Bits 'N' Pieces October 4, 1997

White House snubs POW Offer -- Offered the chance to negotiate for American "survivors" held in North Korea, the White House responded with a resounding NO! According to an Associated Press Article dated September 30th, 1997 "The Clinton administration concluded that the offer, which was communicated through a third party, was an empty gesture..."

In the January 4th 1997, edition of Bits 'N' Pieces, we reported that a small delegation, led by Robert Egan, a prominent businessman friendly to the POW issue, traveled to North Korea, in late 1996. Also traveling with the delegation were former POW Capt. Eugene "Red" Mc Daniel and Investigative Journalist Mark Sauter. That trip was the prelude to an unprecedented offer, by the North Koreans, to negotiate for American "survivors." Several weeks of delicate planning collapsed when the White House refused to cooperate in the negotiations for American "survivors."

After months working behind the scenes, with no progress, the decision was made to go to the media. The following is excerpted from an Associated Press article by Robert Burns, dated September 30, 1997: "WASHINGTON (AP) -- North Korea proposed using Texas billionaire Ross Perot as a go-between last winter to address U.S. suspicions that American MIAs were still there from the Korean War, according to people familiar with the talks."

"The Clinton administration concluded that the offer, which was communicated through a third party, was an empty gesture. Administration officials persuaded Perot not to get involved. This murky episode, which neither side made public at the time, left U. S. officials no closer to unraveling the mystery of just how many Americans are living in North Korea...."

"The North Koreans raised the matter of Perot last December in an unofficial setting in New York in the midst of negotiations about a public apology by North Korea for sending a spy submarine into South Korean waters three months earlier..."

"...When the North Koreans made the proposal, U.S. officials asked them what Americans were included. Officials at the North Korean mission to the United Nations replied that in addition to the defectors there "could be up to seven others who voluntarily came" to North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War, according to a Clinton administration official privy to the discussions. The official spoke on condition he not be identified."

"The North Koreans did not say whether the seven others were servicemen or civilians. Suspecting this was phony talk to wrangle money, food aid or other concessions from the United States, the administration intervened to stop Perot from meeting with the North Koreans to pursue it, the official said. Contacted at his Dallas office on Monday, Perot said, "I have nothing at all to say."

"Robert Egan, a New Jersey businessman who has regular contacts with North Korean diplomats in New York, said the North Koreans told him they wanted to open the door to talks on U.S. POWs in exchange for not having to publicly apologize for the submarine incident, and that they wanted to work through Perot. He said he communicated the offer to the U.S. side. "Those men were put on the table for negotiating purposes," Egan said. He said Han Song Ryol, a diplomat at North Korea's U.N. mission, told him that some Americans in his country are "survivors of the Korean War."

"....Eugene "Red" Mc Daniel, a retired Navy captain who met with North Korean officials in Pyongyang several days before the Perot proposal was raised in New York, said the North Koreans saw Perot as a "man of action" who could help them achieve their goal of attracting foreign investment to revive their economy...."

"In January, after North Korea apologized for the submarine incident, U.S. officials inquired again about Americans. This time North Korean officials in New York gave a different reply, which they said was authorized by the Foreign Ministry in Pyongyang. "They said the official North Korean answer is, there are no Americans living in North Korea that came from the Korean War era," said an administration official with direct knowledge of this conversation in New York. The official said they denied there were others besides the four defectors."

"The denial aside, administration officials say they do not rule out the possibility of Americans other than the four Army deserters being in North Korea. North Korea has consistently denied it kept any American POWs from the Korean War. But in recent years it has pointedly left open the possibility that servicemen it does not consider to be war prisoners may be there, in addition to the four defectors from the 1960s."

"Coincidence or not, the total of 11 Americans -- four known defectors plus the seven "others" mentioned last December -- matches the number cited in some U.S. intelligence reports, including a formerly secret Defense Intelligence Agency message from February 1989 that said a North Korean defector reported knowing of "11 American POWs from the Korean War who are working as English teachers" in Pyongyang. Last year, a Pentagon investigator, In Sung Lee, cited "very compelling reports" of 10 to 15 U.S. POWs in North Korea."

