JTF-FA Team Members Lost In Vietnam - As reported in the April 7^th "Bits," a helicopter carrying 7 members of a Joint Task Force Team and 9 members of the Vietnamese Team, crashed in Quang Binh Province. There were no survivors.

The Americans on board were members of the Army, Air Force and Navy. They are:

Army - Lt. Col. Rennie Melville Cory Jr., of Oklahoma City, Okla.; Lt. Col. George D. Martin III, of Hopkins, S.C.; and Sgt. 1st Class Tommy James Murphy, of Georgia (hometown not available.)

Air Force - Maj. Charles E. Lewis of Las Cruces, N.M.; Master Sgt. Steven L. Moser of San Diego; and Tech. Sgt. Robert M. Flynn of Huntsville, Ala.

Navy - Chief Petty Officer Pedro Juan Gonzalez of Buckeye, Ariz.

In a statement issued April 7^th, the National Alliance of Families expressed its deepest sympathy to the families of these men saying;,

"We extend our sincere condolences to the families of these service members and hope that they will be comforted by that fact that their loved ones will always be remembered for their commitment to finding our loved ones."

Those wishing to express their condolences may send letters to the families c/o Joint Task Force - Full Accounting, at JTF-FA, HQ USCINCPAC, Box 44, Camp H. M. Smith, HI 96861-4044

The More Things Change.... The More They Stay The Same - From Reuters, Hanoi - April 9^th, by David Brunnstrom "U.S. military experts began identifying on Monday Americans killed in a weekend helicopter crash in Vietnam, but officials expressed concerns that looting from the site could hamper investigations into the cause."

"...State-run Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper said on Monday a local resident stole nearly 500 kg (1,100 lb) of wreckage from the helicopter right after the crash in the province's Thanh Trach commune. An official of the commune People's Committee called this an exaggeration. "Some children took little pieces away but we have been able to get all those things back," he said...."

"A U.S. official said such incidents were a concern to those trying to discover the cause of the crash, but cited reports that the amount of wreckage taken was much less than 500 kg. "Any disturbance of a crash site is undesirable from the standpoint of a clear investigation," he said...."

Next JTF-FA Field Activity Canceled - From the Associated Press - Washington "A joint U.S.-Vietnamese search for remains of Americans missing in action from the Vietnam War has been canceled as a result of an April 7 helicopter crash that killed seven Americans and nine Vietnamese."

"It is only the second time such a search mission was canceled since they began in 1985. The other was in November 1999, when a mission was canceled because of severe flooding in central Vietnam. The U.S. military organization that conducts the searches issued a statement Monday night from its headquarters in Hawaii saying canceling the May 3-June 1 search will allow both the U.S. and Vietnamese governments time to assess the cause of the helicopter accident in Vietnam and rebuild a search capability..."

American and Allied Soldiers Held By Soviets - That's the subject of an August 4^th 1947 document referencing "Project 1504032." The document discuses a source report of three American POWs from World War II working in a tank factory in the former Soviet Union. The source Hans Joschim Hofmann reported his contact with three Americans. To back up this report Mr. Hofmann produced photos of the three. According to the document; "the informant claims to have talked with the soldier shown on the picture marked exhibit "A" whose name is Boehm, Viktor [ redacted redacted redacted redacted redacted redacted redacted redacted] emigrated to the United States of America in 1928, lived in [redacted redacted redacted ] According to the informant Boehm served in the Army of the United States, was taken prisoner by the Germans and taken over by the Russians on or about 5 May 1945 in Oelmuetx, Silisia, Germany and transported to SIBERIA on 17 July 1945 to the NOROSIBIRSK camp 311 near KRASNOE, Siberia where BOEHM is presently working in a tank factory. This informant worked with BOEHM who speaks German. BOEHM gave Hofmann the attached pictures."

"The informant claims there are two hundred (200) American soldiers working in the plant and about nine hundred (900) Allied soldiers mostly English and French soldiers."

"On the back of the picture attached as exhibit "B" is the address of Mr. James E. Green [redacted redacted redacted redacted] who is also working in said tank factory in Siberia."

"The picture attached as exhibit "C" could not be identified by the informant."

"The informant knows the names of the following Allied personnel"

1. Sergeant RIEDEL, [redacted redacted redacted redacted]

2 Schanno AMBROSINI [redacted redacted redacted redacted] also working in said tank factory.

From the "1992 - 1996 Findings of the Korean War Working Group" of the U.S. Russian Joint Commission:

"THE SOVIET SECURITY SERVICES AND AMERICAN POWs - In the nearly seventy-five years of the Soviet Union's existence, the KGB, or MGB as it was known then, was one of the pillars of the Soviet state. 127 Charged with domestic political security, counter-intelligence, foreign intelligence collection, border security, signal intelligence, and the protection of political leaders, the security organs were given the most sensitive missions.

In 1992 a retired Soviet colonel - Gavril Korotkov claimed that American POWs were taken to the Soviet Union for interrogation. Colonel Korotkov recalled that while on the territory of the Soviet Union the NKVD maintained control over the Americans. Soviet military interrogators were given only a few hours with the Americans and then they were returned to NKVD control.

