Get Well Prayers Needed - for longtime POW/MIA activist Rick Will. Rick is battling a serious illness. Please keep him in your prayers.

Taliban Peace Talks to Resume??? - Various news agencies are reporting U.S. and Taliban officials are seeking a way to resume peace talks. Earlier this year talks stalled when Taliban and U.S. negotiators disagreed over the timetable for a cease-fire and the exchange of prisoners. The Taliban are seeking the release of a number of prisoners including 5 of their top leader held at Guantanamo, in exchange for American POW Bowe Bergdahl.

We pray for the success of these talks and the release of Bergdahl who will mark his third year of captivity on June 30th. Let us hope he's home before then. We can not leave another live POW behind.

New Head at DPMO - Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/MIA Affairs Robert Newberry is leaving DPMO. His replacement is General W. Montague Winfield, (USA - Ret). General Winfield previously headed the Joint Task Force - Full Accounting, prior to its merging with CIL-HI becoming the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC). General Winfield is scheduled to arrive at DPMO on May 7th.

We hope these changes at DPMO will improve the accounting effort with a more open-mindedness toward live sightings and the consideration of evidence, beyond the passage of time, when making fate determinations. We also hope General Winfield will resist efforts by those seeking to minimize the U.S./Russian Joint Commission.

H.Res 111 - Currently we have 200 co-sponsors for this resolution calling for the formation of a POW/MIA Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs in the House of Representatives. Please contact your congressional representative and ask that they support H. Res 111. For a list of congressional representative's visit www.nationalalliance.org/legis/index.htm . Those highlighted in red are already cosponsors.

Evidence - Noun: 1. information or signs indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid. 2. Law information used to establish facts in legal investigation or admissible as testimony in a law court. Verb: be or shown evidence of.

So, how much evidence is needed to validate the statement..... American Service personnel from World War II, Korea, the Cold War, Vietnam and the Gulf Wars were held back by the enemy, at the end of each of our wars. We count on the fact that eventually the truth will come out. The fact is.... the truth is already out.

"There are too many live sighting reports, specifically observations of several Caucasians in a collective farm by Romanians and the North Korean defectors' eyewitness of Americans in DPRK (Democratic Peoples Republic Korea) to dismiss that there are no American POWs in North Korea." March 1996 - I. O. Lee, analyst with the Defense Prisoner of War Missing Personnel Office (DPMO), March 1996. Mr. Lee could not have drawn such a conclusion without.... evidence.

"There is evidence, moreover, that indicates the possibility of survival, at least for a small number, after Operation Homecoming...." January 13, 1996 - Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs. The Committee could not have drawn such a conclusion without.... evidence.

"Americans, including American servicemen, were imprisoned in the former Soviet Union...." Feb. 11, 2005 - 5th Edition of the Gulag Study compiled by the Joint Commission Support Directorate, the investigative arm of the U.S./Russian Joint Commission on POW/MIAs. The JCSD could not have drawn such a conclusion without.... evidence.

"I personally would be comfortable saying that the number is in the hundreds." Mr. Norman Kass JCSD executive secretary, during a CNN interview, when asked about the number of American's held in the former Soviet Union. Mr. Kass would not have made such a statement without.... evidence.

" Ashley and four crew members, (Turner, Olsen, Shaddick, and Ishida) were known to be alive in Communist hands as of the close of the Korean conflict, Jul 53." Report prepared by the Escape and Evasion Section of the 6004th Air Intelligence Service Squadron, Oct. 19. 1995. This conclusion could not have been reached without.... evidence

"Dr. Shields called on 21 May..... he viewed both situations as we did and that it appeared that he should not be adamant in denying that there are no U.S. PWs in SEA (Southeast Asia.) I agreed, adding that the Cambodian situation is also less than clear and conclusive." Memo from John T. Berbrich, Defense Intelligence Agency dated 23, May 1973, to Commander Chuck Trowbridge. Would Mr. Berbrich have made such a statement without... evidence?

"I am not certain that we have fully clarified everything. I know that quite a few documents were destroyed. However, one document, probably sensational, is still in storage. I have a copy of it. Its content is as follows: at the end of the 1960s the KGB (external foreign intelligence) was given the task of "delivering informed Americans to the USSR for intelligence gathering purposes. When I found this sensational paper in a "special pouch," I immediately went to Y. M. Primakov (Director of Foreign Intelligence). He called in his people. They brought in a copy of this project signed; it seems to me, by Semichastny (I will explain). For a long time, there was a search underway to find traces of this task. These, the traces, as I had expected "were not found." They said that the task had not been accomplished. So how did this happen in fact? The regime was such that one could speculate on the wildest of variants. This remained a secret, which I could not penetrate. I also did not report this to my much-esteemed Ambassador, M. Toon. I am speaking about this now in the hope that these notes will make it into my book Reflections. (Note: in the text the word Reflections is underlined.)" General Dmitri Volkogonov, Chairman Russian side of the U.S./Russian Joint Commission on POW/MIAs. Would General Volkogonov made such a statement without.... evidence?

"There is also evidence based upon radar plots and intercepted voice messages, as well as upon the recovery of casualties, that a small number of Air Force crews whose missions involved flights over the Sea of Japan during the Korean War were shot down by aircraft based in the Soviet Far East, some of whom are probably held in the Soviet Union. These cases (some 33) are of course not directly relevant to the current negotiations at Geneva. The missions on which these aircraft were flying, while related to the Korean War, are highly classified and the names of these individuals have never been included on any lists for which we have demanded an accounting from the Chinese Communists." Memo from Office of the Secretary of Defense, Sept. 16th 1995 signed by General G.B. Erskine USMC, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense Special Operations on the Subject of Geneva Negotiations on Prisoner of War, commenting on Cold War losses. "Probably held in the Soviet Union," would such a comment have been made without... evidence?

"The regime made it a high priority to capture enemy personnel or recover remains inside Iraqi-controlled territory, and Baghdad would have thoroughly investigated the matter until the pilot was captured or the remains recovered. Baghdad's efforts to recover Coalition airmen downed over Iraqi-controlled territory were highly successful. We judge that Baghdad was aware of January 1991 western press reports that a US aircraft was shot down over Iraq on the first night of the war and that the pilot was believed to be the first US casualty of Desert Storm. The press reports would have caused Iraqi intelligence to investigate and the information very likely helped Baghdad focus its search for the wreckage and the pilot. We assess LCDR Speicher was either captured alive or his remains were recovered and brought to Baghdad." Unclassified Intelligence Community Summary on the Case of Lt. Cmdr. Scott Speicher. The conclusion that Speicher was captured alive or his remains recovered by the Iraqi's would not have been made without.... evidence.

It was on two occasions during the early meetings of the Four Party Joint Military Team, U.S. members "asked PRG to provide information on a specific MIA when (sic) intelligence sources reported as still being held captive." We have subsequently learned that the MIA referred to is Navy Lt. Cmdr. John Graf. Would the FPJMT have made such a request for information on Graf without.... evidence.

"First I must ask you to excuse my English, because I cannot speak like you. I learned my English in concentration camps and my first teachers were kidnapped American officers." Testimony of Avraham Shifrin before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate, February 1, 1973. Firsthand eyewitness statement.... evidence.

"The United States Government has recently received reports which support earlier indications that American prisoners of war who had seen action in Korea have been transported to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and that they are now in Soviet custody. The United States Government desires to receive urgently all information available to the Soviet Government concerning these American personnel and to arrange their repatriation at the earliest possible time." Dispatch No. 947 to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic from American Embassy Moscow April 5, 1954 (note: on the document April is crossed out and May is handwritten in) signed by E. O'Shaughnessy Would the American Embassy have sent such a message regarding the existence of American POWs held in the Soviet Union without.... evidence.

" The fact is an anthropologist with many years of experience rendered a professional opinion that based on the condition of Lt. Mc Kinnie's (sic) remains, he was alive subsequent to Operation Homecoming...." Joint Casualty Resolution Center Message Traffic 282114Z Jan 92. Would the JCRC have issued such a statement without.... evidence?

"No matter what terms are agreed upon, it would be unduly optimistic to believe that the DRV [Democratic Republic of Vietnam] and the VC [Viet Cong] will release all U.S. prisoners immediately after conclusion of an agreement in the expectation that the United States will meet its military, political, or monetary commitments. More likely, they will insist on awaiting concrete evidence of U.S. concessions before releasing the majority of American prisoners, and will retain some of them until all U.S. commitments have been fulfilled." Memorandum RM 5729 1-ARPA January 1969 "Prisoners of War in Indochina" by Anita Lauve Nutt for the Rand Corporation. Would Ms. Lauve Nutt have reached such a conclusion without.... evidence?

The North Vietnamese would look for reasons "for not returning all American prisoners." CIA Intelligence Information Report - dated 3 November 1970. Would the CIA have reached such a conclusion without.... evidence? Well, maybe we need to think on that one....

"There is a possibility that as many as 57 Americans could be alive...." Conclusion of the Joint Casualty Resolution Center study titled "Project X" issued April 23, 1976. Would the JCRC have reached such a conclusion without..... evidence

"We missed the best chance we ever had to find POWS still alive." Former National Security Advisor Richard Allen commenting on the aborted raid at Nhommarath. Would Mr. Allen have made such a statement without.... evidence?

"We knew of at least 80 instances in which an American serviceman had been captured alive and subsequently disappeared. The evidence consisted either of voice communications from the ground in advance of capture or photographs and names published by the Communists. Yet none of these men was on the list of POWs handed over after the Agreement. Why? Were they dead? How did they die?" I called special attention to the 19 cases where pictures of the captured had been published in the Communist press. Pham Van Dong replied non-committally (sic) that the lists handed over to us were complete..." Dr. Henry Kissinger, former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State, Kissinger Memoirs Vol. II The White House Years. Would Dr. Kissinger have made such a statement without.... evidence?

"As of now, I can come to no other conclusion,." Former Secretary of Defense and CIA Director James Schlesinger before the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, when asked directly if the United States left men behind in Southeast Asia. Would Mr. Schlesinger have made such a statement without.... evidence?

"Several thousand American soldiers who have not been repatriated were victims of war crimes, died in action, or are presently confined behind the Iron Curtain." Report of the Senate Committee on Government Operations Subcommittee on "Korean War Atrocities" 1954. Would the United States Senate reached such a conclusion without.... evidence?

"DIA holds information that establishes the strong possibility of American prisoners of war being held in Laos and Vietnam." One of the finding of the Tighe Commission, in 1986. Would the commission have made such a statement without.... evidence?

"Our archives have shown this to be true. Some of them were transferred to the territory of the former U.S.S.R. and were kept in labor camps. We don't have complete data and can only surmise that some of them may still be alive," Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, in June 1992. In spite of attempts by members of the Bush #41 administration to discredit Mr. Yeltsin's statements, do we really believe the former Russian President would make such a statement without.... evidence?

Memo to JPAC: Regarding message "R 101919Z May 07 whose subject is a detailed "Report of Investigation of Laos LKA Case 1063 conducted during the 88 Joint Field Activity."

According to the report, no information was obtained on case 1063. However, a Vietnamese witness who served as an "Education Warden" in a POW camp between January 1968 and May 1970 provided a list of 16 American's on whom he had knowledge.

Upon review of the list analysts commented; "The names that appear on the list Mr. Khoa provided correlate with REFNOs 1556-2-03, 1563-1-01. 1996-0-01 through 1996-0-07; 2020-0-01 and 2020-1-02. The names "Paul Allen", "Edward Peter Whitlock", Erique C. Tolentino", "Arellano Bog Bugarin" and "Dennis Andrew Teller" do not appear in JPAC records."

The names corresponding to the Refnos mentioned in the memo are:

1556-2-03 - John Parcels - returned POW

1563-1-01 - Jon Sweeney - returned POW

1996-0-01 through 1996-0-07 represents civilians Carolyn, Jay and Luanne Miller, Betty Mitchell, Lillian and Richard Phillips, and Jay Scarborough. (Note: Based on limited research, we confirmed the return of all but Jay Miller. Additional research is needed.)

2020-0-01 through 2020-0-02 represents civilians Joan and Norman Johnson. (Note: based on limited research, we were unable to locate information to confirm the status of the Johnson's.)

Here is where this all gets interesting. Of the names who "do not appear in JPAC records," one "Dennis Andrew Teller" jumped out at us. Hopefully, it also jumped out to someone at JPAC in the five years since this report was written. "Dennis Andrew Teller" is in all probability returned POW Dennis Andrew Tellier. If the error was not discovered shame on JPAC!

We wonder how much effort would be needed to correlate the other names dismissed by JPAC because of a spelling error or the names provided phonically.

Recovery Operations in North Korea Halted Before They Began - As you know, the United States announced a halt to the planned recovery operations in North Korea. U.S. official took this action in response to threats by the North Korean government to test fire a long range missile.

The missile test, although a failure has set back all efforts to recovery the remains of servicemen missing in action from the Korean War.

If You Can't Go North, Why Not Go South - With North Korea closed to U.S. recovery teams, we ask; why not go south? There are areas in South Korea where remains of missing servicemen are recoverable. Why not divert to South Korea and recover those remains?

23rd Annual National Alliance of Families Forum - The dates for the annual forum are Friday June 15th and Saturday June 16th 2012. Please note there will be no Thursday evening meeting.

We Have a Hotel and Great Rate for the Alliance Forum - This year the forum will be held at the Holiday Inn National Airport (same as last year), located at 2650 Jefferson Davis Highway, Crystal City, VA. Room rates for Thursday, Friday and Saturday are $99.00 per night plus tax. That's not a typo. Parking rates are $10.00 per night. You can make your reservation by calling 1-800-465-4329, remember to ask for the National Alliance of Families special rate or go on line at http://www.holidayinn.com/redirect?path=hd&brandCode=hi&localeCode=en®ionCode=1&hotelCode=WASDC&_PMID=99801505&GPC=NAF

The deadline for reservations is May 22nd.