Misinformation – Both DPMO and the Defense Dept. continue to say that we are spreading misinformation.

It is NOT misinformation to state that the controlling directives within the Dept. of Defense do not provide for a Prisoner of War status. DPMO has admitted that Controlling Directive 1300.18 does not “include the term POW.”

It is NOT misinformation when the Secretary of Navy confirms “the controlling missing persons’ statute and directives do not use the term Prisoner of War.”

It is NOT misinformation to say the Dept. of Defense has no POW status for captured Americans, when the Dept. of Defense and DPMO are distributing a memo to Congressional Offices and Veterans groups stating; “The legal status of missing-captured is a domestic status.”

It is NOT misinformation to say that the Dept. of Defense has replaced the Prisoner of War designation for captured service personnel with the designation or in their words “legal status” of missing-captured.

Why???? That’s our question, why would the Dept. of Defense provide a designation, or legal status inferior to that provided under International Law of the Geneva Conventions?????????

We object to this inferior status and we, along with Rolling Thunder National®, and Carrying the Flame are doing something about it and we need your help!

On April 9^th we announced the launch of a nationwide petition drive to call upon the President and Congress to “direct the Department of Defense to recognize and designate as “Prisoner of War” (POW) not “Missing/Captured” (MIA-C) any member of the U.S. Armed Forces, paramilitary, militia, U.S. citizens employed by a U.S. agency or under U.S. Government contract who are captured and held against his/her will . . . ”

The petition concludes; “To ensure that the classification of U.S. Military and Civilian Personnel is not inferior to that provided for under the Geneva Conventions, we ask that you direct the Department of Defense to eliminate the designation Missing-Captured and reinstate the designation “Prisoner of War.”

Petitions are available for printing or downloading at www.nationalalliance.org or www.rollingthunder1.com

[Note: Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to print or download the petitions. If you don’t have Adobe, you can download it free at www.adobe.com Click the icon stating “Get Adobe Reader”]

Who among us could look Scott Speicher or Matt Maupin in the eye

 and tell him he was not a Prisoner of War in the eyes of his own government.

Support the POW Petition Drive

If you can’t get the petition from the internet, contact us. We will mail or fax a petition upon request.

Why would the Dept. of Defense provide a designation, or legal status, for captured American service members, inferior to that provided under International Law of the Geneva Conventions?????????

An Old Friend Provides an Interesting Answer – After our last “Bits” we were contacted by David Hendrix, veteran, journalist and longtime supporter of our POW/MIAs and their families. Dave offered the following comments on the elimination of the POW designation, along with his endorsement of the Petition Drive.

From Dave Hendrix – “This is a diabolical plan by the Department of Defense to rid the United States of the official status of Prisoner of War for Americans captured in action. Under the new designation -- "Missing In Action-Captured" -- the United States will no longer accord our men and women the status in the United States that previous generations of our warriors have held and for which international treaties were enacted to require specific treatment and protection. Officially, with the change, the Pentagon now holds foreign nations responsible for designating the status of Prisoner of War on any Americans captured during conflict. It makes no sense. Why would the U.S. rely on another nation, a nation with which we are in conflict, to make the official POW designation on our fighters? According to the DOD, it's practical bookkeeping at home.

 It's anything but that.

America finds itself in the midst of a new type of conflict. It captures "non-military combatants" and terrorists, who are that. The U.S. government has taken the legal view that it, not the combatants nor the nations from which they come or the nations for which they fight, has the right to decide whether the people we capture or "detain" are bona fide POWs with international rights or some other status with no rights. Because the U.S. has taken that position, it is trying to set a legal precedent that the "detaining nation" has the obligation (actually, the right) to dictate the status of the captured individual. But, by doing that, the United States has offered up each of our military combatants to the whim of the capturing nation as to whether our military people are terrorists in military uniforms or soldiers. Remember how incensed we were when Vietnam officially designated our military people who were captured "terrorists?" We have just accorded them, and any other nation, the right to do so.

