Sgt. Keith “Matt” Maupin is not Missing in Iraq. He was CAPTURED. His exact whereabouts may be unknown at this time, but there is no doubt he was captured. If our own government were not so intent on eliminating the designation Prisoner of War, there would be no confusion on this matter. Twice this week we read references to Maupin as missing in Iraq.

The ambiguous designation of Missing/Captured helps foster the perception that no one knows what happened to Maupin on April 9^th 2004. With main stream media unwilling or unable to challenge the Pentagon on this matter, we will continue to see references to Maupin as missing, making it easier, should God forbid the need arise, for the Pentagon to write off yet another soldier, like so many others from past wars.

As you all know, we have strenuously objected to the ambiguous designation of “Missing/Captured” to classify captured American Service Personnel. Why would our Defense Department “domestically” classify captured Americans with a designation inferior to International Law and the Geneva Conventions.

If International Law and the Geneva Conventions recognize Capt. Scott Speicher and Sgt. Keith “Matt” Maupin as POWs, why doesn’t our own Government?

Dead on Arrival – We’d like to thank all those who worked to gather co-sponsors for H.Res 123, a resolution to form a Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs in the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, time has just about run out. We can no longer ask you to waste effort on a bill that even if passed could not be implemented with sufficient time for investigations and hearings before the 2005 Holiday recesses and the 2006 House recess for campaigning. This resolution has languished in the House Rules Committee since February 17, 2005, with no action.

We end this fight with 22 co-sponsors, 30 less than last year. Representatives who co-sponsored the resolution last year, have ignored it this year. This includes, we are embarrassed to say, the entire New York Congressional Delegation. They have chosen to ignore multiple letters on this legislation. Most notable in their absence is the Long Island delegation members who previously co-sponsored this resolution.. This point is interesting, in that it is a New Yorker, from Long Island, Congressman Peter T. King (R-NY) who has, for the last 10 year introduced this legislation.

So, why is it a resolution with 52 co-sponsors failed to get out of committee? Why is it that Representatives who co-sponsored this legislation, in the last session of Congress, wants no part of it now?

It is clear Congress has absolutely no intention of assisting the POW/MIA community in any effort to learn the truth as to what happened to the men who did not return from World War II, Korea, the Cold War, Vietnam, and Gulf Wars 1 & 2. Unfortunately, all we have received from Congress is lip service with no action to back up their words of support. Instead they point to their support of cosmetic legislation that gives the appearance of support, yet has no real impact on the POW/MIA issue.

We would be remiss, however, if we did not acknowledge those Congressional Representatives who backed up their words of support with action, by co-sponsoring H.Res 123. Those representatives are:

Dennis Cardoza, (CA-18)                                           Michael Michaud, (ME-2

Barbara Cubin, (WY)                                                 Anne Northup, (KY-3)

Jo Ann Emerson, (MO-8)                                           James Oberstar, (MN-8)

Phil English, (PA-3)                                                   Ron Paul, (TX-14)

Anna Eshoo, (CA-16)                                                 Collin Peterson, (MN-7)

Sam Farr, (CA-17)                                                     Todd Platts, (PA-19)

Mark Green, (WI-8)                                                   Jim Ramstad, (MN-3)

Mark Kennedy, (MN-6)                                             Tim Ryan, (OH-17)

Zoe Lofgren, (CA-16)                                                Thomas Tancredo, (CO-6)

Donald Manzullo, (IL-16)                                          Jerry Weller, (IL-11)

Betty McCollum, (MN-4)                                          Frank Wolf, (VA-10)

Air Force Had Indications That Dozens of Missing American Airmen Were Alive in Chinese or North Korean Prisons Two Years after the Korean War — “WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Air Force had indications that dozens of missing American airmen were alive in Chinese or North Korean prisons two years after the Korean War, according to a newly declassified report. The report provides new details about how many men were left behind -- even after the exchange of prisoners -- and who these Americans were. It also describes a dramatic failed attempt to rescue five members of a B-29 bomber crew shot down six months before the war ended in July 1953....”

“The report, labeled “secret,” said the five “were known to be alive in communist hands as of the close of the Korean conflict.” The five never returned. Their names -- and most of the others mentioned in the newly released Air Force intelligence report -- are on a Defense Department list of 389 men from all services who are unaccounted for from the war and about whom the U.S. government believes China or North Korea had information. Both China and North Korea maintain they withheld no American POWs from the war....”

“China took control of the prisoner-of-war camps in North Korea in 1951, and in some cases transferred U.S. POWs to China for interrogations. Compelling but unsubstantiated reports have emerged in recent months suggesting a small number of U.S. servicemen from the war may still be in North Korea. For the first time since the end of the war, North Korea has begun addressing the issue....”

