[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6553-6554]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                    JOINT TASK FORCE FULL ACCOUNTING

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, recently, in a remote area of Vietnam, a 
helicopter with 16 passengers and crew aboard went down in a central 
Vietnamese jungle. Vietnamese officials reported that there were no 
survivors. The passengers on this aircraft included seven American 
heroes. One of those heroes, I am sad to report, was from New Mexico, 
Major Charles Lewis II. Major Lewis was an Air Force ROTC graduate of 
Mayfield High School and New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM. 
He was an outstanding student and deeply committed to his country 
through his service with the Air Force. We are shocked and saddened at 
the loss of Major Lewis and these American heroes.
  In connection with the recent ``National Former Prisoner of War 
Recognition Day'', I salute Major Lewis and his downed colleagues. 
Moreover, I salute the heroic contributions of all those who serve in 
the Joint Task Force Full Accounting, JTFFA, and the U.S. Army Central 
Identification Laboratory Hawaii, CILHI, whose noble mission is to 
resolve the cases of Americans still unaccounted for during America's 
wars. We especially honor the unsung victims of this tragic accident 
who were carrying out our nation's abiding commitment to account for 
and honor the lives of POW-MIAs lost in the conflict in Southeast Asia 
three decades ago. They were part of an advance team scheduled to begin 
recovery work at six MIA sites in Vietnam beginning this month.
  Since 1973, the JTFFA and CILHI have conducted investigations and 
excavations that have accounted for 603 American POW-MIA personnel. 
Since 1985, with the full support of cooperative Vietnamese assistants, 
members of the Joint Task Force and the Central Identification 
Laboratory have undertaken the most challenging assignments to locate 
and identify former American prisoners of war or servicemen missing in 
action. Some excavations have consumed months of painstaking labor 
under very difficult conditions to retrieve the smallest items of 
evidence to help identify American casualties. Much of the work is done 
by hand in order not to disturb potential evidence. Our service 
personnel such as those who lost their lives last month have routinely 
exposed themselves to significant dangers in the quest for honoring our 
former POW-MIAs. Sadly, they lost their lives in their deeply patriotic 
quest.
  I call on all Americans to pause and remember Major Lewis and the 
brave men and women of the Joint Task Force and Central Identification 
Laboratory who have given their lives in such a noble cause.

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