Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 . __ . . -*- N A M V E T -*- ____/ \_ . . ( * \ . . Managing Editor \ Quangtri . . ---------------- \_/\ \_ Hue . . G. Joseph Peck \_Ashau Phu Bai . . \_* \_ . . Editorial Assistants \ * ) . . -------------------- _/ Danang . . Pete Farias \|/ ( \_*Chu Lai . . Sarge Hultgren --*-- \_ ------- \__ . . /|\ \_ I Corps \ . . Distribution Manager \ ------- ! . . ------------ /\_____ ! . . Jerry Hindle / ! \ . . ! !___ \ . . Section Editors ! \/\____! . . --------------- ! ! . . IN-TOUCH: Ray "Frenchy" Moreau / Dak To ! . . INCARCERATED VETS: Joyce Flory / * / . . NEED-TO-KNOW: Lefty Frizzell ! \_ . . VETERAN EMPLOYMENT: Fred Sochacki ! Phu Cat\ . . MIA/POW: Marsha Ledeman \ * * ) . . AGENT ORANGE: Jim Ferguson \ Pleiku ) . . KEEPER OF THE LIST: Charlie Revie \ \ . . / / . . "In the jungles of 'Nam, some of us ( -------- ! . . were scared and wary, but we pulled _\ II Corps ! . . one another along and were able / -------- \ . . to depend on each other. That has \ \ . . never changed. Today, free of the ! * / . . criticisms and misunderstandings _/ Nhatrang / . . many veterans have endured, _/ / . . NAM VET is a shining beacon, __/ ! . . a ray of hope, and a _ __/ \ ! . . reminder that the _____( )/ ! Camranh Bay . . lessons learned / !__ ! . . at such a high / \ / . . price shall not \ Bien Hoa \ / . . be forgotten - ! Chu Chi * \ __/ . . nor the errors \_ * --------- \ ___/ . . repeated!!!" ____ \ III Corps \ _/ . . / \_____) )_(_ --------- !__/ Duplication in . . ! ( ___/ any form permitted . . _____! \__ * ___/ for NONCOMMERCIAL . . ! Saigon/ purposes ONLY! . . \___ -------- / \/ . . \ IV Corps / For other use, contact: . . ) -------- / . . / ! G. Joseph Peck (413) 442-1660 . . / ____/ Managing Editor . . / Mekong/ . . ! Delta/ This newsletter is comprised of articles . . ! ____/ and items from individuals and other . . ! / sources. We are not responsible for the . . ! / content of this information nor are any of . . ! __/ NAM VETs contributors or Section Editors. . . \_/ gjp . . . NAM VET Newsletter Page i Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 ================================================================== T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S 1. Editorials Once upon a long time ago... ............................. 1 Thanks ................................................... 3 Murphy's list continues to grow! ......................... 4 2. Sister Vets Chronology of Vietnam Women's Memorial Project ........... 6 Monumental Difference .................................... 9 VWMP's Sister Search ..................................... 10 VWMP's Sister Search Form ................................ 11 3. In-Touch EDS and VETLink helps vets get "In Touch"! ............... 12 Khe Sanh Vet searches for info on KIA brother ............ 14 They haven't forgotten US!!! ............................. 15 In-Touch: What is it??? .................................. 16 IN-TOUCH Registration/Request Form!!! .................... 19 KheSanh Vet Newsletter "Red Clay" ........................ 21 Khe Sanh Innovations and Information ..................... 22 4. Drums be not Silent Freedom Now! ............................................. 23 POW Items Available ...................................... 27 Pentagon admits "POWs alive in Laos!" .................... 28 Not prepared to be abandoned! ............................ 30 Anatomy of MIA/POW Scam! ............................. 35 DIA wants to stop POW search ............................. 38 5. Shiftin' Sands Desert Storm Trophies WARNING! ........................... 40 Desert Storm Vet Not Forgotten! .......................... 41 She Flies Ever High!!! ................................... 42 Long Time Now ............................................ 43 War Criminal Hussein and 'Nam PM Not? .................... 44 6. Don't drink the water! Agent Orange & Adverse Health Effects .................... 48 NJ A/O Commission - Attention Women Vets! ................ 52 NJ Agent Orange Alert! ................................... 54 Break out the Clearasil ! ............................ 55 7. A Family Affair SURVIVOR's - A program for veterans and families ......... 56 Hands Across Time ........................................ 60 Kokomo Vet Reunion... Vet groups - CHECK YOUR SIX! ....... 61 8. Veterans n' Jobtalk EMPLOYMENT: A Report by DAV's RONALD W. DRACH ............ 63 Hiring quota's make a Job NOT a Job! ..................... 69 Applied Dedication and Commitment ....................... 71 9. Forgotten - again? Veterans Forgotten? ...................................... 72 Jungle to Jail - Part 1 .................................. 77 VIET CONS ..................... 78 A visit or note once in awhile? .......................... 81 Petition/Form for POW US Postal Stamp ................... 82 10. Over Montezuma, Anchors yonder! The Eight Days of Creation ............................... 83 The Electronic Chapel .................................... 84 To Those Born Before 1945 ................................ 85 11. Hmmm... Only the Phony ... Fake Vets Cash In ..................... 87 Persevere in dealings with COVA .......................... 94 12. Charlie's Angels VIETNAM_VETS: Where? ..................................... 98 Some Gave All... ......................................... 101 NAM VET Newsletter Page ii Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 ================================================================== Editorials ================================================================== Once upon a long time ago... By G. Joseph Peck NamVet's Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 Once upon a long time ago "advisors" were sent to a little country across the sea. Soon thereafter, a US President said "Ask not what your country can do for YOU... ask what YOU can do for your country!" Almost immediately, there thronged to military recruitment centers around the country hordes of young Americans, eager and willing to do what proud countrymen had done in ages past: Defend America and her principles - this time in a country called Viet Nam. With leaders that often pulled in different directions, objectives taken only to be quickly abandoned, America super-examining HER conscience and losing many of her finest, military strength began to decrease and "Project 100,000" (A Great Society "brainchild" instituted to get America's disadvantaged youth 'off the streets' and teach military discipline and skills) was instituted. Soon that, too, disturbed the conscience of America. Proud defenders of freedom they, returning soldiers were treated with less-than-honorable regard as America "punished the warriors" for doing what their country had asked them to do. Once upon a long time ago, too, on a cold and quiet Wyoming night, a computer-using veteran tap-tap-tapped out a message on his keyboard to another veteran who "understood" and "talked the same language" into an echo called VIETNAM_VETS. A "bouncing betty" had taken the legs from that veteran and he was confined to his home "for the duration". Soon, heavens that once were filled with tears melted into a link of brotherhood. And that "brotherhood" grew and grew and grew as more and more veterans discovered they weren't alone in their nightmares, troubles and successes - and they began to communicate with one another. Other "echoes" (message bases that were exchanged with other BBSs and their users) were created as VIETNAM_VETS discovered the wide range of topics that America's veterans had in common - or wanted to learn more about... and VETNet was born. On Veterans' Day, 1987 (11/11/87) there entered into the computer- using veterans' world an electronic newsletter that would distill some of the information from VIETNAM_VETS and the VETNet echoes and add other articles that all veterans (and their families) might like to know about. "NamVet" - the electronic newsletter by, for and about veterans and the issues that concern them - became a monthly reality! No "magic wand" was waved, nor was there anyone "behind the scenes" casting spells or other incantations upon the messages in VIETNAM_VETS and the VETNet echoes. Almost miraculously, a NAM VET Newsletter Page 1 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 "loosening of the chains" began to take place. Veterans, once solely focused on the "rejection" they endured when they returned to civilian life, began to communicate about BASIC training, weaponry used in battle, tracers, dustoffs, medevacs, soldier "games" and happenings, EARNED veteran benefits that often were being denied by a cold an' sterile Veterans Administration and other agencies ... and VETLink #1 - on the scene from almost day one - increased its efforts to touch ALL veterans. VETLink #2 (703-471-8010), with SysOp Ray "Frenchy" Moreau at the Herndon, VA helm, added his efforts, equipment and expertise; VETLink #3 (314-334-6359) in Cape Girardeau, MO with SysOp Mike Bryeans continuously added his programming expertise and an awful lot of needed help; VETLink #4 (301-261-5644) in Shady Side, MD with SysOp Jim Hildwine added his communications expertise; and VETLink #5 (201-778-1879) in Passaic, NJ with SysOp Fred Sochacki "Semper Fidelis"-ing all the way ... and the VETLink #? BBS, each carrying the VETNet echoes, important veteran text files and many issues of NamVet, became truly a LINKing of the proud VETerans of our nation - with each new VETLink BBS adding a new and sometimes colorful hue to the word VETERAN. (VETLink's 4 and 5 will soon be adding special and unique echoes to the VETNet echoes) Once upon a long time ago on a cold and quiet Wyoming night, a computer-using veteran tap-tap-tapped out a message on his keyboard to another veteran who "understood" and "talked the same language" into an echo called VIETNAM_VETS -- ...and his brothers and sisters, in an electronic way, have answered the call! The MORAL of this story? "Ya ain't alone, brother and sister veteran! If you wanna talk to a brother/sister veteran or you need veteran benefit information or want to find out about a reunion or try to find out about a veteran you've lost contact with, or anything else veteran-related, pop into the VIETNAM_VETS echo or call a VETLink near you. If there ISN'T one, think about BEING one... or ask your friendly SysOp about VETLink!!!" 'til next month Show a brother or sister veteran That YOU care!!! and we might ALL "live happily ever after" Ci'ao for Ni'ao - Joe - NAM VET Newsletter Page 2 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Thanks By Jim Hildwine NamVet's Federal Benefits Section Editor Dak To West/VETLink #4 - Shady Side, MD (301) 261-5644 In our lives, we all have a dream we'd like to see come true. To some, it's hitting the lottery for a million bucks. For others, their family's return after divorce or separation. To others, to find or see some place like Hawaii, or to go to the top of Mt. Everest. Sometimes these dreams do come true, but the key factor is not luck, it's just hard hard work, and a determination to make that dream come true. Among us walks a man. His dream five years ago was to do something with a computer to help Veterans and, to be more exact, the Vietnam Vet and Vietnam Era Vet. He has poured his life, hours, days, weeks, months and even years to accomplishing this fact. A dream comes true when one day along comes a brother VetLink #2 and it's way down south in a place called Herndon, Va. And not long after VetLink #2, then POW! Vet Link #3 pops up and starts to fall into place, and then out of nowhere here comes VetLink #4, followed by Vet Link #5. Yep folks a dream is coming true. It's not a fast dream, but its a slow, o' so painfully slow one. But the hard work, late hours, attention to detail, and devotion to a self-appointed duty is making this dream come true. Some day... Some day... This nation will have VetLinks from sea to shining sea, from Canada, to Australia, and even more. We the proud the few and then the so many Veterans need to take a few seconds out and thank a guy Named Gjoseph Peck. For Joe has carried the ball for the rest of us when we were not even sure where it was..... So from this VetLink #4, Thanks for a job well done. Jim Hildwine, SysOp - Dak To West/VETLink #4 [Note from Joe: I was a little humbled in placing the above in this month's NamVet. Jim specially asked me to. Thanks, Jim... Its KNOWING that in some way I've been able to help make things better for our computer-world of veterans that makes it ALL worthwhile! Welcome aboard, bro'!!! And Thanks for the Thanks!!!] NAM VET Newsletter Page 3 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Murphy's list continues to grow! Anonymous A special THANKS to Dave Doehrman and Khe Sanh Vets Newsletter; Springfield, MA VVA Chapter 111; Lt. Col Jack Finch USA (Ret.) and members of the VIETNAM_VETS International Echo for helping us keep Murphy's list growing! Okay... now all we need is to have our Desert Shield/Desert Storm folks let us know how Murphy treated them? How's about it, folks? - An Incomplete List of Murphy's Laws of Combat Operations - 1. Military intelligence can be a contradiction in terms. 2. Recoilless rifles - aren't. 3. A sucking chest wound is nature's way of telling you to slow down. 4. The enemy diversion you are ignoring is the main attack. 5. If the enemy is within range, then so are you. 6. Friendly fire - isn't. 7. If it's stupid and works, then it ain't stupid. 8. When you have secured an area, don't forget to tell the enemy. 9. If you're short of everything except the enemy, then you're in the combat zone. 10. Try to look unimportant. They may be low on ammo. 11. The easy way is always mined. 12. Tracers work both ways. 13. Sh*t happens. 14. Incoming fire has the right of way. 15. Teamwork is essential. It gives them other people to shoot at. 16. Never draw fire - it irritates everyone around you. 17. No combat ready unit has ever passed an inspection. 18. No inspection ready unit has ever passed combat. 19. Make it too tough for the enemy to get in and you can't get out. 20. If both sides are convinced they're about to lose, they're both right. 21. Professionals are predictable, but the world is full of dangerous amateurs. 22. Fortify your front and you'll get your rear shot up. 23. When in doubt, empty your magazine. 24. In war, important things are very simple and all simple things are hard. 25. Don't look conspicuous, it draws fire. 26. Communications will fail as soon as you need fire support. 27. Weather ain't neutral. 28. Never share a foxhole with anyone braver than you. 29. Remember, your weapon was made by the lowest bidder. 30. If you can't remember, the claymore is pointed towards you. 31. All five second grenade fuses are three seconds. 32. The only thing more accurate than incoming enemy fire is incoming friendly. 33. If your attack is going really well, it's an ambush. 34. No OPLAN survives first contact intact. 35. If it flies, it dies. 36. When you are forward of your position, the artillery will always be short. 37. Suppressive fire - won't. 38. You are not Superman. 39. Cavalry doesn't always come to the rescue. NAM VET Newsletter Page 4 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 40. B-52's are the ultimate in close air support. 41. Sniper's motto: Reach out and touch someone. 42. Peace is our profession - mass murder's just a hobby. 43. Killing for peace is like whoring for virginity. 44. There's always a way. 45. Murphy was a grunt. 46. It's not the one with your name on it - it's the round addressed "to whom it may concern" ya gotta think about. 47. Remember napalm is an area weapon. 48. Mines are equal opportunity weapons. 50. There is no such thing as the perfect plan. 51. The enemy invariably attacks on two occasions: a. when you are ready for them. b. when you are not ready for them. 52. Anything you do can get you shot, including nothing. 53. Marine math: 2 beers times 39 Marines is 49 cases. 54. Body Count Math: 2 VC plus 1 chicken and 3 pigs equals 37 enemy killed in action. 55. Things that must be together to work, can't be carried in the field that way. 56. If you take more than your share of objectives, you will be given more than your share of objectives to take. NAM VET Newsletter Page 5 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 ================================================================== Sister Vets ================================================================== Brief Chronology of the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project Vietnam Women's Memorial Project, Inc. 2001 S Street, NW - Suite 302 Washington, D.C. 20009 (202) 328-7253 FAX (202) 328-0063 Submitted by: Martha Green VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 1983 (September) The idea for the memorial is conceived by Diane Carlson Evans, RN, who served in Vietnam. Evans shared her dream with Rodger M. Brodin, a noted Minnesota sculptor. Together, using Brodin's skills as an artist and Evans' memories of life in Vietnam, they created a statue of a female veteran. 1984 (April) To place this statue at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project is incorporated as a nonprofit volunteer organization. Its additional goals are to educate the public about the role of women during the Vietnam war and to locate the women who served. 1985-1986 Resolutions are passed at the national conventions of major veterans organizations supporting the efforts of the Project: The American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vietnam Veterans of America, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Jewish War Veterans. 1986 (May) FIRST APPROVAL OBTAINED. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc. chaired by John Wheeler and President Jan Scruggs, approve the placement of a women's memorial at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. 1986-1987 Fundraising, education, public relations and Sister Search activities continue. 1987 (September) SECOND APPROVAL OBTAINED. Secretary of the Interior approves the concept of placing a Vietnam Women's Memorial at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. 1987 (October) FINE ARTS COMMISSION REJECTS PROPOSAL for memorial in public hearing by a 4-1 vote. 1987 (November) S.J. 215 is introduced in the senate authorizing a Vietnam Women's Memorial at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and companion bill H.R. 3628 is introduced in the House. 1988 (February) Hearings are held on S.J. 2042 before the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands, National Parks and Forests to complete the Vietnam Veterans Memorial with a Vietnam Women's Memorial. NAM VET Newsletter Page 6 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 1988 (May) To comply with the Commemorative Works Act, the law governing the process for the authorization and placement of approved memorials, the VWMP must receive site approval before it can proceed with the presentation of a memorial design for approval. 1988 (June) Project Headquarters move from Minneapolis to Washington, D.C. 1988 (June) Senate passes S.J. 2042 by a vote of 96-1. 1988 (June) Hearings held before the House Subcommittee on Libraries and Memorials. 1988 (September) House of Representatives rejects the language of S.J. 2042, and on September 23 passes another version of the bill to authorize a memorial to women who served in Vietnam. However, language does not specify the site of the memorial, other than it be placed on federal lands in Washington, D.C. or its environs. This adds a level of concern that without specification, the memorial could be built in a less appropriate place. 1988 (October 12) The Senate passes an amended version of S.J. 2042 as passed by the House, authorizing that the memorial be placed on federal lands in Washington, D.C. or its environs. 1988 (October 21) Just hours before the adjournment of the 100th Congress, the House rejects the Senate's amendment. The Senate receded to the House position. 1988 (November 15) President Reagan signs S.J. 2042, which becomes Public Law 100-600, authorizing the approval for a Vietnam Women's Memorial. 1989 (October 31) Senate approves Area I site specificity for the Vietnam Women's Memorial. 1989 (November 17) House approves Area I site specificity for the Vietnam Women's Memorial. 1989 (November 28) President Bush signs legislation authorizing Area I site for the Vietnam Women's Memorial. 1990 (April) National Capital Memorial Commission and Commission of Fine Arts approve specific sites within Area I for the Vietnam Women's Memorial. 1990 (May) National Capital Memorial Commission approves specific sites within Area I for the Vietnam Women's Memorial. 1990 (August 20) National Open One-Stage Design Competition launched for design of the Vietnam Women's Memorial. 1990 (Veterans Day) Co-Finalists and Honorable Mentions of NAM VET Newsletter Page 7 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Design Competition announced at Press Conference, National Building Museum, Washington, D.C. 1991 (June) Glenna Goodacre, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Honorable Mention Winner, selected by VWMF Board of Directors to design the Vietnam Women's Memorial. 1991 (September 12) Vietnam Women's Memorial approval by National Capital Memorial Commission. 1991 (September 19) Vietnam Women's Memorial to be presented before Commission of Fine Arts for final approval. NAM VET Newsletter Page 8 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Even a small donation can make a monumental difference. Efforts are now underway to erect a monument on the grounds of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that recognizes the role played by women veterans. The Vietnam Women's Memorial Project is conducting this drive as part of a larger effort to educate all Americans about the vital services provided by over 265,000 women, military and civilian, during the Vietnam War. O O O O O O O O O O O O O Your contribution, large or small, O O will help ensure that these women's O O sacrifices are not forgotten. O __________ O O ) O /(O) / O\ / / O \ / VIETNAM / \ / WOMEN'S /HONORING\ / MEMORIAL /\ THE \ / PROJECT / \ WOMEN \ / / \ WHO \ / / \ SERVED / (__________/ \ / \ / \ / \/ _ /_/ Yes, I want to help honor America's Women Vietnam veterans. My tax-deductible contribution is enclosed. _ /_/ Send me more information abut how I can help make this dream a reality. _ /_/ I am a woman who served during the Vietnam era. NAME ____________________________________________________________ ADDRESS _________________________________________________________ CITY ______________________________________ STATE ______________ ZIP ____________________ PHONE __________________________________ Clip and mail along with your contribution to: VWMP 2001 S St., NW Suite 710 Washington, DC 20009 VIETNAM WOMEN'S MEMORIAL PROJECT A legacy of Healing and Hope NAM VET Newsletter Page 9 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Vietnam Women's Memorial Project, Inc. "Sister Search" Submitted by: Martha Green VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 The Vietnam Women's Memorial Project's "SISTER SEARCH" is a program designed to locate the military and civilian women who served their country during the Vietnam War. The goals of "SISTER SEARCH" are to facilitate hope and healing among women veterans; to provide a network for them; and to assist research efforts on women who served during the Vietnam War. Vietnam era women veterans are asked to provide as much information as they feel comfortable sharing. Although "Sister Search" is NOT a locator service, should an inquiry be made as to whereabouts of a person included in the "SISTER SEARCH" database, the VWMP will pass the inquiry along in writing to the individual, allowing her to decide whether she would like to respond. If the individual is deceased, the inquiry will be sent to the closest family member identified by the VWMP. All women veterans in the "SISTER SEARCH" database will periodically receive information on the Project's progress and ultimately receive an invitation to the dedication ceremonies in Washington, D.C. The Vietnam Women's Memorial Project is a non-profit, volunteer organization with the threefold purpose of: educating the public about the women who served during the Vietnam era; locating and providing a network for these women; and placing a realistic representation of a Vietnam woman veteran on the grounds of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. The Project has the support of every major veterans group in America, including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. For more information, contact: "SISTER SEARCH" Vietnam Women's Memorial Project 2001 'S' Street NW Suite #302 Washington DC 20009 NAM VET Newsletter Page 10 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Vietnam Women's Memorial Project, Inc. 2001 'S' Street NW - Suite 302 - Washington DC 20009 (202) 328-7253 FAX: (202) 328-0063 Submitted by: Martha Green VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 SISTER SEARCH Name:________________________Vietnam Era Name: ___________________ (If different) Address:_____________________________________ Work #: ____/_______ City:________________ State: __ Zip:________ Home #: Branch of Service or Civilian Organization: ___________________________________________ In-Country (Vietnam) Assignment #1: ___________________________________________________ Start Date: ___________________________ End Date: ________________ Assignment #2: ___________________________________________________ Start Date: ___________________________ End Date: ________________ Assignment #3: ___________________________________________________ Start Date: ___________________________ End Date: ________________ Vietnam Era (1959-1975) Assignment: ______________________________________________________ Start Date: ___________________________ End Date: ________________ The Project receives inquires from the press and researchers in search of Vietnam era women veterans who are willing to share their experiences.Your participation as a press/research/education contact is strictly optional. I authorize the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project to release my name to individuals or organizations who are seeking information on Vietnam era women veterans for press inquirries, research or educational activities. Signature ________________________________________ Date __________ I authorize the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project to release my name to the National Associate Volunteer, Regional and/or State Coordinator in my area. -------------------| FOR OFFICE USE | DATE RECEIVED: | | Signature ___________________ Date __________ TRANSFER: | | Please list the names and addresses of any ENTER: | other Vietnam era women veterans you know on | the back of this form. | COMMENTS: | -------------------| Thank you for participating in SISTER SEARCH NAM VET Newsletter Page 11 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 ================================================================== In-Touch ================================================================== EDS and VETLINK helps vets get In Touch By Ray "Frenchy" Moreau NamVet's In-Touch Section Editor Herndon Byte Exchange/VETLink #2 - Herndon, VA (703) 471-8010 Ninety-six people have volunteered their time at the tenth annual Vietnam Veterans Reunion in Kokomo, Indiana from September 12 through 15, 1991 to help others learn more about family members or fellow veterans who were lost in the Vietnam war. The "In Touch" program, which combines computer technology with the work of Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, was in operation Friday through Sunday - 9/12-15. The "Buddy Search" which uses an online Bulletin Board System software called OSIRIS was linked via the Delco Switch to the Herndon Byte eXchange/Veterans Memorial Gateway BBS in Herndon, VA. The System Operator, Ray "Frenchy" Moreau, is a technical manager with EDS who designed the "In Touch" system and was the recipient of 1991 FOSE Award. Frenchy is also a retired Senior Chief Petty Officer of the United States Navy with over four tours in Vietnam. The "Buddy Search" and associated data bases is available to the public via their nearest Vetlink or FIDONET backbone on the International Vietnam Veterans Echo Conference (IVVEC). More than ten major VETLinks are now in place and its presence is creating interest among many large groups including EDS. The weekend effort marked the second year that "In Touch" made its presence and the first year for a new online "Buddy" search system. Both were extremely successful. EDS had one AT system next to the moving Wall in order to facilitate the search for our Wall vets. Three additional AT systems were located in the non- profit tent and were primarily used to locate family, relatives and friends of our KIA and MIA brothers. More than 25,000 requests were made of the "In Touch" systems. More than 2,000 entries were provided for the "Buddy Search" online system. All data that was gathered during the reunion will be entered by EDS volunteers in Herndon as well as the Friends in Washington, DC. The Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a non-profit organization that supports the National Park Service by helping the thousands of people who visit the Wall on a daily basis. Friends also provides educational services, assistance to Vietnam veterans and volunteers who help at the memorial. Frenchy was involved for the entire EDS effort in Kokomo. "Many of the vets were still grasping out of the 60's" Frenchy stated. "You could smell the booze throughout the tent area; yet, not one can or bottle of booze was anywhere next or close to the moving Wall." Frenchy stated that in many ways he felt ashamed, especially when the local police busted up some "vegetable matter" NAM VET Newsletter Page 12 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 users. He ended the conversation with "Yes, I felt shame, but I also looked in their eyes and was able to see the depth of pain, the longing to belong to something, someone or an organization". He also stated that "People who live in glass houses should not throw stones, in retrospect they should reach out to assist. We have turned our heads on many, let's not turn our heads on our brothers." NAM VET Newsletter Page 13 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Khe Sanh Vet searches for info on KIA brother Input by Dave Doehrman Semper Fi BBS - Ft. Wayne, IN (219) 424-4292 The following was copied from the "Khe Sanh Veteran Newsletter". Hopefully someone can help. I have been looking for information about my brother, PFC Michael Glenn Lipsius, D Co, 5th Bn, 7th CAV, 2nd Bde, 1st Air Cav, KIA 4/19/68. He participated in Operation Pegasus to relieve Khe Sanh, and from there headed for A Shau Valley, where he was shot down. My brother and I were from a broken family. He did not know where my dad was, we did not know where he was, for 12 years. While in Vietnam, Mike somehow got our Dad's address and wrote a letter home. The next day we got the telegram. All these years I have had a difficult time knowing him only as "the remains", and pretending he never existed is not possible. Any assistance or information you could offer would be greatly appreciated. Jane Lipsius Barnes 7 Plymouth Pl. Williamsville, NY 14221 NAM VET Newsletter Page 14 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 W W M M W W M M M M W W \ / M M M M OOOO W W W --*-- M M M IIII O O W W W W / \ M M II O O W W W W M M II O O W W M M II O O II PPPPPP O O ..... II AA PP PP OOOO . '' '' .. IIII A A PP PP ..' '.. A A PPPPPPP ..' ''. A A PP ..' '. AAAAAA PP .' ''. A A PP .' '. A A .' .:::::.. '. .' .::::::::::. ' .' .::::::::::::::. '. .' __ .::::::::::::::::;:... '. .' _- -_ .:::::::::::::::::::::::. '. .' _-_ _ _ -_ ::::::::::::::::::::::::' '. .. _- -!!___!!!-_:::::::::::::::::::::::. .. .' ==_ _- _= .:::::::::::::::::::::::: ', . =-_= _= = :::::::::::::::::::::::: . .' =-_ =_- = ::::::::::::::::::::::: '. .' = - -_ =_:::::::::::::::::::::. '. .' -_ -_- .:::::::::::::::::::;;;. '. .' _-_ ..::::::::::::::::::::::::; '. . _ _ .:;:::::::::::::::::::::;, . ' _ .:::::::::::::::::::::::::. '. Y .'.....::::::::::::::::::::::::::;' '. N ::::::::::::::::::::::::' `''' ': O `::::::::::::::::::::::: \v/ \ / :'E `:::::::::::::::::::::: =========================== :' U `:::::::::::::::::::::. /^\ \ :'T `:::::::::::::::::::: .: A `:::::::::::::::::: .:'T `::::::::::::::::::. .;' R `:::::::::::::::::. .;' T `::::::::::::::::. .;' E `:::::::::gjp::: .:' O `:::::::::::::...........'' G N O T F O R " Bring them home --- NOW !!! " NAM VET Newsletter Page 15 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 In-Touch. What is it ??? Input by: Ray "Frenchy" Moreau NAM VETs IN-TOUCH Section Editor Herndon Byte eXchange/VETLink #2 - Herndon, VA (703) 471-8010 ================================================================= |+++++++++++++++++++++++++ IN TOUCH ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++| | There are some 43 million people in the United States whose | | lives were directly and irrevocably touched by the Vietnam | | War. | | | | Almost four million people served in Vietnam -- the longest, | | and perhaps most difficult, war in our history. More than a | | quarter of a million were seriously wounded. 58,175 are dead | | or missing. | | | | Each of those who returned recognizes the true cost of war. | | But so too do the families and friends, wives and lovers of | | those listed on the Wall. They too paid a tremendous price, | | not always recognized... many still do. | | | | Though twenty years have passed, it seems that is the period | | people have needed to get the distance necessary to begin to | | address the unresolved, deeply personal issues that have | | been haunting them since the war. Perhaps that is a measure | | of the pain. | | | | But, the "healing of a nation" that was intended by the | | building of the Memorial, has begun. | | | | In the office of the Friends of the Vietnam Veterans | | Memorial, we hear them on the other end of the phone on | | any given day, and far into the night, they call from all | | corners of the country. | | | | "If only I could find out..." | | "I need to find his family so I can keep my promise..." | | "I just want to talk to someone who was with him... " | | "Please, can you help...?" | | | | At the Wall, we find them every day. Veterans who have not | | spoken of their experiences even to their most intimate | | family members are now beginning, tentatively, to seek a | | responsive ear. | | | | Brothers and sisters, parents and even wives who were simply | | never allowed full expression of their grief because of the | | fierce pressures of the time, are now coming forward, | | looking for someone who can help with their healing. | | | | We hear from children, now 15 - 25 years old, who are | | searching for bits and pieces of information they can | | assemble to help fill that empty place in their lives that | | is the father they never knew well, if at all. And they want | | to talk to each other, to share their special needs and the | | unique experience of growing up with a father on the Wall. | | They understand each other all too well. | NAM VET Newsletter Page 16 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 | | | Millions of Americans need to meet and talk because of the | | Wall, and only the Friends can help them. | | | | Initial discussions with many other national organizations | | whose work brings them into contact with Vietnam veterans | | and their loved ones have attested to the need for IN TOUCH | | and their willingness to help. | | | | Simply put, the Friends will draw on its special work at the | | Memorial, its acquired and available data bases and | | programs designed and integrated by Electronic Data Systems | | (EDS), and the commitment and concern of its volunteers to | | place people with a common association to a name on the Wall | | to be in voluntary communication with each other. | | | | From there, we will let human nature take its good course. | | And let the healing begin. | | | | The starting point for the data base will be the more than | | twenty thousand names of people who have requested name | | rubbings from our volunteers in Washington. Each will be | | contacted and given the opportunity to participate by being | | listed in the IN TOUCH central data base file. | | | | Confidentiality is the keyword to cooperation and IN TOUCH | | will respect the integrity of all lists and records. Lists | | will be unavailable for public use and will not be | | distributed for any commercial purpose. | | | | By its nature, IN TOUCH must reach far beyond the veterans | | community in order to be successful. With professional | | guidance, the Friends will develop a program of on-going | | articles and other coverage in major media markets, high- | | lighting the personal experiences of people as they are put | | "in touch." The International Vietnam Veterans Echo | | Conference via the Herndon Byte eXchange 1:109/316 node as | | the enter point for gathering and disseminating information | | will be used. Aside from bringing the program into public | | awareness, these articles and stories will serve as a val- | | uable tool for public education on a wealth of matters | | relating to the Vietnam era. | | | | As a preliminary test of the IN TOUCH project, the Friends | | has implemented a pilot project to test the design and | | demands of such a program. Several hundred requests with | | full background information have been entered into a system | | designed to match requestor data with the existing Memorial | | data. Even with such a small sample, limited data and a | | fairly unsophisticated cross-indexing system, matches have | | been made and IN TOUCH has produced its first real | | connections. The results have been as profoundly moving for | | the participants as expected. And as gratifying for the | | Friends. | | | | But it was clear that the information management system and | | the supporting hardware system would have to be more power- | | ful and more complex in order to handle thousands, perhaps | | hundreds of thousands, of requests. Confidentiality of the | NAM VET Newsletter Page 17 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 | system and information must be paramount. | | | | With well over 2,000 Vietnam veterans, Electronic Data | | Systems (EDS) became involved and has been generous in its | | assistance with designing the data management systems which | | will be critical to a successful program. The Friends have | | reached a three-year working agreement with EDS which | | promises continuity and maximum potential for success in | | building an information bank that can truly help people in | | their search for others who knew a loved one. | | | | The Friends are delighted that Bob Hope has agreed to make | | a public service announcement which we can use on radio and | | television to help get the word out to the public on the | | availability of the service. | | | | The Friends are also pleased to note that Hewlett Packard, | | Zenith Data Systems, Borland International, FASTCOMM | | Communications Corporation and the First National Bank of | | Chicago have all contributed computer equipment, computer | | software, and office equipment to the project, so they are | | beginning to feel fully functional. | | | | The Friends hear from people who have long been living with | | the pain of loss and looking for a way to heal. For | | instance, the Friends recently received a letter from a | | woman who wrote: | | | | Dear Friends: | | For quite some time I have been searching for a | | way to know my brother. It seems hopeless at times. | | I was 12 when he was killed... I had waited for the | | day he would come back to us. He never did. A part | | of me will always be 12 and continue to wait. | | Thank you for giving me hope that there may be | | a way to find him and bring him home to my heart..." | | | | + + + | | | | The Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial | | Electronic Data Systems | | Herndon Byte eXchange TCOMMnet BBS 1:109/316 | | | |+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++| NAM VET Newsletter Page 18 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 IN-TOUCH Registration/Request Form THIS FORM REQUIRES SIGNATURE FOR CONFIDENTIALITY RELEASE PLEASE READ BELOW ------------------------------------------------------------------ I wish to be IN TOUCH with (Please circle and/or comment) Family, Friends and/or Fellow Veterans of the following: __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ ----------- PERSON WHO DID NOT COME BACK FROM VIETNAM ------------ First Name_____________ Middle Name___________ Last Name__________ Relationship to You and/or Reason for Request (Answer as fully as possible)_____________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ ================================================================== -------- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT HIM/HER - IF KNOWN --------- Rank_______ Birth Date ______________ Soc. Sec. # ________________ Tour Date of Birth _______________ Where Buried __________________ Branch of Service: AR__ NA__ AF__ MC__ CG__ RC__ CIV__ (Fill in his/her equivalent unit designations in the spaces below) Division ____________ Brigade ___________ Battalion ______________ Regiment ____________ Company ___________ Ship ___________________ Battles:__________________________________________________________ Locations:________________________________________________________ Nicknames:________________________________________________________ Hometown (while in Nam): ____________________ Home State: ________ ================================================================== ---------------------- INFORMATION ABOUT YOU --------------------- Title___ First Name ____________ Middle/Maiden Name _____________ Last Name ____________________ Address___________________________________________________________ City __________________________________ State ____ Zip: _____-____ Your Home Phone ( ) ____________ Work Phone: ( ) ____________ ---------------- IF YOU ARE A VIETNAM-ERA VETERAN ---------------- Tour date _______________________________ Rank __________________ Branch of Service: AR__ NA __ AF __ MC __ CG __ RC __ CIV __ Fill in your equivalent unit designations in the spaces below Division: __________ Brigade: ___________ Battalion: ___________ Regiment: __________ Company: ___________ Ship: ________________ Battles: _________________________________________________________ Locations: _______________________________________________________ Nicknames: _______________________________________________________ Hometown (when in VN) _______________________ Home State: ________ Comments: ________________________________________________________ CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT _____ I give permission to the Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to release my name, address, phone number and relationship to other participants in the IN TOUCH project seeking information on the individual above (strike out NAM VET Newsletter Page 19 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 phone number if you do not want it released). OR _____ I would like to have the names, addresses, and phone numbers of persons who knew my friend or relative, but prefer NOT to have my name, address, and phone number released. I hereby release the Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from any and all liability that may arise from the operation of the IN TOUCH project. Signature ____________________________________ Date _____________ NOTE: Do not electronically transmit this form, instead mail to: Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial 1350 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Suite 300 Washington, DC 20036 ----------------------------------------------------------------- NAM VET Newsletter Page 20 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 KheSanh Vet Newsletter By Dave Doehrman Semper Fi BBS - Ft. Wayne, IN (219) 424-4292 A few years back, a few Khe Sanh Vets who maintained contact with each other decided to establish a list of names and addresses of fellow Khe Sanh Vets. We started with about 40 names and since then we have grown to include the names and addresses of 2,000 Marines, Army, Air Force and Navy personnel who served there. (If we missed the Coast Guard, we apologize) In 1984 or 85, Ray Stubbe and Ernie Husted issued a small newsletter with all the names and addresses along with a few news items and some articles about Khe Sanh. The newsletter has grown since then and is now published by the Marine Corps Association in Quantico, VA, who publishes almost all of the 28 or so Newsletters of various Marine corps groups. If you are a Khe Sanh vet or know someone who is, please contact me here or in Netmail if you would like to be included in the address listing in the Newsletter. The newsletter has been renamed recently from "The Khe Sanh Veteran Newsletter" to "Red Clay". If you would like to contribute any information, receive the newsletter or send in any poems or short stories, write to: Ray W. Stubbe 8766 Parkview Ct. Wauwatosa, WI 53226 (BTW, Ray is the Sky-pilot I mentioned in a few posts awhile back. Ray is retired from active duty with the Navy, but still is active as a minister. If any of you want to contact Ray, I'm sure he would be glad to hear from you.) The last issue of "Red Clay" had a listing of all the sons of Khe Sanh Vets who were serving in Desert Storm. Also in that issue was a list of Khe Sanh vets who were still on active duty or in the Reserves and were called up to serve in Desert Storm. "For those who fight for it, life has a flavor the protected never know" NAM VET Newsletter Page 21 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Khe Sanh Innovations and Information Input by Dave Doehrman Semper Fi BBS - Ft Wayne, IN (219) 424-4292 The following is quoted from "The Khe Sanh Vet Newsletter". Just thought some of you might be interested. "Khe Sanh was the place for innovations in the Viet Nam War. In the past, it had been the place for the first use of 120mm mortars. Now, during the Siege, it was the place for the first use of massed NVA troops, the first use by the NVA of tanks. It was the first use of COFRAM munitions by Americans (during the fall of Lang Vei); the first use of "Gravel mines", and electronic sensors in a defensive battle situation; the first combat use of supplies being delivered by LAPES and GPES (landing of supplies by low- flying aircraft with supplies on a skid) and use of ground TPQ radars for delivering supplies. It was the first place for sustained use of B-52 Arc Light strikes for close-in bombing." If any of you are looking for good books on Khe Sanh, try the following: "End of the Line" Robert Pisor "Welcome to Vietnam, Mach Man" Ernest Spencer - Corps Press "Scarce Time" Written by William T Craig, former Team Sergeant of Team A-101 at Lang Vei (when it was overrun, Feb 1968) Ballentine Books Let's hear from some Khe Sanh vets...... NAM VET Newsletter Page 22 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 ================================================================== Drums be not Silent ================================================================== POW FREEDOM FOUNDATION P. O. Box 65, MCRD San Diego, CA 92140 (619) 283-9879 FAX:(619) 283-0850 Did the United States knowingly abandon American Prisoners of War to Communist Governments world wide? Does evidence exist of these abandonments? Are American Service Personnel (ASP) still alive as POWs in Communist countries? Why would the U.S. Government (USG) leave our POWs behind? Why would the Communists keep and continue to keep American Service Personnel? What can YOU do to help? PLEASE SPEND FIVE MINUTES READING THIS SHEET [ARTICLE] THEN YOU DECIDE AND ACT! Fact sheet paid for from donations to: POW FREEDOM FOUNDATION WWII HISTORY OF POWs German records pertaining to Allied POWs showed 20,000 ASPs were in German POW camps that had been, or would be, liberated by Soviet Forces. Some had been "liberated" as early as February 1945. It was later learned that Allied POWs "liberated" by the Soviets had been transported to Siberia, with all Soviet troops that had also been POWs. In 1946, the USG declared all World War II POWs and MIAs dead, even though many were known to be held in Siberia. To declare these personnel dead, the USG used the authority of the one year clause of the MISSING PERSONS ACT OF 1942. In 1945, John Noble, a U.S. civilian, was taken from East Germany to Siberia for 9-1/2 years of slave labor. He was released only because a third country asked the USG why he was there. PFC Howard Humble, a "liberated" U.S. POW also disappeared from East Germany. He was declared dead in 1946, only because he had not been seen, or heard of, for one year. KOREAN AND COLD WAR The USG expected more than 10,000 POWs from North Korea. Less than 6,000 returned. Since 1953 the status of 8,000 POWs is still undetermined. Allied POWs have been reported in North Korean slave labor camps as late as 1979. USG intelligence reported nearly 3,000 ASPs were moved from China to Siberia in 1953 and 1954. Eleven ASPs, captured in Korea in 1952, were released from China in 1955, but only after the Secretary General of the United NAM VET Newsletter Page 23 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Nations brought them to the attention of the USG. John Downey and Richard Fecteau (pilots) were captured by China in 1952. Fecteau returned in 1971 and Downey in 1973 as part of the Vietnamese POW exchange. Reports indicate that crew members of a U.S. Navy plane, shot down in the Baltic Sea in 1950, were captured by the Soviets. Since 1954, 200 ASPs have disappeared during brushes with Soviet Forces. All have been declared dead under the MISSING PERSONS ACT OF 1942. In 1954 all U.S. POW/MIAs were declared dead under the MISSING PERSONS ACT OF 1942. THE VIETNAM WAR The first American was imprisoned in Southeast Asia in 1961, the last in 1973, the last MIA in 1975. In 1973, the USG was expecting more than 1,200 POWs for Operation Homecoming. Only POWs 591 came home, some known live POWs did not. Of the 569 ASP MIAs in Laos, nearly half were known to be POWs. No POWs, held by any Laotian Forces were released. No accord was signed between Laos and the U.S. Col. Charles E. Shelton, shot down over Laos April 29, 1965 on his 33rd birthday, is the only American still officially listed as a PRISONER OF WAR by the U.S. Government. Except for Col. Shelton, in 1979 all ASPs were declared dead under the MISSING PERSONS ACT OF 1942. As of May 1991, there are 2,274 Americans still unaccounted for in SE Asia. Of the POWs, MIAs and Killed In Action-Body Not Recovered (KIA-BNR), 80 percent are pilots and flight crews, only 20 percent are ground personnel. EVIDENCE OF ABANDONMENT POWs came from 13 separate camps. U.S. Intelligence knew of only 9 camps so we received POWs from 4 camps we did not know existed. The USG received some POWs back in 1973 we had no knowledge were in captivity. In 1979, PFC Robert Garwood, USMC, was returned from Vietnam. He claimed he had knowledge of four Communist POW camps still active. In 1985, Special Forces Major Mark Smith and Sgt Melvin McIntyre filed suit against the U.S. Government alleging they were prevented from acting on evidence of POWs in SE Asia. In 1987, Hun Sen, Premier of Kampuchea, accused the USG of never having directly asked his Government about MIAs lost there. The USG confirmed that it has no intention of contacting Sen's Government directly on the POW issue. In 1989, a Buddhist monk was released by Hanoi after 14 years of imprisonment. He identified 6 ASPs being held as POWs by the Communists. Also in 1989, Stan Cottrell, a long distance runner and a member of the Billy Graham Crusade, said he witnessed about 20 Americans entering "heavily camouflaged tunnels" north of Hue, Vietnam. In October 1990, Vietnam's Deputy Premier Nguyen Co Thach told the USG that his government was holding an American. This man has since been identified as a civilian member of the GLOMAR JAVA SEA which sunk off the coast of Vietnam during a typhoon in October 1983. Other survivors are thought to still be there. An interim Senate report released n October 1990 states that the DOD "IN APRIL 1974 CONCLUDED BEYOND A DOUBT THAT SEVERAL HUNDRED LIVING AMERICAN POWs REMAINED IN CAPTIVITY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA". NAM VET Newsletter Page 24 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 IMPORTANT POW/MIA QUOTES "Accounting for Americans Missing in Action is a matter of highest national priority." - PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH - JUL 28, 1989 and again, JUL 1990. "There are today, Americans held against their will in foreign lands and Americans who are unaccounted for." PRESIDENT BUSH - JAN 20, 1989. "There is quite a lot of evidence given by people who have no ulterior motives and no reasons to lie, and they are telling things they have seen. I do think there has to be ... there have to be live Americans there." - FORMER NAT'L SEC. ADVISOR ROBERT McFARLANE - OCT 9, 1985 "During my tenure as Director, I saw more information on POWs than any other man in the world. I was convinced then, and I am convinced today, that Americans are being held against their will by the Communists in SE Asia. There could be 50-60 in Vietnam, maybe more." FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE DEFENSE INTEL AGENCY, LtGen EUGENE TIGHE - 1986 "Look, the nation knows they (the POWs) are there, everybody knows they are there, but there's no groundswell of support for getting them out. Certainly you are not suggesting we pay for them, surely not saying we could do anything like that with no public support?" FORMER CIA DIRECTOR WILLIAM CASEY - OCT 7, 1986 "There is no longer any question that there are live Americans in SE Asia. The question is who they are and how many of them there are. There could be Americans in the mountains, in the caves, in areas beyond their control. For God's sake, bring them home." CONGRESSMAN G. SOLOMON - 1986 "By the end of the war there was probably close to 480 names on the list of MIAs which I carried around... 