that may be due to recurrent nightmares during which the traumatic event is relived (Criterion D1), hyper-vigilance (Criterion D4), and exaggerated startle response (Criterion D5). Some individuals report irritability or outbursts or anger (Criterion D2) or difficulty concentrating or completing tasks (Criterion D3).

To prevail in a PTSD-based claim, you must establish that you have undergone a traumatic event or events (called a stressor) during your military service that would support a clinical diagnosis of PTSD.  Unless your military records document that you were in combat with the enemy, your claimed stressor must be documented.   A combat-related military occupational specialty (MOS) or combat-related awards or decorations (e.g., Combat Infantryman’s Badge or a Purple Heart) are examples of documented combat experience.   However, if your service records do not demonstrate a combat-related MOS or decorations and you assert that you had experienced combat or enemy fire or attack, the VA is required to assist you in obtaining documentation that supports your claim (including researching government records) that could place you in a documented area of attack or an isolated hostile incident.

what must They be thinking of us ?

I heard the sound of taps one night
when everything was still.
I listened to the bugler play
and felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
that taps had meant "Amen"
When a flag had covered a coffin
of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
of the others and the wives,
of fathers, sons, and husbands
with interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
at the bottom of the sea,
of unmarked graves in Arlington,

                                                         
No, freedom is not free...

I thought about our Prisoners still,
That America just left behind
And if only for an instant
filled with anger in my mind.
I thought a prayer for mercy
Would brush away those tears...
"We could fight to bring them home again,
All but throw away their fears!"

I thought about their journey
And it's been a long, rough road,
but by writing to our congressman
we could help to ease their load.
Sure, we'll stumble through our government,
We must demand for them to see,
These hero's have been gone too long
And it's time that they were Freed !