“The declassified Air Force report, dated Oct. 19, 1955, and prepared by the Escape and Evasion Section of the 6004th Air Intelligence Service Squadron, offers no proof that any of the 137 men it mentions were still alive then; most of the cases were based on sketchy information from repatriated POWs, enemy propaganda broadcasts and intelligence sources in North Korea....”

“The strongest statement in the report pertains to the case of the five B-29 crew members: 1st Lt. Gilbert L. Ashley Jr., Airman 2nd Class Hidemaro Ishida, 1st Lt. Arthur R. Olsen, 2nd Lt. John P. Shaddick and 1st Lt. Harold P. Turner. Their B-29 was shot down about 10 miles south of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, on Jan. 29, 1953....”

“Although the site was behind enemy lines, a rescue attempt was made on May 24. It failed. The pilot of the rescue plane made radio contact with Ashley on the ground as they prepared to pinpoint the airmen's location and arrange a “snatch” pickup in which a harness and cord dropped to the men would be hooked by a cable extended from the rescue aircraft, allowing the men to be reeled in to safety. “The pilot reported that the voice was definitely that of the American who had previously been identified as Lieutenant Ashley,” the report said. It said the rescue plane was damaged by machine gun fire, forcing them to abort the mission.”

“Ashley and four crew members (Turner, Olsen, Shaddick and Ishida) were known to be alive in communist hands as of the close of the Korean conflict, July '53,” the report said. It does not say how the Air Force knew this. In his book “Soldiers of Misfortune,” journalist Mark Sauter wrote that U.S. intelligence officials received a message, apparently from Ashley's North Korean captors, that was interpreted as confirmation the five were alive as of Aug. 4, 1953....”

“The Air Force report also describes the case of Capt. Harold M. Beardall, who went down in North Korea aboard a B-26 bomber on May 21, 1951. It mentions several sightings of Beardall by other American POWs months after the shootdown. Beardall was said to have been “held separately from other Air Force” POWs in North Korea. His name was on Chinese hospital records of officers who were interrogated, it said. “Names of this type we feel are alive,” the report says.”

“An unidentified source is quoted in the report as saying Beardall was tried as a war criminal, apparently by the Chinese. Such “trials” were held for many U.S. officers, and their “convictions” used as grounds for refusing to repatriate them.”

“Maj. Kassel M. Keene, for example, who went missing on Nov. 19, 1951, was said to have been sentenced in July 1953 for assaulting a fellow prisoner.” According to the sentence, he was not to be effected (sic) by repatriation,” the report said. Some men listed in the Air Force intelligence report were described as having been seen by other American POWs at Kaesong, North Korea, where U.N. prisoners were taken in preparation to be repatriated shortly after the end of the war.”

The above Associated Press article, by Robert Burns, was originally published in August 1997 and excerpted in the August 16, 1997 edition of Bits N Pieces.

"First I must ask you to excuse my English, because I cannot speak like you. I learned my English in concentration camps and my first teachers were kidnaped American officers." Testimony of Avraham Shifrin before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate, February 1, 1973.

Remains Believed to Be American Found Under House in Saigon – Thanh Nien Daily reported, on September 26^th, “About 20 kilograms of human bones were discovered yesterday by workers digging a foundation for a house in Ho Chi Minh City, with initial indications suggesting the remains are American MIAs.”

“Along with the bones and four front teeth found find at the scene, workers building the house, at 10/5 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, Da Kao ward in the city’s district 1, also discovered belts, a cartridge-box, ammunition, a US-made —16 rifle, and several Philips trademark electric bulbs.”

“Salient features of the bones and equipment show that remains may be American soldiers missing in action (MIA),” said Ho Xuan Dinh, vice director of HCMC Cemetery. Journalists at the scene saw a belt printed with numbers 15/38 on it, and a cartridge-box with letters ‘HOLSTER ASSEMBLY GUU-1/P, 1095-819-8591, J.M.BUCHEMER CO.1967, F.09603-6…D-0232-US’.

“Following the discoveries, the construction of the house was temporarily delayed for investigation,” said landowner Dinh Thi Minh Hang.”

Note: A photo of the remains appeared with this article. If you would like to view that photo click here.

More Identifications by Association - In August, it was announced that the remains of 11 Marines and 1 Army Green Beret, lost in May of 1968 near Kham Duc, had been recovered and identified. The DPMO Press Release stated; “Five of those identified are being returned to their families for burial, and the remaining seven will be buried as a group in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D. C.”

