Michael J. "Bat" Masterson

What does the Defense Intellingence Agency Know

And

Why, 25 Years Later, Is The Information Still Withheld From The Masterson Family

During our May 1999 trip to D.C. we pulled many documents from the Library of Congress. One of these documents presented very interesting case specific information. We took the document to the annual meeting to pass along to the family, in case they had not seen it. Little did we know, the fire storm our "find" would ignite.

On 14 January 1972, the Defense Intelligence Agency issued a memo to Army, Navy Air Force, Marine Corp, CIA and Office of the ASD (ISA) representatives of the Interagency Prisoner of War Intelligence Ad Hoc Committee (IPWIC).

The subject of the memo "Movement of American PW's to North Vietnam."

"1. The Defense Intelligence Agency is presently listing the names of 21 American personnel that have been moved from their original areas of capture in Laos and South Vietnam to North Vietnam."

A list of 21 names follows. They are:

Army: Gostas, Theodore W.

Navy: Bedinger, H.J.

Air Force: Guy, Theodore W.; Long S.G., Masterson, M.J. Stischer, W.H.

USMC: Budd, Leonard; Deering, J.A. DiBernardo, J.V., Tellier, D.A.

Civilians: Brace E.C., Daves, L.G., Henderson A., Manhard, P.W., Meyer, L.E., Olson, R.F., Page, R.J., Rushton, T., Stark, L., Weaver, E., Willis, C.E.

The memo ends saying;

"2. The above is provided for your records" and is signed by John S. Harris, Captain USN, Chairman Interagency Prisoner of War Intelligence Ad Hoc Committee.

We provided this document to Fran Masterson, wife of Michael J. "Bat" Masterson, on Friday afternoon, June 18th. She had never seen the document before and promptly took it over to Air Force Casualty.

We didn't get a chance to talk with Mrs. Masterson, during the rest of the weekend but heard rumors that Air Force Casualty suggested the document was a fake.

On Thursday evening, June 24th, Mrs. Masterson called Lynn O'Shea. The purpose of the call, she said, was to emphasis two points, the importance of the document and the FACT THAT ALL INFORMATION HAS NOT BEEN PROVIDED TO THE FAMILIES. She had been asking for this document for 25 years. She filed FOIA's and each one came back saying no such document existed.

In January 1974, Fran Masterson, along with other family members went to Southeast Asia. During their time in Thailand, they visited the Joint Casualty Resolution Center. There, they reviewed the case files of their loved ones. In the file on Michael J. Masterson, was the notation -- carried as PW by DIA; listed as missing by Air Force. Mrs. Masterson's question, why was the Defense Intelligence Agency carrying her husband as a POW.

At the time, she was told the notation actually referred to returned POW Ronald L. Mastin. Mrs. Masterson was expected to believe that U.S. intelligence had confused the names Michael J. Masterson with Ronald L. Mastin. Remember the memo reads: "moved from their original areas of capture in Laos and South Vietnam." The problem, Ronald L. Mastin was shot down over North Vietnam. Therefore, he could not possibly have been moved to North Vietnam. He was already there!

Mrs. Masterson's did not buy the explanation and continued to ask, why was the Defense Intelligence Agency carried her husband as POW. That was a question she would ask for the next 25 years!

We are saddened but not surprised that representatives of Air Force Casualty would summarily dismiss this document as a "fake."

Several years back, we located a document titled "Project X." We provided it to the families involved. When those families went to DPMO and Army casualty they were told there was no such document as "Project X." DPMO provided a written statement to that effect.

"Project X" was not a fake and neither is this document which places Michael Masterson in North Vietnam with 20 returnees. That's right!!! of the 21 men named, 20 are returned POWs. This is another example of how good U.S. intelligence was and how desperate the U.S.G. is to debunk that intelligence today. The document does not say -- possibly moved, -- could have been moved -- may have been moved or probably moved. It says "have been moved."

Now, Fran Masterson is asking for the backup documentation on which this memo is based. Let's hope she doesn't have to wait another 25 years for her answer.