Access to China's POW Records…. Not Quite - On Friday, U.S. and Chinese officials signed an agreement to open "sensitive military records" in hopes that they might provide information on the fate of servicemen unaccounted for from both the Korean and Cold War.

While this is a promising step, it must be viewed with caution, as U.S. investigators will not actually have access to the records. Records will be reviewed by Chinese archivists, who will, according to the agreement, turn over "relevant" records.

We know the Chinese were involved with American POWs from Korea and the Cold War. Thanks to the vast amount of research done by private citizens, and information provided by returned POWs, we have a pretty good idea of the names and type of information we should see coming out of the Chinese military records. We also know that if we don't see some of these high profile names, putting them alive in Chinese hands, for whatever length of time, the agreement signed yesterday won't be worth the paper it's printed on.

High on the list of individuals on whom the Chinese records should provide information are Roger Dumas, Richard Desautels and Paul Van Voohris. The case of Roger Dumas is well known and documented.

In the October 24th 1998 edition of Bits N Pieces provided the following; "In a fax to POW Family Member Bob Dumas, DPMO advises that Undersecretary of Defense, Walter Slocombe, will make a inquiry regarding POW Roger Dumas. The following was provided by to Mr. Dumas by the Defense Casualty and Family Support Branch of DPMO:

"Inquiry Status: Initial"

"Discussion: Corporal Dumas was reported missing from the 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, in November 1950. Other American POWs reported that Corporal Dumas was captured and held in POW Camp #5 at Pyoktong. There is a reported sighting by POW of Corporal Dumas in good health as late as April 1953. We have also identified an individual in a group photo of POWs (from Chinese War-time publication) in the Pyoktong camp as possibly being Corporal Dumas. Several POWs reported seeing Dumas near the final repatriation point in August 1953. One POW reported that Corporal Dumas was led away from trucks that were to transport American POWs to repatriation at Panmunjom in August 1953."

"Request: In view of the reports of Corporal Dumas' captivity and survival at least until August 1953, request the Chinese Government review the records of POW Camp #5 at Pyoktong and the final repatriation records to determine if there is any information available which might resolve the fate of Corporal Dumas."

Lesser known are the cases of Desautels and Van Voohris. There are at least 19 statements made by former POWs, reporting Richard Desautels in captivity. By far, the most chilling statement expresses Desautels' own fears that he might be held back "...he mentioned if he should disappear to make inquires concerning his whereabouts with the proper military authorities...." [Source: Debrief of Returned POW]

In a summary report prepared by the U.S. Government, former POW Richard Grenier reported that he had last seen Robert Desautels in August 1953. According to the report, in an accounting furnished by Communist forces on 2 March 1956, Desautels is shown as "escaped." (Note: A similar "accounting" by the Communists listed a known double amputee as "escaped.")

Returned Cold War POW Steve Kiba reported his sightings of Van Voohris and other Caucasians while held in China. In a statement dated November 4, 1978 Kiba wrote; "While a prisoner of the Red Chinese during the Korean War, I saw over fifteen Caucasian prisoners. I saw these men from June of 1953 through the summer (June - July) of 1955. (My internment lasted from January 13, 1953 to August 4, 1955.) Most of the sightings were during the months of May through September 1953, with sporadic sightings at other times prior and after this period of time. These fifteen men are in addition to John T. Downey and Richard Fecteau with whom our B-29 crew spent three weeks (December 7-28, 1954). One of the fifteen who I saw was a Lt. Paul Van Voohris. Lt. Van Voohris was on our B-29 as an instructor radar operator. I saw him on about 8 - 10 occasions over a 2-3 week period in late July and early August of 1953 -- seven months after we were shot down."

Kiba was told by the Chinese that Van Voorhees and another crewman, Lt. Henry Weese were killed in the crash. Yet, in his statement Kiba described that during his interrogations the Chinese boasted "they had captured two of our crew as they hit the ground on the night we were shot down (January 12, 1953). They also boasted that they had captured thirteen of us. Of the eleven of us who were freed, none of us were captured on the night of January 12, 1953."

Kiba went on to state; "I reported these sightings to our Air Force Intelligence, the CIA and the State Department upon my return to Freedom. Their reaction was one of indifference and I was admonished to forget not only the fifteen but also Downey and Fecteau. It was suggested the perhaps I had imagined that I had seen these men. Some time during my debriefings I was ordered to forget what I had seen and to forget the three weeks we spent with Downey and Fecteau and to never discuss this matter with anyone. Of course, there was no way I could ever forget these men; after all I had just been released from that indescribable hell that these abandoned men were suffering and enduring."

Kiba ended his letter saying; "This statement regarding my sightings of Caucasian prisoner left behind in Red China is true, and I would be willing to swear to it." (For more on Steve Kiba and his captivity read The Flag: My Story Kidnapped by Red China, available at Amazon.com.)

Reporting on the signing of this new agreement Stephanie Ho, of Voice of America, wrote; "The deal was signed in Shanghai Friday by the China's Ministry of National Defense and a U.S. Defense Department official. Under the new "arrangement," Chinese archivists will provide information about American servicemen held in Chinese Prison of War camps during the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953."

"Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Charles Ray represented the American side. "Any time we get access to new information that might open up leads to cases of people we haven't accounted for, it's a big deal," he said.

....Declassified U.S. Army records from the 1950's make clear that the United States knew of hundreds of American prisoners in China during the Korean War." "The Pentagon's Ray says U.S. researchers hope to glean useful information from the records left behind. "It could be anything from burial reports, to rosters of people who were in the camps, to hospital records," he said. "What it amounts to is whatever records a military unit has kept, that has been put in the archive, that might have information on it about an American serviceman - we would at least like that part of the record, or the information pertaining to the American."

"Ray says one of the details involves what form the information will take - extracts or full copies. "If someone wanted records from our archives, it would depend. If it were a sensitive document, we might extract the information and give someone a summary," he said. "Or we might redact or black out the sensitive parts, and give a photo copy."

The Associated Press broke the story of this new agreement with China on February 25th. According to an article by Robert Burns, "China has agreed to a long-standing U.S. request for access to sensitive military records that Pentagon officials believe might resolve the fate of thousands of U.S. servicemen missing from the Korean War and other Cold War-era conflicts, a Pentagon official said Monday."

"The arrangement is scheduled to be publicly announced Friday in Shanghai after a final set of talks to work out certain details, according to Larry Greer, spokesman for the Pentagon's POW-MIA office…."

"….Greer said that at least initially, the arrangement to be announced on Friday will not give U.S. researchers direct access to Chinese records. Instead, Chinese archivists with security clearances acceptable to the People's Liberation Army will do the document searches and turn over relevant records to U.S. analysts."

In light of the new agreement with China, it is appropriate we take a look at another article written by Robert Burns for the Associated Press over ten years ago.

In the article published August 5th 1997, Burns wrote: "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."

You can view the Air Force Intelligence Report at www.nationalalliance.org/korea/k-af01.htm

Why We Need H. Res 111 -- Roger Dumas…. Richard Desautels…. Paul Van Voohris, just 3 of the many, many reasons…..

264 Co-Sponsors for H.Res 111, But We're Still Stuck In The Rules Committee - Early this week, Congressman Peter King, author of H. Res 111 sent a letter to all co-sponsors requesting their signature on a letter addressed to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

The letter states, in part; "We are writing to respectfully ask for your support of H.Res.111, Establishing a Select Committee on POW and MIA Affairs. This resolution is extremely important to our veterans, which is why it has the bipartisan support of over 260 members of congress. As cosponsors of H.Res.111, we ask you to join us in supporting the formation of this select committee to recognize the servicemen captured and lost in combat."

We need as many of the co-sponsors as possible to sign on to this letter. If your Congressional Representative has signed on to cosponsor H.Res 111, we ask that you contact them once again. Ask that they sign on to the letter submitted by Congressman King, addressed to Speaker Pelosi on behalf of H. Res 111.

The toll free number for Congress is 866-727-4894. Make the call, send the fax, or email. Not sure if your Congressional Representative is a cosponsor, visit www.nationalalliance.org/legis/110congress.htm If your Representative is highlighted in red, he/she is a cosponsor.

And, remember if your Congressional Representative is not a cosponsor, keep working on them!

New Book To Be Released - "Perfidy" - The Government Cabal That Knowingly Abandoned Our POW's And Left Them To Die by John (Top) Holland is about to be released. Place your order now! To Pre-order contact The American Free Press at 202-544-5977 or truthhound2@yahoo.com We haven't seen the book but based on Top's many years of experience in the POW/MIA issue, we are sure this will be a great read.

If You're Not Listening You Should Be - We've been remiss in not reminding our readers to tune into POW Radio, Sundays from 5 - 8 PM Eastern Time, hosted by Rod Utech. You can listen via the internet. Visit http://www.americanewsnet.com/radio.htm and click the link to listen. You will need the program RealAudio. If you don't have it visit http://www.real.com/ and click "get realplayer free." Once installed, you will be able to listen to POW Radio. This week's guest in a special two hour show is former NSA analyst Jerry Mooney.

Why does Johnie Webb still have his job?

National Alliance of Families 19th Annual Forum is scheduled for June 19th - 21st, 2008. Our forum is conducted to coincide with the Government s annual Vietnam POW/MIA Family Briefings. We urge all family members to attend this year's 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 these briefings and you DO NOT have to belong to an organization to attend the government briefings.

We are in the process of arranging meeting space and special room rate, which will be announced when finalized.

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: