It is with an extremely deep and personal gratitude that I stand before you today~ A gratitude that is twofold in its origin and is inspired by all of you who have cared enough to gather here in support of the POW/MIA issue.

As a relative of CMSgt. James Arthur Preston, who was lost over Laos and declared Missing In Action on May 15, 1966 as part of a crew of eight Americans and two South Vietnamese, I speak from a very personal and heartfelt standpoint when I express the sentiment that each of you gives my family renewed hope and strength~ Feelings that we believed were completely dashed only a few short days ago.

To be able to stand before you now is an opportunity of "healing" for me. I NEEDED to be present among you today~ And your presence and support are now providing me with the strength to continue an ongoing battle which our United States government and its POW/MIA accounting agencies would like very much to believe is now over~ But nonetheless, it is a battle in which my family and I continue to need your help.

Only 12 short days ago, on Monday, May 15, 2000~ my family and I, along with the other American crew members involved in the POW/MIA loss incident of USAF "Spooky 10", experienced a day of Honor and Shame at Arlington National Cemetery.

On that date, we witnessed the firsthand reality of the inexcusable haste and inconclusiveness through which our national accounting agencies are capable of ridding themselves of further responsibility of investigating the fates of this nation's missing servicemen.

We all stood by helplessly as we watched a flag-draped coffin containing 30 non-mt-DNA-tested bone fragments being interred into our nation's most elite military cemetery~ Bone fragments that our U.S. government and its POW/MIA accounting agencies are determined to falsely insist are the co-mingled remains of the entire United States Air Force crew of "Spooky 10" ~ Lost over Laos and declared Missing In Action on that same date, 34 years ago.

The Arlington memorial service was beautifully impressive. Had the identification been conclusive, the full military honors that the crew was given would have been extremely appropriate. It would have brought comfort in knowing that all that COULD be done, HAD been done. And we would have known beyond all doubt that this crew of silent heroes had finally come home.

But such closure did not come that day. Instead, many family members, including my own, departed with feelings of emptiness that were equally as empty as the flag-draped coffin that contained only minimal remains that have, in truth, left nine of these ten men unaccounted for and twice-abandoned in Southeast Asia.

For a brief moment, time stopped that day as we were able to honor Colonel George William Jensen~ the pilot of Spooky 10~ The only one aboard this ill-fated AC-47D gunship whose remains have been tentatively identified through dental records.

But sadly, time stopped again as we grieved for the nine men who have not yet returned:

But in spite of the shroud of deceit that surrounded the formal closure of the case of Spooky 10, the shame of the inconclusiveness was not allowed to overshadow Honor.

Those of us who know the Truth gathered at the Wall following the Arlington memorial service to pay honor in our own way with a joint American /Vietnamese Wreath Laying ceremony at which I vividly remember and deeply appreciate the presence of many of you that I also see here today.

In so doing, we had the opportunity to make the Truth known and to provide a means for the nine members of Spooky 10 who remain unaccounted for to maintain their dignity in the face of what have now become seemingly insurmountable odds.

The time has now come for me to once again call upon each of you for assistance and support in the ongoing search for truthful answers regarding this crew of twice-abandoned heroes.

These men should not~ and MUST not~ be allowed to go down in history simply as tragic examples of what is allowed to happen within the POW/MIA accounting effort.

By continuing to give them a Voice, you will also be giving Voices to those who have fallen victim to similar inconclusive accountings in the past. The crew of Baron 52... The case of Peter Matthes... The case of Samuel Larry James... The cases of George McDonald and Thomas Hart... and these are only to name a few.

In so doing, you will also be helping it to become more difficult for this type of false accounting to befall other missing servicemen and their families in the future as well.

If the inconclusive findings brought about by the excavation of the crash site associated with Spooky 10 have provided any truthful answers at all, those answers now enable us to conclude where this crew of men is Not~ And it is obvious beyond all doubt that they are NOT buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

As the POW/MIA list of missing service personnel becomes shorter, the number of inconclusive accountings becomes longer~ All due to the inexcusably hurried attempts of our national accounting agencies to "resolve" this issue once and for all while avoiding the live POW issue and the survivalevidence of many of these men altogether.

As is the case of James Arthur Preston and the other crew members of Spooky 10, the more these efforts attempt to prove our missing servicemen to be dead, the more they prove them to be alive. No graves found... no individually identifiable remains recovered... An entire U.S. Air Force crew inaccurately "accounted for" on minimal bone fragments only tentatively identified as the pilot of this crew... And all the while, allowing unquestionable evidence of their survival and captivity to go completely ignored and uninvestigated.

