[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 5 (Monday, January 31, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: January 31, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                     VIETNAMESE POW/MIA COOPERATION

  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, last week we had an important discussion 
about Vietnam and progress on POW/MIA accountability. That vote was a 
very important vote.
  Those who voted for the resolution regarding the embargo I know did 
so with both the hope and conviction that the POW/MIA accounting 
process will not only continue, but that it will be significantly 
enhanced by the process of opening up.
  In furtherance of the debate I had requested from the Defense 
Department a detailed accounting of some of the progress that had been 
made with respect to that accounting process and the criteria set down 
by President Clinton.
  I now ask unanimous consent that a letter responding to my inquiry 
from the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Ed Ross, on this 
matter, be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                       The Office of the Assistant


                                         Secretary of Defense,

                                 Washington, DC, January 28, 1994.
     Hon. John F. Kerry,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Kerry: Enclosed is the information you 
     requested highlighting Vietnamese progress in the four key 
     areas President Clinton identified in his July 2, 1993 speech 
     on POW-MIA affairs. I hope this meet your needs. Please let 
     me know if my office can be of any further assistance.
           Sincerely,

                                               Edward W. Ross,

                                 Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary
                                      of Defense, POW-MIA Affairs.
       Enclosures.

                     Vietnamese POW/MIA Cooperation

       On July 2, 1993, President Clinton stated that further 
     steps in U.S.-Vietnam relations would be based on ``tangible 
     progress'' towards the fullest possible accounting. The 
     President set out four key areas in which we seek progress:
       Concrete results from efforts by Vietnam to recover and 
     repatriate American remains.
       Continued resolution of 92 discrepancy cases, live 
     sightings, and field activities.
       Further assistance in implementing trilateral investigation 
     with the Lao.
       Accelerated efforts to provide all POW/MIA related 
     documents that will help lead to genuine answers.


                                remains

       President's Criterion: Concrete results from efforts by 
     Vietnam to recover and repatriate American remains.
       Since the President's call, 39 remains have been 
     repatriated, bringing the total repatriated in 1993 to 67. 
     This is more than twice the number repatriated in 1992 and 
     the third highest number for a single year since the end of 
     the war.
       August 1993: As a result of information gained from 
     photographs, documents, and interviews provided by the 
     Vietnamese, we were able to present the SRV with a list of 84 
     cases in which the U.S. believed Vietnamese at one time had 
     custody of American remains. Vietnam pledged its assistance. 
     Hanoi stepped up publicity of its remains amnesty program, 
     including a promise of payment for valid remains.
       September 1993: JTF-FA and Hanoi formed Special Research 
     Team to conduct field investigations to attempt recovery of 
     these remains in 84 cases.
       October 1993: Special Remains Team traveled to U Minh 
     Forest in southern Vietnam to search for remains. Vietnamese 
     located witnesses who pointed out grave sites; 7 excavations 
     are scheduled for the upcoming dry season.
       January 1994: Three sets of remains returned in 1993 
     identified; 8 in final identification stage; 25 more 
     recommended for identification; balance still under analysis.


                           previous progress

       1974-83: Vietnamese returned 87 sets of identifiable U.S. 
     remains.
       1985-86: In conjunction with ASD Armitage's efforts to 
     encourage an increase in unilateral repatriation of remains, 
     Hanoi returned 57 sets of identifiable remains.
       1987-90: Vessey initiative sparked increased repatriations, 
     122 remains identified, with a high of 62 identified in 1988.
       1991-92: Repatriations of identifiable remains dropped; 11 
     sets identified.


                           discrepancy cases

       President's Criterion: Continued resolution of 92 
     discrepancy cases, live sightings, and field activities.
       After July 2, 1993, the priority case investigation team 
     (PCIT) focused on joint U.S.-SRV investigations of 92 
     remaining priority last-known-alive discrepancy cases. 
     Between July 93 and January 94 information provided by the 
     PCIT process enabled DOD to confirm the death of 19 
     individuals. As of January 1994, we have confirmed the death 
     of 123 of the original 196 individuals associated with 
     priority last-known-alive discrepancy cases.
       April 1993: Based on results of joint investigations and 
     archival research, confirmed fate of 43 individuals, bringing 
     number of priority discrepancy cases down to 92.
       June 1993: JTF-FA formed Priority Case Investigation Team 
     (PCIT) to provide quick follow-up of leads throughout 
     Vietnam.
       August 1993: Vietnam facilitated rapid follow-up live 
     sighting investigations based on refugee reports.
       September 1993: PCIT reports enabled DOD to determine fate 
     of 12 individuals, bringing original 196 total down to 80.
       January 1994: Continued investigations by PCIT resulted in 
     additional confirmation of death on 7 individuals, bringing 
     total priority cases down to 73.


