The Gulag Study - We've gotten many e-mails from people, complaining they were unable to open or download the 5th Edition of the Gulag Study from the DPMO web site. In order to provide easier access to the study, the National Alliance of Families has converted the Gulag Study to a htm file. This file is much easier to open than the one on the DPMO site and can be downloaded as a web page to your computer. To access the 5th Edition of the Gulag Study visit http://www.nationalalliance.org/gulag/intro.htm

No Confidence Vote Clarification – Last month the Board of Directors of the National Alliance of Families recorded a vote of "no confidence" in Jerry Jennings as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for DPMO. Our "no confidence" vote followed "no confidence" votes recorded by two other family groups. The Alliance Board did extend there "no confidence" vote to include DPMO but excluded the Joint Commission Support Directorate (JCSD). The JCSD continues to have the full support of the National Alliance of Families.

It should also be noted that the Alliance was the only POW/MIA Family group to oppose the appointment of Mr. Jennings. We had many concerns about Mr. Jennings and his background. Now, it seems our concerns were more than justified.

A Plea to the Russian and American President's – A letter, dated March 9th, sent by the National Alliance of Families, to Russian President Vladimir Putin, signed by more than 100 POW/MIA family members, pleaded with the Russian President to grant full access to the records of the former Soviet Union regarding American servicemen imprisoned in the former Soviet Union.

In their letter the POW/MIA family members representing servicemen lost during the Korean War, Cold War and Vietnam War, called upon President Putin; " to bring comfort and piece of mind to many of the families of the missing . . . "

The letter continued "we plead with you to personally intervene and authorize full and complete access to the records necessary to identify and confirm the fate of the many Americans imprisoned in the former Soviet Union. We do not seek recriminations, only answers. The new spirit of friendship forged between the Russian and American government is something we can all appreciate. It is in this spirit that we ask you to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding the actions of a government that no longer exists, the Soviet Union. For that, you will have the eternal gratitude of the families of the missing . . . "

A copy of the Putin letter was also sent to President Bush. The Alliance letter requests that President Bush "in the name of compassion toward our POW/MIA families, we ask that you raise this subject personally with President Putin, when you meet to commemorate the end of World War II, this May. How appropriate it would be to take the first step toward identifying and confirming the fate of these servicemen, as we commemorate the end of World War II."

Mr. President, it is long past time to end this sad chapter in both Russian and American history.

Mishandling of the Speicher Case -- If we needed another reason to support our "no confidence" vote in DASD Jerry Jennings, and DPMO, we got it. Recently, we were contacted by a source who provided information on one aspect of the Speicher investigation. This individual, with direct access to the information, stated:

[Begin Source Statement]

In late March 2002, the Iraqi Government issued an invitation to the U.S. Government to send a delegation to Baghdad to discuss the Speicher case. My first thought was that this would allow both sides to put everything on the table and to clear the air, and perhaps get Speicher released. Rumsfeld stated that he felt the Iraqis were not sincere.

Within days the Iraqi Government also issued a similar invitation to any members of Congress to visit Iraq and inspect any portion of the country they wished to visit; of course, Speicher could have been on the agenda. Congress did not respond.

Since the consensus among DPMO analysts was that Speicher died during his aircraft loss incident, the analysts made no move to urge the Government to react to the invitation. Then, while the Iraqi invitation was still outstanding DASD Jennings took a small delegation of his DPMO "policy advisors" to the mid-East.

On 22 May 2002 the group visited Tel Aviv; on 25 May the group traveled to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and on 29 May all concerned traveled to Kuwait. Personnel on the DPMO staff admitted that the sole purpose of the trip was to "get the DASD out of the office!"

During the period 21 May - 31 May 2002, SPEICHER WAS NOT ON THE AGENDA. As a matter of fact, the Israelis took the initiative to bring up the Speicher case. In other words the trip was a boondoggle at taxpayers' expense and had nothing to do with the POW issue.

The first time the Government responded to the Iraqi invitation actually occurred in July 2002, when six pages of questions were forwarded to the International Commission of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva, to be passed to the Iraqis, with the understanding that meetings with the Iraqis could occur only after the Iraqis had responded to the questions. It should be noted that the Iraqis had not attended the ICRC meetings for the previous three years, so who knows if the questions were passed to them or not.

Within days of the questions being passed to the ICRC, Negroponte at the U.N. stated that the Iraqis were not cooperating on the Speicher case since they had not responded to the questions.