"Also, a declassified CIA memo dated March 9, 1988, referred to a sighting by an unidentified source of "as many as 11 Caucasians, possibly American prisoners from the Korean War," in the fall of 1979 on a collective farm north of Pyongyang."

There is no explanation as to why the Clinton Administration termed the offer for American "survivors" an "empty gesture." We would think that any information relating to this nation's "highest national priority" would be acted on immediately. Obviously, that is not the way they think in Bill Clinton's White House.

If you are as appalled by the White House inaction, in this matter, as we are, write the President. Let him know that all offers to negotiate for American "survivors," "prisoners," "war criminals" "stay behinds," whatever the foreign nationals choose to call our servicemen, our heroes, must be taken seriously. Every offer must be acted upon, immediately. Sadly, this was truly a missed opportunity. Send your letters to President Clinton, The White House; 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.., Washington D.C. 20500. Or fax him at: 202-456-2461. Sent e-mails to - president@whitehouse.gov

Folks - This is not the end of the story. Stay tuned!

What about the POWs - In a bipartisan effort Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) and Senator Joseph Biden (D-De.) will hold hearings on NATO Expansion. Criteria will be set for NATO expansion and the admittance of former Eastern Bloc countries to NATO. However, no mention is made of cooperation on the POW/MIA issue. Many of these former communist countries have information on our POW/MIAs. Under their new democratic governments many of these countries have indicated their willingness to provide that information. All we have to do is ask!

Please contact both Senator Helms and Senator Biden. Ask that our POW/MIAs be added to the criteria for NATO expansion and the admittance of the former Eastern Bloc countries. Send your letters to:

Senator Jesse Helms

450 Dirksen Building

Washington D.C. 20510

Fax: 202-224-0836 Voice: 202-224-4651

E-Mail: jesse_helms@helms.senate.gov

Senator Joseph Biden

439 Dirksen Building

Washington D.C. 20510

Fax 202-228-3612 Voice 202-224-3953 s

senator@biden.senate.gov

Nixon Tapes - On Monday, September 29, 1997, tapes along with transcripts of three conversations, held by Richard Nixon, relating to POWs and MIAs were released by the National Archives. The tapes of three meetings, two held March 22 and the third held April 11th 1973, total 41 minutes. The following is excerpted from a September 29th, 1997 Reuters article by Jim Wolf: "WASHINGTON (Reuter) - President Richard Nixon ordered the Pentagon to "play it very tough" to try to free suspected American prisoners of war in Laos days before the U.S. exit from South Vietnam, newly released tapes showed Monday. "I have always said that until all of our prisoners are withdrawn, there will be American forces in South Vietnam," Nixon told Brent Scowcroft, then the deputy national security adviser, according to a transcript of a March 22, 1973, conversation, released by the National Archives. "That's the line. Play it very tough," Nixon said. "...See that the Pentagon understands that and the State Department ..."

"Nixon feared that communist guerrillas in Laos known as the Pathet Lao would hold back Americans suspected to be in their custody, despite North Vietnam's informal promise to arrange their release...."

"Nixon's effort to close the books on the prisoner-of-war issue turned out to be premature, according to a Senate Select Committee that looked into the issue in 1992 and 1993...."

"The March 22 conversation with Scowcroft and with Ron Ziegler, then the White House spokesman, does not make clear whether Nixon knew that any specific prisoner or prisoners were in danger of being left behind...."

"Only nine Americans captured in Laos, all of them seized in areas controlled by North Vietnamese forces, were among the final March 28, 1973, planeload of POWs from Hanoi...."

"In a separate recorded conversation two hours earlier, Nixon gives another indication that he was intent on making sure that the Pathet Lao freed all its suspected POWs before completing the U.S. withdrawal. "You see here is the problem that I have," he told Scowcroft, referring to the announcement he wanted to make at "the magic hour" when all U.S. prisoners were freed..."

"So that's what our goal is," he said. But he added that he would not make any such announcement "if they (by implication, the Pathet Lao) screw around" by withholding suspected POWs...."

"The statement cannot be made until all POWs are out and troops are withdrawn," Nixon said.

Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense - In an undated March 1973 memo to the Secretary of Defense, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense, Lawrence Eagleburger stated, in part: "DIA lists approximately 350 U.S. military and civilians as missing or captured in Laos. Therefore, the Lao Patriotic Front (LPF) list of ten POWs constitutes only a 2.5% accounting. In contrast, the NVN list represents 45% and the PRG list represents 20% of the POW/MIA personnel carried on our lists in these respective areas. There is an obvious lack of reporting on the part of the LPF. Because of the foregoing statistics and analysis of the conditions under which our people have been lost, DIA concludes that the LPF may hold a number of unidentified U.S. POWs although we cannot accurately judge how many. The American Embassy, Vientiane, agrees with this judgment."

A March 28th 1973 Memo to the Assistant To the President for National Security Affairs, initialed by Elliott Richardson stated, in part, "After the recovery of the last prisoners from NVN, Hanoi should be advised unequivocally that we still hold them responsible for the return of all POWs being held in Indochina. And in this regard, any further mine sweeping activity as well as all future US reconstruction assistance should be described as wholly dependent upon the accounting for and/or release of US prisoners being held in Laos. Once again NVN should be clearly informed that an accounting for ten men out of a total of more than 350 is considered unacceptable."

The memo continued; "In the meantime (about 28 March), a strong demarche should be made to the ranking LPF representative in Vientiane by the US Ambassador personally. This initiative should plainly and forcefully assert that the U.S. will no longer play games with the POW issue in Laos. The LPF should be told that we know they hold U.S. prisoners, and we demand their immediate release as well as an accounting and information on all those who may have died. Finally, the LPF should be advised that failure to provide a satisfactory answer could result in direct United States actions."

January 8th 1992 - on CNN's "Larry King Live" former President Richard Nixon stated; "I would not recognize Vietnam. Vietnam has not complied with the peace treaty of 1973. It still is engaged in aggressive actions in Laos, for example,... and it has been particularly repressive to those who fought beside us from South Vietnam."

When asked "Are there POWs there?" Nixon responded by saying "That's another area where... which gives us reason not to recognize them. I don't know whether there are or not, but it has been obscene, the way they have just dribbled out information to these poor families who simply want to know what happened. They've got to know a lot more than they've done...."

May 6th 1997, on CNN's "Larry King Live" Henry Kissinger responded to a question on POW/MIAs by stating, in part; "...I cannot see a rationale why they should hold back POWs, they don't do them any good unless they negotiate for them. But, then I have to say that I have never dealt with a group of people as treacherous as the North Vietnamese leadership... they would stop at nothing to achieve their objective."

As of this writing, both Vietnam and Laos enjoy diplomatic relations with the United States. Laos enjoys Most Favored Nation status and Vietnam is still waiting for its 4.75 billion dollars of reconstruction aid. Neither nation has returned all our POWs or truthfully accounted for our Missing.

Full transcripts of the Nixon Tapes, along with the Eagleburger and Richardson memos, are available on the National Alliance Families website.

Remains Identification - The Pentagon has accounted for 7 servicemen missing from the Vietnam War. The names of two, an airman and Army pilot were not released at the request of the families. Those accounted for, from the Air Force, are: Capt. Peter H. Chapman, of Centerburg, Ohio; Lt. John H. Call, III, of Potomac Md.; T/Sgt. Allen J. Avery, of Auburn, Ma.; T/Sgt. Roy D. Prater, of Tiffin Ohio; and Sgt. William R. Pearson of Webster, N.H. The five were aboard a "Jolly Green" involved in a search and rescue operations made famous in the movie "BAT 21."

The remains of this crew were recovered during joint investigations conducted in 1989, 1992 and 1994. Mt-dna technology accounted for Chapman, Call and Pearson. Avery and Prater were identified by association.

To the families of these men we offer our prayers and hold you in our hearts during this difficult time.