In part, because of Colonel Korotkov's testimony, a working hypothesis by the American side has been that the MGB and/or its subordinate organs played an important role in any transfer of Americans to the Soviet Union and almost certainly had control over Americans on the territory of the Soviet Union. 129 Moreover, because the MGB was a political agency subordinate directly to the Central Committee and the Politburo, it did not report to or through the military chain of command. Hence, directives from Moscow that military officials were to have no direct contact with American POWs did not pertain to MGB officials.

In the course of conducting research over the last three years, the U.S. has found from time to time indications of MGB activities. The evidence is not conclusive but it is highly suggestive. For example, there is evidence that MGB organized the interrogation of American POWs as well as participated in the interrogations. Unlike the military's-GRU intelligence department, the MGB does not seem to have faced a prohibition against contact with Americans. There are, moreover, strong indications that the MGB had, and quite probably still has, interrogation reports in its possession.

Indicative of MGB involvement with American POWs is a long report sent to Moscow by General Slyusarev, commander of the 64 Ih Fighter Aviation Corps, on 26 November 1952. Addressed to Colonel General Malinin and Colonel General Batitskii and marked "urgent", the message was a summary of the interrogation of an RB-29 assigned to the 91^st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron that was shot down over North Korea in the summer of 1952. The Soviets obviously placed great emphasis on interrogating the crew because at the end of the document the statement was made,

"Representatives from the MGB USSR and China have arrived from Peking to conduct further prisoner interrogations, to gain more precise information on spy centers, landing strips, and incidents of overflights of the territory of the Soviet Union. The interrogation will be continued in Pekton."

"I consider it advisable as well to send specialists on other matters."

"I request your instructions as to the procedures for sending you the materials and advisability of our participation in the interrogations."

At the very bottom of the document was a note penned by Colonel General Malinin that contained instructions to organize immediately a supplementary interrogation of the Strieby crew.

This message indicates that the MGB was involved in the interrogation of American POWs. Second, the statement, "I request your instructions... and advisability of our participation in the interrogations" confirms that Soviet military officials were prohibited to interrogate American POWs without permission. Yet, the statement "Representatives of the MGB USSR and China have arrived to conduct further prisoner interrogations" clearly suggests that the MGB, which is not part of the military, did not need permission to conduct interrogations of Americans.

There is yet another example where the MGB played a role in the interrogation of American POWs:

"I am reporting that, according to the report of the MGB USSR advisor in China, 9 crew members of an aircraft shot down from the 91" Reconnaissance Detachment, American Strategic Aviation, which was shot down in the An'dung region on 12 January 1953, were taken prisoner ... On the instructions of the TsK (Central Committee) of the Communist Party of China, they will be sent to Peking and subject to interrogations."

"The Minister of Public Safety of China, having reported on 27 January 1953 to our advisor on this decision of the TsK KPK (Central Committee of the Communist Party of China), requested that our advisor help the Chinese investigators organize the interrogation of the prisoners of war and check their work."

"The MGB USSR advisor was ordered to render us such help."

The shoot down mentioned above refers to the so-called Arnold crew. Colonel John K. Arnold, Jr. was the commander of the 91^st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing and senior officer aboard a B-29. On 12 January 1953 Colonel Arnold's B-29 was on a PSYOP leaflet drop when it was attacked at approximately 2245 hours by MiG- 1 5 s and radar controlled anti-aircraft fire. The aircraft was hit and crashed.

Eleven of the fourteen member crew were repatriated. The Chinese, who captured the crew near Andung, China, sent them to Beijing for interrogation - an interrogation organized by the MGB.

Both of these reports clearly show that the MGB was active in the interrogation of American POWs. Moreover, one of the documents (TFR 300-15/16) suggests that the MGB, unlike the Army, was not restricted from establishing direct contact with American POWs. Furthermore, since the MGB helped organize the interrogations, it seems probable that the Chinese would have given the Soviets at least a courtesy copy of the interrogations.

There is in fact direct evidence that the MGB did receive at least some of the interrogations. One of the documents provided to the U.S. side is titled "A List of Documents on the Testimonies of the Prisoners of War; Colonel Arnold, Captain Llewellyn, and AI C Kiba". The U.S. side received the interrogation of Colonel Arnold but not the interrogation of Captain Llewellyn or of AIC Kiba. The U.S. received only short one paragraph biographies on each, but not interrogations.

Moreover, AI C Kiba, who returned to military control after the war, distinctly remembers being interrogated by Russians, and Soviet records such as the one above clearly indicate they had possession of Kiba's interrogation. Furthermore, it seems quite likely that these and other interrogations are still extent in the archives of the Russian security services.

In summation, a review of the evidence of MGB (KGB or security service) involvement with American POWs is not conclusive. However, it is highly suggestive that the MGB was more deeply involved with American POWs than previously recognized. While the MGB cannot be directly linked with any transfers, it can be linked with interrogations. The MGB also appears to have had unfettered access to prisoners. Finally, there is a high probability that the Russian security service archives still hold interrogation reports on American POWs."