The Press Release continued; “The men who were individually identified are: Cpl. Gerald E. King, of Knoxville, Tenn. ; Lance Cpls. Joseph F. Cook, of Foxboro, Mass. ; Raymond T. Heyne, of Mason, Wis. ; Donald W. Mitchell, of Princeton, Ky. ; and Thomas W. Fritsch, of Cromwell, Conn. , all of the U. S. Marine Corps. Additional group remains are those of: Pfcs. Thomas J. Blackman, of Racine, Wis. ; Paul S. Czerwonka, of Stoughton, Mass. ; Barry L. Hempel, of Garden Grove, Calif. ; Robert C. Lopez, of Albuquerque, N. M. ; William D. McGonigle, of Wichita, Kan. ; and Lance Cpl. James R. Sargent, of Anawalt, W. Va. , all of the U. S. Marine Corps. Additionally, the remains of U. S. Army Sgt. Glenn E. Miller, of Oakland, Calif. will be included in the group burial.”

It is the last sentence we wish to focus on.... “Additionally, the remains of U. S. Army Sgt. Glenn E. Miller, of Oakland, Calif. will be included in the group burial.” Sgt. Miller’s family took great exception to this DPMO statement and contacted the media.

On August 11^th, NBC11 in Oakland reported: “Earlier this week, the Department of Defense said it identified the remains of an Oakland serviceman missing in action in Vietnam. However, his family and the Department of Defense now say this is not exactly true, NBC11's TJ Holmes reported.”

“On Tuesday, the DOD released a statement saying that it had identified "the remains of 12 U.S. servicemen missing in action from Vietnam. It went on to say the remains of Sgt. Glen Miller, of Oakland, would be included in the group burial. However, a DOD representative confirmed with Holmes that Miller's remains may or may not be included with those that will be buried.”

“So, it may be closure for the DOD, but not for Miller's family. Marian Miller has been waiting almost 40 years for the news to break about her brother, but she also didn't expect it to break her heart all over again. "We would have been dancing on the ceiling, not because Glen had died -- because I do believe he's dead -- but to find out what had happened … finally, that they finally knew where he was," Marian Miller said.”

On August 12^th, Associated Press reported; “The family says there is nothing of Miller's to bury - that the military has told them privately that none of his remains or effects were found on the battlefield. "We are really disheartened, said his sister, Marion Miller Alschuler of Orinda. Glen's body was not found."

That evening KRON 4 reported: “A pentagon spokesman told KRON 4 news, "Sgt. Glenn Miller is accounted for and is no longer considered missing in action." Marion Miller Alschuler, Sgt. Miller's sister, tells KRON 4's Vic Lee she believes the government Did not find remains of her brother even though the Pentagon claims otherwise, as documented in their press release.”

“They found nothing of Glenn's." Ms. Alschuler said. "They just assumed that Glenn was there but they didn't have anything, no DNA, not a hair, not an eyelash, not a shoelace, not anything. I think its either a massive coverup or they're simply trying to close Vietnam and this is the largest group of MIA's that they've not found..... The Government Plans to bury Miller in Arlington National Cemetery but Alschuler says she's learned that Miller's uniform will be buried in the coffin, not his remains.”

On August 13^th the San Francisco Chronicle reported: “.....Miller had been placed at the site by circumstantial evidence and they would be part of a group burial in Arlington National Cemetery. Although the sisters have no doubt that Miller, a Green Beret, was killed on May 9, 1968, they object to the idea that this ceremony will be putting his "remains'' to rest.”

“All of which would have been an interesting debate until the story was released to the public and reporters were told by Larry Greer, spokesman for the Pentagon's POW and Missing Personnel Office, that members of the Miller family did not want to speak publicly. "It is a total, total lie,'' says Alschuler. "How dare he? Oh, he's not happy with me, not happy at all. I called him and told him he was a boorish bureaucrat.''

 "Oh yes, she did,'' Greer said yesterday. "She said that I inferred in the media stories that the remains were identified by DNA. I said that I do not write the newspaper stories.''

“....The Miller sisters know their brother died that day. And they know circumstantial evidence has been found to show where his body lay. But what they don't want is for a generic mortician to come by and throw

up a smokescreen.... Or to have a Pentagon spokesman say they don't want to talk about this. (Greer says, rather lamely, that the Millers hadn't specifically said they wanted to talk, so he told reporters they "declined.'')”

“....It sounds to the Millers as if the Army thinks this is something to be cleared off the books so we can move on. That this isn't that important anymore. And the Green Beret's sisters just want to say that, 37 years later, it still is.”

How many other times has DPMO spokesman Larry Greer made decisions for POW/MIA family members, telling members of the media a family had chosen not to speak publically?

Why does Jerry Jennings still have his job?

Why does Johnie Webb still have his job?