That the DASD could travel to the mid-East and not discuss Speicher is deplorable. That the U.S. Government could not respond to the Iraqi invitation reflects adversely upon DPMO since it had the lead in the Speicher case. [End Source Statement]

Where is the World Is Stony Beach – At last year's annual meetings in "De Cent," we heard reports that the Stony Beach team was being moved back to their base in Thailand? We recently confirmed that others had also heard that report.

In September of 2004, we shared the following information supplied by Warren Gray; "The JTF-FA bias toward Stony Beach has continued to this day since the Stony Beach personnel in Hawaii are relegated to conducting only Last Known Alive (L.A.) investigations of the few remaining L.A. cases. DPMO has been fully supportive of JTF -FA (now JPAC) limiting the professional interrogators and debriefers within Stony Beach to a few LKA investigations, and has made no effort to review, examine or expand the Stony Beach mission. Are the Stony Beach personnel being squeezed out of course they are. At this point in time, when the few LKA cases have been investigated, and without DPMO support, they will effectively be without a mission."

To Mr. Gray's comments we added this note "Alliance Note: We have an unconfirmed report that there were plans to move Stony Beach back to its base in Thailand. We have not heard if the move has taken place or not."

New Source Comes Forward – On March 2nd 2005, we received an e-mail from an individual using the pen name "Publius." After careful review and input from several individuals, we believe the information, provided by "Publius" to be accurate and certainly disturbing. This e-mail is also in line with information provided during the Stony Beach briefing at the Alliance's 2003 meeting.

[Begin Source Statement]

Dear National Alliance of Families,

In reference to your note, which was posted along with Warren Grey's comments:

(Alliance Note: We have an unconfirmed report that there were plans to move Stony Beach back to its base in Thailand. We have not heard if the move has taken place or not.)

I'd like to confirm to you that there are NO plans to move Stony Beach back to its base in Thailand. I personally know people who work in that unit and I'm just as frustrated and appalled with how they are treated by DPMO/JPAC as Warren Grey is.

No leader in the US Govt. can say this POW/MIA issue is a priority, while keeping the bulk of Stony Beach in Hawaii. It's simply not a true statement. It's tantamount to saying publically you are going to investigate a crime, but privately holding back and obstructing the investigators from doing their job.

Even more sad, you families have been deceived for the past several years into thinking that no effort is spared and that all live sightings are investigated in a timely manner. This simply could not be further from the truth! In reality, very little to nothing has been done. Although Stony Beach has tried to launch initiatives to truly get to the truth surrounding these live sighting reports, they have been obstructed, discouraged, and stopped at every turn.

It is truly unfortunate I'm sending this email to you, but I believe the families have a right to know the truth. The time for cheap talk and half-measures is over. Policy officials and analysts in DPMO must be held accountable for their negligence in regards to this important issue. If not, how can we expect our soldiers to fight and die for this country if Govt. leaders and policymakers are going to obfuscate efforts to account for them if they become missing or captured. - Publius

[End Source Statement]

We responded to this e-mail, asking about a recent item found in another newsletter stating Stony Beach had been fully staffed. This is the response we received.

[Begin Source Statement]

Dear National Alliance of Families,

Thank you for your response. Apropos Stony Beach manning, my trusted source informs me that the unit is NOT manned with nineteen personnel, but in fact only has less than fifteen personnel, four of whom occupy administrative positions. Wherefore, the figure of nineteen is erroneous and produces a false illusion to the public. The motives for propagating this number are therefore quite dubious and should be treated with a high degree of incredulity by the families.

Is it all for show, you ask? In response, my trusted source replied, "it takes us three days minimum to get to Thailand and up to a week to enter Vietnam, so it's impossible to quickly react on anything." So, is it all a show for public consumption? Excellent question and one that needs to be addressed at the highest levels. Although Stony Beach personnel are dedicated, creative, and work extremely hard, they are limited and restricted on what they are really able to do in support of this priority.

While geography is not my forte, I do know that no live sighting investigations have ever been conducted within the state of Hawaii, or within the United States for that matter. Ergo, Stony Beach's current posturing has had a cataclysmic/chilling affect on their operations and raises grave questions concerning the U.S. Govt's real, though unstated, intent on the POW/MIA matter.

For U.S. Govt. Officials, or anybody, to state that the POW/MIA issue is a national priority, while at the same time posturing your most effective and highly trained investigators thousands of miles away from their target/potential witnesses, is in inherent contradiction. It simply is not a valid statement. In fact, it is insidious, incredulous, and the American people deserve better from our Govt.