Further, given the history of our Department of Defense and elected officials, who abandoned combined thousands upon thousands of official American POWs in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and Gulf Wars I and II, our DOD and officials are the least to be trusted with trying to get back or negotiate for the return of our people designated only "Missing In Action -- Captive." The DOD has shot our people in the back again -- but this time, it's ahead of time, as guinea pigs. If our DOD people had the gonads they allege they have, they would step up to the plate and demand a new international conference to take care of the problem of "non-military combatants" without giving away, under stealth, the rights of our military fighting men and women. It's a disgrace and dishonorable. I hope you'll sign this petition, circulate it, and return it to Rolling Thunder. It's time to do more than wave flags.

David E. Hendrix

Another Old Friend Comments on the Speicher Case – In our April 2^nd “Bits” we commented on the decision of the Secretary of Navy, Gordon England, to convene a Board of Review to examine the case of Capt. Scott Speicher. The basis of this decision, according to news reports, is a recent classified briefing to Congress on actions taken between November 2002 and March 2005 to determine the fate of Captain Speicher. The same news report stated the report provides no new information. At issue, will the Navy continue to carry Capt. Speicher as MIA-C, or declare him dead, once gain.

This brought the following comment from Cmdr. Chip Beck (USNR-Ret), a former Investigator with DPMO.

“It is almost certain that Scott Speicher was captured and held by the Iraqis. Whether he was subsequently murdered by his captors, or died of abuse, is a determination that should be based on evidence, not the absence of facts.”

Status Review Update – The Army Board of Review has determined that Sgt. Maupin will continue to be carried as Missing-Captured (MIA-C.)

H.Res 123 Status Report – As of April 22^nd, this bill has 3 cosponsor. In addition to Representatives Eshoo and Paul, Congressman Jim Ramstad of Minnesota has signed on. Please contact your Congressional Representative and ask that they support H.Res 123 to form a House Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs.

A list of all Congressional Representatives, along with addresses and fax numbers may be found on our web site at www.nationalalliance.org/legis/index.htm Sample letters are also provided. We’ve also added a flyer that you can mail or fax to your congressman, with your letter. In order to keep this a one page flyer, we have listed only seven of the many, many reasons this new investigative committee is needed.

Please send your letters and make your calls.

The Annual Meeting – The ongoing tension, over the 2005 annual meeting, has kicked up a notch with DPMO issuing a letter, signed by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Jerry Jennings, to all Vietnam POW/MIA Family Members. This letter attempts to justify the decision to hold the annual government briefing separate from the National League of Families. In response, the League issued a rebuttal to Mr. Jennings letter.

We did not intend on commenting on this, beyond what we’ve said previously. However, since both DPMO and the League have mentioned the Alliance in their missives, we decided to add our two cents.

We found both the original and the rebuttal of interest. Because of this, we are posting both on our web site in the “Breaking News” section at www.nationalalliance.org

We were amused by the letter from Mr. Jennings. His and DPMO new found concern that DPMO “follow government regulations that require non-preferential treatment with respect to support of private organizations, ” is a joke. This from a man who, during the first three years of his tenure, REFUSED to meet with Alliance Chairperson Dolores Alfond.

DPMO has routinely ignored the National Alliance of Families. There were any number of times that we were not informed of or invited to meetings in Washington D.C. If there was an invitation, they often came to late to make travel arrangements. Other times invitations came only after we found out about the meeting and contacted DPMO demanding to be included.

DPMO never recognized the National Alliance of Families as the LARGEST POW/MIA family group representing POW/MIA families from ALL wars. One section within the DPMO letter illustrates this. According to the letter; “With respect to the League specifically, we provided to the League’s Executive

 Director our draft of a seminal DoD policy directive on personnel accounting for review and comment. This policy document, published in November 2003, “institutionalized” the POW/MIA issue in DoD – something the League has long espoused.”

The Alliance was never provided with a draft and we’re betting none of the Korea/Cold War family groups were provided this draft for their input.

Within the League rebuttal we found one statement we believe requires clarification. The statement – “The League has consistently opened our annual meetings to all family members, whether or not members of the League, to ensure that all receive factual information from responsible US Government officials” is not quite accurate. Non-League POW/MIA family members can attest to that.