From the 1992 - 1996 Findings of the Vietnam War Working Group of the U.S. Russian Joint Commission - "Regarding the official Russian version of events. The American side of the Commission has been told in definitive terms that the Soviet Government did not at any time transport American POWs from Southeast Asia to the territory of the Soviet Union. These statements have been made by the Directors, past and present, of the External Intelligence Service (former KGB), the Directors of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Soviet General Staff (GRU), and other high ranking Cabinet-level members of the Russian Government. As the Russian co-Chairman of the Commission, General-Colonel Volkogonov, stated early in the investigation that he could not discount the possibility that transfers from Vietnam occurred. After extensive reviews of Russian archival holdings, however, he stated that he had seen no evidence that transfers occurred.."

From Bits N Pieces November 21, 1998 - Voice From the Grave - When Russian General Dmitri Volkogonov passed away in December 1995, we all hoped that he left some message or information behind indicating that American POWs were transported to the former Soviet Union, during the Vietnam War. The message we hoped for was located in January 1998, among the General's personal papers, donated to the Library of Congress.

In his native Russian, General Volkogonov wrote of his efforts to help resolve the fate of American POWs. "I am not certain that we have fully clarified everything. I know that quite a few documents were destroyed. However, one document, probably sensational, is still in storage. I have a copy of it. It's content is as follows: at the end of the 1960s the KGB (external foreign intelligence) was given the task of "delivering informed Americans to the USSR for intelligence gathering purposes." When I found this sensational paper in a "special pouch," I immediately went to Y. M. Primakov (Director of Foreign Intelligence). He called in his people. They brought in a copy of this project signed; it seems to me, by Semichastny (I will explain). For a long time, there was a search underway to find traces of this task. These, the traces, as I had expected "were not found." They said that the task had not been accomplished. So how did this happen in fact? The regime was such that one could speculate on the wildest of variants. This remained a secret, which I could not penetrate. I also did not report this to my much-esteemed Ambassador, M. Toon. I am speaking about this now in the hope that these notes will make it into my book Reflections. (Note: in the text the word Reflections is underlined.)"

General Volkogonov's notes continued: "History, especially Soviet history, is full of secrets, and very often evil. With the exception of this incident, I can say that I have done something in order to raise the mysterious curtain from them...."

On November 9th, 1998, in an article by Bill Gertz, the Washington Times broke the story of the document's existence. According to the article, "Moscow is refusing to turn over a secret KGB document suggesting captured Americans were taken to the Soviet Union in the late 1960s for "intelligence-gathering purposes..."

The article continued, "The Russian government has told U.S. officials the plan was never carried out, and Moscow recently turned down U.S. government requests to study the intelligence document, saying it is classified and will not be released, the officials said...."

Confusion - In the days that followed the Washington Times Nov. 9th article, some confusion arose. The Russians first claimed that the document did not exist, then stated the document would not be released because it is classified. Further reporting indicated that Russian officials admitted the existence of the plan to transfer American POWs to the former Soviet Union but insisted the plan was never carried out."

What The Russians Are Saying - The following is excerpted from a Russian News Itar-Tass article dated November 18th. "..."The U.S. is especially interested in a specific document in the archives of the former KGB, which is allegedly connected with the use by the Soviet foreign intelligence late in the 1960s of Americans, taken prisoner in Vietnam..."

"...The Washington Times newspaper reported on Tuesday that last October U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright raised the question of a possibility of familiarizing American experts with this document in a letter to Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov."

"However, the Russian side replied in the negative, referring to its secret nature. The U.S. delegation which participated in a regular meeting of the bilateral commission in Moscow last week received approximately the same reply...."

National Intelligence Estimate - released July 1998 discussed the possibility of transfer of Vietnam era POWs to the Soviet Union. According to the report, "a few reports of transfers of U.S. POWs to Russia and other countries are unexplained and the books remain open." End Bits N Pieces November 21, 1998

H.R.62 - The Dumbest Piece Of Legislation Ever Introduced - (for details see Bits 2/24/01) - As of April 21 the legislation has ZERO co-sponsors. We will keep an eye on this legislation but will no longer report on it, unless someone is dumb enough to sign on as a co-sponsor.

National Alliance of Families Twelfth Annual Forum is scheduled for June 21st _ 23rd, 2001. Our Forum is conducted to coincide with the governments annual POW/MIA Family Briefings. We urge all family members to attend this years government briefings, for Vietnam family members. Remember the government will provide free airfare to two family members to attend the briefings. There is no charge or registration fee to attend the government briefings. It is important that family members attend these briefings.

Our meeting will be held at the Crown Plaza Hotel, 1489 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington Va. Room rates are $106.00 single or double, plus tax. To make reservations call 703- 416-1600 Remember to say you want the National Alliance of Families Group Rate. The deadline for reservations is May 29th, 2001.

Remember, the Alliance is an all volunteer organization. Our meetings are open to all, without charge. At this time of year, we actively seek contributions to finance our Forum. If you wish to contribute, donations may be mailed to: