I just finished reading An Enormous Crime, a recently released book written by former North Carolina Congressman Bill Hendon that dubs itself as the "definitive account of the abandonment of U.S. troops in Southeast Asia." Although it's a tome (approx. 800 pgs. w/ copious endnotes), I certainly recommend it to anyone like me who has an interest in over 2,000 still unaccounted for service people who went missing during the Vietnam War. The gist of the Congressman's book is that N. Vietnam and Laos withheld releasing b/w 500 - 700 American POWs as leverage to negotiate war reparations. It includes de-classified Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) reports on first-hand accounts of Vietnamese refugees who witnessed these American prisoners well into the 1990's. It also points to evidence that I had heard about previously of an indirect offer from N. Vietnam (through China and Canadian diplomats) to the new Reagan administration back in 1981 that it would accept $5 billion to ransom the American prisoners. Obviously, it was not pursued.

Even before reading the book, I believed that the evidence indicated that a large number of Americans remained in Southeast Asia as prisoners following Operation Homecoming. In an age where the 24-hour cable news networks run from scandel to scandel, I believe that 50 to 75 years from now when the truth is revealed, the crime of ignoring American service people imprisoned overseas while normalizing relations w/ Vietnam will be historically more signficant (and be the cause of greater national shame) than Watergate.

I remember only the following 3 occasions when UM featured segments on those MIA in Southeast Asia:

1. There was a segment in which the daughter or sister of an MIA soldier began receiving strange calls from someone purporting to be the missing loved one. The calls included automatic weapons fire in the background and the person telling her "Don't look for me" or words to that effect. Eventually the caller told her to meet him near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in D.C. and after being approached by a stranger, she spots her MIA relative, who runs away when she tries to speak w/ him.

2. There was the segment which has been the subject of discussion on this msg. bd. before, where the parents of an MIA soldier see a news photo featuring an unidentified person in a Vietnamese jail, whom they believe is their missing son. They are stonewalled by the DoD, but have some expert who verifies that the picture matches certain features of their son. They are in a D.C. bar talking about their predicament when a nearby patron approaches and tells them that he was a POW in Vietnam and knew their son. He indicated that their son's nickname was "Preacher" because he read the Bible. This fact apparently was consistent with their son's religious inclinations. The man gave them his name and intimated that there was a gov't cover-up regarding their son's situation. After checking w/ others, the name given by the stranger at the bar did not match any known American servicemen who were held prisoner. (P.S. If the stanger was a phony I always thought that he was the biggest di** ever to be featured on UM [perhaps a topic for a future post]).

3. Finally, and this is a segment I would like more details if anyone remembers it. This was one of the first segments featured on UM if I recall. It was about an American pilot who was declared KIA after being shot down over Vietnam. Another pilot who was on the mission indicated that he actually saw a parachute following the shoot down, suggesting that the pilot made it out alive. I can't remember any other details, but I suspect there was additional evidence suggesting he was imprisoned. Any help here is appreciated.

Missing persons have always been the most intriguing UM segments IMO. The POW-MIA controversy is perhaps the one and only instance of mass-missing persons in modern times. I wish UM did more segments.

1. There was a segment in which the daughter or sister of an MIA soldier began receiving strange calls from someone purporting to be the missing loved one. The calls included automatic weapons fire in the background and the person telling her "Don't look for me" or words to that effect. Eventually the caller told her to meet him near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in D.C. and after being approached by a stranger, she spots her MIA relative, who runs away when she tries to speak w/ him.

2. There was the segment which has been the subject of discussion on this msg. bd. before, where the parents of an MIA soldier see a news photo featuring an unidentified person in a Vietnamese jail, whom they believe is their missing son. They are stonewalled by the DoD, but have some expert who verifies that the picture matches certain features of their son. They are in a D.C. bar talking about their predicament when a nearby patron approaches and tells them that he was a POW in Vietnam and knew their son. He indicated that their son's nickname was "Preacher" because he read the Bible. This fact apparently was consistent with their son's religious inclinations. The man gave them his name and intimated that there was a gov't cover-up regarding their son's situation. After checking w/ others, the name given by the stranger at the bar did not match any known American servicemen who were held prisoner. (P.S. If the stanger was a phony I always thought that he was the biggest di** ever to be featured on UM [perhaps a topic for a future post]).

I remember both of these. For the first, I don't recall a meeting being set up, only that the sister saw him and chose not to approach him. I can only imagine this poor grieving family wants something to hold onto. Two occasions arose where she could have spoken to the man, but she chose not to do so. That just does not add up.

The 2nd one is really sad as I think the man they met in the bar was just some crackpot looking for attention. I've recently met a fellow who claims to be an agent in the FBI and has all kinds of college degrees. None of it true, just wants the attention of others. If this man were legit, he'd have not left the family hanging like that.

nm