MEMORANDUM	FOR HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, TOTAL
	ARMY PERSONNEL COMMAND (TAPC-PER)

SUBJECT: Information in the Case of Captain John T. McDonnell (REFNO 1402)

On June 19, 1998, during the recent meeting of the National League of Families, Carol Brown met with John and Tom McDonnell, the sons of missing Army Captain John T. McDonnell. As a result, this is the follow up on two matters that were discussed during that meeting.

The brothers asked about their father's identification card that had been located in the Hue museum. They were under the impression that US investigators had obtained the original card, and if so, they wanted it. Information in DPMO files indicates that US team members were permitted to photograph the identification card, but could not remove it from the museum. Army casualty may wish to check their records to insure they have fumished the next of kin with photographs of the document.

The second request pertains to a report (IR 6 918 5058 73) made by a People's Army of Vietnam rather who in June 1973 told a news conference in Saigon that he had seen six American prisoners who had not been released by the North Vietnamese. Although this report is deemed a fabrication (reference DPMO letter 17 April 1998), the next of kin want the source to be reinterviewed.

We have reexamined the information we possess on this source and his reporting. Our records indicate that the source was reinterviewed several times in 1973. Of note, during his first interview this source never mentioned seeing six American prisoners. When asked about information on US POWs, he offered vague data on an F-4 crash in Laos and said he saw an American First Lieutenant, who reportedly was captured in 1971, being moved north along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. It was not until his news conference a few days later that the source came up with the story of the six American POWs at the MR-5 camp. Following the news conference he was reinterviewed, resulting in the data reported in IR 6 918 5058 73. Our records reflect that on several subsequent occasions the source was shown photos of Americans, but was never able to identify the artillery officer from Texas he claimed to have met four times.

As noted in the April letter, the claim made by this source to have seen six Americans POWs in a MR-5 camp from August 1972 until February 1973 is believed to be a fabrication. We now know the locations of the MR-5 POW camp and that it closed in February 1971, when the prisoners were moved to North Vietnam. None of the camps correspond to the location claimed by the source.

In the ensuing 25 years we have interviewed tens of thousands of Vietnamese and have fou,.id no reporting to corroborate this source's account. Even if we could locate him after this considerable passage of time, little would be served, as the specifics of his story are demonstrably false. Furthermore, even if the source's account was accurate, he could not have observed Captain McDonnell, who was lost in the Thua Thien-Hue Military Region, and would not have been sent to a Military Region 5 camp.

On a final note, in recent years we have conducted numerous investigations into the fate of Captain McDonnell. The body of evidence strongly suggests that he was captured, but died as he was being moved from the area and was buried just off the trail.