All POW/MIA family members are entitled to attend the government briefings and they do, wearing identification tags differing in color from the tags of League members. The actual National League of Families meeting was open only to League members while the government briefings were open to all POW/MIA family members and League Concerned Citizen Members. That the League limits attendance, to their portions of the meeting, to members only is well within their rights and their choice.

That is all we will say regarding the League rebuttal.

Here Is Our Take on the Recent Events – With regard to the annual government briefing the only request ever made by the National Alliance of Families was that Concerned Citizen members of the Alliance be allowed to attend the briefing. This was not an outrageous demand as Concerned Citizen members of the National League of Families were allowed to attend these briefings. (We assume this will stop, this year.)

All DPMO needed to do to conform to any regulation on non-preferential treatment is allow Alliance concerned citizen members to attend the government briefings, instantly putting both organizations, publically at least, on the same footing.

As to the hosting organization that problem could have been solved in one of two ways. Either allow both organizations to book into the same hotel, or alternate hosting years. The Alliance offered this proposal as far back as 1993. DPMO controlled one of these solutions, the League the other.

It is no secret that the National Alliance of Families was founded by POW/MIA family members dissatisfied with the representation provided by the National League of Families, and to give voice to the families of World War II, Korea, and Cold War POW/MIAs. There were strong disagreements with regard to League acceptance of government policy and approach to the resolution of the POW/MIA issue.

In the years, since 1990, we continue to disagree on policy, approach and legislation. We strongly opposed and challenged the actions of DIA, DPMO, and JPAC (formerly CIL-HI and JTF-FA). We are the only organization to object to the appointment of Jerry Jennings as head of DPMO. Our strong and vocal objection to the continued characterization of Vietnam’s full cooperation on the POW/MIA issue is well known.

Basically, we have found ourselves in opposition to every opinion and approach of the National League of Families. Yet, we support all efforts to return the meetings to, at minimum, the 2004 format and location.

With that said, it is now time to focus. With all the turmoil surrounding the meeting, this year, no one is asking why all of a sudden DPMO is concerned about complying with government regulations on preferential treatment. For 34 years, no one in the government expressed any concern about any rules and regulations.

Last year, the 35^th year, DPMO made their first move to rewrite the rules. They continue this year with a major disruption to the annual routine.

Why?

 There is certainly no benefit to the POW/MIA family members. By altering both the meeting schedule and location, DPMO has imposed both financial and physical hardship on a group of people mostly on fixed incomes and more physically limited than they were say 20 or even 10 years ago.

DPMO screwed the POW/MIA families, the League and even the Alliance on the meeting this year. But, it’s time to get our eyes back on the ball and ask the question . . . What is the real motive behind DPMO’s decision? For business as usual, all they needed to do was leave the meeting alone. They’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest, and they obviously don’t care. We need to ask the question . . . WHY?

How To Properly Dispose of Tattered American Flags – You can retire your tattered, worn out and frayed American flags without cost to you. Send your flags to the Kitchen Table Gang Trust, 42922 Avenue 12, Madera, CA 93638-8866 and we will dispose of your flags in a proper and dignified manner with full honors and dignity pursuant to the United States Flag Code Section 8K (PL93-344). We have been doing this for the past seven years. Our flag retirement ceremonies are held on Flag Day, June 14th each year and are conducted by an all volunteer U.S. Marine Corps Honor Guard led by GySgt. Dan Kelley USMC (Ret.). The Kitchen Table Gang also has a nationally recognized educational program for our young people and students, teaching them the history, traditions and respect for our national emblem.

For more on this organization visit www.kitchentablegang.org

National Alliance of Families 16^th 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 briefing. 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.

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 is $109.00 per night plus tax. Parking is $7.00 per day. Call 1-800-2CROWNE. The deadline for reservations is May 20^th.

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:

National Alliance Of Families

 P.O. Box 40327

 Bellevue, Wa. 98015.

Remember all contributions are tax deductible.