National Alliance of Families
For The Return of America's Missing Servicemen
+ World War II + Korea + Cold War + Vietnam + Gulf War I + Gulf War II+
59 Possible POWs
19 New POWs Move Over, You're Getting Company and These Are Only The Beginning.....
August 17, 1992 Memo -- "Defense Department files contain evidence that at least 59 Americans were -- or may have been -- taken prisoner and their precise fate is still unclear. This includes the 20-30 not officially acknowledged by Vietnam in 1973. This represents the minimum number of possible live POWs today."
19 New POW Cases
Captured Alive...Survived into Captivity.... 19 New POW Cases -- See who the Vietnamese admitted capturing, who survived into captivity and how many are Project X cases. Click Here
July 22, 1992 Memo -- "U.S. POWs not previously known by the Defense Department" -- Nine Servicemen Vietnam has acknowledged were captured alive... Robert Greer, Fred Schreckengost, Donald S. Newton, Carlos Ashlock, Madison Strohlein, James T. Egan, Roger Hamilton, Gregory J. Harris, Robert L. Platt -- To read the memo Click Here
August 1, 1992 Memo -- "Individuals DOD now has information survived into captivity" -- In addition to the nine named in the July 22nd memo, new names added are: Richard C. Bram, Johyn F. Dingwall, Frederick Mellor, Charles Scharf/Martin Massucci (one of two), John F. O'Grady, Thomas A. Mangino, Paul A. Hasenbeck, David M. Winters, Daniel R. Nidds, and John T. McDonnell -- To read the memo Click Here
Case Summaries
Attached to Aug. 1 Memo
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Summaries used by the Senate Select Committee |
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0031 - Robert Greet/ Fred Schreckengost -- Project X Case |
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0108 - Richard Bram/ John Dingwall |
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0124 - Fredric Mellor -- Project X Case |
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0158 - Charles Scharf/ Martin Massucci |
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0235 - James Egan |
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0258 - Donald S. Newton |
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0358 - Gregory J. Harris -- Project X Case |
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0641 - John O'Grady -- Project X Case |
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0646 - Thomas Mangino, Plaul Hasenbeck
--------- David Winters, Daniel Nidds -- Project X Cases |
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0647 - Roger D. Hamilton |
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0678 - Carlos Ashlock |
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0728 - Robert L. Platt, Jr. |
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1402 - John T. McDonnell -- Project X Case |
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For More on Project X click here |
More on the 19 New POW Cases Part II
More on the 19 New POW Cases Part III
More on the 19 New POW Cases Part IV
More on the 19 New POW Cases Part V
More on the 19 New POW Cases Part VI
Speech by Mary Ann Reitano, Cousin of Cpl. Gregory Harris
Did Vietnam Hold Back Prisoner of War?
KISSINGER LIST of 82 POWs presented in Paris. This list represented men and women the U. S. expected to be among the POWs release by North Vietnam, the Viet Cong and the Lao.
March 28, 1973 Memo from Secretary of Defense Elliot Richardson. "In the meantime (about 28 March) , a strong demarche should be made to the ranking LPF representative in Vientiane by the US Ambassador personally. This initiative should plainly and forcefully assert that the U.S. will no longer play games with the POW issue in Laos.".
March 31, 1973 National Security Council memo to Dr. Henry Kissinger "We share Richardson's view on the inadequecy of the Feburary 1 list...."
Lawrence Eagleburger's March 1973 Action Memo on US POW/MIA Personnel in Laos.
April 18th, 1973 Based on the debriefings of returned POWs, this list represents men the Vietnamese should have knowledge of. Since 1973, the remains of some of these servicemen have been returned.
July 3rd, 1973 Memo prepared for the Chief U.S. Four Party Military Team - Request for "Additional MIA/BNR Informtion" The memo names servicemen listed in catagories Last Known Alive, Probably Died in Captivity, Died in Incident and Probably Captured, along with brief incident description.
Transcripts of the Nixon Tapes March & April 1973 which were released to the Library of Congress the week of September 29, 1997. (There are three files in all)
PROJECT X "a study.... initiated for operational purposes in August 1975 to evaluate the possibility of any of the unaccounted for being alive. The conclusion reached is: There is a possibility that as many as 57 Americans could be alive, although it is highly probable that the number is much smaller..."
Index of Project X Cases and links to Case Summaries.
| What you won't find in Project X |
DPMO Rewrites POW/MIA History
Intelligence reports once rated "possibly true" and sources rated "fairly reliable"
who reported the capture of 4 Americans, Paul Hasenbeck, Tom Mangino, Daniel Nidds and
David Winters, on April 21, 1967, are now considered accurate reporting of inaccurate information and "obviously hearsay." The Hasenbeck family, referring to the rules of credibility, states: "I simply cannot comprehend how the rule of "credibility" is applied. Without confirmation, it sometimes is creditable and it sometimes is hearsay. Just how does that work?" Tom Mangino's wife simply states: "I'm tired of being lied to." View the evidence. |
| What you won't find in Project X |
"REFERENCED REPORT PROVIDED INFORMATION OF URGENT POLITICAL SENSITIVITY," so reads a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) message sent to USDAO SAIGON VIETNAM on June 15, 1973. Only evidence of American POWs left behind in Vietnam would warrant a message of "Urgent Political Sensitivity." That was the situation facing DIA in June of 1973. View the evidence |
In a letter dated May 28, 1997, the Defense POW/MIA Office (DPMO) denies existence of Project X and any connection with Gregory Harris, named in the study.
The 'Quang 1205' Document Transcript According to General Quang the North Vietnamese held 1205 POWs in November 1972. In January 1973, the North Vietnamese presented a list of 591 POWs to be released, a number far short of the 1205 figure.
Among those believing the 1205 Document is authentic is Former National Security Adviser Brzezinski who was aked on theMacNeil/Lehrer Report "What convinces you this document is real?" Brzezinski replied, "Its style, its content, the cover note to the Soviet Politburo. One would have to assume a really, very complex Byzantine conspiracy to reach the conclusion that this is not an authentic Soviet document based on a Vietnamese document." He went even further; "As far as Vietnam is concerned, I think if this document is sustained, and it looks unfortunately to be sustainable, we have the right to ask the present Vietnamese government to place those responsible in war crimes trials." See who else believes in the authenticity of the document
Before Quang 1205, there was Tan 800
National Intelligence Estimate Dated August 1998 - "Vietnamese Intentions, Capabilities, and Preformance Concerning the POW/MIA Issue." View declassified protions of the NIE here.
Statement by Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) on Vietnam POW/MIA National Intelligence Estimate.
Department of Defense News Release - National Intelligence Estimate
23 October 1967 - Confirmed POWs CIA list includes the name of one Marine a handwritten note on document states is "not on list." To read more about this list and the Marine "not on List" See Bits N Pieces Oct. 7th, 2000 To view actual document click here.
Categorization of Loss Incidents in Vietnam, inclusive of reference numbers.
Indochina POW Timeline by Dr. Jeff Donahue, brother of POW/MIA Morgan Donahue
Nhammarath.... ""We missed the best chance we ever had to find POWs still alive" former National Security Advisor Richard Allen
Nhommarath - Memo From Lt. General Eugene Tighe, dated 28 January 1981 - "Since April 1979, DIA has been investigating informatin provided by a refugee who alleged teh detention of U.S. PWs in Laos. In November 1980, CIA provided information which corroborates the refugee's report..."
Nhommarath Document Reclassified- Above memo, located in 2000 and available on Alliance web site since July 2000, is reclassified. View reclassified memo from National Archives located in June 2002
The Anderson Memo Dated 27 January 1982 titled Contingency Plans for Live Americans in Indochina - Actions to be "taken depending on country involved, the number of persons held prisoner..."
Summary of Deposition of General Eugene F. Tighe, Jr. before the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs - Feb27, 1992. Interesting reading...
What Do the Vietnamese Know... and When Did They Know It.....
Analysis of the PAVN 559 Document listing American planes and helicopters shot down, case correlations included.....
Status of PWs in South Vietnam - Memo dated November 13, 1969
Can You Identify These POWs
This photo shows two Army POWs. We beleive the photo was taken in or prior to 1966, although it may have been taken at a later date. To view the photos click here.
Foreign Involvement with American POWs in Southeast Asia
The Kremlin Withholds Report on American POWs According to the November 9th edition of the Washington Times, documents donated to the Library of Congress by Russian General Dmitri Volkogonov reveal that there was a plan to transfer of US personnel to the former Soviet Union in the late 1960s. We have General Volkogonov's documents here for you to view together with a partial translation into English.
The November 11th, 1998 edition of the Washington Post reported that Russian Officials confirm the existence of orders to transport American POWs to the former Soviet Union. According to the article, Senator Bob Smith (R-NH,) confirmed "...he and Toon were told yesterday by Vladimir Semichastny, KGB chief from 1961 to 1967, that the Soviets did have a plan during the Vietnam War to bring American prisoners to the Soviet Union. But Semichastny, Smith said, would go no further than confirming the plan's existence, leaving open the question of whether it was implemented."
The Russian List - Did the Russians Provide A List of 41 Americans Questioned By The Soviets Or Taken To The Former Soviet Union. View the list. See the names
Debunking the Russian List.
Statement of Ann Holland, wife of POW/MIA T/Sgt. Melvin Holland, on the debunking of the Russian List.
