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Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs
January 13, 1993
And 59 Is Only The Beginning
Sept. 13, 2008 - Newsletter of the National Alliance of Familes - 19 New POWs Move Over, You're Getting Company.
"The Universe of Possible POWs 1973 versus 1992" - Memorandum to Senator John Kerry, dated August 17, 1992, prepared by Sedgwick D. Tourison, staff investigator with the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs. Internally, this compliation was know as the "Wick Book."
| -- Since 1989 U.S. teams have gathered evidence in Vietnam that between 20 and 30 Americans, neither officially acknowledged by Vietnam as a POW at Operation Homecoming nor officially classified a POW by the Defense Department, were in fact taken prisoner by the Vietnam People's Army during the war. Most appear to have died before 1973 but the fate of at least 5 is as unclear today as it was 19 years ago. Defense Department archival intelligence files contain reports these individuals had been captured during the war. --Today, Defense Department files contain evidence that at least 59 Americans were -- or may have been -- taken prisoner and their precise fate is still unclear. This includes the 20-30 not officially acknowledged by Vietnam in 1973. This represents the minimum number of possible live POWs today. The upper limit appears far less than the 269 currently used by the Administration. |
[Alliance Note: The Committee did not include individuals who were capture but may not have survived (based on the statements of Vientnamese governments or witnesses provided by Vietnamese officials) to Operation Homecoming in 1973. When those servicemen are added to the list of 59 the number increases dramatically.]
The List -- 59 Possible POWs in 1973 based on evidence available in 1992
The Lists - Vessey 119 -- 135 Last Known Alive -- 244 Senate Select Committee List
Note: The Committee's 244 list was revised downward as information was obtained and reevaluated. The Committee's list also included 111 men who died in captivity."
Vietnam Cases - Last Known Alive and listed POW at Homcoming
62 DOD Vietnam Discrepancy Cases - Information obtained in Vietnam since 1989 indicates:
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17 Individuals died after capture and prior to 1973; 22 individuals died prior to 1973 and it appears they died before 1973 although the circumstances of death in some cases may be disputable; 15 individuals either were captued and their fate is unclear, there is evidence of capture and some evidence they died but the evidence is not compelling; 8 individuals with no evidence of capture although the possibility can not be ruled out. |
64 DOD Vietnam Discrepancy Cases - The Committee staff concludes that the following cases contain sufficient evidence which warrants their being placed on a list of possible POWs.
13 DOD Vietnam Discrepancy Cases - "13 individuals "listed as POW" at Homecoming who do not meet the last known alive definition"
Laos and Cambodia - Last Know Alive
49 Lao Discrepancy Cases - Last Known Alive and Discrepancy Cases - "A by case review of these Lao cases contains some evidence that 10 of the 49 were, or could have been, captured."
9 Cambodian Discrepancy Cases - "Individuals including both last known alive and listed POW at Homecoming."
Photo - Photo of Joseph C. Morrison provided in 1992 by the Vietnamese. As of this date, the Vietnamese have not returned Major Morrison."
Photo - Identification Cards of Joseph C. Morrison and San D. Francisco displayed in Vietnamese Museum.
Definitions - "Individuals including both last known alive and listed POW at Homecoming."
Other Documents -- Obtaining the "Wick Book" has put various documents located at the National Archives and at the Vietnam Archives at Texas Tech in a new light. We share those documents here.
Handwritten Notes from the Files of Neal Kravitz - Investigator for the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs,list "Best Cases" some with notations of Signal Intelligence (SI) and Compartmented Information (Codeword classified) existing a unaccounted for servicemen.
Handwritten Notes from the Files of Sedgwick Tourison - Investigator for the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs. This list contains names and comments on possible fate of unaccounted for servicemen.
Handwritten Memo Signed McCreary - "There are over 40 guys who were/are POWs based on the evidence."
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Here's what the "Wick Book said about Cpl. Harris, one of the 39 servicemen named in the Vessey II Priority Case List: "the Vessey II priority list represents an effort to move forward with a process. It was never intended to be a list of all possible candidates but did include all but 12 Americans last known in captivity and unaccounted for as of April 1973."