On the mend are POW/MIA family members Erma Hasenbeck, mother of POW/MIA - Paul Hasenbeck and Bob Winters, father of POW/MIA - David Winters. Both good friends of the Alliance, they gave us quite a scare. Happily, both are feeling better.

On May 9th, 1997, delegates of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) met with Korean War POW/MIA family members in New York. The Roundtable of Veterans and Korean POW/MIA Family Members was hosted by General James Wold, director of the the Defense POW/MIA Office.

After being invited to this meeting, the chairperson of the National Alliance of Families was unceremoniously "uninvited." Also, purposely excluded from the meeting was Robert Dumas, brother of Korean War POW Roger Dumas. For 46 years, when the rest of us couldn't spell POW/MIA, Bob Dumas was championing the cause of the missing from the Korean War. His exclusion was inexcusable.

After several phone conversations with representatives of DPMO, Dolores Alfond was told the North Koreans did not want her at the meeting. This was simply not true and we knew it. Getting nowhere with DPMO, Ms. Alfond ended her conversation by simply saying "if I am not invited to your meeting, I'll have a private meeting of my own." That is exactly what she did.

On Wednesday evening, May 7th, 1997, Mrs. Alfond met with the humanitarian delegation from the DPRK. The delegation was headed by Ambassador Kim. Also present at the meeting were Pat and Lee Harrell, the sister and brother-in-law of Army Sgt. C. Robert Jenkins, Journalist Mark Sauter and a prominent businessman.

The interests of our Live POWs were well represented in Wednesday evenings meeting.

During the meeting, Mrs. Harrell presented Ambassador Kim with a letter to her brother and received a promise that it would be delivered. Part of that letter reads: "All the family send their love. We would all like to hear from you. There's not a day that goes by that we don't thing about you and pray for you. We'll never stop praying for you... Until we meet."
DPRK representatives referred to her brother as an "American Survivor, " and Mrs. Harrell was told her brother was "well taken care of...."

The National Alliance of Families considers the the acknowledgment of Sgt. Jenkins being alive, by the DPRK, a monumental step forward.

According to U.S. intelligence, Robert Jenkins is a deserter. However, it has never been explained why this model soldier (he had awards) who told his mother he loved the Army would desert. Home on leave, five months prior to his disappearance, his family saw no indication of any problems.

Sgt. Jenkins was on a night patrol in the DMZ, walking point, when he disappeared. No one in his patrol saw or heard anything. Three weeks later, Jenkins surfaced in a propaganda broadcast from North Korea.

According to Jenkins mother, the letter supposedly sent by her son was not his handwriting. His sister Pat pointed out that the letter was not signed in her brothers usual manner.

We don't know what Robert Jenkins true status is. We do know, for the first time representatives of the DPRK have acknowledged living "American Survivors" in North Korea. Maybe, they are all deserters. Then again, maybe they're not.

Message to DPMO... Don't ever play poker with Dolores Alfond. She doesn't bluff!

On Wednesday, May 14th, 1997, the United States and the DPRK signed an agreement allowing three joint excavations in North Korea. According to a Reuters article May 15, 1997, by Charles Aldinger " The United States and North Korea have agreed to conduct three new searches for remains of U.S. troops missing in the North since the Korean War and to examine archives in Pyongyang for information on missing Americans, the Pentagon said Thursday.

But there was no immediate agreement from the North on a request by the United States to interview several U.S. military defectors believed to be living in North Korea since the 1960s, the Defense Department said. The announcement of the agreement, sealed Wednesday, followed five days of talks between U.S. and North Korean officials in New York last week.

Those talks ended Friday night in what then appeared to be no progress in the effort to account for some 8,100 U.S. troops still missing in the North since the 1950-53 war...."

"....Washington had agreed to pay Pyongyang $105,500 in expenses for each joint excavation. The one-page agreement also sets up "in principle" a search of archives in the Fatherland Liberation War Museum in Pyongyang for information on missing Americans...."

Blankenship and Jones were lost in July 1967, when their B-52D collided in midair with another B-52. The planes crashed into the South China Sea, 22 miles off the South Vietnamese coast. A total of seven crewmen, from both planes were rescued. Blankenship and Jones were not found.

In 1994, a Vietnamese fisherman told U.S. investigators he had found wreckage and remains in one hundred feet of water. He turned the remains over to JTF-FA. Identification was based on mt-dna testing.

Next Installment: As promised here is the next section of the document discussed in the last edition of Bits 'N' Pieces. The full text of the document is available on our website. To widen its distribution, our good friends at Heart of Illinois have agreed to publish the document in the next edition of their newsletter. Thanks Guys!

(4) Fourteen are material evidence cases, in which material evidence has been provided by the Vietnamese. This evidence is an indication that the Vietnamese have additional information about the cases, and are capable of assisting in the resolution of the cases.
Refnos are as follows: 0053 0103 0124 0126 0143 0266 0349 0386 0399 0482 0507 0586 0611 0887

(5) One hundred forty-one incidents will definitely require site surveys. Most of these will probably require excavation. Evidence exists that the remains of one or more servicemembers are at of near the crash site, which has a reasonably accurate location. Refnos are as follows:

0062 0077 0083 0088 0090 0093 0095 0112 0121 0123 0125
0131 0135 0131 0131 0150 0167 0182 0199 0200 0201 0202
0213 0217 0219 0251 0254 0263 0274 0294 0301 0307 0315
0322 0324 0335 0350 0361 0375 0378 0391 0407 0408 0443
0447 0455 0457 0460 0462 0494 0495 0500 0502 0550 0551
0566 0578 0579 0590 0591 0597 0605 0615 0626 0643 0648
0660 6097 0706 0717 0730 0732 0743 0747 0761 0768 0770
0772 0778 0782 0785 0788 0806 0807 0813 0819 0825 0828
0853 0854 0859 0868 0869 0875 0881 0928 0965 0981 1049
1079 1105 1141 1144 1148 1175 1177 1188 1209 1213 1216
1222 1226 1236 1238 1253 1262 1276 1281 1294 1314 1552
1675 1789 1798 1816 1827 1848 1863 1866 1883 1895 1911
1924 1937 1940 1943 1954 1955 1961 1963 1976

to be continued:

The National Alliance of Families Eighth Annual Forum is scheduled for June 19th - 21st, 1997. Once again, we will meet at the Sheraton City Centre Hotel in Washington D.C. Room rates are $99.00 per night double occupancy. To make reservations, call 800-526-7495. Reservations must be made by May 21st, 1997.

Remember our meetings are open to all, at no charge. In order to make this Forum a reality, funds are needed. Please consider a contribution to The National Alliance of Families. The Alliance is registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a charitable organization. All donations are tax deductible. Contributions may be mailed to The National Alliance of Families, P.O. Box 40327, Bellevue Washington 98015-4327.

Please Note: No funds of the National Alliance of Families were use in connection with the trip to New York and meeting with the Humanitarian Delegation of the DPRK.

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