It is a myth and a lie to believe that Stony Beach is allowed to effectively do their jobs. Richard Cheney, then Secretary of Defense stated, "a nation that does not care for those who have fallen in battle, a nation that does not seek freedom for those held captive, a nation that forgets its missing, such a nation is a nation that has lost its soul..." Unfortunately, this is exactly what is happening at the hands of incompetent and self serving U.S. Govt. officials, who have used this POW/MIA tragedy for their own personal gain, with little to show for their efforts.

Whether in this life or the next, a day of accountability will come. John 8:32

- Publius

[End Source Statement]

Messing with the Meetings – Whatever DPMO's motives are, dividing this years annual meeting in Washington, D.C., it's going to cost the families an additional night for a hotel.

Although plans are not "carved in stone," we've been told that the government briefings will start on Wednesday afternoon, June 15th and carry through Friday the 17th. In past years meetings for both the Alliance and the League began on Thursday and ended on Saturday. That is the schedule maintained by both organizations for 2005.

With the government briefings beginning on Wednesday, West and Mid-West family members, along with family members who prefer a good nights sleep, prior to the meetings, will need to be in D.C. by Tuesday night, thus the additional hotel night.

With the majority of POW/MIA family members retired or approaching retirement, cost is a very real concern. To stay at the Doubletree, location of the government briefings, the DPMO "special rate" is $153.00 per night.

Whatever DPMO's motives were in making this change, consideration of POW/MIA family members was not one of them.

Speaking of the Meetings – This year the National Alliance of Families will hold their annual meeting at the Crown Plaza Hotel (we've been there before.) It's a short distance from the Doubletree. Our "special rate" is $109.00 per night, not the $208 per night listed in the DPMO mailing to family members. That's a savings of $44.00 over the DPMO's $153.00 per night Doubletree rate. Remember that none of these costs includes taxes.

When making your reservation, just say you want the National Alliance of Families rate.

Why Is It – that there is an almost 18 month gap between the Washington, D.C. briefings for Korea - Cold War families. Someone on the inside told us DPMO couldn't get a spring hotel booking for the meeting. Didn't anyone at DPMO realize last year, they would need meeting rooms for spring 2005?

We're concerned that the additional time between meetings may be the first step on the road to eliminating the annual Washington, D.C. meetings.

Coming to a Theater Near You – "The Charm School" by Nelson DeMille is headed to the big screen. For those unfamiliar with the book, it's the story of POWs taken to the former Soviet Union. They are held in a village which duplicates a small American City. There they are used to teach KGB agents how to pass as Americans. POWs taken to the former Soviet Union . . .

Why Does Johnie Webb still have a job?

Our Web Site – Still a work in progress, we've added a new section titled "Books, Videos and DVD's." Check it out.

"Missing . . . Presumed Dead: THE SEARCH FOR AMERICA's POWs" – is a documentary, produced by Bill Dumas. Bill is the nephew of Bob Dumas, who has spent the last 50 years trying to bring his Korean War POW brother Roger home. The documentary chronicles Bob's search for his brother and the government's cover-up of abandoned POWs. While primarily focused on the Dumas case, the production deals with the broader aspect of the POW/MIA issue as it relates to Korea and Vietnam. The film contains interviews with many well-known figures in the issue, some of whom haven't spoken publically in years. To order your copy in VHS or DVD format visit www.MissingPresumedDead.com

National Alliance of Families 16th Annual Forum is scheduled for June 16th - 18th, 2005. Our forum is conducted to coincide with the Governments annual Vietnam POW/MIA Family Briefings. We urge all family members to attend this years government briefings. The government will provide free airfare to two family members to attend the government briefings. There is no charge or registration fee to attend the government briefings and you do not have to belong to an organization to attend these briefings. As stated above, this year we will meet at the Crowne Plaza Hotel located at 1489 Jefferson Davis Highway. The Crowne Plaza is a short walk from the Doubletree Hotel, site of the government briefings. Room rates for the Alliance are $109.00 per night plus tax. Parking is $7.00 per day. Call 1-800-2CROWNE. Reservations can be made after March 16th. The deadline for reservations is May 20th. The Alliance is an all volunteer organization. Our meetings are open to all, without charge. At this time of year, we actively seek contributions to finance our forum. If you wish to contribute, donations may be mailed to: