The question of Laos POW's has become an issue in the continuing release of American prisoners by North Vietnam, with the United States ordering a holdup in the withdrawal of its last troops from South Vietnam until the Communists say when and where they will turn over nine Americans -- seven military and two civilians -- whose names appeared on a list of Laos POW's provided by the North Vietnamese.
In addition to the nine there are approximately 320 Americans listed as missing in action in Laos. Most of them are air-crewmen downed during combat missions.
U. S. sources believe that a substantial number of the missing--perhaps as many as 100--still may be alive. The conclusions are based on inspections of crash sites by search teams and on intelligence reports.
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FINAL COMMENT:
It is exceedingly difficult to believe that the government of the United States has not brought home the POWs who served their country in the Vietnam War. The evidence is overwhelming and compelling that POWs were left behind and are alive and in captivity today. A man could be sentenced to death by a court in the United States today based on far less evidence than we have that American prisoners are alive and in captivity in Indochina. The heartbreaking tragedy is that nothing substantive has been done to bring them home. Instead, the Departments of State and Defense feed us a diet of distortions, half-truths, obfuscations and deceptions regarding the facts of the POW issue. These agencies are so skilled at disseminating misinformation and confusing the issue that it is easier for them to lie than it is to speak the truth. Ultimately, it appears their job is to keep the POWs from coming home rather than bringing them home. Under any circumstances, it is clear that if the government of the United States truly wanted the POWs home, they would be home. However, since bringing the POWs home involves undoing the big lie and admitting mistakes were made, which is unacceptable to the State and Defense Departments, the POWs continue to suffer in the jungles of Vietnam and Laos.
Originally, the POWs may not have been intentionally abandoned. However, Nixon's and Kissinger's strategy for ending the war was so ill-conceived and so self-contradictory that the POWs were swept under the carpet as a consequence. Ultimately, the strategy was so faulty that Nixon and Kissinger forced themselves into abandoning the men. Subsequently, all the resources of the State and Defense Departments have been brought to bear to justify that course of action and to convince the American public the POWs do not exist.
Sadly, if resolving the POW issue and bringing the men home were up to the private sector, all the men would have come back to their families many years ago. Instead, the issue remains hopelessly encumbered by the bureaucratic processes of government -- turf battles, careers, perks, and the ever-incomprehensible conduct of foreign policy.
Fundamentally, the POW issue is an economic one. The Vietnamese and Laotians have what we want: the POWs. We have what they so desperately need: aid and trade. There are many ways to find the middle ground and bring the men home, but our "leaders" in Washington are so inept and dishonest as to preclude this from happening within the present POW policy.
To Vietnam and Laos there has not been a final settlement in the war and there will not be until they receive American aid and trade as they feel they were promised. To me and many Americans there has not been a final settlement in the war until all the POWs are home. Vietnam and Laos are desperate for our aid and trade: are we not desperate for our POWs?
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For years the Vietnamese have been telling us they do not have the money and manpower to search the remote provinces for missing Americans. What they really are saying is this: "Give us the aid that you promised us and see what we just found in the jungle." The Vietnamese need a face-saving way of giving back the POWs and need something (American trade and investment) in return for them. To ensure that the live POWs do not come home to the embarrassment of the State Department which has maintained they do not exist, the United States considers the POW issue "humanitarian." This is a cruel hoax; we are the ones who made it an economic issue in the first place, and the Vietnamese consider it an economic issue to this day. If we want these forgotten Americans repatriated, we are going to have to put some aid on the table to Vietnam and Laos. There are many ways to do this, including through the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
An acid test for the credibility of our government on the POW issue is declassification of all the intelligence files pertaining to the POW/MIAs. Such classification truly serves no purpose today, and until intelligence is declassified the policy-makers in Washington have no credibility. They are perceived by the American people as merely trying to hide the truth and protect themselves. *********************************************************************
I would like to extend great appreciation to Kathy and Bill Shemeley of the Connecticut Forget-Me-Nots, without whose time, energy, research, and perpetual support this Timeline would not have been possible. I dedicate it to Kathy and Bill, to my brother, to all the POWs, to my mother and father and to all the many Americans who do care and who, as I, have worked hard to tell the truth about the POWs.
Dr. Jeffrey C. Donahue
NOTE: Original documents are reproduced in this Timeline as they were printed, including isspellings, grammatical errors, and typographical errors.
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