302 to 304 alive. Only a small percent were returned. If you find anybody at my operational level that said we got 'em all back, I'll be totally surprised." FORMER NAT'L SECURITY AGENCY ANALYST, JERRY MOONEY - 1986. "My plan was to be totally honest and forthcoming on the entire issue and aggressively pursue innovative actions and concepts to clear up the live sighting business. I became painfully aware, however, that I was not really in charge of my own office. Practically all analysis is directed to finding fault with the source. The policy people manipulating the affair have maintained their distance and remained hidden in the shadows, while using the Office as a TOXIC WASTE DUMP to bury the whole MESS. Whatever happens in the issue, DIA takes the blame, while the real players remain invisible." CHIEF OF THE SPECIAL OFFICE FOR POW/MIAs, COL MILLARD A. PECK, Request for Relief - 12 FEB 1991 THE USG LEFT OUR POWs BEHIND Every administration since the Nixon administration has been unable to recover the ASPs in SE Asia. Each subsequent administration has compounded the tragedy and would become directly accountable for the men who died during their tenure in NAM VET Newsletter Page 25 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 office. In 1973 the pressure to withdraw from SE Asia was immense and Congress refused to appropriate the 3.4 billion dollars in war reparations that had been promised by President Nixon. There has been a conspiracy of silence and clear lack of resolve to address the POW issue. There has been a long history of neglect and incompetence, protection of individual career interest, poor judgment and insufficient correlation, synthesis, processing and dissemination of POW data. THE COMMUNISTS STILL KEEP ASPs Our representatives at the Paris Peace Accords failed to demand the return of all of our POWs. Hanoi never released them because we never asked for them. The countries of Laos and Cambodia did not participate in the Paris Peace negotiations which led to an agreement only between the U.S. Government and North Vietnam. No direct, formal negotiations for POWs were ever conducted with either country. Prisoners could have been retained as insurance against the 3.5 billion dollars that the Vietnamese termed a "blood debt". Remaining American POWs were to be used as a bargaining tool if the planned military objectives against South Vietnam were not successful. POWs were retained for purposes of internal propaganda. The countries of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia included many different regional and political factions. These factions may have held POWs outside of "official government control" in remote areas. Many of the missing men who were not returned had highly specialized expertise or advanced training in areas of particular value. A very small number of these "high priority captures" such as the Electronics Warfare Officer (EWO) on the F-4 Phantom jet were ever returned. Basic mechanical, repair and maintenance skills were also needed by an underdeveloped Vietnam. Many of the enlisted men captured and not returned had valuable "hardware" skills. The Communists consider POWs as "war criminals" who are not entitled to the protection of the Geneva convention which requires the return of POWs after a negotiated settlement. Further, the Vietnamese do not feel bound to recognize these men as POWs because the U.S. Government never officially declared war in Vietnam. WHAT CAN YOU DO? CALL/WRITE your Congressman, Senator and President weekly and demand that HR 1730, The Missing Service Personnel Act replace The Missing Persons Act of 1942. Demand that all Servicemen be accounted for and that our POWs be brought home - NOW! DISPLAY THE POW flag and stickers, WEAR a POW bracelet and T- shirt and GIVE ten friends a copy of this fact sheet. SUBSCRIBE to the FREEDOM FIGHTER newsletter and keep current on POW issues. Donate what you can to a POW/MIA organization. REMEMBER THEM - THEY STILL WAIT! NAM VET Newsletter Page 26 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 POW ITEMS AVAILABLE VIA DONATIONS QTY/TOTAL POW Flag, 3' X 5' $20 ____/_____ Double sided/Outdoor T-Shirt $10 ___/______ M L XL XXL POW Newsletter (yr) $15 ___/_______ POW/MIA Bracelet $ 5 ___/_______ POW Patch $ 5 ___/_______ Run FT Wall Patch $ 5 ___/_______ POW Window Sticker $ 3 ___/_______ POW Lapel Pin $ 3 ___/_______ Postage & Handling $ _______ ($1 for each $5 ordered) Total Enclosed $ _______ (VISA & MASTERCARD AVAILABLE) __________________________________________________ (Name) __________________________________________________ (Address) __________________________________________________ (Address) The POW FREEDOM FOUNDATION is a nonprofit, tax deductible organization [501(c)(3)] (IRS #33-0384562) dedicated to the freedom of American and Allied POW/MIAs through public education, awareness and direct action. The FOUNDATION is the organizer of the annual RUN FOR THE WALL veterans POW awareness "run" between San Diego and Washington, D.C. each May. Thank you for your support. POW FREEDOM FOUNDATION P. O. Box 65, MCRD San Diego, CA 92140 (619) 283-9879 FAX: (619) 283-0850 NAM VET Newsletter Page 27 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 PENTAGON ADMITS TO CONGRESS THAT POWS ARE ALIVE IN LAOS!!!!!!! By Mike Blair August 26, 1991 Exclusive to the Spotlight Submitted by Marsha Ledeman VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 The SPOTLIGHT has learned that the Pentagon has evidence American prisoners of war left behind in Laos from the Vietnam War are still alive and in captivity. Reliable sources have told THE SPOTLIGHT that during a closed door session of the House Foreign Relations Committee's Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs it was revealed that live American POWs were being held in Laos. Testimony regarding the live POWS was reportedly presented to the subcommittee. chaired by Rep. Stephen J. Solarz (D-N.Y.). by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Carl W. Ford. The Department of Defense has not confirmed publicly Ford's reported assertions nor has the subcommittee announced any details of the closed-door session. Ford, according to SPOTLIGHT sources, told the subcommittee members that the Americans were in poor mental condition due to their long years of confinement and harsh treatment. The exact number of Americans being held in Laos was apparently not revealed by Ford. However, private sources working on the POW- MIA issue, with close ties to what is going on within the Southeast Asian nation, which borders northern Vietnam, have estimated there are at least 70 Americans being held. The lid was blown off the POW-MIA issue when a series of photographs of reported Americans in captivity began to flow out of Southeast Asia, starting with a photo of three American fliers supposedly being held as prisoners in Laos (Spotlight,July 29). They have all been positively identified by their families, although the Pentagon claims the photograph is a fake. This photograph was followed by several more of individual captives believed to be Americans and also identified by their families. One of the most striking of the photographs was released by Col. Jack Bailey, a longtime POW-MIA activist who has worked in Southeast Asia for years, searching for clues to the locations of missing Americans. The captive in the photograph has been identified as Army Special Forces Capt. Donald Gene Carr of San Antonio, Texas, by his family. Bailey claims proof of the photo's authenticity is confirmed by the fact that the clothing Carr is wearing in the photograph was smuggled into Laos by Bailey. NAM VET Newsletter Page 28 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Carr became missing in action on July 6, 1971, when the Air Force OV1OA Bronco reconnaissance aircraft he was a passenger in was shot down inside of Laos, west of Ben Het. Another striking series of photographs have been smuggled out of Laos through the efforts of Circuit Court Judge Hamilton Gayden of Nashville, Tennessee, and his Laotian-American bailiff, Khambang Sibounheuange, identifying as being a captive an American Navy flier missing for 18 years. Sibounheuange was an officer in the Laotian Army before the communists overthrew the nation in 1975. Gayden and Sibounheuange have released to the press photographs which have been identified as being of Navy Lt. Daniel Borah Jr. Borah parachuted from his Navy attack jet northwest of the city of Quang Tri, South Vietnam, on September 24, 1972, while he was attacking communist troops entrenched in bunkers. The two POW-MIA activists claim to have received 19 photographs and negatives of Borah that were smuggled out of Laos by Laotian anti-communist resistance fighters. Gayden and Sibounheuange claim to have "conclusive evidence," including photographs, negatives, hair, fingerprints and footprints, of 14 American servicemen missing in Laos. They also claim to have lists of names and nicknames of more than 70 Americans being held as prisoners. They estimate from 90 to 200 Americans are being held in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Most of them, according to the two men, are being held near where the three countries intersect. They are held in the deep jungle and periodically transferred from one country to another. Gayden and Sibounheuange have been working with U.S. Sen. Robert Smith (R-N.H.) and U.S. Rep. Robert Clement (D-Tenn.) NAM VET Newsletter Page 29 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Not Prepared to be Abandoned! By William P. Hoar The New American Vol.7, No.18 August 27, 1991 Submitted by Marsha Ledeman NamVet MIA/POW Section Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 [Mr. Hoar is editor of World News Digest and the author of the book ARCHITECTS OF CONSPIRACY.] "They also serve who only stand and wait," wrote John Milton more than three hundred years ago. True enough. But Dorothy Howard McDaniel found that just waiting wasn't enough. Standing by would not suffice, not when there was no word of her naval aviator husband missing behind enemy lines during the Vietnam War. North Vietnam refused to acknowledge he was being held. Nor could she be satisfied, even after then Commander Eugene "Red" McDaniel was at long last identified as a Prisoner of War in Hanoi, that the U.S. government was doing its utmost for our men who, as it happened, were being tortured brutally by the communists. Regardless of what some in the bureaucracy wanted, Mrs. McDaniel would not let our men and their plight be forgotten. As the headlines in recent weeks attest, that war is not over for some, despite the fact that the Paris Peace Accords were signed 18 years ago. Captain McDaniel, now retired, made it back alive, and he and his wife have not given up hope for the men so many fear were abandoned outright by the country they swore to defend. On 81 missions until 1967 (when Captain McDaniel's A-6 Intruder was shot down) to the present, the McDaniel team has been fighting on two fronts. SHIFTING BATTLEFIELD: First, it was combat from the air for Red, while Dorothy reinforced the family at home. Then they fought back against Hanoi, he from inside the prison camp and she from outside. Later, it became an effort with both allies and adversaries in a divided Washington, whose more powerful side preferred that the truth be ignored and eventually buried. With recent revelations being so well-publicized, after such a lengthy war in the shadows, one cannot blame Red for being somewhat optimistic. "We're on a roll," he said in mid-July. "This used to be lonely battle, but it isn't anymore. We're beginning to see the beginning of the end. "Yet, even as he has been doing his best to bring the issue to the forefront, unseen enemies within the government have been smearing McDaniel, intimating (and getting the message spread on national television) that he is somehow involved only for financial motives. Red is an honorable man who can defend himself. Nevertheless, as he asks, why "kill the messenger" who brings word that some of our missing may yet be alive? Red McDaniel's decorations include the Navy Cross (for "outstanding leadership and heroism" in prison), two Silver Stars, the Distinguished Flying Cross, three Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts. yet as Red himself admits, it was his wife Dorothy who probably saved his life by helping mobilize the home front and publicizing the savagery of his captors. Quite a heroic team indeed. Mrs. McDaniel, who was to become a "single mother," public NAM VET Newsletter Page 30 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 organizer, and later a congressional press secretary, obviously didn't know what was about to happen before her husband's last tour in Vietnam. After the Hero's Welcome (her recent book) tells of her commitment to family and country, of her strong devotion to God, and of the courage required to carry through with those responsibilities. There's many a lump in the throat to be found throughout these pages. Dorothy McDaniel recalls Red trying to build up "quality time" with their seven and eight year old sons, and three year old daughter before he left. "Don't forget to sign Mike up for Little League," he told her. "I'll be back in time to see the last two or three games." An outstanding athlete himself, Red was "going off to war, and he was talking about baseball!" she marveled. "Be brave for me Dorothy," he said, holding me close. Mercifully, I could not foresee how many years would pass before his arms would hold me again." NO-WIN STRATEGY: Before that horrendous day when she heard the words "Red's down" from a Navy lieutenant, Dorothy had felt his frustration coming through on tapes and letters from the combat zone: He and other pilots were risking their lives flying through heavy antiaircraft fire and evading deadly radar-guided surface-to-air missiles, to bomb insignificant targets; storage facilities, truck repair depots, and the same bridges over and over again. They wanted to go after targets that would make a difference: the airfields, the SAM sites, the ships in Haiphong Harbor that they could see unloading hardware with impunity. Their targets were chosen for political reasons by the White House and never, he said, by the military commanders in the field, Hanoi, where the enemy's command structure was located, was definitely off limits. Informed that her husband was "presumably captured," Mrs. McDaniel was instructed not to talk about him outside the family. A State Department representative told her that they had "reason to believe" Red was being treated well, and she naively believed the "bureaucrats when they said,"We're doing all we can.'" Finally, after 17 months of public silence, with no confirmation from Hanoi about her husband's existence (which might mean no accounting at war's end), she and a few other wives in late 1968 started to speak out. Meanwhile, in Hanoi, the brutality was unspeakable --- from beatings, to rope tortures that broke Red's arm, to repeated electric shock, to lacerating cuffs. The North Vietnamese were turning the screws on their American captives. SILENCE NO LONGER: A line from a prayer ends one of Dorothy's early speeches: "Let us not be content to wait and see what will happen, but give us the determination to make the right things happen." The POW/MIA wives started a firestorm. By the fall of 1969, as Captain McDaniel wrote in his own 1975 book SCARS and STRIPES, "the pressure of the torture was easing, and I am sure that the people in the States demanding better treatment for us have to get the credit. We didn't know how much work the POW wives were doing with their persistent effort to get better treatment for us, but sometimes new shoot-downs brought us NAM VET Newsletter Page 31 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 up to date. I had no idea how much Dorothy was involved --- that she was playing a key role in the organization of POW wives back in Virginia Beach." It was three full years before Dorothy received word, via a six- line letter from Red in Hanoi, that her husband was actually alive. Throughout Red's confinement, the North Vietnamese doled out letters to Dorothy like bones to a dog. For example, she got seven short notes in all of 1970, four in 1971. In one of these Red asked about "Kelly," supposedly referring to their dog, but actually an attempt to indicate he had not seen his bombardier- navigator. The inside fighter was worried about others even in the belly of the beast. NEW MISSIONS: When freedom finally came in 1973, and Red deplaned, Dorothy's eyes were so filled with tears she couldn't see him properly on the television. It would be a heartless reader, having only sampled her family's trials, who didn't get misty as well. Homecoming and reunion were glorious --- tempered when she dis- covered how brutal had been the torture inflicted by the communists. "The congregation of our own church had prayed for Red for six years," she recollects, "and they were spellbound as he told them how God had heard their prayers and had delivered him from the hands of his enemies." Captain McDaniel was given command of a supply ship, then of the aircraft carrier USS Lexington. The deteriorating shape of the military was shaping Red's politics, though he felt obliged to keep his view private (especially so under President Carter, when McDaniel became director of Navy Liaison for the U.S. House of Representatives). After Carter's military slashing, Red was elected, though the couple would later become heartsick and disillusioned with those around the President, especially over the issue of those Missing in Action. Dorothy discovered that she and the other wives had been manipulated by the Nixon White House. Appendices in her book include official memos that show in black and white the crass POW/MIA politics played in the White House under both Nixon and Carter. Having honed her skills in the publicity efforts about the prisoners, she became a congressional press secretary. Then Red retired and decided to run for Congress in North Carolina --- as a Republican against a three-term incumbent in what was basically a one-party district. The theme was conservative, Red recalls: "When I returned home after six years in a Communist prison, I saw an America in trouble. Our national defense was crumbling. We had lost the respect of the world community. Big government was out of control. Well-meaning measures that we had taken to make life easier had grown into monsters that threatened to devour us. The moral fiber of our nation was disintegrating. A sense of helplessness and frustration was sapping our national spirit." Though McDaniel's electoral attempt failed, his message rang true. The enthusiasm generated by young people from his campaign stirred the formation of the American Defense Institute. What started as a pro-defense group, with an emphasis on the young and the importance of voting in the military, broadened into a concern for those still missing. MIA families were growing restive and needed a leader who would not be a parrot for the Administration (the League of Families that Mrs. McDaniel had helped organize was NAM VET Newsletter Page 32 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 attacking Red for his efforts). The McDaniels found themselves being drawn into another battle. ADMISSIONS OF MISSING MEN: Mentioning "live sightings" of those missing, as Captain McDaniel was doing, was not popular with some in power. One midnight in the summer of 1985 a phone call came from the POW "handler" on the National Security Council, complaining about his raising such matters. Dorothy recalls: Groggy with sleep, Red held the receiver a few inches from his ear and just listened, puzzled. Finally, he asked, "Tell me, Dick, do you think we still have American POWs in Southeast Asia?" "You're damn right we do," Colonel Dick Childress of the White House staff boomed. Red bolted upright in bed, wide awake now. "When do we get them home, Dick?" he asked. "In two or three years, Red." "That's too long, Dick. They're running out of time," Red said and hung up the receiver. Childress, by the way, has recently stated: "Vietnam knows enough to account for hundreds of Americans, if Hanoi would make the political decision to do so." The McDaniel family was not intimidated. Red and Dorothy helped provide information for Kiss The Boys Goodbye, a startling expose by Monika Jensen-Stevenson and William Stevenson. In that 1990 book, the former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, General Eugene Tighe, is quoted as saying, "There are other live Americans over there." Roger Shields, who once handled POW/MIA matters for the Pentagon, admitted, "We negotiated the prisoners away." A member of the elite Delta Force told Captain McDaniel at Fort Bragg that "we have planned two different rescue missions into Southeast Asia. We knew where the men were. We knew how many were there. We were ready to go. We were excited about it. But, at the last minute, both time, someone cancelled the mission. "The soldier revealed his deep disappointment at his country's conduct, saying: "Captain, those men have been abandoned by this country. There's no two ways about it. Thank God for men like you who refuse to let that happen." TIMELY MESSAGE: The manuscript for After The Hero's Welcome was completed in November 1990. Yet the book could not be more timely. The developments of the last month or two have put the cause of the missing on the front pages. A recent Senate study concludes that the intent of past bureaucratic POW/MIA investigations has been to debunk and reject all evidence that there may be any of our men alive in Southeast Asia. (The interim Senate report is included in the volume.) The chief of the DIA's office for POWs and MIAs, Colonel Millard Peck, resigned over this issue earlier this year, saying: "From my vantage point, I observed that the principal government players were interested primarily in conducting a `damage control' exercise." Peck found that there was no effort to pursue live sightings --- and there have been more than 1,400 firsthand sightings reported since the end of the war. Perhaps it is now too late for some of our MIAs. No doubt there has been some fabrication of evidence by those in the region NAM VET Newsletter Page 33 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 hoping for payoffs. that is not the point. For how can even ONE MAN be left behind? Senator Bob Smith (R-NH), who is trying to set up a Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, recently testified on Capitol Hill, quoting Red McDaniel. "`I was prepared to fight,'" quoted Smith. "`I was prepared to be wounded; I was prepared to be captured; I was even prepared to die ------ but I wasn't prepared to be abandoned.'" But the evidence indicates that is exactly what has happened to American POWs and MIAs...... NAM VET Newsletter Page 34 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 ANATOMY OF A POW-MIA SCAM! By Chuck Fremont October 1991 Soldier of Fortune Magazine Input by Marsha Ledeman NamVet MIA/POW Section Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 Robert K. Brown had seen it before. A grainy photo of three middle-aged Caucasian men, smiling, well-fed, grouped around a cryptic sign. Allegedly taken in Cambodia, the photo was said to show three American aviators, held captive for more than 20 years. When the photo hit the national press on a slow news day in July, Brown got on the horn to a long-time friend. "Mongoose," active in the continuing fight for freedom in communist Southeast Asia, had first seen the photo, along with Brown, in October 1990. An American journalist working in Thailand obtained it from a Cambodian "businessman" near Site 2, a refugee settlement in Thailand. The Cambodian claimed the POWs were being held near Phnom Penh. Mongoose thought the photo was bogus, but he passed it to appropriate contacts in the U.S. intelligence community. They confirmed his assessment and returned the photo. He filed it away. Mongoose later learned that the journalist also sent copies to the families of Major Albro Lundy and Colonel John Robertson, Air Force pilots lost in Indochina. Family members passed copies to William "Billy" Hendon and Jack Bailey, longtime POW/MIA activists. One of these men apparently passed the photo to Eugene "Red" McDaniel, who released the photo to the press, claiming that the U.S. government was suppressing this "evidence" of live POWs. This is just one more scam coming out of the cottage industry in phony POW reports in Southeast Asia," Mongoose told Brown. "These hustlers figure if a live POW is worth $1 million U.S., a picture or letter, or even a rumor, should be worth at least a few bucks. "It's no accident that Robertson and Stevenson were named as the POWs in the photo," Mongoose continued. "thousands of leaflets offering a reward for POW information were floated into Laos by balloons from