Did the Russians try to provide us with the names of American POWs either questioned by the Soviets or actually taken to the former Soviet Union?
In the early part of 1992, Senators from the Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs traveled to Russia. During their visit they requested the Russians conduct a comprehensive search of all records to possibly locate the names of POW who the Soviets may have had contact with, during the Vietnam War.
From a reliable source, we learned the Russians responded in May of 1992, with a list of 41 names. However, their response would remain hidden, for another 16 months.
In June 1992, Boris Yeltsin visited the United States. During the flight, to the United States, Mr. Yeltsin was interviewed by NBC's Dateline. During his interview, Mr. Yeltsin spoke of American POWs taken into the Soviet Union. Not only did Mr. Yeltsin, speak of Americans taken to the former Soviet Union, he offered the possibility that some may still be alive.
The debunkers went into overdrive. First, the government claimed that the translator misunderstood Mr. Yeltsin remarks. So, Dateline had a second translation done. That translation confirmed Mr. Yeltsin's remarks. Then, privately the comments were written off to the possibility that Mr. Yeltsin had to much Vodka on the trip over. Still he persevered, because he believed the U.S. government seriously wanted answers on the POW/MIA issue. So, he stood before Congress and spoke of POWs taken to the former Soviet Union and the possibility that some may still be alive.
No one listened to Mr. Yeltsin and no one, outside of a select few within the Defense Department, knew of the existence of the Russian response, to the request of U.S. Senators.
Then, as it has so many times before, fate intervened. In the fall of 1993, a package of documents was sent to a Korean War POW/MIA family member. They showed the documents to a friend, who was a Vietnam War POW/MIA family member. It was the Vietnam family member who recognized the names on the list and immediately knew this list required further investigation.
The list made its way from California to New York, by way of Minnesota, then back to Washington State and into the hands of Ann Holland, wife of POW/MIA Melvin Holland. One of the names on the list was Arnold Mikhailevich Holland, with the comment "listed as Hollend, Melvin Arnold (H189)"
There are typos and misspellings in the list, but its intent is clear. The Russians were asked to search their records and they did. The list is not perfect. It contains the name of one returnee and the name of one serviceman known not to survive his incident. The remains of this serviceman were recently returned, identified and buried.
However, the list contains the names of several servicemen known to have survived their incident, such as Kelly Patterson.
View the Official Debunking of the "Russian List"
Statement of Ann Holland, wife of POW/MIA T/Sgt. Melvin Holland, on the debunking of the list