[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000-2001, Book III)]
[November 18, 2000]
[Pages 2556-2557]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting Excavation Participants 
in Tien Chau Village, Vietnam
November 18, 2000

    General Axson, General Frost, Lieutenant Colonel Cory, 
Director Hung, and all the other Vietnamese 
and Americans who were engaged in this amazing project. It's an honor 
for me to be here with my family and Senator John Kerry and Members of our Congress and distinguished veterans 
from the United States who fought in the conflict here.
    At this spot 33 years ago this month Captain Lawrence Evert's F-105 
was shot down. No parachute was seen; the area was heavily defended; and 
there was no chance for a search.
    Today I am honored to be here with Captain Evert's sons, Dan and David, and I thank them for 
coming. We believe we owe them, and all Americans like them, what they 
came here for, a chance, finally, to take their father home.
    America is very proud of our Joint Task Force-Full Accounting. These 
young men and women have traveled half-way around the world

[[Page 2557]]

to bring home comrades fallen in the war that ended before many of them 
were born. They spend up to 200 days a year here working to recover 
remains for American families.
    We are also grateful for the service of the members of the Central 
Identification Labs, who help to end the anguish of not knowing.
    Our Nation has made a commitment that we will not rest until we've 
achieved the fullest possible accounting for our lost veterans. But it 
is only possible for us to fulfill our promise with the cooperation and 
support of the Vietnamese Government and the Vietnamese people.
    I want to personally thank the people of this village, this 
district, and province for your kindness, for coming forward with 
artifacts and information to help the search, and for working so hard 
alongside our service members and citizens. I also want to express the 
profound thanks of the American people to the Vietnamese Government for 
its support. Among other things, it sent engineers and technicians here 
to help us figure out how we can dig without destabilizing the railroad 
nearby.
    The United States is doing what we can to repay the cooperation of 
the Vietnamese and their Government by doing all we can to help the 
people of Vietnam find answers about their missing, as well. I brought 
with me over 350,000 pages of documents that I hope will provide some of 
those answers to the people of Vietnam. Whether we are American or 
Vietnamese, I think we all want to know where our loved ones are buried; 
I think we all want to be able to honor them and visit their grave 
sites. This common endeavor we make as friends is unprecedented in all 
of human history.
    Once we met here as adversaries; today we work as partners. We are 
committed to keep at it until we bring every possible fallen hero home. 
In the process, we are committed to building a new future for the 
children of Vietnam and the children of the United States, a future of 
friendship and cooperation.
    While working together to recover those who were lost in a long-ago 
war, we reduce the chances that any of our children will know war.
    Again, on behalf of the American people, I would like to thank all 
the Americans who are involved in this astonishing endeavor, and all of 
our Vietnamese partners, who stand in the mud, who work at the screens 
to try to find answers that are common to our humanity and go far beyond 
our differences.
    I thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 11:30 a.m. at the Joint Task Force-Full 
Accounting Excavation site. In his remarks, he referred to Brig. Gen. 
Harry B. Axson, USA, Commander, Lt. Col. Rennie M. Cory, USA, Commander, 
Detachment II, and Brig. Gen. Kathryn G. Frost, USA, Joint Task Force-
Full Accounting; and Nguyen Ba Hung, director, Vietnam Office for 
Seeking Missing Persons.