Thailand and given to Cambodians to launch into the Mekong in 1989. "Robertson's and Stevenson's names were on those leaflets, along with computer-aged photos. Robertson's name was misspelled on the flier. Guess what? His name was misspelled identically on a letter that he was supposed to have written from some forced-labor farm." "What's their official status?" Brown asked Mongoose. "Robertson was carried KIA/BNR. His back-seater punched out when they were hit, but Robertson never got out. His wingman followed him in, confirmed that the F-4 Phantom exploded on contact with Robertson still on board. Stevens went down in an A- 6 Intruder over Laos; he was carried MIA. No one ever came out of Laos; not one POW. The Pathet Lao have stonewalled us ever since the war. "And Lundy was lost in Laos too," Mongoose added. "He was a `Sandy'; flew Skyraiders in support of `Pony Express,' the Jolly Greens on search and rescue missions. They'd go in low and slow; NAM VET Newsletter Page 35 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 orbit while the PJs (pararescuemen) went in on the pick-up. Lundy reported engine trouble and bailed out. The other four Sandys all saw the parachute open, but they said the harness was empty. They figured he'd unhooked the leg straps. Those guys would do crazy stuff in those big cockpits to get comfortable; they were up there four or five hours sometimes." "But they never found his body?" Brown asked. "No. They sent in the PJs at the crash site, no trace. Never even picked up a distress signal. They carried him MIA, but the review board changed it to KIA later on. Stevens I don't know about, but the bottom line on Lundy and Robertson is they bought the farm." "Well, if this latest photo is bogus, I want to blow it out of the sky," Brown told Mongoose. "It's just causing more anguish for the families, and these bullshit reports discredit the legitimate investigators; make anyone concerned with POW/MIAs look like a nut. And that's wrong." Mongoose went to work on a detailed analysis of the photo. He talked to sources in the U.S. intelligence community, but they were of little help. In the end, it was his 10 years of on-the- ground experience in Southeast Asia and close contacts with the Vietnamese and Laotian expatriate community in the U.S. that told him who the men were and where the mysterious photo originated. He called Brown back the next day --- Friday, 19 July 1991. Mongoose told Brown that the photo probably originated in communist Vietnam. "this sign in the photograph located it in Lam Dong province, near Da Lat in Vietnam's Central Highlands. The Vietnamese write a date with a location preceding it; the `LD' in front of the date stands for Lam Dong," according to Mongoose. "The word `photo' at the top of the sign is clearly written as two words --- `PHO TO' --- this is a distinctly Vietnamese linguistic style, " he said. "What about the periods separating the date?" Brown asked. "I've never seen Americans write a date like that." "Right. Now, the next line is `NNTK.' `TK' stands for thieu khu, Vietnamese for `small unit,' as in a military unit. I believe the `NN' stands for nhan nguia, which is the designation for a civil engineering-type outfit, like our Navy Seabees. Next line is `KBC 19,' which stand for Kha Buu Chinh 19. This is the Vietnamese equivalent to an APO or a military postal address. KBC 19, as I recall, was a Vietnamese address in Cam Ranh." Since 1975, Cam Ranh Bay has been a major base for Soviet Far East forces. The Da Lat/Lam Dong area is often visited by Soviet personnel assigned to Cam Ranh. Mongoose consulted with authorities on the Soviet Union regarding the clothing and general appearance of the men in the photo. "the man to the right, identified as possibly being Larry Stevens," Mongoose, "is wearing a Stalin style tunic. My Soviet expert identified this tunic, and specifically the points beneath the buttons on the breast pockets, as being distinctly Russian. The high collar and lack of epaulets are characteristic of a Cossack tunic, which was adopted as a Soviet field fatigue uniform. The other men wear darker clothing, possible naval uniforms. One appears to have a hat under his hand. The haircuts, NAM VET Newsletter Page 36 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 round faces and mustaches are consistent with Soviet or Eastern European appearance. And these individuals just look too healthy to be prisoners. Most POWs lost hair, lost body mass, lost muscle mass. These guys are pretty chubby. "There are problems with the sign. There is a black box --- or a blocked-out area --- below it. On the left-hand side, it looks like there was air-brushing or blocking done to the photograph below the sign. The sign looks like it was superimposed and then air brushed to make it look like part of the photograph. "My conclusion is that the men are Soviets, possibly in an extremely old picture that was reworked in an unsophisticated Vietnamese lab. The Vietnamese added the sign that appears on the photograph to date it for use as a POW scam, based on the flier that was floated all over from Laos," Mongoose told Brown. "The sign, in fact, is probably nothing more than an identification note conveniently taken from the back of another photograph in the lab that created the forgery." This article was written by Chuck Fremont who is an Army Special Forces Reserve NCO. __________________________________________________________________ Anyone want to write about this article should write to: Articles editor: Soldier of Fortune P.O.Box 693, Boulder, Co. 80306 The phone number for the editorial office is: (303) 449-3750 I would also like more information on "Mongoose" ... thanks Marsha Ledeman NAM VET Newsletter Page 37 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 DIA wants to stop POW search 8/26/91 -EXCLUSIVE- to the Spotlight By Mike Blair Input by: Marsha Ledeman NamVet MIA/POW Section Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 The administration of President George bush, stung by the recent series of photographs of American prisoners still being held captive from the Vietnam War in Southeast Asia, is proposing legislation "to punish anyone who fraudulently holds out false hope to Americans with relatives missing from the war." According to SPOTLIGHT sources, Pentagon officials also want legislation to punish those who willfully withhold information that could help investigators learn whether missing servicemen are still alive. This flies in the face of statements made to the contrary by former national security advisers of the previous administration of President Ronald Reagan, including Richard Allen and Robert McFarland. Scowcroft's statement also brought a sharp rebuke from Senate Minority Leader Robert Dole of Kansas, who said he doesn't believe Scowcroft knows for sure. He has urged that Bush establish a special commission to focus on the issue. PROPOSE LEGISLATION: However, the Justice Department is reportedly putting together legislation that would punish those who circulate fraudulent information about live sightings of American POWs and MIAs and for not reporting evidence to government investigators. "This is nothing but an effort by the Pentagon to stifle private efforts to help resolve the POW-MIA issue, while the government wants to cover it up," an officer of one POW-MIA activist group told The SPOTLIGHT. "Such a law will frighten people from coming forward with information, since they will fear it will be declared fraudulent, thus making them subject to prosecution," he added. "The Defense Intelligence Agency [DIA] will determine if the evidence is fraudulent and will be allowed to collect solid evidence and then bury it under a blanket of national security," he concluded. According to SPOTLIGHT sources, the Bush administration hopes to have the new law tacked onto the anti-crime package currently pending in Congress. The sources said the DIA pressed for the legislation during a closed door session of the House POW-MIA Task Force on August 1. REPORTS FILTERED: Reports from the DIA, the U.S. intelligence agency chartered during the Reagan administration as being responsible for POW and MIA intelligence collection and evaluation, go to the White House, after being carefully filtered by the special "interagency group" that supposedly coordinates efforts to resolve the issue. Col. Millard Peck, who quit his post as DIA's chief of POW affairs, charged in his five-page resignation, which he tacked to his office door, that Ann Mills Griffiths, executive director of the supposedly private National League of POW-MIA Families, is the real power behind the interagency group. NAM VET Newsletter Page 38 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 As Peck charged, and as documents uncovered by The SPOTLIGHT reveal, Mrs. Griffiths does direct the Pentagon how to deal with the POW-MIA issue, even to the point of editing and rewriting policy statements. Peck and others have charged that DIA, frequently under Mrs. Griffiths's guidance, is more concerned with debunking reports and evidence of live POWs being held in captivity than in actually investigating them. Sen. Robert Smith (R-N.H.), who is proposing the Senate establish a select committee to deal as an oversight group to monitor the manner in which the Pentagon deals with the POW is opposed to the passage of legislation that would establish criminal penalties for willfully withholding information or for disseminating fraudulent information. An aide to Smith said the senator is convinced the administration is attempting to close down national debate on the POW-MIA issue and he believes punitive legislation would help serve to accomplish that end. "The DIA and the administration have a tendency to discredit reports first and not thoroughly investigate." the aide said. Smith said he is convinced after "countless" briefings that the Pentagon has "not followed up diligently on every one of the reports from Southeast Asia." DIA officials have told members of Congress in an effort to force passage of the punitive legislation that there is a "cottage industry" in the United States and Southeast Asia that "[manufactures] evidence" about supposed live POWs. This is from a statement by Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), who favors such legislation. Such evidence includes phony dog tags from supposed live POWs and MIAs and phony photographs purporting to show Americans in captivity, Hyde added. But those, including Smith, who oppose such legislation contend the Pentagon has been all too eager to tar with the same brush persons coming forth with genuine information as those with the false information. "I have always wondered," Ted Sampley, chairman of Homecoming II, a national POW-MIA activist group based in North Carolina, said, "why they never tell us who these frauds are so that people can be forewarned about them." The Defense Department, in its efforts to curb the firestorm that has resulted from the recent flow of POW photographs from Southeast Asia, said that between the fall of Vietnam in 1975 and last June 10 there have been 13,473 reports made to the U.S. government of live Americans in captivity. Pentagon officials said about 25 percent of the reports are known or suspected of being phony. However, what about the other 75 percent??? NAM VET Newsletter Page 39 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 ================================================================== Shiftin' Sands ================================================================== Desert Storm Trophies WARNING! Input by Charlie Revie NamVet's KOTL (Keeper of the List) Desert Dolphin BBS - Las Cruces, NM (505) 523-2811 SUBJECT: Desert Storm Weapons 29 Jul 91 1. Request supervisors pass this memo to personnel who supported Desert Storm overseas. 2. In late June 91, Army CID reports indicate that three booby- trapped AK-47 rifles, recovered during Operation Desert Shield/Storm, presented a potential threat to personnel handling them. The rifles in question were initially recovered in and around the Kuwaiti Theater of Operations (KTO) and retained as "War Trophies". The booby-traps consist of an unknown type of plastic explosive with detonator placed into a hollowed out portion of the rifles' buttstocks. The buttstock device is designed to detonate the explosive charge upon recoil, as the weapon is fired. Currently, only weapons with fixed buttstocks have been discovered fitted with the booby-trap device. Information received in late June 91 indicated the booby-traps were relatively simple in construction and did not appear to contain anti-tampering components. It is unknown at this time whether this is an isolated incident of weapons tampering or whether more of these booby-trapped weapons are among those that were recovered after the war in the middle east. 3. In accordance with Army Safety and Physical Security Standards, any rifles (AK-47 or otherwise) with wooden buttstocks recovered from the KTO and shipped to CONUS during or after the gulf war should be examined closely prior to test firing. If the examiner suspects tampering, arrangements should be made with EOD to x-ray the buttstock of the rifle in question. If concealed explosives are found, the local Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms office should be notified. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Para 4, had some local information about whom to contact, etc. But common sense says if you have one or know someone who has one, don't screw with it (you too Richard -- though it might help with the cucarachas and the hostiles) but any military installation of any consequence usually has an EOD unit as likely does the local Police Department -- call 'em. If they screw up the weapon that is better than getting your head blown into orbit. $#@~@~$&#$#!$#%$^$%*&%&%$%#$#%$# Iraggis!!!!!!!!!!!!! and toss the Iranis in for good measure------- Charlie NAM VET Newsletter Page 40 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Desert Storm Vet Not Forgotten Anonymous To S. Sgt. Michael R. Conner Sr.: Dear Michael; You don't know me and I never met you. This is the wrong place to leave you a letter,but there is no memorial yet for those of you that perished in Desert Storm, so I guess the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is as good a place as any. How do I know you?, you may be asking. Well there was an article about you along with your poem in the White Sands Missile Ranger Feb. 22,1991. I still have the article and poem: "MY SYMBOL" I had a dream near 3 a.m. That crashed into my night A multitude of warriors Standing in full sight On their anguished faces Were grim and hateful glares; They wore Marine Corps blouses Yet all they did was stare. I saw wounds of Belleau Wood, I saw the scars of Guam, The dead were there of Heartbreak Ridge And a company from 'Nam. Then, one spoke out and asked me A question loud and strong: "Can they burn the flag we died for?" How can it NOT be wrong? I did not have an answer To ease their angry pain I could only give excuses For a country gone insane... I saw the flag on Iwo Just before I died I saw that lead pole lifted Where the flag was safely tied. I know it's just a symbol That flies above our graves, But, let it be a symbol Of what these men and I gave. With that, the dream was over, And I woke with fear and shame. To think a FOOL can trample The flag that bears OUR names. . . You had no way of knowing that the flag WOULD bear your name. Rest easy Michael, you are not forgotten. -- A friend NAM VET Newsletter Page 41 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Operation Desert Shield NMNMNMNMNMNMNM\ Operation Desert Storm MH * * * HN/NMNMNMNMNMNMNMNNMNM\ NH * * * HM/MH * * HMNMMNMN/MMMMMMMMMMMMM\ MH * * * HN/NH * * * H////////MMMMMMMMMMMMM/MMMMMMMMMMMMMMH NH * * * HM/MH * * H//////////////////////MMMMMMMMMMMMMMH MH * * * HN/NH * * * HNMNMMNM/////////////////////////////H MH * * * HM/MH* * * HMNMNNMN/NMNMNMNNMNMNM///////////////H MH * * * HN/NH * * * H////////MNMNMNMMNMNMN/NMNMNNMNMNNMNHH NH * * * HM/MH * * H//////////////////////MNMNMMNMNMMNMNH MH * * * HN/NH * * * HMNMMNMN/////////////////////////////H H//////////////MH * * HNMNNMNM/NMNMNMNNMNMNM///////////////H H//////////////////////////////////MNMNMNMMNMNMN/NMNMNNMNMNNMNMH NNNNNNNNNNNNNN///////////////////////////////////MNMNMMNMNMMNMNH NNNNNNNNNNNNNN/NMNMNMNMNMNMNMNNMNM/////////////////////////////H H//////////////MNMNMNMNMNMNMNMMNMN/NMNMNMNNMNMNM///////////////H H//////////////////////////////////MNMNMNMMNMNMN/NMNMNNMNMNNMNMH MNMNMNMNMNMNMN///////////////////////////////////MNMNMMNMNMMNMNH NMNMNMNMNMNMNM\NMNMNMNMNMNMNMMNMNM/////////////////////////////H \NMNMNMNMNMNMNNMNMN\NMNMNMNNMNMNM///////////////H \MNMNMNMMNMNMN\NMNMNNMNMNNMNMH WELL DONE !!! \MNMNMMNMNMMNMNH WELCOME HOME!!! NAM VET Newsletter Page 42 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 "Long Time Now" By Jim Kramer Submitted by Joyce Flory NamVet's Incarcerated Veterans Section Editor Desert Dolphin BBS - Las Cruces, NM (505) 523-2811 This was sent to me in a newsletter from "Vietnam Veterans for Christ" from Searcy, Ark. -- Joyce "It's been a long, long time - now so many days have passed - how? yet, a sight, sound, or a smell will bring back the "past hell". The sight of a line of trees, a "huey" sound or diesel on a breeze, trigger moments we thought were gone, 'n jolt us from sleep before dawn. The smell over there can't be told, it was the heat, death 'n blood that's old, why was I there 'n allowed to come back, while others came home in a plastic sack. Perhaps, someday it will be clear, when I'm reunited with those so dear, just for today I accept it's "the plan", part of the work of a "greater hand". The price we paid can never be counted, but tears 'n pain can be surmounted. just let them out with those who care, those who listen make it easier to bear. Today, I'm proud I did my part, its a feeling down deep in my heart, I did my best 'n am glad to be alive, Wasn't it our goal to at least " survive". NAM VET Newsletter Page 43 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 WAR CRIMES TRIAL FOR HUSSEIN CONSIDERED BUT CRIMES OF VIETNAM'S PRIME MINISTER IGNORED By Tom Cartwright - SPECIAL TO 8/24/91 U.S. VETERAN Input by Marsha Ledeman NamVet MIA/POW Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 The Congressional Human Rights Caucus is holding hearings to determine if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein should be tried as a war criminal for his troops' harsh treatment of "Coalition," including American, prisoners of war during the Persian Gulf conflict. Also under consideration for war crimes prosecution of Hussein is the Iraqis' brutal treatment of the Kurdish minority in Iraq and the people of Kuwait during Iraq's brief occupation of its tiny Arab neighbor state. Meanwhile, however, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the chairman of the Senate's new Select Committee on matters relating to America's unaccounted for POWs and MIAs, appears willing to overlook the atrocious war crimes of Vietnamese communist officials, including Vietnam's new prime minister, Vo Van Kiet, a key member of the Viet Cong Central Committee during the war in Vietnam. Kerry, in fact, while ignoring Vietnam's war crimes is urging that the U.S. trade embargo against the communist state be lifted because it would assist, he says, in gaining more information on missing American military personnel in Indochina. "If you want to quickly provide yourself with greater access to information," Kerry, a Vietnam vet who became an anti-war resistor, said, "by God the best thing you can do is get everybody you can into the country and be able to have a commerce and exchange, not only in goods, but in information." Kerry at the time was on a fact-finding mission to Southeast Asia to check out as chairman of the new Select Committee recent reports of live American POWs still being held by the communists. Other U.S. officials oppose lifting the trade embargo and normalizing relations with Hanoi until there is an acceptable political settlement of the conflict in Cambodia, Vietnam's western neighbor, and progress on accounting for nearly 2,300 American POWs and MIAs had been made. Kerry called the policy "a silly, silly approach" and said he would push for an early debate in the Senate of a resolution to lift the embargo. Actually, Kerry was in favor of normalizing relations with Vietnam long before his appointment as chairman of the Select Committee, as was Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), whom Senate Minority Leader Robert Dole (R-Kan.) wants to appoint as vice chairman of the panel. Ironically, McCain, who is himself a former POW of North Vietnam, has more than a passing interest in the war crimes accusations facing Hussein, since his wife, Cindy, testified before the Human Rights Caucus as witnessing the atrocities of Hussein's troops in Kuwait while she served as part of a medical team that went to Kuwait last April, after Iraqi forces had been driven out. Mrs. McCain testified that the Iraqis stopped feeding patients at a hospital for the mentally retarded and that many of them starved to death as a result. Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), chairman of the caucus task force on Kuwait, said the "case for pursuing with a war-crimes tribunal NAM VET Newsletter Page 44 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 against Saddam Hussein and his toadies . . . is overwhelming." "Saddam's actions in Kuwait, his wanton destruction of the environment, and his mistreatment of POWs cries for swift and unyielding justice," Weldon said. But where are the "cries for swift and unyielding justice" for Vietnam's Prime Minister Kiet and his "toadies" during the Vietnam War. ON MILITARY COMMITTEE In 1960, Kiet was named to the Central Committee of the Communist Party in South Vietnam and served on the military committee of the party throughout much of the war. The Central Committee was responsible for running Viet Cong operations in South Vietnam. Kiet was "a significant figure in running the war in the South," Douglas Pike, editor of "Indochina Chronology," a quarterly published by the Institute of East Asia Studies of the University of California at Berkeley, told the U.S. VETERAN. Pike, America's leading expert on the Viet Cong who spent 15 years studying their history and infrastructure while assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Saigon and is the author of the book, "Viet Cong," and other volumes about Southeast Asia, said of Kiet's part in the war effort that there was "no doubt about it." If Congress was to call a caucus on war crimes of Kiet and Company, one of the first witnesses who could be called would be Sen. McCain, who could offer testimony about the treatment of American POWs while in the custody of some of the thugs now serving in the Vietnamese government under Kiet. The treatment of U.S. prisoners of war by the Iraqis, although severe, pales by comparison. Doubters can ask Sen. McCain or any of the hundreds of others held by the Hanoi crowd and Kiet's Viet Cong in South Vietnam, who were repatriated at the end of U.S. participation in the war. Noting that Kiet, like Hussein, was responsible for the actions of his troops in the field, a caucus on war crimes might consider some of the following atrocities: 1. The execution by the Viet Cong of Capt. Humberto Roque "Rocky" Versace of Norfolk, Va., and SFC Kenneth M. Roraback of Baldwin, N.Y., in 1965. The communists' "Liberation Radio" (the voice of the Viet Cong Central Committee) announced on Sept. 26, 1965, the execution of Versace and Roraback in retaliation for the deaths of three Viet Cong terrorists in Da Nang. Vietnam claims to be doing its best to return the remains of dead POWs and MIAs, but neither Versace or Roraback have ever been returned. Certainly, the government of Prime Minister Kiet must know the location of the remains of two American servicemen whom they murdered in cold blood. 2. On June 24, 1965, the Viet Cong announced on Radio Hanoi that Army E4 Harold George Bennett of Perryville, Ark., had been shot in retaliation for Viet Cong terrorist Tran Van Dong's execution, after a trial, by the South Vietnamese government. Again, Bennett's remains have never been returned, but how could the government of Prime Minister Kiet not know NAM VET Newsletter Page 45 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 the location of the remains of a POW who was executed under the direction of the Viet Cong Central Committee? 3. In late November, 1988, the Hanoi government repatriated the remains of Navy Lt. Cmdr. Edwin B. Tucker of Baldwinville, Mass., whose F8C Crusader was shot down near Hon Gay City in Quang Ninh Province of North Vietnam on April 24, 1967. Tucker had died on the operating table of the city hospital at Hon Gay, after which the flesh was boiled from his bones and his skeleton was wired together and placed on display as a teaching aid at the Quang Ninh Medical School. It remained there while Kiet served from April, 1982, as chairman of the State Planning Commission in Hanoi and while he served as deputy prime minister, and acting prime minister in early 1988. The remains were returned after the U.S. government agreed not to publicize where the skeletal remains had reposed for the previous 15 years. The reason: so Hanoi would not be embarrassed. 4. A total of 3,000 Vietnamese civilians were murdered, under orders of Kiet and the others of the Viet Cong Central Committee, during the communist occupation of Hue during the 1968 Tet Offensive. Many were later found to have been buried alive. 5. On January 15, 1967, South Vietnamese troops discovered the remains of 81 Vietnamese civilians massacred by Viet Cong forces in the Mekong Delta. Many of the bodies were mutilated. 6. On June 15, 1967, the Viet Cong "Liberation Radio" reported the execution of U.S. civilian Gustav C. Hertz, that this American had paid a "blood debt to the Vietnamese people." 7. The capture, torture and execution of Marine Lt. William M. Grammar and Army Sgt. Orville B. Frits by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces in Quang Tri Province on May 23, 1967. These cases are just a sampling of the cases of brutal atrocities, for which Kiet and his "toadies" could be held responsible as war criminals. In World War II, Japanese, German and Italian military and civilian officials were charged with war crimes because of the atrocities committed by men who had served under them, just as the congressional Human Rights Caucus wants Hussein prosecuted as a war criminal. For Sens. Kerry and McCain, at least a little honesty is warranted. It is not because of the help it will bring to the accounting process of some 2,300 American POWs and MIAs that normalization of relations and/or the lifting of the trade embargo with Vietnam is being pushed. It is because of big bucks being sought by international bankers, big oil companies and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, all NAM VET Newsletter Page 46 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 seeking commercial ties with Hanoi. And soon, since Hussein, like Kiet and Company, is not about to surrender himself for trial as a war criminal, the same bankers, big oil, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce will be seeking to do business with Iraq. As for war crimes and an accounting of MIAs from the Persian Gulf conflict, including, yes, some Americans, no doubt a Sen. Kerry will come forth to say that is "a silly, silly approach." NAM VET Newsletter Page 47 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 ================================================================== Don't drink the water! ================================================================== Adverse Health Effects and Exposure to Agent Orange By Steve Walz April/May 1991 VietNow Submitted by: Alma Schilling To: VETLink #1 Input by: G. Joseph Peck NamVet's Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 DIOXIN DRUMMER Sandra Davis - Agent Orange Chairperson John Davis - National Liaison to the Agent Orange Commission Steve Walz, Administrative Assistant June Bartotto, Administrative Assistant Felix Bartotto, Creative Writing Robert Kolling, Production Ed and Carol Ervin, Publicity/Fundraising A Summary of the Report by Admiral E. R. Zumwalt to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs On October 6, 1989 Adm. E. R. Zumwalt, Jr. was appointed special assistant to Secretary Derwinski, Department of Veterans Affairs. His job was to evaluate data relevant to the statistical association between exposure to Agent Orange and the specific adverse health effects suffered by Vietnam veterans. Agent Orange was a 50:50 mixture of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T which contained 2,3,7,8-TCDD or Dioxin. Military applications of Agent Orange were sprayed at the rate of three gallons per acre, six to 25 times the manufacturer's suggest rate. This spraying reached a peak in 1969 and stopped in 1971. At the time, the Department of Defense did not consider Agent Orange to be harmful to humans. In February 1969, the Bionetics Research Council Committee reported 2,4,5-T showed a "significant" potential to increase birth defects. By October 1969, the National Institute of Health confirmed 2,4,5-T could cause malformations and birth defects in mice. By April 15, 1970, the Surgeon General of the United States issued a warning that the use of 2,4,5-T might be hazardous to "our health." Between 1974 and 1983, studies were conducted to determine if a link existed between non-Hodgkins lymphoma and soft-tissue sarcoma and exposure to Agent Orange. These studies suggested a link. However, there remained skeptics who insisted these studies failed to prove a scientifically acceptable correlation. The general attitude displayed an increasing concern of a link between certain cancers and Dioxin exposure. Vietnam veterans sought disability compensation from the VA. The VA determined the majority of claimants were not entitled to compensation due to non-service connected illnesses. As a consequence, Congress passed the Veterans Dioxin and Radiation Exposure Compensation Standards Act of 1984. Due to the "uncertain" state of scientific evidence and the inability to make an absolute causal connection between exposure to Agent Orange and various rare cancers. Congress mandated the VA rule in favor of NAM VET Newsletter Page 48 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 the veteran. Despite this mandate, the VA continued to deny compensation. Ensuing legal actions invalidated the VA Dioxin regulations. On October 2, 1989, the VA amended rules for determination of Agent Orange claims to consider whether it was "at least as likely as not" a scientific study showed a significant statistical association between exposure to Dioxin and specific adverse health effects. The regulation permitted the VA to disregard the findings of the advisory committee and judge whether there was a relationship between exposure and certain diseases. To assess the validity and competency of the work of the advisory committee, Adm. Zumwalt asked impartial scientists to review the committee transcripts. All scientists disagreed with the findings of the advisory committee. The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute in Seattle, Washington concluded "that it is at least as likely as not that there is a significant association between exposure to Agent Orange and non-Hodgkins lymphoma." They also stated the advisory committee's work was "not sensible" and "rather unsatisfactory" in its review and classification of studies. Additionally the Institute regarded committee member, Dr. Lathrop's views as "less than objective" and "his extreme views may have unduly affected the committee's work." D. Robert Hartzman, a top Navy researcher, stated "the preponderance of evidence from the papers reviewed weighs heavy in favor of an effect of Agent Orange on increased risk for non- Hodgkins lymphoma." Dr. Jeanne Mager Stellman and Dr. Steven D. Stellman agreed with the Hutchinson group and Hartzman. The Stellman's own work provided a "stunning indictment of the advisory committee's scientific interpretation and policy judgments." The various reviewers suggested the committee's conclusion regarding exposure to Agent Orange and non-Hodgkins lymphoma were highly understated. The reviewers also concluded the committee's process was so flawed as to be useless in making any determination. From reading the committee transcripts, the reviewers detected overt bias in the evaluation of studies. The Agent Orange Validation Study was commissioned to determine if exposure could be estimated. After four years and $63 million in federal funds, the Center for Disease Control concluded that a study could not be done based on military records. "Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, the former Director of the Environmental Hazards branch at the CDC, upon discovering the various irregularities in the CDC procedures concluded that the errors were so egregious as to warrant an independent investigation not only of the methodology employed by the CDC in its validation study, but also a specific inquiry into what actually transpired at the Center for Environmental Health of the CDC. Other government Agent Orange studies have shown evidence of political interference. On March 9, 1990 Sen. Thomas Daschle (SD) discussed political interference in the Air Force Ranch Hand study. The study was meant to determine correlation between exposure to Agent Orange and harmful health effects among Air Force veterans who participated in Agent Orange spraying missions dubbed Operation Ranch Hand. "In January 1984, the scientists in charge of the Ranch Hand study issued a draft baseline morbidity report that described some very serious health problems in the Ranch Hand veterans and stated that the Ranch Handers, by a ratio of five to one, were generally NAM VET Newsletter Page 49 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 less well than the veterans in the control group." "After the Ranch Hand Advisory Committee, which operates under the White House Agent Orange Working Group of the Domestic Policy Council, got it's hand on the document, the final report was changed in some very important ways. Most notably, the table and exposition explaining that the Ranch Handers were generally less well than the control group was omitted and the final conclusion was altered substantially. By altering the study's conclusion, opponents of Agent Orange compensation were able to "prove" that Agent Orange did not cause harmful health effects among Ranch Handers. In other words the major premise was badly flawed. For example, in 1987, Ranch Hand scientists confirmed an unpublished report showed birth defects among Ranch Hand children were double those of children in the control group. In addition, Ranch Handers showed significant increases in skin cancers unrelated to overexposure to the sun as originally reported in the 1984 report. Air Force scientists admitted Air Force and White House Management representatives were involved in scientific decisions. Although not yet conclusive, the Ranch Hand and CDC studies indicated a link between health problems and Dioxin exposure. Deception and fraud was not limited to government studies. "For instance, recent litigation against the Monsanto corporation revealed conclusive evidence studies conducted by Monsanto employees to examine the health effects of exposure were fraudulent. These same fraudulent studies have been repeatedly cited by government officials to deny the existence of a relationship between health problems and exposure to Agent Orange. Recent evidence suggests a study relied upon by those opposed to Agent Orange compensation was falsified. Three studies regarding a 1963 industrial accident at a BASF plant were falsified by BASF itself when it supplied all of the data, and switched workers from the exposed to non-exposed group to "prove" that there was no link between Dioxin exposure and health problems. Recent evidence showed Dow Chemical knew in 1964 that Dioxin was a by-product of the manufacturing of Agent Orange. Dr. Benjamin Holder, then medical director of Dow, said extreme exposure to Dioxin could result in "general organ toxicity," as well as, "psychopathological" and "other systemic" problems. Despite all this, the CDC has been, at times, quite candid. In 1983, the CDC stated "that the herbicide contaminant TCDD is considered to be one of the most toxic components known." In 1987, a VA mortality study indicated a 110 percent higher rate of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in Marines who served in heavily sprayed areas. In 1987, a VA study found an eight-fold increase in soft- tissue sarcoma among veterans exposed to Agent Orange. Other studies showed "statistically significant" rises in cancer in people exposed to Dioxin. Recent studies in Vietnam continue to show reproductive anomalies and birth defects among women and children of women exposed to Agent Orange. Both the US Environmental Protection Agency and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have concluded dioxin is a "probable human carcinogen." In early May, a scientific task force linked Agent Orange to the following diseases: non-Hodgkins lymphoma, soft- tissue sarcoma, skin disorders/chloracne, subclinical hepatotoxic effects, porphyria cutanea tarda, reproductive and developmental effects, neurologic effects and Hodgkins disease. Adm. Zumwalt concluded though science is only beginning to understand the effects of toxins on the environment, they have NAM VET Newsletter Page 50 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 established three classes of effects which occur when the immune system is exposed to chemicals such as Dioxin. 1) immunodeficiency or suppression; 2) alteration of the host defense mechanism against mutagens and carcinogens; 3)hypersensitivity or allergy to the chemical antagonist. Dioxin's ability to be both an immunosuppressant and a carcinogen may make it far more dangerous than those possessing only one of these properties. Immunotoxicologists maintain one molecule of Dioxin in the right place at the right time can cause the human immune system to turn on itself. With evidence Agent Orange contaminants have the ability to migrate away from the actual spray areas, the opportunity for Vietnam veterans to be exposed has been significantly increased. "After having evaluated and considered all of the evidence on Agent Orange and Dioxin contamination, it is evident to me that enough is known about current trends in the study of Dioxin and their linkage with certain cancers upon exposure, to give the exposed Vietnam veteran the benefit of the doubt." Adm Zumwalt stated, "It can in my judgment, be concluded, with a very high degree of confidence, that it is at least as likely as not that the following are caused in humans by exposure to TCDD: Non-Hodgkins lymphoma, chloracne and other skin disorders, lip cancer, bone cancer, soft tissue sarcoma, birth defects, skin cancer, lung cancer, porphyria cutanea tarda and other liver diseases. Hodgkins disease, hematpopietic diseases, multiple myeloma, neurological defects and auto-immune disease and disorders. "In addition, I am most comfortable in concluding that it is at least as likely as not that liver cancer, nasal/pharyngeal/esophageal cancers, Leukemia, malignant melanoma, kidney cancer, testicular cancer, pancreatic cancer, stomach cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, brain cancer, psychosocial effects and gastrointestinal diseases are service connected." The Admiral recommends Secretary Derwinski reevaluate the compensation decision and replace members of the Veterans Advisory Committee on Environmental Hazards with persons with recognized scientific and medical expertise in fields pertinent to understanding the health effects of exposure to Dioxin. He further recommends, the Secretary in making a decision regarding Agent Orange compensation should do so on the basis of independent evaluation of scientific and medical evidence. NAM VET Newsletter Page 51 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 NEW JERSEY AGENT ORANGE COMMISSION PO Box 1717 Trenton, NJ 08607-1717 (609) 530-8162 (609) 530-8188 (FAX) Input by Jim Ferguson NamVet Agent Orange Section Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 TO: WOMEN WHO SERVED IN THE REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM BETWEEN 1960 AND 1973 (MILITARY, RED CROSS, MISSIONARIES, AND OTHER CIVILIANS) FROM: The Women's Advisory Committee of the New Jersey Agent Orange Commission. The purpose of this open letter is to solicit the participation of women who served in Vietnam during the war years in a research study being organized by the New Jersey Agent Orange Commission. This initial study will focus on the problems of reproduction such as spontaneous abortions, still-births, infertility, birth defects, and early menopause. We, as the Advisory Committee, along with the staff and researchers associated with the Commission recognize that there are other problems that are not reproductive in nature. This study is therefore a starting point, and other work will be undertaken in the future. In addition to women who have had reproductive problems, we need women who have had no problems at all as well as women who to the best of their knowledge have had no exposure to Agent Orange. The primary researchers of the study are Dr. Peter Kahn of Rutgers University, Dr. Michael Gochfeld of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and Dr. Christoffer Rappe of the University of Umea in Umea, Sweden. Dr. Rappe is an expert in dioxin chemistry, and one of the principal features of the study will be the measurement of body dioxin levels of the research participants. The first phase of Commission sponsored research was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in the issue of March 18, 1988. If you are interested in participating, please send your name, address, telephone number, the place in Vietnam where you served, and a brief preliminary description of your reproductive difficulties, if appropriate, to the commission office at the address given in the letterhead. A questionaire will be sent to you in 6-8 weeks, and follow-up contacts will be made thereafter as appropriate. Although the number of participants in this initial study will be relatively small, all inquiries received will be maintained in active files for use in subsequent research. All files will be kept strictly confidential. The Governor of New Jersey has issued an executive order prohibiting the release of our files for any purpose whatsoever without your written consent. In addition, the Rutgers University Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research has standing rules to protect information. NAM VET Newsletter Page 52 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 These letters are being sent by most members of the Women's Advisory Committee for the project and through other means as well. You may receive more than one. If you do, please pass the extras along to friends who served in Vietnam. It is essential that you respond directly to the Agent Orange Commission. To protect the confidentiality of mailing lists held by members of the Committee, the Commission has asked that the Committee send these letters out directly. Elizabeth Allen, Rn, Ph.D CPT, ANC 1967-68 12th Evac-71st Evac Linda J. Wilson, ACSW American Red Cross 1968-69 Americal Division and 4th Infantry Division Ann Funck, BSRN, CDA 1LT, ANC 85th Evac Hospital, QuiNhon 66-67 Lily Adams, Rn, MA 12th Evac, Army Nurse Corps, 1969-70 Marilyn Edgerton-Mallard, Rn, BS 1LT, ANC 1971-72 18th Surg 91st Evac 3rd Field Patsy G Goodman, Ph.D (Rn) Sharon Rice-Grant, MSW SP5 WAC 1972 Long Binh NAM VET Newsletter Page 53 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 NEW JERSEY AGENT ORANGE COMMISSION PO Box 1717 Trenton, NJ 08607-1717 (609) 530-8162 (609) 530-8188 (FAX) Input by Jim Ferguson NamVet Agent Orange Section Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 AGENT ORANGE ALERT -- AGENT ORANGE ALERT DEAR VETERAN: We are seeking your assistance. As our Agent Orange research continues, we are seeking specific types of volunteers for the POINTMAN research project. We are currently seeking the following: MARINES: We are looking for men who served with the 9th Marines during 1967 and 1968. We are particularly interested in Men who served IN the 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines. CONTROLS: We are seeking men who believe they --> WERE NOT EXPOSED <-- to Agent Orange. WOMEN: We are seeking women, both military and civilian, who served in Vietnam. Selected voulnteers will be invited to come to New Jersey to participate in the project. All costs will be paid by the state of New Jersey. If you would like to volunteer, please fill in the information below. Thank you, William W. Lewis Project Director NAME ___________________________________________________________ ADDRESS ________________________________________________________ UNIT IN VIETNAM _____________________________ DATES ____________ DATE OF BIRTH _______________________________ TELEPHONE ________ Please return to: William Lewis, New Jersey Agent Orange Commission, PO Box 1717, Trenton, NJ 08607-1717. NAM VET Newsletter Page 54 Volume 5, Number 9 September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xxx _ -. . - .-. - . . . . - XXXXXxxXXXXXXXXXXXx -. - .- . - . . XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX-. .--. - .- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX -.- - -.- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX -. -. -. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx .g -. -. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX .- j. .- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX . p .-. XXXXXXXX ]XXXXXXXXX ]XXXXXXXX .- - -. XXXXXX XXXXX XXXXXX -.- - -- XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX -- - XXXXXXXXX X'`XXX XXXXXXX Y Y XXXXXXXXX XXXXX XXX XXXXXXX X X XXXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXX XXXXXX XXX XX X XXX XX XX XXXX XX XXX XX XX XX XXXX XXX]XXXXXXXXXXXX XXX[ XX XX XXX XXXXXXXXXX " I t ' s o n l y t e e n a g e a c n e ! " -Robert Nimmo- NAM VET Newsletter Page 55 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 ================================================================== A Family Affair ================================================================== S-U-R-V-I-V-O-R's A Twelve step program for families of veterans Input by G. Joseph Peck NamVet's Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 [Ed Note: SURVIVOR's is an innovative program that has begun in Pittsfield, MA. Reprinted here is the rough-draft of the organizations plan of operation and basic purpose statement. If YOU have any comments or helpful suggestions, please forward them to G. Joseph Peck at the above BBS S-upport U-nderstanding R-ecovery for Veterans families I-ndependent of the V-eterans O-rigins or R-eadjustment Problems A twelve step program for partners, families of veterans SO YOU LOVE A VIETNAM VET The Vietnam Veteran is one of the most misunderstood individuals in this country. Many "labels" have been placed on the Vet. Isolated incidents, well documented by the press of the horrors from the Vietnam war have clouded the integrity of an entire generation of soldiers. The regular terrors of war magnified by the errors made in Vietnam and the reception they received upon returning to the real world have left many if not most of Vietnam veterans in an emotional turmoil. We, as families of the vet, have spent many years trying to "help". Unfortunately, we did not know how. This booklet (article) tries to offer some explanations and positive suggestions to help families deal with their approach and attitudes towards the behavioral problems experienced by many Vietnam Vets. This is only a guide. Some things will apply and some will not. We must remember that each person is an individual and will be affected differently. Keep an open mind and remain flexible. A VIETNAM VET MAY: 1. Become isolated and suspicious of people, especially authority figures. 2. Be sensitive, lonely and tense. 3. Seem immature in a way that produces a real dependence. 4. Act in an independent way in order to deny this fact. 5. Deny responsibility for the results of their behavior. 6. Ignore the rules of social conduct, sometimes even to a criminal degree. 7. Be unable to communicate their feelings - particularly intimate feelings. NAM VET Newsletter Page 56 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 8. Suffer from severe mood swings, depression, and even suicidal thoughts. 9. Demonstrate obsessive or compulsive personality traits (eg. alcoholism, workaholic, eating disorders, etc.) 10. Self-medicate with alcohol or drug abuse. If you love someone who displays many of these disorders, you must remember this: YOU DIDN'T CAUSE IT; YOU CAN'T CONTROL IT; AND YOU CAN'T CURE IT. These problems can be addressed, but not by the "next of kin" or person most responsible for the veteran. Even individuals who may be capable of assisting veterans outside the family may become confused, destructive persons if a member of their own family becomes affected. These ghosts of Vietnam can have tremendous impact upon the family. For example, one veteran had enormous fights with members of his family each time he had to wait for one of them for even a few minutes. His response was not appropriate to the circumstances. In treatment it was revealed that this reaction came from the fact that during the time he was in Vietnam his unit would be on full alert for days waiting for an enemy that might never arrive. Therefore, waiting in the "real world" where he had some control became unacceptable. Those most affected by these behavioral problems are the spouse, parent, sister, brother and child. The more distorted the emotions of these persons become the less adequate their help will be. The interaction may and often does become destructive rather than helpful. YOU DIDN'T CAUSE IT Guilt and blame are two negatives which can tear at the fiber of any relationship. A spouse may find themselves blamed for everything that is wrong in the marriage. This may reach the point where they fear this is true. The spouse is no more to blame for this emotional illness than they would be if their mate had cancer. YOU CAN'T CONTROL IT In the beginning it must be understood that a family may do everything known or thought to be right and these problems might go unchecked. However, if the family is willing to learn the facts and put them into effect, the chances of recovery are greatly increased. To begin in the usual manner of attempting to force solutions without first learning and changing one's self will simply make matters worse. YOU CAN'T CURE IT TAKING CARE OF SELF The place to begin in helping with recovery is with self. Learn all you can. Put it into practice. Not just into words. This will be far more effective than anything you attempt to do for the vet. Taking care of your needs ensures that when your vet turns to you there is something left to share. If you try to force changes in the vet or their problems with no regard to your own needs, you will no longer be able to talk with them without adding more guilt, resentment, bitterness and hostility to a situation which is already unbearable. NAM VET Newsletter Page 57 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 SEEK PROGRESS - NOT PERFECTION If you believe life is for growth, both spiritual and mental, then this growth can begin when we accept the fact that we can not control anyone but ourselves. We begin to grow when we look within ourselves and find weakness there - weakness in the way we had refused to meet our own problems and attributed all faults to the vet. The twelve steps can be steps to a higher plane. From them we can learn we are less than perfect ourselves and are likely to remain so unless we learn to do something about it. In following the steps we leave weakness behind and learn that growth, though painful, is worth the suffering. 1. We admitted we were powerless over the effects of war on ourselves and our families - that our lives had become unmanageable. 2. (We) came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. 3. (We) made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of our Higher Power. 4. (We) made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 5. (We) admitted to our Higher Power, ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. 6. (We) were entirely ready to have our Higher Power remove our shortcomings. 7. (We) humbly asked our Higher Power to remove our shortcomings. 8. (We) made a list of all people we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. 