[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 42 (Friday, April 3, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3224-S3226]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      NATIONAL POW RECOGNITION DAY

 Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, April 9 is National POW 
Recognition Day, and I rise today to pay tribute to all those U.S. 
service persons who guarded their country in past wars, who have been 
listed as POWs or MIA, and to their families. I especially want to pay 
tribute to Col. Richard A. Walsh III, an Air force pilot from Minnesota 
listed as missing-in-action in Laos. We must never forget Richard and 
the other MIAs for their courageous service and sacrifices. In 
addition, we must never forget the sacrifices made by their families.
  That is why I also want to recognize Richard's wife and a constituent 
of mine, Ms. Sharon Walsh. As the executive director of the Minnesota 
League of POW/MIA Families, Sharon has worked hard over the years on 
behalf of our POW/MIAs and their families, and I commend her. I can't 
imagine how difficult and painful it has been for Sharon and her family 
not knowing exacting what happened to Richard in Southeast Asia.
  Ms. Walsh asked me to enter into the Congressional Record a document 
outlining some of her concerns and questions regarding the issue of 
satellite imagery and American POW/MIAs during the war in Southeast 
Asia. She, along with a small group of my constituents, are frustrated 
with certain federal agencies, including the Department of Defense. 
These agencies are responsible for maintaining and publicly disclosing 
information about reported U.S. satellite imagery of possible pilot 
distress symbols, associated with American service personnel who are 
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.

[[Page S3225]]

The statement contains serious allegations about U.S. government 
mishandling of these matters. My constituents claim that since the war 
has ended U.S. satellite imagery has detected pilot distress symbols on 
the ground in Southeast Asia, and the U.S. government has willfully 
ignored key evidence in this matter. The Department of Defense POW/MIA 
office has repeatedly indicated to me, and in the media, that they have 
fully and carefully investigated these claims and found them baseless, 
attributing the reported symbols to unrelated, largely natural causes, 
and to mistakes in photographic interpretation of satellite imagery.
  Mr. President, I ask that the material from Ms. Walsh be printed in 
the Record. I know this issue has been addressed by Pentagon officials 
for years, and was carefully studied by the now-defunct Senate Select 
Committee on POW/MIA Affairs. Nonetheless, I promised my constituents 
to share this information with my colleagues, for the record, at an 
appropriate time. I believe POW Recognition Day is an appropriate 
occasion for us to consider these issues, and I hope it will contribute 
to any further discussion of these matters in the Senate.
  The material follows:

                                           Minnesota League of

                                                 POW/MIA Families.
       I am Sharon Walsh, Minneapolis, Minnesota, the wife of 
     Richard A. Walsh III Colonel, USAF, a pilot who is or was 
     missing in action in Laos. I represent the League of 
     Minnesota Families of Missing and Prisoners in Southeast 
     Asia.
       This letter and the enclosed referenced documents document 
     the betrayal of branches of the U.S. government toward 
     America's missing personnel in the war in Southeast Asia. In 
     my lifetime, I cannot recall such disregard and callous 
     behavior toward young men who thought they represented an 
     honorable government. Actually it is criminal felonious 
     purposeful malfeasance in government that many of us find 
     shocking.
       In 1992, U.S. satellites recorded symbols on the ground in 
     Southeast Asia exactly matched rescue codes assigned to 
     pilots missing in the Vietnam War. Other symbols exactly 
     matched names of POW/MIA pilots.
       The official U.S. government explanation is these symbols 
     were created by vegetation and shadows and it is a 
     coincidence they match names and classified codes of MIAs. It 
     does not take a mathematical probability expert to realize 
     the absurdity of the government story.
       Government officials have committed both unethical and 
     illegal acts to misinform the nation about the satellite 
     imagery. However, the existence of enough of these rescue 
     symbols are verified in government documents to show the U.S. 
     is now an accomplice to slavery and torture of human beings. 
     The documents Senator Wellstone is introducing into the 
     Congressional Record show exactly how the government has lied 
     and mislead the public, the press, and the Congress.
       I urge every member of Congress who believes in the 
     principles of liberty and justice to carefully examine these 
     documents. The precedents of the POW/MIA issue--rewarding the 
     corrupt and punishing the truthful, must be reversed if we 
     are to survive as a free and democratic society. In the name 
     of justice, please act swiftly to remove and prosecute those 
     government officials who have betrayed both the missing men 
     and our nation.
       Thank You,
                                                     Sharon Walsh,
     Executive Director.
                                                                    ____


  Chronological Table Illustrating Fraudulent U.S. Government Imagery 
                                Stories