The Cuban Program
Cuban Torture of American POWs in Vietnam - Testimony of Michael D. Benge before the House International Relations Committee - November 4, 1999. -- ".... There were 19 American POWs that I know of who were tortured by the Cubans in Hanoi during the Vietnam War. These brave men include Colonel Jack Bomar and Captain Ray Vohden, who will testify, and also Commander Al Carpenter, who is with us today. They named their torturers "Fidel," "Chico" and "Pancho." The torture took place in a POW camp called the Zoo, and the Vietnamese camp commander was a man they called the "Lump." He was called that because of the presence of a rather large fatty tumor in the middle of his forehead...."
Research Paper on Cuban Participation in the Torture of American POWs in Vietnam - Prepared by Michael D. Benge
Government Failures in the POW/MIA Issue... In their own words....
An Examination of U.S. Policy Toward POW/MIAs, By the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Republican Staff Prepared by the Minority Staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
Memo from Commodore Thomas A. Brooks USN, September 1985 - In DIA The Mindset To Debunk Exists
Letter of Resignation - Col. Millard A. Peck, Feb. 1991 - In DIA The Mindset To Debunk Is Alive and Well.
The Memo's of John F. McCreary regarding the destruction of Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs documentation on order of Committee Chairman, Senator John F. Kerry...... According to the October 1992 memo "recent lines of investigation have been seriously compromised by leaks of sensitive information by the Committee Staff Director to the Department of Defense...."
The Future When No POWs will be left behind.... because no service member will ever again be declared POW
No More Wars, and No More POW/MIAs - Future conflicts, not formally declared War by Congress, will be refered to as "Operations Other Than War" (OOTW) and Service personnel who are captured as a result of OOTW will be refered to as "Isolated Personnel." For details read the June 3rd 2000 Edition of Bits N Pieces. Click here.
Testimony
Jan Senja's statement before the House Subcommittee on Personnel
More Case Specific Information
Baron 52
Baron 52: Dispelling Misinformation It appears that former and current DPMO brass would like you to believe that the handling of the Baron 52 case was straightforward. Here is a transcript that will show you otherwise.
Lima Site 85
The Castle Memorandum from Dr. Timothy Castle, Chief SE Asia Archival Research, DPMO. "Unauthorized Contact With Hanoi -- in their efforts to ensure that Hanoi's version is accepted, Mr. Destatte and Lt.Col Shiff have engaged in unauthorized contact with the Vietnamese government and Detachment 2, JTF-FA.... "
Ann Holland's Statement regarding the above memorandum, "...as the wife of one the eleven men missing at the site, I owe Dr. Castle many thanks for having the courage to speak out about these two individuals. What Lt.Col. Schiff and Mr. Destatte tried to do to the Site 85 case, in closing down and hoping the "problem would go away," makes me wonder how many other cases have they done the same to and gotten away with it?"
Kenneth L. Plumadore
U.S. Govenment Identifies Remains of Missing Serviceman -- Doesn't bother to tell the family. For the whole story click here
Creative Accounting -- Remains no longer necessary to identify the Missing
List of Vietnam Servicemen Identified or Considered Accounted For
Burying empty caskets...
Are the Vietnamese salting recovery sites? Read the story.... view the photos... You decide!
Creative Accounting.... 1 + 0 = 8 Eight identifications based on remains of one airman.
A Day of Honor and Shame - Amanda Y. Kidd, Relative of CMSgt. James A. Preston
What The Government Doesn't Want You To Know About mt-DNA Testing Questionable testing and an incomplete database, leads to faulty identifications. Follow the trail....
mtDNA, What you need to know? More on the process used to identify the remains of missing servicemen.
June 30th, 1998 Press Release... National Alliance of Families call for investigation of Central Identfification Lab - Hawaii and methods used to declare identified, or unidentified, missing Servicemen.
Trail of Deceit... Documentation showing how Michael J. Blassie was stripped of his identity... See who knew what and when they knew it... Political pressure required an Unknown.... and and Unknown was created....
What Former POWs Have to Say
Comments from Ted W. Guy, Colonel, USAF [Ret], who was the Senior Ranking Officer of American Prisoners of War, Laos-Cambodia-South Vietnam while he was a POW.
Real Time Intelligence - How good it really was. Read what former POW Frank Anton has to say. Today, it is routinely debunked....
"Why Didn't You Get Me Out?" - "I asked how the Pentagon knew about my capture, but all that the debriefer said was that "We have people out there not necessarily American." Insights on the POW/MIA issue from former POW Frank Anton
Archives
Statements in opposition to waiver of the Jackson Vanick Admendment
Statement of Senator Bob Smith
Statement of former POW Michael D. Benge
Statements before the American Legion
"The Need for Legislative Action on the POW/MIA Issue" - Senator Bob Smith 3/22/99 Remarks to The American Legion Mid-Winter Convention National Security and Foreign Relations Joint Session
Statement of U.S. Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) to the Joint Session of the Foreign Relations and National Security Commissions of
the American Legion -- March 3, 1997