But if anything positive whatsoever can come from such inconclusive accountings, it provides us with all the more ammunition with which to fight back in regard to the live POW issue.

We're encountering an increasing number of these cases in which Joint Task Force- Full Accounting teams are returning virtually empty-handed from well-meaning excavations, yet no solid forensic evidence of the deaths of these men is recovered.

However, there is an abundance of "dog tags"... laminated military identification cards... coins... keys... wrist watches... In addition, the items are generally the same from excavation to excavation and all seem to indicate an ongoing pattern. Furthermore, they are all among the first items and personnel effects to be confiscated upon capture~ Later to be used at will to falsely create the illusion of "death" as the desire to do so arises.

Nonetheless, in this lack of answers, I propose that we all begin thinking of such inconclusive findings as possible answers within themselves. "No Evidence of Death" can often translate into "Possible Survival" when viewed in the proper perspective. In such cases, one would think that the decision for final closure would be unthinkable and that the possible survival of these men would be the only remaining alternative to which nothing less than a full investigation should ensue.

However, albeit tragically~ the perfectly legal, yet shamefully unethical and cruel practice of Identification by Association in regard to the finding of personal belongings and material items associated with missing service personnel will eventually lead to the death of this issue unless such a policy of practice is completely eliminated through federal court action~ And such an elimination can only come with your support and assistance through continued pressure of our government officials and through your insistence that they immediately begin addressing this desperate and long-overdue need for Damage Reversal.

Ladies and Gentlemen, so many of these men are not buried in Arlington National Cemetery as the immaculate markers bearing their names would have us to believe~ So many were known to be alive and in captivity~ Yet their voices continue to become silenced~ one by one~ as the "lack of evidence regarding their survival" becomes falsely translated by our national POW/MIA accounting agencies as a synonym for "Death."

Drawing from that as our foundation, let us strongly increase our insistence that more attention be placed on the live POW issue and the need for Damage Reversal of these inconclusive accountings before more families fall victim to this inexcusable national travesty.

In so doing, you will not only assist my family and our own loved one, James Preston~ But you will inspire continued hope for others with the assurance that their loved ones will not become wrongfully silenced and twice- abandoned in Southeast Asia in a similar manner.

In closing, I ask that each of you remember ALL of our missing and abandoned heroes.

Contrary to common belief, one does not have to be a blood relative to speak out on behalf of individual POW/MIA cases. As a relative of James Preston, Loadmaster aboard Spooky 10, I would gratefully welcome all efforts made by any of you who will continue to assist me in speaking out~ not only on his behalf, but on behalf of this entire crew of now-twice-abandoned heroes.

I ask also that you please say a special prayer for all others who have now become Twice-Abandoned and continue to inquire on their behalf as well.

Do not allow our national POW/MIA accounting agencies to forget the men of Spooky 10. Nor must we allow them to forget Peter Cressman... Joseph Matejov... Peter Matthes... Samuel James... George McDonald... Thomas Hart.. . or all others that our national accounting agencies would otherwise prefer to think are no longer a threat to their efforts to dispose of the POW/MIA issue by such counter-productive means that are already leaving us all with more questions than answers regarding the fates of these men and the resolution of this issue as a whole.

And please continue to assist me in my own personal efforts to insure that the men of Spooky 10 maintain their rightful place among the Living so that the Truth regarding their fates may yet be discovered.

Their fight has been long... Their journey homeward is not over... And their struggle to be heard continues.

But we must NEVER allow shame to overshadow Honor~ And with God's help and guidance, the Truth that is still waiting to be uncovered WILL prevail.

May God Bless You All~ Thank You.

Note:

Amanda Y. Kidd is a Georgia freelance journalist and a relative of U.S. Air Force CMSgt. James Arthur Preston~ 4th Air Commando Squadron~ Missing In Action~ Laos~ May 15, 1966.

Questions and comments are welcome, and all correspondence can be directed to the contact information below:

Amanda Kidd

E-mail: AKidd13036@aol.com

For additional details, documentation, and photographs regarding the discrepancies surrounding the case of James Preston and the other crew members of Spooky 10, please access:

Amanda Kidd's POW/MIA Mission Of Hope http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Camp/9276/index.html

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