Who We Are...
Formed in June of 1990, our founding members include Korean and Vietnam War POW/MIA family members, frustrated by the U. S. government's lack of progress on the issue of our Prisoners of War and Missing in Action. The Alliance is the only family organization to represent POW/MIA families from all wars.
Early efforts of the Alliance spurred the formation of the U.S. Russian Joint Commission. Working with other POW/MIA groups, we supported legislation, to declassify U.S. held intelligence our POWs and MIAs, from all wars. While we have achieved limited declassification much more needs to be done.
Recent legislation, supported by the Alliance, includes the Bring Him Home Alive Act of 2000, the Persian Gulf Accountability Act, better know as the Speicher Bill and the POW/MIA Flag Bill. All have been signed into law.
Why we do, what we do.
Korean War...
Cpl. Roger A. Dumas - Captured by North Koreans, November 4th, 1950. Last seen August 24th, 1953, according to returned POW, Ciro J. Santo: "...He was to be repatriated on the same day I was, on August 25th. The Chinese took those guys away. But we don't know where they took 'em...."
"...He was taken in the last moment, just before they brought him to the Freedom Village bridge, at Panmunjom, just between North and South Korea.... There was no reason Dumas was kept..." But, they did keep Roger Dumas.
Cpl. Richard G. Desautels Captured December 1, 1950 at Sonchu, North Korea. Last seen August 7th, 1953. "The above mentioned POW was taken into China... He returned to Camp No. 5, in March 1952, at that time he mentioned if he should disappear to make inquires concerning his whereabouts with the proper military authorities." Statement of a former POW
"When we were repatriated, I saw him. He was taken away cause he could speak Chinese... So they took him away and when I was released I saw him in Pyoktong village. He must of been held." Statement of a former POW.
There are at least 19 statements made by former POWs, reporting Richard Desautels in captivity and in the hands of the Chinese.
Cold War...
"WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: While a prisoner of the Red Chinese during the Korean War, I saw over fifteen Caucasian prisoners. I saw these men from June of 1953 through the summer (June - July) of 1955...".
"...One of the fifteen who I saw was a Lt. Paul Van Voohris.... I saw him on about 8 - 10 occasions over a 2-3 week period in late July and early August of 1953 -- seven months after we were shot down..... told me that they {the Chinese} had captured two of our crew as they hit the ground on the night we were shot down (January 12, 1953). They also boasted that they had captured thirteen of us. Of the eleven of us who were freed, none of us were captured on the night of January 12, 1953."
"...Some time during my debriefings I was ordered to forget what I had seen... and to never discuss this matter with anyone...."
Steve E. Kiba – ex-MIA/POW of the Chinese
Vietnam....
"Referenced report provided information of urgent political sensitivity," so reads a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) message sent to USDAO Saigon Vietnam on June 15, 1973. Only evidence of American POWs left behind in Vietnam would warrant a message of "Urgent Political Sensitivity." That was the situation facing DIA in June of 1973
On April 10th, 1973, two days before Assistant Secretary of Defense Dr. Roger Shields declared all the POWs home or dead, a North Vietnamese soldier defected to the south.
The defector... provided stunning information that six (6) American POWs remained in a POW camp in Quang Ngai Province. He had seen the six (6) Americans as recently as late February 1973. The source described the six (6), as an American "Captain" and 5 NCOs and provided a detailed description of the Captain.
That description along with evidence contained in official documentation, leads to the inescapable conclusion that Capt. John McDonnell was the POW described by the source.
Gulf War ....
Declared dead on the first night of the first Gulf War, Navy Capt. Michael Scott Speicher may very well be alive today.
In January 2001, Capt. Speicher became the first American serviceman to have his status changed from Killed In Action to Missing in Action.
Strong evidence indicates that Speicher survived the incident, and safely ejected his aircraft.
An Iraqi defector reported picking up an American pilot and driving him to Baghdad. The defector picked Speicher's photo from a photo lineup. He also passed his polygraph test.
Additional reporting of an American pilot in Iraqi captivity continued and on October 11, 2002, Speicher's status was changed once again, from Missing in Action to Missing-Captured. The Missing-Captured designation replacing the POW designation.
On April 24th 2003, investigators found the initials M S S etched in the wall of an Iraqi prison. Between the two S's was the initial was a smaller H. Was Scott Speicher sending a message? Is that "H" part of Speicher's authenticator code or his Escape and Evade symbol? In early 2004, a media report stated another set of initials were found in a wooden beam. Do these initials belong to Scott Speicher? Where is Scott Speicher?
From Rescue to Recovery – On April 2nd of 2004, the Associated Press reported: "..... the military is refocusing the search for missing Navy pilot Scott Speicher in Iraq from a rescue mission to a recovery mission....."
Captured during Operation Iraqi Freedom
April 9th 2004
For More information...
Contact: Dolores Apodaca Alfond
National Chairperson at
425-881-1499.
E-mail us at: dolores@nationalalliance.org
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