                           previous progress

       August 1987: General Vessey gets Vietnamese agreement to 
     investigate cases that illuminate the live prisoner issue.
       September 1988-May 1990: Ten iterations of joint 
     investigations in Vietnam completed. Cooperation slowly 
     increased. Number of U.S. personnel permitted in country per 
     round doubled, and number of cases investigated per round 
     more than tripled.
       July 1990: Based on results of joint investigations and 
     remains repatriations, fate was confirmed on 57 of the total 
     196 individuals involved in priority cases.
       August 1990-December 1991: Iterations 11-15 of joint 
     investigations completed; results in determination of fate 
     for four priority cases, bringing total down to 135.
       November 1991: Vietnam permitted first in-country live 
     sighting investigation.
       January 1992: JTF-FA established.
       February 1992--March 1993: Iterations 16-22 completed; by 
     22nd Iteration, teams had again doubled in size. Vietnamese 
     cooperation continued to increase in terms of access, 
     frequency and scope of our investigations.
       March 1992: Vietnam agreed to expand live sighting, 
     investigations and permit short notice visits. To date, the 
     U.S. has conducted 78. None of these investigations produced 
     evidence of a live POW.


                       trilateral investigations

       President's Criterion: Further assistance in implementing 
     trilateral investigation with the Lao.
       In December, 1993 we completed the first ever trilateral 
     investigation of 14 border cases involving 39 individuals. 
     Continued trilateral cooperation with Vietnam and Laos is key 
     to resolving these border cases where the vast majority of 
     our losses in Laos occurred.
       May 1993: Vietnamese agreed to consider simultaneous joint 
     activity in Vietnam and Laos. Also provided summary of 
     interviews with 21 senior PAVN officers who served in Laos.
       August 1993: U.S., Lao, and Vietnamese officials agreed on 
     mechanism for trilateral cooperation.
       September 1993: Vietnam provided record of aircraft shot 
     down by Group 559, the Vietnamese military organization 
     responsible for actions along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. 
     Record contained information on 111 cases involving 217 
     unaccounted-for Americans.
       November 1993: JTF-FA, Vietnamese, and Lao conducted 
     trilateral preparation meetings in Hanoi.
       December 3-20, 1993: Trilateral investigation of 14 border 
     cases involving 39 individuals. JTF-FA indicated exceptional 
     Vietnamese cooperation; however, adverse weather severely 
     hampered progress.


                           previous progress

       October 1989: General Vessey identified a group of Vietnam-
     Laos border cases. He proposed to the Vietnamese that the 
     U.S., Vietnam, and Laos conduct trilateral investigations in 
     order to resolve these cases.
       December 1991: Vietnamese attended trilateral meeting in 
     Laos and agreed to provide information on cases.


                                archives

       President's Criterion: Accelerated efforts to provide all 
     POW/MIA related documents that will help lead to genuine 
     answers.
       After President's July 2, 1993, call for progress, the 
     Vietnamese have given us access to especially important 
     wartime political and military documents directly related to 
     POWs and combat incidents that could provide leads to the 
     location of remains of MIAs. To date, more than 25,000 
     documents, artifacts, and photographs related to U.S. POW/
     MIAs have now been examined with over 600 items correlating 
     to missing servicemen.
       April 1993: To General Vessey: 7 records of U.S. graves 
     with sketch maps; rosters of Americans captured in southern 
     Vietnam and in northern Vietnam; list of Americans who died 
     in captivity in southern Vietnam.
       May/June 1993: Opening of Joint Document Center in Hanoi. 
     Senator Kerry and document center provided with multiple 
     documents, including statistical summaries, battle sketches 
     and summaries, and POW medical records. Began survey of 319 
     wartime films from Vietnamese archives.
       July 1993: 15 documents, including: 8 battle sketches; 2 
     shootdown records; 4 sketches of air defense engagements; 
     record of U.S. aircraft shot down in Military Region 3.
       August 1993: 12 documents including burial documents and 
     battle sketches of air defense engagements in Military Region 
     2.
       September 1993: 6 documents related to Group 559 activities 
     on Ho Chi Minh Trail, including comprehensive 58-page air 
     defense record of aircraft reportedly shot down. Collection 
     of 548 documents from Group 875, the POW camp administration 
     group.
       December 1993: Three groups of multiple documents, 
     including responses to queries on 84 remains cases; 
     unilateral Vietnamese case investigation reports; list of 
     American personnel who were killed in Vietnam but whose 
     remains were not recoverable.
       January 1994: Personal war diary of former PAVN air defense 
     battalion commander.


                           PREVIOUS PROGRESS

       May 1991: U.S. researchers began coordination in Central 
     Army Museum in Hanoi for longterm exploitation of Vietnamese 
     records and artifacts. This marked the beginning of a 
     systematic and extensive program to review Vietnamese 
     archives, resulting in eventual examination of over 25,000 
     items related to U.S.POW/MIAs.
       February 1992: Given to General Vessey: summary shootdown 
     record of U.S. aircraft in Military Region 4.
       November 1992: To Senator Kerry: six documents, including 1 
     province list of pilots captured and killed, 3 shootdown 
     records, and 2 graves registers. Archival Research Team in 
     Hanoi began work at Hanoi's Central Army Museum.
       December 1992: To Senator Kerry: 6 shootdown records; 3 
     graves registers; 1 book; miscellaneous photos, etc.


                           ADDITIONAL POINTS

       In addition to results in the President's four key areas, 
     there have been other aspects in which Vietnam has assisted 
     POW/MIA accounting:
       July 1991: U.S. POW Office established in Hanoi. Initially 
     Vietnam limited the staff to four Americans. By January 1994, 
     the staff had been permitted to expand to 19 permanent 
     personnel, some of whom frequently travel or work throughout 
     the country.
       January 1992: Joint Task Force--Full Accounting established 
     to conduct expanded joint operations in Southeast Asia.
       May 1993: Vietnam instituted oral history program, agreeing 
     to facilitate interviews of 83 persons identified by U.S. By 
     January 1994, 70 interviews completed, resulting in 
     information on 20 unresolved cases.
       July 1993: Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Office 
     established consolidating the DIA Special Office on POW/MIAs, 
     the Central Documentation Office, the U.S. Army's Task Force 
     Russia, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense for POW/
     MIA Affairs.

                          ____________________