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July 31, 2010

The National Alliance of Families Mourns the passing of John "Top" Holland. Top, a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, was a longtime advocate for our POW/MIAs and their families. It was Top who authored and pushed tirelessly for the passage of the revised Missing Service Personnel Act. Enacted into law in 1996, Senator John McCain amended this important legislation into uselessness. But, Top never gave up. Of the many words we could use to describe Top Holland, perhaps these words describe him best; he was a soldier and patriot.

To the Holland family we offer our deepest sympathy. Cards may be sent to Top's son Mr. Pat Holland at 14175 Brown Rd., Moores Hill, IN 47032

Remains of Sailors Missing in Afghanistan Recovered - On July 23rd two sailors were reported missing in Afghanistan. They were Hull Maintenance Technician 2nd Class Justin McNeley, 30, of Wheatridge, Colo., and Culinary Specialist 3rd Class Jarod Newlove, 25, of Renton, Wash. Reports vary as to why the two sailors were in Afghanistan. U.S. and NATO forces launched a massive search for the two resulting in the remains recover of Justin McNeley, on July 25th.

Taliban officials claimed Jarod Newlove was captured and in their custody. The U.S. Military listed him as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown (DUSWN). His remains were recovered July 28th.

To the families of Justin McNeley and Jarod Newlove we offer our deepest sympathy.

Leaked Documents Provide Details of Bergdahl Capture - On July 28th, the Associated Press reported:

[Begin Article] "Leaked military documents on the war in Afghanistan appear to provide details of the U.S. Army's search for an Idaho soldier captured last year by the Taliban. Bowe Bergdahl, from Hailey, has been a captive since June 30, 2009. Documents posted on whistleblower group WikiLeaks' website include intercepted radio transmissions after Bergdahl went missing from his base in southern Afghanistan - as well as details about talks two days later with village elders about a possible prisoner swap. In the documents, Afghan tribal leaders assured U.S. officials that Bergdahl was alive and unharmed. Col. Tim Marsano, an Idaho National Guard spokesman, declined to comment on still-classified military documents. Marsano has alerted Bergdahl's family in Idaho about media reports about the leaked documents." [End Article]

For The Record - We oppose the leaking of documents during ongoing military operations that could endanger American service members. However, we welcome any leaks, or release of documentation involving POW and MIA records over 25 years old. There is absolutely no reason information 25 years or older should remain classified.

2010 POW/MIA Recognition Day Poster - Over the last several years we and, judging by the response to our online polls, our readers were less than pleased with DPMO's POW/MIA Recognition Day Posters. The 2009 poster depicted the American Flag at half-staff. The 2008 poster pictured a cemetery, with American Flags at each headstone. Both posters sent the wrong message. Neither poster recognized or acknowledged the possibility of live POWs.

Based on DPMO's past record, we didn't expect much from the 2010 Recognition Day Poster. We were wrong, judge for yourself.

Remember our POWs in Iraq and Afghanistan - Spec. Ahmed Altaie and Pvt. Bowe Bergdahl.

283 - That's the number of co-sponsors signed on to H.Res 111, calling for the formation, in the House of Representative, of a Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs. Current co-sponsors exceed the 280 cosponsors in the 110th Congress.

As we all know, the job is not done until H.Res 111 is voted on by the House of Representatives. Congress recesses August 2nd. If your congressman is not a cosponsor, take this opportunity to visit your representative at their local office and urge them to sign on as a cosponsor. To check the list of cosponsors visit www.nationalalliance.org/legis/111congress.htm

Korean War Lost Battalion of Unsan Awaits Rescue - The following is excerpted from an Associated Press article published July 19, 2010.

"Trapped by two Chinese divisions, troops of the 8th U.S. Cavalry Regiment were left to die in far northern Korea, abandoned by the U.S. command in a Korean War episode viewed as one of the most troubling in American military history. Sixty years later, those fallen Soldiers, the lost battalion of Unsan, are stranded anew." "North Korea is offering fresh clues to their remains. American teams are ready to re-enter the north to dig for them. But for five years, the U.S. government has refused to work with North Korea to recover the men of Unsan and others among more than 8,000 U.S. missing in action from the 1950-53 war." "Now, under pressure from MIA family groups, the Obama administration is said to be moving slowly to reverse the Bush administration's suspension of the joint recovery program, a step taken in 2005 as the North Korean nuclear crisis dragged on." "If I had a direct line in to the president, I would say, `Please reinstitute this program. There are families that need closure,' " said Ruth Davis, 61, of Palestine, Texas, whose uncle, Sgt. 1st Class Benny Don Rogers, has been listed as MIA since Chinese attackers overran his company -- I Company, 8th Cavalry -- at Unsan in late 1950." "It was one of Rogers' I Company comrades, Pfc. Philip W. Ackley of Hillsboro, N.H., whose identifying dog tag appeared in a photo the North Koreans handed over at Korea's Panmunjom truce village in January of this 60th year since the war started. The North Koreans also delivered photos of remains, a stark reminder that Unsan's dead still wait to come home." "The U.S. "has developed the humanitarian issue into a political problem," complained a North Korean statement urging resumption of the MIA search project, which earned hard currency for the Pyongyang government." "….The 8th Cavalry's abandonment at Unsan became an infamous chapter in Army annals -- "one of the most shameful and little-known incidents in U.S. military history," wrote Korean War historian Jack J. Gifford. Some 600 of the 3rd Battalion's 800 men were lost, about half believed killed and half captured, many of whom died in Chinese-run prison camps." "….Stepping up their lobbying in Washington last year, the MIA families appear to have made headway with the new administration. "I'm in touch with everyone there, and they all support restoring the program," said Frank Metersky, 77, a Marine veteran of the war and longtime MIA campaigner." Larry Greer, spokesman for the Defense POW/MIA Office, said officials are "evaluating" a possible resumption. Other administration officials have pointedly referred to the recovery program as a humanitarian mission unrelated to political considerations. But the recent furor over North Korea's alleged torpedoing of a South Korean warship "has stopped everything in its tracks for now," Metersky said. Nevertheless, U.S. specialists sound ready." "We are prepared to resume operations in [North Korea] and will request access to the Unsan area," the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Hawaii, home to the field teams, said in its latest annual report."

We Survived Another POW/MIA Forum - Although scaled back, and with a smaller attendance than usual, we received excellent feedback on the program. A special thanks to Janella Apodaca Rose, Eleanor Apodaca and Ann Holland for pitching in to make the 2010 forum a success. This year was especially difficult with the absence of our "fearless leader" Dolores Alfond. Dolores is dealing with health issues and her doctor advised that she not make the trip to DC.

While in DC, we got to spend a full two days in the National Archives rummaging through the records of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs. We've always stated far more servicemen were captured than acknowledged by either the Vietnamese or U.S. governments.

The acknowledgement of the 19 new POWs by the Vietnamese government proves that. In addition to the 19 new POWs, committee investigators named 59 servicemen as possible survivors in 1973. During our recent trip to the archives we found another interesting document suggesting more POWs.

It is a letter signed by Frances Zwenig, Staff Director for the Senate Select Committee, addressed to the Director of the Central Document Office at the Defense Department. In the letter, date June 22, 1992, Zwenig writes:

"The Senate Select Committee staff has recently identified an additional eleven (11) individuals of interest (See enclosure). There is intelligence information indicating that three (3) of these individuals were captured alive and one each from four two man air crews was also reportedly captured. We are adding these individuals to our list of 238 for a revised list of 249."

The enclosure lists only ten names. This may be explained by the fact that one crewman was rescued at the time of the incident. Remains for two of the individuals named were returned prior to 1990. In one of these cases the Vietnamese acknowledged death occurred in November 1972, seven months after the loss incident.

The individuals named, listed in order of loss are:

Harold Kroske lost February 11, 1969 in a ground incident.

Eric Huberth and Alan Trent, lost May 13 1970

William Bancroft and David Wright, lost November 13, 1970.

Scott McIntire, lost December 10, 1971. McIntire and Robert Belli were shot down over Laos. Search and Rescue located and recovered Belli. The following information comes from the bio of Scott McIntire published by the POW Network.

"On December 11, 1971, a search and rescue helicopter located LTC McIntire handing limp in his parachute in a tall tree. A flight surgeon on the aircraft stated LTC McIntire appeared lifeless and stated his professional view that the conditions of weather and the position of the body after hanging suspended for 20 hours indicated LTC McIntire would have died of hypothermia within six hours and was probably dead on December 11th. Heavy ground fire drove off the SAR aircraft before LTC McIntire could be recovered."

Clemie McKinney and John Greenleaf, lost April 14, 1972. Vietnam unilaterally returned the remains of Clemie McKinney in August 1985, saying he died in November 1972. Joint Field Activity reports indicate personal effects associated to Greenleaf and possible remains were recovered from the crash site. However, no identification has been announced.

Jeffrey Harris and Dennis Wilkinson, lost May 10, 1972. Vietnam unilaterally returned the remains of Dennis Wilkinson in 1978. Remains identified as Jeffrey Harris were recovered during joint field activities. The following is excerpted from the May 31, 1997 editions of Bits N Pieces.

"The Pentagon announced the remains identification of Air Force Capt. Jeffrey L. Harris. Captain Harris and Capt. Dennis E. Wilkinson were aboard an F-4E shot down over North Vietnam on May 10th, 1972." "The remains of Capt. Wilkinson were unilaterally turned over, by the Vietnamese in August 1978. They were positively identified the following month, according to the Defense POW/MIA Weekly Update. Three joint U.S. - SRV investigations and excavations in 1993, 1995, and 1996 were conducted with remains recovered during the 1996 excavation. Also recovered were personal effects, crew equipment and a blood chit." "Individual remains of Capt. Harris will be returned to his family. Individually unidentifiable commingled remains of both crewmen will also be returned for burial."

Questioning the Harris recovery and Wilkinson repatriation we wrote:

"The recovery of remains associated to Capt. Harris, raises several questions in our minds. Captain Wilkinson's remains were returned by the Vietnamese in 1978 and positively identified. Under what circumstances did the Vietnamese come to have Captain Wilkinson's remains? Did he and Capt. Harris die in the crash? Did the Vietnamese recover Capt. Wilkinson's remains from the crash site and return them to the United States? If so, why didn't they recover the remains of Capt. Harris at the same time and return them also? It seems highly unlikely that the Vietnamese would recover one set of remains from a crash site and leave another." "Were both sets of remains recovered and stored with one crewman returned and one held in the warehouse for later "discovery?" Did one or both of the crewmen survive the incident only to die unacknowledged in a second tier prison camp? Were Capt. Harris remains returned to the excavation site, in 1996, to be "discovered" by JTF-FA investigators?

So, Who Was Captured - McKinney obviously as the Vietnamese acknowledged his capture. Although we know that doesn't mean anything to U.S. officials. As for the rest, we can only speculate.