       Below is a table showing various government stories about 
     pilot distress symbols found in satellite imagery. GX2527, 
     SEREX, and 72TA88 were symbols recorded by U.S. satellites 
     taking pictures of the field next to Dong Vai Prison, Vietnam 
     on June 5, 1992. Dong Vai Prison is the site of seventeen 
     live sighting reports of American POWs.
       POW/MIA officials lie to the press and Congress in order to 
     prevent further investigation. These corrupt officials may 
     eventually admit the truth to a few individuals, but only 
     after millions have read the fraudulent story in the press or 
     after serious Congressional inquiry has been stopped cold. 
     They have a record of making up any story to hide the truth. 
     No U.S. government POW/MIA official has been prosecuted for 
     perjury or even reprimanded for putting out false 
     information.
       ``SEREX'' is the last name of MIA Henry Serex, lost in 
     south Vietnam in 1972. ``GX2527'' contains the E and E codes 
     and personal authenticator codes assigned to MIA Peter 
     Marthes, lost in Laos in November 1969. The letters ``TA'' 
     were, with other symbols, letters found just below the 1992 
     ``SEREX'' letters and also possibly in 1973 photography. The 
     ``USA'' letters were photographed over Laos in late 1988 and 
     early 1989.
       Examples in the table below include perjury before the 
     Senate Select POW/MIA Committee (SSC), lies intended to 
     prevent an investigation by the House Intelligence Committee, 
     and lies to the press. Quotes are represented by Italics. The 
     POW/MIA office is the source of correspondence unless 
     otherwise noted.


                                 serex

       October 8, 1992 Deposition of Air Force JSSA Deputy Chief 
     Robert Dussault before the SSC: . . . very clearly to me 
     there was the name S-E-R-E-X.
       August 29, 1994, to the chairman House Intelligence: the 
     individual who identified the symbol he thought was made by 
     Major Serex never identified the letters ``SEREX.'' He 
     identified what he thought was ``SER.'' Only after examining 
     an alphabetically arranged listing of missing Americans did 
     he match ``SER'' to ``SEREX.''
       December 6, 1994 to Star Tribune: No member of the Defense 
     Department has ever observed the word ``SEREX'' on any 
     satellite imagery or photography maintained by the US 
     government.
       October 10, 1996 to Wellstone: Mr. Dussault testified 
     before Congress that he had observed the letters ``SEREX'' on 
     satellite imagery. Mr. Dussault is not a professional imagery 
     analyst; he was testifying as a Department of Defense 
     employee.


                                   TA

       October 15, 1992 Andrews sworn testimony to Senate: The 
     first symbol of interest is a 1973 TH. This symbol was imaged 
     on May 20, 1973 and again on July 10, 1973 on the Plain of 
     Jars in Laos . . . It has been interpreted as either a 1573 
     or 1973 and either TA or TH. None of the four possible 
     combination of these symbols correlate to a classic 
     distress symbol or to the escape and evasion symbols that 
     our crews were trained to use.
       December 6, 1994 to Star Tribune: To our knowledge, the 
     letters ``TA'' were never used as an official evasion and 
     escape symbol during the war in Southeast Asia.
       January 6, 1995 letter from Air Force JSSA: According to 
     PACOM documents covering the Vietnam war period, GX and TA 
     were issued as classified E&E coded letter pair distress 
     symbols.
       May 1, 1996 to Wellstone: No one questions the fact that T 
     and A, along with many letters of the alphabet were used 
     during the Vietnam War as evader symbols.
       October 10, 1996 to Wellstone: Available records from the 
     period indicate the combination of ``T'' as the primary 
     evasion and escape (E&E) letter and ``A'' as the backup E&E 
     letter were used from October 1972 to 10 April 1973.


                                 GX2527

       December 6, 1994 to Star Tribune: The combination of 
     letters and numbers in the so-called ``GX2527'' symbol is not 
     a valid evader symbol.
       January 6, 1995 letter from Air Force JSSA: According to 
     PACOM documents covering the Vietnam war period, GX and TA 
     were issued as classified E&E coded letter pair distress 
     symbols.
       August 1995 POW/MIA office report provided to Wellstone: 
     The letters ``GX'' have no known correlation to any American 
     missing in Southeast Asia.'' and ``Additionally, the 
     combination GX2527'' is not a valid evader symbol.
       May 1, 1996 to Wellstone: Whether the alleged symbol 
     ``GX2527'' is a valid E&E symbol is not relevant . . .
       October 10, 1996 to Wellstone: Accordingly to the JSSA, 
     available records from the period indicate the combination of 
     ``G'' as the primary E&E letter and ``X'' as the backup E&E 
     letter were employed during September 1971. The loss incident 
     of the individual linked to these letters had occurred almost 
     two years before.


                                  USA

       December 6, 1988 CIA analysis: The letters form water 
     filled depressions in the otherwise dry fields.
       December 6, 1994 to Wellstone: The ``USA'' and ``KO'' 
     symbols referred to in the Star Tribune article were created 
     by two Lao youths who shaped the letters out of rice straw 
     they set ablaze.
       May 1, 1996 to Wellstone: When imagery analyst first 
     reviewed the photography containing ``USA, their initial 
     analytic findings was that the letters were depressions that 
     when filled with water would form the dark images observed on 
     the imagery. They based their initial analytic finding on the 
     basis that since the surrounding rice field was much lighter 
     in color, the darkness of the letters was probably caused by 
     water filled depressions. This initial photographic analysis 
     was in error.
       October 10, 1996 Same as May, 1996 statement.


                    examination of above statements

       These are only examples--the POW/MIA office commonly 
     changes stories. True statements were obtained by confronting 
     the POW/MIA office with declassified documents. Confrontation 
     with irrefutable documents sometimes works. However, in the 
     case of ``GX2527'' POW/MIA officials still try to discredit 
     the validity of these symbols. This is not hard to 
     understand, given that no one with any common sense can 
     believe the official government story that vegetation and 
     shadows created a classified six-character valid distress 
     symbol. Despite years of challenges, and numerous promises 
     from DPMO officials to provided documentation, not one 
     document has been provided to support the DPMO position that 
     ``GX2527'' is not a valid evader symbol.
       Discussion of SEREX. In response to a story in the Star 
     Tribune that stated that

[[Page S3226]]

     the Air Force JSSA deputy chief saw the letters SEREX, the 
     head of the POW/MIA office (General Wold) wrote the Star 
     Tribune claiming no Defense Department employee ever saw the 
     letters ``SEREX.'' In October 1996 the POW/MIA office 
     confessed their statement was false. The only excuse for this 
     offered is a vague statement open to many interpretations. 
     DPMO has refused to elaborate.
       The August 29, 1994 statement by the POW/MIA office to the 
     head of the House Intelligence committee is a pure 
     fabrication--with invented details to give it apparent 
     credibility. This is an outrageous attempt to obstruct 
     justice and prevent a potential investigation by the House 
     Intelligence Committee. No excuse for this statement has been 
     forthcoming by the POW/MIA office to date.
       Discussion of TA. The POW/MIA office now confesses that the 
     letters ``TA'' were used during the war as E&E codes. Their 
     office previously claimed to the best of their knowledge they 
     were not. It turns out the codes were not used just for one 
     month, but from October 1972 to April 10, 1973!
       Note the previous dates relate to May 1973 symbols 
     discussed in the October 15, 1992 testimony of Assistant 
     Secretary of Defense Duane Andrews. Andrews was sworn to tell 
     the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and 
     did not do so. Had the Senate Select POW/MIA committee 
     been told that TA were active escape and evasion symbols 
     for those missing from October 1972 to April 10, 1973, 
     they may have concluded that the symbols photographed in 
     May 1973 were made by an American. Again, the government 
     is entitled to take any position it desires. However, the 
     law does not allow government officials to lie, mislead, 
     or conceal information to support their position. Doing so 
     under sworn oath is called ``perjury.''
       Discussion of GX2527. The POW/MIA office has been 
     confronted with the statement from the SSC final report: 
     ``This consultant had detected, with ``100 percent 
     confidence'' a faint ``GX2527'' in a photograph of a prison 
     facility in Vietnam taken in June, 1992. This number 
     correlates to the primary and back-up distress symbols and 
     authenticator number of a pilot lost in Laos in 1969.'' Their 
     office has also been confronted with expert testimony from 
     the Air Force JSSA stating GX2527 is a valid pilot distress 
     symbol. JSSA is the very agency that teaches pilots the 
     rescue symbols. The POW/MIA office on one occasion said 
     whether GX2527 is a valid distress symbol is not relevant. 
     They still have not admitted GX2527 is a valid distress 
     symbol, indeed, they often deny it.
       On a second point, the POW/MIA office previously stated 
     ``The letters ``GX'' have no known correlation to any 
     American missing Southeast Asia.'' They now say GX were valid 
     for the months of September, 1971 and point out this is two 
     years after MIA Peter Matthes was shot down. Clearly, they 
     lied when they said GX correlated to no known missing 
     American--there are multiple Americans missing in September 
     1971. The POW/MIA office has refused to respond to numerous 
     inquiries asking what rescue letters they claim were valid 
     for November 1969.
       Discussion of USA. The POW/MIA office, the same office that 
     has refused to follow recommendations of the SSC regarding 
     imagery because they say they are so positive of their 
     findings, now claims an imagery analyst made a mistake. It 
     stretches the imagination to believe an imagery analyst could 
     not tell land from water. The POW/MIA office claims new 
     analysis showed the unnamed imagery analyst was mistaken. Yet 
     in my FOIA request, which asked for all documents relating to 
     the USA letters, I received not one document to support the 
     POW/MIA office's latest story.


                               references

       December 6, 1988--CIA analysis of USA letters, provided by 
     DPMO in FOIA request.
       October 15, 1992--statement to SSC from Assistant Secretary 
     Defense Duane Andrews.
       August 29, 1994--POW/MIA office letter to House 
     Intelligence Committee Chairman.
       December 6, 1994--letter from General James Wold to 
     Minneapolis Star Tribune.
       August 1995--POW/MIA office report ``Satellite imagery and 
     Ground Distress Symbols.''
       May 1, 1996--letter from POW/MIA office to Senator 
     Wellstone.
       October 10, 1996--letter from POW/MIA office to Senator 
     Wellstone.

                          ____________________