9. (We) made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 10. (We) continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it. 11. (We) sought, through prayer and medication, to improve our conscious contact with our Higher Power as we understood our Higher Power, praying only for knowledge of our Higher Power's Will for us and power to carry that out. 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and practice these principles in all our affairs. THE TWELVE STEPS OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS 1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable. 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God AS WE UNDERSTOOD HIM. 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of NAM VET Newsletter Page 58 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 ourselves. 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. 9. Made direct amends to such people whetever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our cnscious contact with God, AS WE UNDERSTOOD HIM, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. The Twelve Steps are reprinted with permission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Permission to reprint and adapt the Twelve Steps does not mean that A.A. is in any way affiliated with this program. A.A. is a program of recovery from alcoholism - use of the Twelve Steps in connection with programs and activities which are patterned after A.A., but which address other problems, does not imply otherwise. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: A 12-step support group for partners and families of Vietnam veterans will hold its first meeting on Monday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. at the Veterans Outreach Center on Whipple Street (off East St.) in Pittsfield (MA). SURVIVOR stands for Support Understanding Recovery for Veterans' families Independent of the Veteran's Origins or Readjustment problems. The group will review educational materials on the problems facing the Vietnam vets and their families today and discuss options and approaches for dealing with these problems. Informational material, ranging from a paper on the adverse health effects of Agent Orange exposure to "36 ways to relieve stress," will be made available to participants. The program will focus on self-awareness and offer a 12-step approach to problem solving. An organizational meeting will take place at the Outreach Center on Monday, Sept. 23. Anyone wishing to assist in organizing this program is welcome to attend. All family members of veterans are welcome. Transportation and child care are available. For further information, call (413) 269-4252. NAM VET Newsletter Page 59 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Among the honored and proud! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxxx XXXXxxxxx, . . xx''xxxxxxX XX xX XXx . .xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXX x xX' x'' XXXx . . x x xX xXX Xx . . 'x' X XXxx . . xxx X. . xX . . xX . . VIETNAM x x x xX . . VETERANS x xX X x X IRAQ . . X X X X x < VETERANS . . X X X X X Xx . . xxxxxxxxxX X X X x Xxx . . XXX'' /__X__ XX__X___xXX xXxxxxx . . xXXX 'Xxxxx xX Xxx . .XX WE SUPPORT YOU XxxxxxxxxxxxX X. .X BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN SERVICE . . . . . . "We are with you . . Wherever you may be . . We are sailing . . With you on every sea . . We are standing . . With you on desert sand . . We're your country . . Together we stand!" . . . . From . . The Staff of NamVet . . . . and participants in . . . . The International Vietnam Veterans EchoConference . . . NAM VET Newsletter Page 60 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Kokomo Vet Reunion... Vet groups - CHECK YOUR SIX! By Dave Doehrman Semper Fi! BBS - Ft. Wayne, IN (219) 424-4292 September 14, 1991 will be a day I won't forget for a long time. It was the first day I can say I was ashamed to be a Vietnam veteran. In the Seventies, protesters and demonstrators made it unfashionable to be a Vietnam vet, but I was proud. I went back to college and didn't hide the fact that I was a Vietnam vet. I joined the V.F.W. and tried to convince the older vets that we did win in Vietnam, but that our government failed to follow through. After Tet in 1968, the North Vietnamese were defeated militarily and politically. They felt the people of South Vietnam would join them once they captured the major cities. Their strategy failed in the cities as well as the battlefield. I was proud of my service to my country. Today, September 14, 1991 I drove about eighty miles to Kokomo, Indiana to attend the 9th annual State Vietnam Veterans Reunion. I arrived at Kokomo and was pleased to see full sized billboards welcoming me to the city and announcing to everyone that the State Reunion was in progress. The local fast food signs welcomed all vets to come in and dine. The Ramada Inn was the site of the reunion and nearby business allowed parking in their lots. There was a huge American flag flying above a red and white tent. I couldn't find a place to park so I just drove around looking for a place when I saw a sign directing me to the "moving" Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The folks at the First Presbyterian Church let us park in their lot and the Wall was set up in their yard. I sat in my car for a while and then walked over to the Wall. I have been to the Wall in D.C. and seen the "moving" Wall before, but the experience is still one of deep respect for most who see this display. Today was different. As I walked across the parking lot towards the display, Vietnam Vets, dressed like Rambo, were standing in the church's parking lot drinking beer and tossing empty cans on the ground. There were older folks who could have been the parents or family of someone listed on the Wall. There were younger children who were trying to understand what the Wall represented while Vets stood in the open and urinated on the ground. There was a path leading to the tent area behind the Ramada Inn. I followed the path and the display became even worse. There were piles of trash all over the place. Some units had field tents set up with signs out front advertising their particular military organization. There were cases of beer and empty cans all over the place. Some vets had passed out in chairs or on the ground. The general condition of the area and the uniforms that were worn was poor, to say the least. Once I got through this area and into the big display tent things seemed to get a little better. The displays for Pointman International and Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial were great and the people there were informative and helpful. I watched the database in action as a vet looked for a buddy who was killed in "66". The only information was that his buddy's name was Ed. Ed was from Ohio and he was an E-4 when he was killed. The fellow knew Ed's last name started with a "Z". The computer pulled up about 5 possible matches. I walked back to the Wall and watched the activities. A Kokomo TV film crew pulled up and started setting up cameras to film the Wall. There were groups of vets that mobbed the film NAM VET Newsletter Page 61 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 crew. Most of these were the Rambo types who were hamming it up for the cameras. I feel our dead and missing deserve better treatment than this. A little respect for them and the people who are trying to support us would be nice. I was disgusted and left within an hour of my arrival. Maybe I'm being too critical, but if we don't show self-respect, why would anyone else respect us? This is definitely not the impression I am trying to represent to my friends and family. There were people from all age groups trying to be supportive and we looked like "skid row" trash. I have no problem with people drinking alcohol. In fact, I have been known to engage in a little Wild Turkey on occasion, but there is a time and place. If people want to get wild and party, that's fine, but let's find a secluded place away from the Wall and the church's parking lot to do it. Today, it seemed to me that we were trying to live up to the bad reputation we have been complaining about, rather than taking an opportunity to inform and educate the public about Vietnam Vets. I may be wrong, but I don't think this is the way the majority of you want to be represented either. In the future, I would suggest that organizations who want to sponsor events such as this should provide teams of vets to police the activities in highly public areas. I've seen this done at the Wall in DC when protest groups have come to view the Memorial. Vets politely asked the protesters to remove any offending buttons and posters before walking down to view the names. It seems that we don't want others doing what we do ourselves. NAM VET Newsletter Page 62 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 ================================================================== Veterans n' Jobtalk ================================================================== EMPLOYMENT By Ronald W. Drach, DAV National Employment Director August 1991 DAV MAGAZINE Input by: Fred Sochacki NamVet's Veteran Employment Section Editor VETLink #5 BBS - Passaic, NJ (201) 778-1879 Last year was business as usual for the National Employment Department - it was a busy year. With such issues as veterans' preference, employment programs on the local, state and national levels, and veterans educational and vocational rehabilitation programs on the line, Employment Department staff were meeting with lawmakers and legislators in Washington, D.C., on Capital Hill and at the Departments of Labor and Veterans Affairs, fighting for federal budget dollars and protecting the employment interests of disabled veterans. Employment Department staff were also advocating disabled veterans' job concerns by sitting on such committees as the VA Secretary's Advisory Committee on Rehabilitation, chaired by National Employment Director Ronald W. Drach, and the Small Business Administration's Veterans Advisory Committee, which Associate National Employment Director Len Gilmer sits on. Following is Employment Director Drach's annual report to the DAV membership, which reviews the activities, goals and programs of the DAV Employment Department over the past 12 months. The National Employment Department works with, monitors and oversees several federal agencies and congressional committees with jurisdiction over veterans' education and employment programs. Agencies and committees the Employment Department cover include the Department of Labor (DOL), the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), The President's Committee on Employment of People With Disabilities, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Small Business Administration (SBA), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). As registered lobbyists, DAV Employment Department staff testify before Congress several times a year. Employment Department staff also work closely with the National Legislative staff on issues affecting veterans' employment benefits and programs, including vocational rehabilitation. Sometimes, the Employment Department overlaps into areas generally affecting disabled people, including affirmative action, civil rights, employment, entrepreneurship, equal employment opportunity, and homelessness. In such areas, the Department provides technical information and assistance to veterans to enhance their employment prospects. DAV PROGRAMS In December 1989, Congress mandated the Department of Labor to work with veterans' service organizations in developing the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) and the Disabled Transition Assistance Program (DTAP). Working with DOL, VA and DoD, the DAV provides transition services to those who are within 180 days of discharge. Their numbers are dramatically increasing due to the NAM VET Newsletter Page 63 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 "downsizing" of the military. During the past year the Employment Department has worked closely with the National Service Department staff and NSOs on TAP/DTAP. Transition services provided by the DAV include employment information as well as assistance in developing job- finding skills. As part of the program, the DAV reviews service medical records to ensure that service men and women receive any disability benefits that they may be entitled to. Also, the DAV has developed a series of booklets on such subjects as resume writing, job search techniques and employer research for transitioning personnel. In developing this program, the DAV Employment Department surveyed NSOs to determine to what extent they provide TAP services. The results: 19 DAV offices provide some sort of transition counseling or service medical record reviews at 30 military installations. Working with the National Membership Office, the Employment Department developed a special follow-up form to ensure that service personnel file claims appropriately and obtain any needed representation. The TAP concept has been extremely successful over the past several years, especially in California where DAV offices cooperate with the Department of the Navy and the California Employment Development Department (EDD) to provide service to Naval personnel. Also, the DAV recently opened a National Service Office at Norfolk Naval Base, the largest U.S. military base in the world and the largest separation center. About 1,400 active duty Naval and Marine personnel are processed annually through the base for Medical Evaluation Boards and possible Physical Evaluation Boards. DOL PROGRAMS The Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS), which provides state grants to operate the Local Veterans' Employment Representative (LVER) and Disabled Veterans' Outreach Programs (DVOP), is the federal program the Employment Department is most involved in. Another program is Veterans' Reemployment Rights (VRR), a very topical subject because so many Reservists served in the Persian Gulf. Although Section 2006 of Title 38, U.S. Code, requires the Secretary of Labor to request adequate funding for these programs, including DVOP, LVER, TAP and the National Veterans' Training Institute (NVTI), the administration has failed to do so. Once again, the DAV had to ask Congress to do what the Department of Labor failed to do - provide full funding for certain programs within the Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service for Fiscal Year 1992. DAV Employment Department staff are particularly concerned about DVOP funding. DOL has requested enough money to fund 1,478 positions for October through December 1991, and 438 positions for the remainder of Fiscal Year 1992. DAV was not surprised by the request of 438 positions for January through September 1992. At the time the budget was prepared the formula used to fund DVOP included a definition of "Vietnam era veteran." That definition expired Dec. 31, 1991. But the definition was still in law from October through December 1991. The Administration's request for only 1,478 positions of 1,885 authorized positions was inexcusable. The House and Senate passed H.R. 180, which extends the NAM VET Newsletter Page 64 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 definition of Vietnam era veteran to Dec. 31, 1994. This extension satisfies Resolution 234, adopted at DAV's 1990 National Convention. Accordingly, 1,885 DVOP positions continue to be authorized through 1994. DOL, however, has failed to request a revised budget or support an increase in appropriations to fully fund these positions. Fortunately, relatively few disabled veterans returned from the Persian Gulf. This budget request, however, sends a very poor message to the public that our government does not wish to provide employment services to these veterans. DAV has reported to Congress its concerns about the Department of Labor's proposed budget for Fiscal Year 1992, which falls short of funding the required number of LVER and DVOP positions. If additional monies are not added to the FY 1992 budget, more than 1,550 LVER and DVOP positions will be lost. Many of our 500,000 troops in the Persian Gulf have already returned home, and many will be discharged or deactivated from the Reserves and the National Guard. Many of them will be eligible for reemployment rights. However, two-thirds of them, as well as scores of thousands of others who will be discharged, may not have jobs when they return. The average age of the U.S. infantryman in the Persian Gulf was 20 years. Many do not have sufficient work experience or transferable skills to find jobs in a recessionary civilian economy. The National Veterans' Training Institute has more than proven itself. With the exception of the DVOP, the NVTI has most successfully assisted veterans in the labor market. While NVTI does not provide direct employment services, it prepares federal and state employees. Supervisory National Service Officer Jerry Steelman of DAV's Denver, Colorado, office, developed a VA benefits training module for LVER's, DVOP's and others who attend NVTI. Steelman travels with NVTI staff to other states to present the module and provide training. The administration, however, has requested no funding for NVTI for Fiscal Year 1992. A significant amount of attention has been focused on the veterans' reemployment rights provisions of current law. The administration has proposed changes to existing law on veterans' reemployment rights, and the DAV has testified before Congress on proposed legislation. VETS is responsible for monitoring certain activities of federal contractors. The DAV Employment Department will continue to work with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the DOL to monitor the activities of federal contractors. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has the major enforcement responsibility for Section 2012, Title 38, U.S. Code. This requires certain federal contractors to take affirmative action to employ and advance qualified disabled and Vietnam era veterans. OFCCP's efforts have been virtually negligible since 1975. Oversight OFCCP hearings are expected by the end of the year. OPM PROGRAMS The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is responsible for enforcing the veterans' preference provisions of Title 5, U.S. Code. OPM is also responsible for the affirmative action requirements of Section 2014, Title 38, U.S. Code, and the Veterans' Readjustment Appointment (VRA) authority. The DAV Employment Department has been working and meeting NAM VET Newsletter Page 65 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 quarterly with the OPM Director and staff, discussing, among other programs, the Disabled Veterans Affirmative Action Program (DVAAP). Consequently, OPM continues to issue directives to federal agencies reminding them of their obligations under veterans' preference. Last year, two disabled veterans filed a grievance against their agency because they were denied promotions. The case, which has far-reaching implications, was pending before the Federal Labor Relations Authority. FLRA issued its decision on Jan. 17, 1991, setting aside a favorable determination by an arbitrator. FLRA essentially said veterans' preference cannot be provided in promotions. The DAV receives many inquiries from disabled veterans who are seeking federal employment. In addition to employment opportunities, many inquire about veterans' preference, the VRA and the 30 percent noncompetitive appointment authority. They also inquire about other work-related issues. Director of OPM, Constance Newman, and Deputy OPM Director Bill Phillips have been extremely responsive to the issues of VRA appointments and veterans' preference for Persian Gulf veterans. On Jan. 18, 1991, President Bush authorized the Southwest Asia Service Medal. By doing so, all active-duty military, including Reservists and members of the National Guard, who are eligible to receive this new medal are eligible for 5-point preference in federal hiring. Disabled veterans, regardless of their eligibility to receive the medal, are eligible for the 10-point preference. These individuals are also eligible for Veterans' Readjustment Appointments (VRA) and OPM was quick to notify departments and agencies of that eligibility. Approximately 10 percent of Reservists called to duty were federal employees. Director Newman told federal agencies they must provide employment to these individuals upon their return. She actually went beyond what was required by law and told the departments and agencies, whenever possible, to restore these individuals to their regular job and not a comparable job. VA PROGRAMS The DAV Employment Department is involved with the Department of Veterans Affairs' personnel policies as they relate to employment of disabled veterans and the Vocational Rehabilitation Program. Employment Department staff are also working with the VA to advise Vietnam era and disabled veteran-owned businesses to apply for contracts through the VA procurement system. Because veteran-owned businesses are not currently entitled to any special priority or preference, the VA is encouraging veteran businesses to apply through the competitive process. Congress is considering legislation that would grant special status to veteran-owned businesses in the procurement process. Employment Department staff testified before the Subcommittee on Education, Employment and Training of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee on this legislation and, for the most part, supported it. U.S. POSTAL SERVICE Although the relationship between the DAV and the Postal Service has improved in recent years, the DAV still receives complaints about Postal Service from NSOs, disabled veterans and others. Some of the complaints reflect continuing discrimination. Others involve lack of knowledge on the part of many hiring officials. NAM VET Newsletter Page 66 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 The DAV tries to resolve these complaints informally. Often, these problems are resolved. If not, the DAV advises veterans to file an EEOC complaint. NSOs inform these veterans of their protections under the Postal Service's Disabled Veterans Affirmative Active Plan, the Civil Rights Act and the Grievance Arbitration Procedure with the postal unions. DAV's representation is restricted to disability discrimination issues. Most other employment and personnel matters must, by virtue of the Union/Postal Service negotiated contract, be represented by the unions. Earlier this year the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) asked the DAV to testify on their behalf during contract negotiations with Postal Service management. Postal management is attempting to contract out all custodial positions. SBA PROGRAMS The DAV Employment Department does not receive a large number of complaints or inquiries regarding the Small Business Administration, partly because disabled veterans have few rights with SBA programs. But when the DAV does receive inquiries, it responds to them, usually through SBA's network of Regional Veterans' Affairs Officers and local SBA offices. If legislation mentioned earlier is enacted, increased activity among veteran and disabled veteran-owned businesses may require DAV intervention and assistance. PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE ON EMPLOYMENT OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Last year, the DAV Employment Department reported that it was trying to have a severely disabled veteran appointed as one of the Vice Chairs of the President's Committee. As a result, Past National Commander Chad Colley was appointed. Another disabled veteran and DAV life member, Dr. I. King Jordan President of Gallaudet University, was also appointed. Employment staff continue to work intimately with Committee Chairman Justin Dart, Executive Director Rick Douglas, and members of their staff. DAV Employment staff also work with the Committee on the National Journalism Contest. TRANSPORTATION The Employment Department worked with the Department of Transportation (DOT) on regulations for a national uniform system of handicapped parking. DAV gave its input and helped write the regulations. The Department of Transportation issued final regulations earlier this year. The DAV continues to work with and monitor the activities of the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board. This Board was established by Congress to set standards and ensure that buildings owned or leased by the federal government are accessible to and usable by handicapped individuals. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has the final authority on disability employment discrimination cases filed against federal departments and agencies. If a disabled veteran believes he or she has been discriminated against, a complaint may be filed under legislation protecting disabled people. The EEOC has issued proposed regulations regarding employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In August 1990, the EEOC issued a notice in the Federal Register that it was NAM VET Newsletter Page 67 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 seeking comments on what should be included in the proposed rule making. The DAV made its recommendations as to what should be included. Subsequently, the EEOC issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) seeking comments on the proposed regulations from the public and interested groups. Again, the DAV provided comments. The NPRM specifically mentioned disabled veterans as a group who did not meet the definition of disabled person under ADA. The DAV provided comments and information suggesting that disabled veterans as a class do meet the definition for ADA. The Employment Department will continue to monitor how EEOC issues the final regulations. The EEOC has also issued a policy guideline advising that any voluntary veterans' preference program implemented by an employer automatically has an adverse impact on women. This EEOC guideline is based on the premise that few women are veterans and thus eligible for veterans' preference. OTHER ACTIVITIES The DAV Employment Department monitors the aforementioned agencies' activities and programs, the Congressional Record, Federal Register and a myriad of other publications will keep abreast of changing laws, regulations and policies regarding disabled veterans. Also, Employment Department staff respond to proposed regulations that have potential impact on veterans' employment and training programs. Employment staff have been involved with numerous non-government employment and training agencies and programs. These include the Interstate Conference of Employment Security Agencies (ICESA) and the International Association of Personnel in Employment Security (IAPES). The Employment Department works closely with ICESA and IAPES at the national level to ensure that disabled veterans are considered in their administrative and legislative proposals. NAM VET Newsletter Page 68 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 DIVIDING LINE: A QUOTA IS A QUOTA By: PATRICK J. BUCHANAN NEW YORK POST - 8/31/91 Input by Fred Sochacki NamVet's Veteran Employment Section Editor VETLink #5 - Passaic, NJ (201) 778-1879 In 1952, the Eisenhower-Nixon campaign against the Truman record was encapsuled in the letters CCK: Communism, Corruption, Korea. In 1972, the Nixon-Agnew crowd labeled George McGovern the "Triple-A Candidate": Amnesty, Acid & Abortion. In '92 Kevin Phillips writes, the GOP call letters are Kuwait, Crime, Quotas. Looks good to me. But before branding Democrats the "party of quotas," Republicans might well inspect their own performance. For systematic reverse discrimination - against white males - is a policy that pervades the bureaucracy headed by George Bush. According to the Washington Post (June17), angry FBI agents are charging that, under director William Sessions, the bureau "is applying quotas itself - reserving one quarter of the spots in each new class of agents for minorities and another quarter for women." "While Bush insists legislation (a new 'civil rights bill') must leave employers free to hire the most qualified applicants... agents claim the FBI lowers the minimum test and interview scores for minority and female applicants in order to fill its goals or quotas." Reporters who pressed Sessions' office about hiring practices were rebuffed, and a press release expressing the director's concern about "an unacceptable lack of diversity among agents" was pulled. Ex-agents confirm the Post story. FBI men are paying in their careers so that big-shot Republicans can get a flattering press for being hairy-chested hawks on affirmative action. While the attorney general overseas the FBI, President Bush's friend James Baker oversees the Department of State. There, according to James Workman in the New Republic, "gender-norming" is established practice. "Women are given a significant advantage over men in the testing, hiring and assignment of Foreign Service Officers." HOW IS THE DISCRIMINATION DONE? Since State's outreach program in the '70s was bringing in too few women who could pass the grueling Foreign Service exam, and since minorities were passing at only a 7 percent rate - less than half that of white males - State began to tinker with the exam itself. As minorities did worst on the foreign-language part of the exam, that was dropped. (Why would you need a foreign language to be in the Foreign Service?) Because women did best on the English-language skills part, but poorly on the General Background part (a tough three-hour test of one's knowledge of world history, culture, geography, politics, etc.), the English part was weighted 50 percent higher than the Background part. But since that hurt minority males who do less well in English, State dropped the passing grade in English, for minorities only, NAM VET Newsletter Page 69 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 from 70 to the mid-50s. Still, however, the Department was not getting the desired ratio of women. So State began to alter the test by "recycling" those questions on which women did best. When still not enough came through, women were given a "near pass" mechanism, whereby they were waved through with scores 1 to 4 points below passing. Nothing produced the desired result. So, State now awards the top-ranked man and top-ranked woman applicant the same score, and so on down the line regardless of test performance, to get equal numbers into the finals. "This is classic 'norming,' writes Workman, "and the difference between it and a simple quota is a question for semanticists or theologians, not ordinary mortals." A source at the Environmental Protection Agency sends a notice dated April 1 from its office of Civil Rights headed by one Nathaniel Scurry. Scurry refers to "policy statements" from administrator William Reilly: "The agency is to increase the representation of women, minorities and handicapped individuals at all levels of the EPA work force. Where under-representation exists, especially in managerial, supervisory and SES positions, at least 52 percent of placement opportunities will be directed to minorities and women. "What the devil is that 52 percent - if not a quota? While President Bush has blasted the Democrats' civil-rights bill as a quota bill, his own alternative is itself a "quota bill," writes Terry Eastland in Policy Review. Both measures "would require employers to justify any hiring or promotion standards that result in less-than-proportionate employment of minorities and women." "The irony of the current legislative battle over civil rights is that both President Bush and his liberal opponents in Congress have more in common than they are publicly willing to admit,"Eastland adds. Amen. Big Government Republicans denounce quotas, then impose them on the bureaucracy they control, thus having the best of both worlds, a salved conscience, and a good issue. And if forgotten white males are held back forever, solely for reasons of race and gender, well, that's the price you pay for being a "progressive Republican." Here is Federal Aviation Administrator James Busey, speaking to the headquarters chapter of the National Black Coalition at FAA about his managers: "They all know where they need to be in terms of women and minority representation, and they all must show me a plan on how they aim to get there....I don't like quotas...yet, at the same time, we can't totally ignore numbers and percentages either. Often, they are the only yardstick we have to measure progress." Nothing wrong with branding Democrats the "party of quotas," as long as we are not hypocritically indulging the very vice that we condemn. And, face it, friends, we are. This Labor Day, the white workingman has become expendable to both parties, in their endless search for Political Correctness. NAM VET Newsletter Page 70 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Computers + a vet = Braxtel\Arathorn Computers, Inc. Input by: G. Joseph Peck NamVet's Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 Applied dedication and commitment that was most assuredly learned and lived during his time in service marks the "unseen" benefits of dealing with Braxtel\Arathorn Computers, Inc. where head honcho Bil Cook adds his efforts seven-days a week. Bil and his very capable team have often helped with the ongoing efforts of VETLink #1 and Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. as we continue providing all our veterans with the service so well earned. If you need caring and concerned computer service that goes beyond the general public offerings, ya might want to give Bil a call! BRAXTEL\ARATHORN COMPUTERS, INC. 126R South Main Street Cheshire, Connecticut 06410 VOICE (203) 271-2246 BBS (203) 271-2249 Computer Systems: All systems are custom configured and burned in for 80 hrs. These are the same high quality parts and systems we sell to major corporations like AT&T, Blessings Corp, CL&P (Connecticut Light & Power), Dunn & Bradstreet, NU (Northeast Utilities), SNET (Southern New England Telephone), Tracor Applied Systems, Yale University. Floppy drives; Hard Drives; Speedup Kits; Controllers; I/O Cards; Modem Cables; Adapters; Video Adapters & Displays; Tape BackUp units; Printers; Books & Manuals, etc. Braxtel\Arathorn Computers, Inc. is located in Cheshire, CT. at 126R South Main Street. We are next to the Town Hall on Rt. 10. Our hours of operation are (Eastern time): MON 9 to 5 TUE 9 to 5 WED 9 to 7 THU 9 to 7 FRI 9 to 7 Sat 10 - 5 Sun 12 - 5 Yes - we do mail order. Same day shipping available. US Postal Service, UPS, or FED X. We accept VISA, Mastercard, Cash and check. PO's from schools, towns and Fortune 1000 companies welcome. NAM VET Newsletter Page 71 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 ================================================================== Forgotten - again? ================================================================== Veterans Forgotten? By Joyce Flory NamVet's Incarcerated Veterans Section Editor Desert Dolphin BBS - Las Cruces, NM (505) 523-2811 Hi to All! Here's an updated list of all the Vietnam Veterans, Incarcerated that would like to have pen-pals. There are some new addresses and some guys have moved since the last time this list was published. The guys I write to are very happy that the "book" with their names and addresses has made its way to the Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial tent (Thanks Frenchy!). They've told me that if they can't make it to the Wall, at least their names are there. Some have told me that they've gotten letters from "strangers" and they're sure the letters have come from folks who've picked their name from the "book". If total "strangers" can write to these Vietnam Veterans, Incarcerated, why can't you? All these fellas would like is to hear about up-dates on benefits, the MIA/POW issues, a kind word or two, that you may have served with them or might know someone that did. ANYTHING that might help them feel less of the "Forgotten Warriors" than they do now. A. David Baez 57020 Whitmarsh Bailey 56715 Box 100 after May,1991 Somers, CT 06071 0200 County Rd #219 Rifle, CO 81650 Harold Mize 863934 Chris S.Crespin 45523 Cory Naples 901359 Dennis E.Prentis 43497 Westville Correctional Center Jerry Baack 57098 P.O. Box 473 PO Box 2017 Westville, IN 46391-0473 Buena Vista, CO 81211 Jeff Weil 28242 Thomas Adams Cecil Williams 23818 Dwight L.Lyons James McGee 31489 Donald E. Head Earl Grissom 27536 EG 172282 RCI Box 8409 Roy Fudge 29966 Columbus, GA 31907-8409 Eddie Sanchez 26895 George McIntyre 25124 George Herbert Eddie Romero 22115 Arthur Coy Eugene Perry 29647 Richard Ortiz Brook De Nault 29594 Tyrone Smith Harold Weaver 17624 Kevin M Pennell Harry Lilly 29894 Robert Thompson Claude Theriault 11872 Frank Komnenus Dan Richmond 15601 PO Box 466 Ken Jezierski 30790 Gardner, MA 01440 James Raines 31445 John Doane 14686 Leslie Gomes Robert Turner 30473 PO Box 565 James Bishop 31347 Billerica, MA 01821 Brain Hern 14535 Nevada State Prison Lance Koren PO Box 607 PO Box 1069 NAM VET Newsletter Page 72 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Carson City, NV 89702 Concord, MA 01472 Sam Howard 18329 David M. McCook (DA-118) EF 18354 Pete Huertas 15239 Jack T. Ruthledge C.I. Jake Reynolds 21763 PO Box 8409 Paul Stadtlander 23389 Columbus, GA 31907 Ely State Prison PO Box 1989 Jamal R Rashid 110781 D-2 Ely, NV 89301 Joseph Huggins 99433 D-6 Preston Parker 118311 D-5 Johnny Chadwick 110520 William Moran 131271 D-2 Holman Unit 5-U-5 Le'roi Mason 104969 D-5 Holman 37 David Bailey 153526 D-2 Atmore, AL 36503-0037 Oliver Mayfield 106330 HA-2 John Harris 133342 HA Van Burton 108483 (A-120) Robert Hall 148001 HA M Davenport 155165 (N-321) James Moody 160399 D-4 M Donati 150219 (D-71) William Simmons 106399 D-4 Joe Grace 136189 (B-108) Charlie Sherman 128403 D-6 M Glennon 140901 (O-101) Carlton Heflin 170297 D-5 J Heidinger 102513 (O-421) Matthew Sanders 166545 D-4 Charles Ladison 138228 (O-330) Micheal Kay 136567 D-5 G Magno 112810 (N-418) David Swink 157682 D-6 William Merriman 131789 (A-66) Gordon Cawthron 135734 D-6 L Rainsford 126380 (B-108) Curtis Wright 125330 HA Abdul Shah 101250 (O-417) Roger Baxter 157594 D-2 Gerald Stovall Jr. 98899 (O-328 Thomas Hawley 139294 D-1 R Sutton 141041 (O-317) Luther C Beasley 110375 D-2 PO Box 488 James River Corr. Ctr. Burkeville, VA 23922 State Farm, VA 23160 William R. McCall 8031 ICH-404 Robert White 182002 Karl N. Robinson 852525 CCH-34 Andy Cascarelli 201886 James L. Davis 892971 E Dorm W-5 Eddie Stenton 198136 Lowell K. Idle 893265 DCH-424 Antonio Lyte 165094 Larry Lisenby 853325 CCH-149 Earl Lord 196758 Steve Swafford 874932 CCH-148 Tim Grassmyer 206270 J. Michael Ensley 28828 F Dorm W-84 Rick Isbell 207512 Joe DeRado 902975 E Dorm E-42 David Fox 200406 Richard Martin 9634 CCH-164 Charles Ray 205764 Pat McGuire 892476 DCH-153 8201 N. Crosswell Rd. S.T.F. Danny W. Hamby 892631 E Dorm W-93 St Louis, MO 48880 Scotty Hammack 10422 ACH-148 Richard Kirby 31358 DCH-262 Willi Henderson-Bey 128457 Dinzel Miller 23977 CCH-370 Richard Sheff 180946 PO Box 41 Tony Slusarski 131661 Indiana State Prison Ronald Kramer 181007 Michigan City, IN 46360 Ronald Triplett 132615 Teddy Stephens 182636 Myer Pettyjohn 90722 Unit 9 Danny McKay 147064 Bobby Tate 123531 Unit 5 Edwin Zimmerman 184779 John Cobb 126878 Unit 12 Boyd Blair 156418 Stanton Easley 86354 Unit 2 William Letzgus 187075 Charles Sprinkle 109200 Unit 4 Herschel Davis 163765 Grant Henderson Unit 4 David Oates 190210 Johnny Ottinger Unit 14 Thomas Siemoneit 179536 Kenneth Teague 112717 Unit 4 David Prieto 193367 John Slate Unit 8 Leonard Pikaart 179858 James Eades Unit 4 Wendell Neview 196387 NAM VET Newsletter Page 73 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 William Harris 77891 Unit 8 David Martin 180065 PO Box 2000 Teddy McCray 200255 Wartburg, TN 37887 James Wilson 180186 Tim Shagen 203886 Larry DuBois 940561 2400 South Sheridan Rd. Rudolph Cleveland 939491 Muskegon, MI 49442 George Tate 621964 Edward Froats 287159 George W. Burd AJ2110 Bernard Olson 900437 Vernon E. Miller Sr. AJ1004 Lee Bruer 960286 Darryl Houseman AJ1063 Walt Lamphere 936322 Drawer A Old Route 22 George Wilson 263328 Cresson, PA 16630-0010 Jerry Phelps 262365 Pat Radford 280360 Robert Dennstaedt 147258 Jim Herrick 273217 Mr. Peterson 167626 PO Box 1000 Mr. Vaughan 1456962 Steilacoom, WA 98388-1000 Mr. Ron Duvall 119293 Mr. Conklin 159051 Terry Snyder 193889 Mr. Thomas Van Antwerp 184766 Alex Beaudine 145559 Mr. Michael Deen 201339 Bill Hammes 204434 G. Robert Cotton Fac. PO Box 1900 PO Box 3003 Adrian, MI 49221 Jackson, MI 49204 Don Miller Ron Chamberlain Health and Safety 81-C-0459 C-17-41 PO Box 7011 Giacomo A. Frascone Carson City, NV 89702 89-A-3512 A-6-22 William L. Hargrove Chaplain Dennis G. Pigman 83-A-4292 D-8-18 Jerry Barnett 083876 Andrews S. Tenny Michael Bass 086961 81-B-2137 E-10-19 Ronald Brackett 800013 Thomas Delmonte Richard Brasher 077897 86-C-1021 A-1-20 Darrell Brooks 081683 Robert T. Smith Henry Burris 081658 81-A-2188 A-5-10 John Campbell 078482 Thomas H. Marlowe John Campbell 076674 83-C-0834 E-9-16 Tommy Chappell 091711 Donald W. Knapp Stuart Clements 082516 88-C-0072 A-3-8 Hoyt Clines 000886 Ed Beaufort Cutner Raymond Coble 088317 89-C-1606 C-13-6 Jessie Cockrell 082169 Gary Emry Benny Cooper 089393 89-C-1315 A-7-24 James Dansby 082797 Ervun L. Armlin Thomas Dinger 088756 86-C-0782 D-6-6 Isiah Dumas 079752 Ferdinand Quiles Donnie Dunivan 082890 83-A-5609 A-4-38 David Fain 083803 Elwood H. Fields Lewis Fields 083568 88-A-4043 D-8-13 Dennis Glick 086895 Micheal Mantice Michael Hanshew 086275 90-A-7640 B-7-18 Johny Henderson 082960 PO Box 618-135 135 State St Harold Hobbs 077219 Auburn, NY 13024-9000 Herman Holland 084387 Dewayne Hulsey 000865 Calvin Allen 203359 Cecil Jeffers 073300 John Banaszak 188690 Tim Keepes 085209 Edward Belamares 128592 Larry King 095569 Merrit Burright 5593 NAM VET Newsletter Page 74 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Harold Krigbaum 087060 Anthony Cartwright 2210911 Eugene Lilly 091245 Eric Collins 201910 Scott Macdonald 082181 Charles Coogan 40001 James Madison 083401 Irvin Doxtator 16876 Timmothy Mcdaniel078129 John S. Deuchars 42641 Gary Mcdonald 082306 John Erdman 133557 James Metcalf 088642 Keith Fenderson 210194 George Moore 076781 Kevin Glover 167916 Charles Moorman 076535 Roosevelt Hall 180767 Herbert Newman 093888 Jerry Hammill 66235 Michael O'Rourke 000903 Dane Hedstrom 125111 Michael Orndorff 000889 Danny Heller 149705 William Parker 000899 Joseph Higgins 210414 Eldon Patton 060104 Mark Hinton 108536 James Perdue 084302 Colin Hutchinson 182042 James Phelps 084005 Dale Hylok 110660 Perry Powell 092346 Issac Jackson 186188 James Renton 073560 John Jaenke 89343 Darryl Richley 000888 Tommy Johnson 138644 Willard Robbins 080976 Myung Jun 201398 Larry Robertson 089180 Dereck Kelly 209110 Craig Ryan 093104 Herman Krause 39312 Raymond Sanders 000918 James Lelivelt 26992 Larry Sawdon 080276 Richard Lewan 169630 William Smallwood090456 William Lewis 44501 Michael Smith 087109 James Lowery 166070 Reginald Smith 085042 Robert McQueen 5705 Jimmy Staton 089671 Ken Myers Jr. 173568 Charles Stoner 084433 Aaron Overberg 142578 William Sykes 084447 Joe Perkins 50736 Danny Taylor 083979 Robert Warren 104480 Robert Upton 066236 Jose Rodriguez 193528 Arthur Walls 079942 Philip Roth 16844 James Walters 087938 Thomas Rush 177468 Bruce Ward 000915 Ruven Siebert 31311 Derek Webster 091356 William Selmon 0259321 Johnny Williams 079023 Robert Schmidt 187661 Alfred Wilson 062356 Wayne Schwamb 178746 Johnny Witham 065978 John Stallins 125612 Billy Woodard 089235 Charles Stephenson 179459 Gregory Woods 077991 Merlin Sternitzky 155685 Arkansas Dept. of Corr. Gary L. Stibb 202596 Maximum Security Unit Kenneth Spears 88927 Star Route, Box 22-B Tucker, AR 72168-8713 Gary Sutton 196088 Ron Swartout 84812 Ron Gohn Thaddeus Sieger 215663 P.O.Box 1218 Louis Tarentino 184595 Harvard Rd. Ronald Taylor 181190 Shirley, MA 01464 Eric Vogliotti 186603 Hoyt E. Vrooman 210573 Alexander Michael Marathon Bernard Watts 177701 79-D-0127 A-1-46 Richard Webb 103925 P.O.Box 1186 Milton Wendler 135295 Moravia, NY 13118 Randolph Whiting 158604 Robert L. Guck 72598 Willie Earl Thompson Charles L. Marstan 210697 H-2-G-226-110125 Brother Danny R. Heller 1000 St. Clair Rd. VVA Chapter #351 NAM VET Newsletter Page 75 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Springville, AL 35146 P.O.Box #351 Waupun, WI 53963-0351 Ron Mitch 209-701 P.O.Box 511 David W. Barrett Columbus, OH 43216 EF 114584 004 CCCI 1 Felt Rd. Cecil Emerson 35427 Newnan, GA 30263 HCF D1-118 P.O.Box 1568 Al H. Saunders Hutchinson, KS 67504-1558 Pointman Int'l M.S.P. P.O.Box A Rev. D. Levy Thrower (home address) Thomaston, ME 04861-0500 2425 Joe Stephens Rd. Franklyn, GA 30217 RE: Coweta County Corr., GA Albert Fetters EF 257479 Metro Corr. Inst. IVVA 1301 Constitution Rd. SE Atlanta, GA 30316-4698 NAM VET Newsletter Page 76 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 [Note from Joe: Joyce went to a LOT of work to get the O.K. for this article's reproduction in NamVet. Immediately preceding each segment of the article (it is in three parts), her request and the answer to her request are printed.] August 23,1991 To Who It May Concern; I am trying to locate Mr. Marc Leepson. I was recently sent a copy of his article called "Viet Cons" and I would like to reprint it, with proper credit, into a monthly Vietnam Veterans newsletter. I would like Mr. Leepson's permission, the magazine name, and date that it was published. The managing editor of the newsletter requires this information before reprinting anyone's work. I am the section editor for the Vietnam Veterans, Incarcerated section of the newsletter. I found Mr. Leepson's article informative and would like to pass this on to other Vietnam veterans. I, also, have contact with Vietnam veteran inmates in fifteen states across the country. I would like to pass this article on to them. It was stated at the end of the article that Mr. Leepson was a columnist and book editor for "Veterans" magazine and your's was the closest address I could find to locate him. If I have contacted the wrong person or place, thank you for your time. If there is any way you may be able to help me contact Mr. Leepson, I would appreciate the information. Thank you, in advance, for any time and trouble taken on my behalf. Yours truly; Mrs. Joyce Flory XXXX XXXXXX XXX Las Cruces, N.M. 88001 (505)-XXX-XXXX On Sept. 16th I received the following handwritten reply from Mr. Leepson: "9-12-91 TO Joyce Flory, My article on Vietnam veterans in jail appeared in the July 1988 issue of Gallery magazine. You have my permission to reprint it in your newsletter. Please send me a copy. And please identify me as: ARB Editor of "The Veteran," The Monthly Newspaper Published By Vietnam Veterans of America. Thank you, Marc Leepson" NAM VET Newsletter Page 77 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 "Why American Vets have gone from jungle to jail" By Marc Leepson, ARB Editor The VVA Veteran Magazine Input by Joyce Flory NamVet's Incarcerated Veterans Section Editor Desert Dolphin BBS - Las Cruces, NM (505) 523-2811 [Note from Joyce: The following piece was sent to me by Mike Harris. In order to have the article included in the newsletter, I have broken it into a three part series.] As assistant director of the Vietnam Veterans of America, in Washington, DC, Wayne Smith's main job is overseeing services for its more than 30,000 members. Smith, who was a combat medic with the 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam in 1969-70, finds that he's spending a significant amount of time these days dealing with a very special group of VVA members - the more than 2,300 men who are confined to the federal and state prisons throughout the country. Smith is in close contact with men like Chris Davis, 38, who was known as "Pappy" when he humped a radio across the plains of Bong Son, South Vietnam, in 1970 with the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Davis today resides in the Missouri Training Center for Men in Moberly. He is serving time for a string of 1971 robberies, which he committed with a group of "young, black, angry Vietnam vets," as Davis puts it. "We prided ourselves in doing them in a military manner, and no one was hurt," Davis says. But in their final robbery, an off-duty police officer was killed, and several others were shot and stabbed. For his part in the melee, Davis got two life terms plus 57 years. Chris Davis is not your average felon. After putting in 11 years in the maximum-security Missouri State Penitentiary, Davis was transferred to Moberly, where he soon fell in with a group of Vietnam vets who were quite different than the guys he ran with after getting out of the Army. These vets were activists - men who took it upon themselves to try and help themselves and other Vietnam vets. Davis and his new buddies' first project was to set up a vets rap group. The members of the group began helping each other overcome emotional and other problems, including alcohol and drug abuse. Davis and crew were so successful, in fact, that they wound up developing a 20-week substance-abuse program that is now used throughout the Missouri state prison system. Davis eventually became head of VVA's Chapter 70, which is made up entirely of Moberly inmates. Last year he was chosen chairman of VVA's Missouri delegation, which means that when various VVA chapters in Missouri get together for their regular statewide meetings, they meet in the prison in Moberly. Davis is eligible for parole this summer and, because of his work helping Vietnam vets in prison, there is a good chance he will soon be a free man. It was getting involved in veteran's issues, Davis says, that turned his life around. Working with vets, he believes, was "probably the best thing that ever happened to me, because I could finally talk to people who knew what I was talking about." Before coming to Moberly, Davis couldn't bring himself to discuss his combat experiences - not even with his closest friends and family. "All those years I'd kept all that stuff inside," he explains. "The rap groups helped me get a lot of stuff out and helped me deal with it." NAM VET Newsletter Page 78 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Stories similar to Davis' are being played out in scores of the toughest prisons across the country. Vietnam vets are getting together behind bars, working to solve their problems stemming from their war experiences, and - most importantly - trying to ensure that when they get out of jail, they'll be gainfully employed and not candidates for a quick trip back to prison. A lot of the work has focused on helping overcome drug and/or alcohol dependency - something that, for a lot of vets, began in Vietnam two decades ago. The success stories are numerous, yet very few people know about these vets' situations. "People don't think about incarcerated Vietnam veterans," says Smith. "If they do, it's 'Well, they probably deserve it.' In some cases that's true. But in other cases, we're convinced that there is a correlation between some of the trauma experienced by veterans in the military and the crimes they committed after they returned to this country."Incarcerated veterans", Smith says, "are one of the last unturned stones, with respect to the Vietnam experience. Because our prisoners are locked away, we tend not to be conscious of [their] problems when they're out of sight." Veteran's advocates, prison-reform groups, forensic psychologists, and others who have studied the matter all agree that the issue of incarcerated Vietnam veterans is an important one, and one that has yet to be fully addressed by society. The two overriding issues are that of determining the relationship between service in Vietnam and criminal behavior, and of getting rehabilitative help for veterans in prison to try and cut back on the high rate of recidivism. Ironically, another main aspect of the problem is trying to find out exactly how big the problem is. Some nine million men and women served in the U.S. Armed Forces during the Vietnam era (1946 - 1975 ). Of that group, about 2.8 million served in Southeast Asia. As most people know, the U.S. forces in Vietnam did not exactly represent a cross section of American youth. The nation's college-educated elite generally found ways to avoid serving, which resulted in a fighting force dominated by young (average age: 19) working-class whites and disproportionate numbers of blacks and Hispanics. Even though the odds were stacked against many of them, the vast majority of Vietnam vets returned home and adjusted well to life in the USA. That fact has been borne out by every social scientist who has studied Vietnam veterans. Still, the studies also show that a significant minority of Vietnam veterans has had trouble readjusting to life back home. Many are combat vets who've suffered emotional and psychological trauma stemming from their war experiences. Of the group that has had trouble readjusting - which may be as high as 500,000 - tens of thousands are today behind bars. Yet no one knows exactly how many Vietnam vets are in prisons. The last official surveys, by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, were released in 1979 and 1983. The 1979 survey examined the state prison system and estimated that about a fourth of the prisoners in the state institutions were veterans. Of that group, some 39,500 served during the Vietnam era, and 13,000 had served in Southeast Asia. Those 13,000 represented less than five percent of the inmates in state prisons. The 1983 survey estimated that about 11 percent of those in federal prisons had served in the military during the Vietnam era. Today, there are some 43,000 inmates in federal prisons, and more than 522,000 in state facilities. Those involved with the NAM VET Newsletter Page 79 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 issue estimate that the number of Vietnam vets serving hard time in the state and federal prison system today could be as high as 50,000. There is also evidence that tens of thousands of Vietnam vets and perhaps several hundred thousand Vietnam-era vets are on parole or probation, awaiting trial or confined to some type of psychiatric institution. "These figures indicate that roughly ten percent of the [Vietnam-era] veteran population has been under some type of custody or legal curtailment due to legal, criminal, physical or psychological difficulty," says Vietnam vet Michael Boivin of the Department of Psychology at Spring Arbor College in Michigan. Boivin, who has studied the situation of incarcerated vets closely for years, believes that there is what he calls a "reasonable suggestion" that the difficulties encountered by these vets "may stem, at least in part, from their military service." In light, he says "of the paucity of research pertaining to them, the incarcerated [Vietnam-era veteran] constitutes a class of 'truly forgotten warriors.'" ^^Marc Leepson, who served in Vietnam with the U.S. Army in 1967- 68, is a free-lance writer in Woodbridge, Virginia. He is a columnist and book editor for The Veteran magazine, which is published by Vietnam Veterans of America in Washington, D.C. " NAM VET Newsletter Page 80 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX \ \ \ \ \XXXX XXXXX XXXXX.::::::::::::::.XXXXX INCARCERATED XXXX XXXXX XXXXX --------- XXXXX \ \ \ \ \ \ \XXXX XXXXX .XXXXX W W I I XXXXX. VETERANS \ \XXXX XXXXX ::XXXXX --------- XXXXX::. \ \ \ \ XXXX XXXXX :::XXXXX ------------- XXXXX:::. XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX K O R E A XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX ------------- XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX ------------- XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX V I E T N A M XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX ------------- XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX::::::::::::::::XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX::::::::::::::::XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX::' `::XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX:: ::XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX `..........''`XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX .:(O) . (O):. XXXXX:::' XXXX XXXXX ::' XXXXX .. XXXXX:: XXXX XXXXX .:' XXXXX . .. XXXXX: XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX . .. ` XXXXX XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX ' '.. ` XXXXX. XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX" ' ` XXXXX . XXXX XXXXX ``. XXXXX ' . . . ` XXXXX '. ........., XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX'' ..''.'''. XXXXX .' '.XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX" ':.:'' XXXXX .'' .:::'XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX:.. .:XXXXX.'' .::::' .XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX '.. ..:' XXXXX ..:' . .:::'XXXX XXXXX ....::'XXXXX ':::::;' XXXXX .:''. .:::' XXXX XXXXX .:::::' XXXXX .: XXXXX :'. ..:... XXXX XXXXX.::' :: XXXXX: PREPARED TO XXXXX .'' ''.. XXXX XXXXX::' :: XXXXX`: FIGHT XXXXX.' '.XXXX XXXXX' :: XXXXX ``. XXXXX XXXX XXXXX '' XXXXX PREPARED TO XXXXX XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX DIE ...'XXXXX XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX `...' XXXXX XXXX XXXXX `..' XXXXX .' XXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX /\ .' .' XXXX XXXXX /\ \ . . XXXX XXXXX / \ \...' `. .' XXXX XXXXX / NOT PREPARED TO BE DESERTED XXXX XXXXX / .'.' . .`.' XXXX XXXXX / ~ | : : : . XXXX XXXXX / |`. : : . .__________ XXXX XXXXX / ~ ~ ||.` ` : || \ / XXXX XXXXX / WRITE OR VISIT AN INCARCERATED VETERAN SOON ! XXXX XXXXX / ~ || . .'. / / XXXX XXXXX/ ~ ~ ~|| ||/ / XXXX XXXXX ~ ~ ~ || || / XXXX XXXXX || || / XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX \_________XXXXX________|| XgjpX XXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXX NAM VET Newsletter Page 81 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Petition/Form for POW US Postal Stamp VietNam Veterans of America - Chapter #294 American Veterans in Prison P.O. Box 466 Gardner, Massachusetts 01440 Dear Friend; Enclosed with this letter you will find a request form for thirty (30) names to be signed to it for the initiation for a postal stamp for our NOT FORGOTTEN servicemen. We would appreciate once you have filled the sheet to mail it to the Honorable Postmaster General,address on form. If more forms are needed,feel free to copy this form while still blank or ask us to send you more. Your help and patriotage is most appreciated and welcomed to our efforts. Thank you for your time and cooperation in making this one of America's most united joint efforts to bring back our MIA/POW and a nation wide awareness to Americans and our leaders in Washington,that we want our men and women returned to their families and their country. Respectfully (signature) James J Mickle State Committee for POW/MIA Massachusetts James Mickle George Herbert Albert Articolo RED BADGE OF COURAGE,INC. For The Return Of All MIA's/POW's 1023 5th Ave So. St James, MN (507) 375-5435 POW-MIA POSTAGE STAMP The Honorable Anthony Frank, Postmaster General United States Postal Service 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW Washington, D.C. 20260 We respectfully request that you initiate a postage stamp which bears the logo of the National League of POW/MIA Families. The logo serves to create awareness and concern over the POW/MIA issue. The logo depicts a prisoner of war with a prison camp tower over his shoulder,barbed wire extends horizontally behind the prisoner in silhouette form. Below the logo are the words imprinted "YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN". NAM VET Newsletter Page 82 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 ================================================================== Over Montezuma, Anchors yonder! ================================================================== The Eight Days of Creation 1/91 Korean Battle Report Post Office Box 140733 Austin, TX 78714-0733 Submitted by: Ray L. Walker The Homestead BBS - Nashville, TN (615) 385-9421 [Note from Joe: Available at the annual subscription price of $15, The Korean Battle Report is well worth every penny! I've had opportunity to review quite a few well-written issues and from "Memories of Life as a POW" to "The Hwachon Reservoir" to "Letters from the Front", the chance to stand in the boots of some fine American heroes is presented in EVERY issue!"] IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, and the WORD was GOD. In the beginning was GOD and all else was darkness and void and without form. So GOD created the heavens and the earth. He created the sun, and the moon, and the stars, so that light might pierce the darkness. And the earth GOD divided between the land and the seas, and these He filled with many assorted creatures. And the dark, salty, slimy creatures that inhabited the murky depths of the oceans, GOD called sailors, and He dressed them accordingly. And the flighty creatures of the air He called airmen. And these he clothed in uniforms which were ruffled and fowl. And the lower creatures of the land God called soldiers. And with a twinkle in His eye and a sense of humor that only He could have, GOD gave them trousers too short and covers too large, and pockets to warm their hands. And to adorn their uniforms, GOD gave them badges. And He gave them cords. And He gave them ribbons, and patches, and stars, and bells. He gave them emblems. and crests, and all sorts of shiny things that glittered, and devices that dangled. When you're GOD you tend to do things in a big way. And on the 7th day, as you know, GOD rested. And on the 8th day at 0730, GOD looked down upon the earth and was not happy... GOD was not happy! So He thought about His labors, and in His infinite wisdom, GOD created a divine creature and this He called a Marine. And these Marines whom GOD created in His own image, were to be of the air, the land and the sea. And these He gave many wonderful uniforms. He gave them practical, fighting uniforms, so they could wage war against the forces of Satan and evil. He gave them service uniforms for their daily work and training, that they might be sharp and ready... And He gave them evening and dress uniforms. Sharp, stylish, handsome things, so they might promenade with the ladies on Saturday night and impress the hell outta everybody! And at the end of the 8th day, GOD looked down upon the earth and saw that it was good. But was GOD happy? No! GOD still was not happy. Because in the course of His labors He had forgotten one thing... He did not have a Marine uniform! But He thought abut it and thought about it, and finally satisfied Himself in knowing that, well, not everybody can be a MARINE. NAM VET Newsletter Page 83 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 I I IIIII I I 88888 ITTTI o88888888 I I o888888888888o 8888 I I 888888888888888888888888 I I 88888888888888888 8888 888 xI Ix 8888888888888888 88888888 T III T 88888888888888 888888 88 I III I 8888888888888888 88888888 xI III Ix 888 888 88888888888' T I I T 88888888 I I I I 8888 xI IIIII Ix TI IT II II II II The Quiet Place IT | TI II --|-- II XIII | IIIX oooo o II I I II o88 888) (888) II I IIII I II o88 88888888 8888) XII I II II I IIX (88 8 88 888888) XIII III III IIIX (8 8 8 88 88 88 8 888) XIIII I I IIIIX (88 8 8 8 88888888) II II I xIIIIIx I II II ( 8 88 888 88888) II I T T T I II (8888 88 8 8 8888888) II I I I I I II (8 88888 888 88 88) II I I I I I II (8888)888 88888) II I I II II I II (8) (I8I8I) 8 oo8888888o II I I I I I II IIIII X 8888888 888BII I I I I I IIXX III X XX 88 88 88 BII I TIIIIIT I IIXXX III XXXXX 888888 88BII I .... I IIXXXXXX III XXgXXX 888 888888888XXXXXII ... IIXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXjXX II .. IIXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXpX The Vietnam Veteran XII IIXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX has relatives in the III IIIXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXX Old and New Testaments III IIIXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX who also experienced loss II IIXXXXXXXXX XXX and grief, guilt and shame, II IIXXXXXXXXX XX rejection and betrayal, I IXXXXXXXXX alienation and estrangement, I IXXXX XX isolation and withdrawal. II IIXXXX II IIX Adam and Eve tried to hide from God; II II Moses, born Hebrew and raised Egyptian IIII IIII searched long and hard for his real self; II II Job, losing his children and all he owned, II II became sorely diseased; IIII III Biblical Joseph was rejected by his brothers, II II lied about and imprisoned; I Peter denied Jesus. II I "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" Matthew 28:20 NAM VET Newsletter Page 84 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 "To Those Born Before 1945" 1/91 Korean Battle Report Post Office Box 140733 Austin, TX 78714-0733 Submitted by: Ray L. Walker The Homestead BBS - Nashville, TN (615) 385-9421 [Note from Joe: Available at the annual subscription price of $15, The Korean Battle Report is well worth every penny! I've had opportunity to review quite a few well-written issues and from "Memories of Life as a POW" to "The Hwachon Reservoir" to "Letters from the Front", the chance to stand in the boots of some fine American heroes is presented in EVERY issue!" Lotza STARS on this one! ] To those born before 1945... WE are SURVIVORS!!! Consider the changes we have witnessed. We were born before TELEVISION, before PENICILLIN, before POLIO and FROZEN FOODS, XEROX, PLASTIC CONTACT LENSES, FRISBEES AND the PILL. We were born before RADAR, CREDIT CARDS, SPLIT ATOMS, LASER BEAMS and BALL POINT PENS; before PANTYHOSE, DISHWASHERS, CLOTHES DRYERS, ELECTRIC BLANKETS, air conditioners, DRIP-DRY CLOTHES and before Man walked on the moon. We got married FIRST and then we lived together. How quaint can you be? In our time closets were for clothes, not for "coming out of"; bunnies were small rabbits and rabbits were not Volkswagens. DESIGNER JEANS were scheming girls named Jean or Jeanne, and having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with our cousins. We thought FAST FOOD was what you ate during Lent, and OUTER SPACE was the back of the Bijou Theater. We were born before HOUSE-HUSBANDS, GAY RIGHTS, COMPUTER DATING, DUAL CAREERS and COMMUTER MARRIAGES. We were before DAY-CARE CENTERS, GROUP THERAPY and NURSING HOMES. We never heard of FM RADIO, TAPE DECKS, ELECTRIC TYPEWRITERS, ARTIFICIAL HEARTS, WORD PROCESSORS, YOGURT and guys wearing earrings. For us TIME SHARING meant TOGETHERNESS, not COMPUTERS or CONDOMINIUMS. A CHIP meant a piece of wood, HARDWARE meant hardware and SOFTWARE wasn't even a word! In 1940 "MADE IN JAPAN" meant Junk and the term "MAKING OUT" referred to how you did in your exam. Pizza, McDonalds and instant coffee were unheard of. We hit the scene when there were 5 and 10 cent stores where you bought things for five and ten cents. Sander's or Wilson's sold ice cream for a nickel or a dime. For one nickel you could ride a street car, make a phone call, buy a Pepsi or enough stamps to mail one letter and two postcards. You could buy a new Chevy NAM VET Newsletter Page 85 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 coupe for $600. But who could afford one? A pity, too, because gas was eleven cents a gallon! In our day cigarette smoking was fashionable; grass was mowed, Coke was a cold drink and Pot was something you cooked in. Rock Music was a Grandma's lullaby and AIDS were helpers in the Principal's office. We were certainly not before the differences between the sexes was discovered, but we were surely before the sex change. We made do with what we had and we were the last generation that was so dumb to think you needed a husband to have a baby. No wonder we are so confused and there is such a generation gap today! But we SURVIVED! What better reason to celebrate. NAM VET Newsletter Page 86 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 ================================================================== Hmmm... ================================================================== ONLY THE PHONY ..... Fake Vets Cash In On Vietnam Chic! By Susan Katz Keating October 1991 Soldier of Fortune magazine Input by Marsha Ledeman NamVet MIA/POW Section Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 [Susan Katz Keating is a Washington-based journalist who specializes in military and intelligence issues. She is a veteran of the U.S. Army (yes, we checked)...] Back in his heyday, Jeffrey "Mad Dog" Beck kept an inscribed silver cigarette case prominently positioned on the coffee table of his Manhattan apartment. The inscription read: "Jeffrey P. Beck. In Appreciation for Blood, Fear and Courage in the Vietnam War. There but for him, go I." The scoop from Beck, an outrageously flamboyant and successful investment banker, was that the case was a gift from "some guy" he saved in Vietnam. Beck had many other war mementos, both physical and psychological. He liked to startle his colleagues before big meetings by shouting his favorite battle cry: "Lock and load!" He used to credit a chunky Seiko watch with saving his hand from the full force of an AK-47 round --- a blow which, he said, nevertheless shattered his wrist and left an ugly scar. He regaled many a listener with harrowing tales of how he earned his Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and four Purple Hearts while serving as a Special Forces platoon leader. Even his nickname -- "Mad Dog" -- was bestowed on him in Vietnam, according to him. The chink in Beck's apparently considerable armor was that there really wasn't any armor. From 1967 through 1969, when he was allegedly slogging his way through the jungles of Southeast Asia, Jeff Beck was in fact attending school in the States, where he was wracking his brain to find the best method for avoiding the draft. He hit on the strategy of hiding in plain sight: He joined the Army Reserve, and put in his required few weeks of training. Period. Based on that minuscule experience, he was nevertheless able to concoct a ruse so believable that filmmaker Oliver Stone at one point was interested in making a movie about him. Actor Michael Douglas virtually took him under his wing, teaming him with a New York script writer --- supposedly so that Douglas would eventually portray Beck. Like the mythical Icarus whose wax wings melted when he flew too close to the sun, Beck's high flight was his own undoing. The wilder and more ostentatious his stories became, the more suspicious became his listeners. He was eventually unmasked by a former girlfriend who called a family member out of concern for Beck's apparently Vietnam-induced problems. The truth leaked out by word of mouth until he was exposed last year in a front page story in the Wall Street Journal. Wild and woolly as it may seem, Beck's in not an isolated case. VIETNAM GETS CHIC: "We have seen it before, and we are continuing to see, people who are misrepresenting themselves as Vietnam veterans," Wayne NAM VET Newsletter Page 87 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Smith, membership director of the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), a national group with headquarters in Washington D.C., says. "It's not just confined to one group or type of people. It's happening at all different levels of society." According to John Oberg, a social worker at the Vietnam Veterans of California, based in Sacramento,"The wanna-be vets are everywhere. They turn up all over the place." At the height of the antiwar movement, no one ever heard of a "wanna-be" -- the only fakers around were those who had "politically correct" agendas for lying. For example, in 1971 Al Hubbard was executive director of Vietnam Veterans Against the War. He said he was a former Air Force captain with two years in Vietnam. He claimed to have been flying a transport plane into Da Nang when he caught some shrapnel. The injury supposedly earned him the Purple Heart. hubbard's artifice was clearly designed to authenticate his antiwar stance. Now, the reasons for posing as a Vietnam vet run the gamut from greed to guilt. But one thing the current crop of fakers all have in common is that they are riding the relatively new tide of "Vietnam chic." "People have always embellished their war records, but what is so remarkable now is the turnaround," Wayne Smith says. "We were ostracized for so long. The authentic Vietnam vets would avoid the issue. They would hide their uniforms, hide their medals. Yet now, thanks to the vets who said, `hell no, we won't back down anymore,' our service is viewed with respect, as being in vogue, and even sexy or jazzy." DD-214 UNDERGROUND: Some impostors go to great lengths to seemingly document their claims. "There's a large underground network of fake DD-214s (service and discharge record) and even award citations," D. Mark Katz, spokesman for the American Legion, says. The phony documents are used by all age groups, he adds, not just by those who could have served in Vietnam. "As long as there are offered benefits for veterans, there will be a problem with fraudulent documents. If a government job gives a five-point preference for military service, then there will be people out there attempting to get that advantage through fraudulent means." Other charlatans get by on the strength of their own statements --- and it appears that no story is too absurd to be believed. In recent years, some outlandish fabrications have come to light: a. In Hawaii, a church-sponsored beach party was thrown into disarray when Leslie A. Tatay crawled out of the surf, pretending to be an escaped POW from Vietnam. His story had a very short life span, but managed to see print in the local press before he was exposed. b. In Kansas, Robert Lyons passed himself off as a four-star general, even though he was only 35 years old. He also claimed to be a Vietnam War hero and CIA agent. He used these guises to get money from women; he was eventually charged with impersonating a federal officer. Other recent cases have been less transparent: c. In Utah, Robert fife convinced everyone who knew him, including his therapist, that he suffered numerous problems resulting from his experience as a Naval officer in Vietnam. Fife claimed to be a pilot who was shot down in combat, then captured NAM VET Newsletter Page 88 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 and tortured by the Viet cong. After Fife committed suicide, his wife of 23 years learned he had once enlisted in the Navy, but was discharged on medical grounds after only eight months. d. In Arizona, Darrow "Duke" tully resigned as publisher of the Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette when his much-touted war record turned out to be a fake. Tully had presented himself as being a combat pilot in both Korea and Vietnam, when in fact he had never served the military in any capacity. e. In Georgia, John Maughn obtained loans, jobs and housing through sympathetic vet center workers touched by his experience as a POW. He ran up more than $30,000 worth of debts, and finally aroused the suspicions of local veterans groups. They learned that Maughn had not served in Vietnam, and that his only time in prison came as a result of auto theft and firearms convictions. There are no hard figures on the percentage of fraudulent veterans, but according to one legitimate vet who attended a post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) clinic in Menlo Park, California, eight of 100 patients in his program turned out to be bogus. "Two had forged their DD-214's," he says, " and the others were discovered in therapy." Vet center phonies --- such as the mail carrier who claimed to have been shot seven times in the leg --- are most often just whisked from the room when unmasked. But the larger-scale, public fakes arouse a great deal of anger. Some have been ruined by their own lies. FAUX GREEN BERETS: Politician Royall H. Switzler, a Republican state representative, was trying to get elected as governor of Massachusetts in 1986, when he decided his chances would be improved by claiming a Vietnam War record. Switzler sounded very dashing indeed as he portrayed him self a a former Green Beret with plenty of jungle exploits under his belt. Unfortunately, the truth about Switzler was far less appealing: he was indeed a veteran, but he was also a liar. His military service consisted only of a peacetime hitch in Korea. What began as a promising political venture ended in shame. Switzler was publicly exposed and withdrew his candidacy. He explained his deception in deferential terms. "I owe an apology to those who served in Vietnam," he said. "It was out of the high esteem that I hold for you that I took your honor as my own and in doing so did you a grave injustice." Switzler at least recognized when the game was up; he has not since re-emerged with further tales of alleged adventure. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa has not been so careful. Harkin first lost face in 1984, during a closely contested bid for the Senate seat he now holds. Harkin was, at the time, a 10- year incumbent in Congress. He claimed to be a former Navy combat pilot who flew F-4 and F-8 jets on missions over Vietnam. During the 1984 Senate contest, another senator, Barry Goldwater (then a major general in the Air Force Reserve), knew the truth and decided enough was enough. He publicly denounced Harkin as a fake. Harkin's people at first responded with a hilarious explanation that their man had actually been in combat in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from 1965 to 1966, when he flew the F-4 and F-8 missions. But Harkin finally came out and said that he had never been a Vietnam combat pilot, contradicting his own numerous published claims. The issue seemed settled once and for all when he set the record straight; he was in fact a ferry pilot, transporting NAM VET Newsletter Page 89 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 crippled aircraft out of Saigon to repair facilities in Japan. Coming clean did Harkin a world of political good --- he won the race. Within months of being sworn in, however, he again made false claims, this time intimating he had walked the jungles of Southeast Asia. After viewing controversial photos which purported to show Nicaraguan contras slitting the throat of a Sandinista spy, Harkin vouched for their authenticity. "The pictures show graphically the same kind of thing I saw in Vietnam," he said. The claims slipped by relatively unnoticed. Now, with a run for the presidency looming on his horizon, Harkin is once again being touted as a Vietnam combat pilot. It remains to be seen whether his service will become an issue in the coming campaign. Just as Harkin benefited from his first unmasking (and subsequent confession), so too did two Texas based impostors who hoped to parlay their phony backgrounds into a successful business venture. PHONY VETS START MUSEUM: Gaylord Stevens and Kenneth Bonner both claimed to be Vietnam veterans when they opened their Vietnam War Museum in San Antonio. Ironically, the two men even fooled each other: neither knew that the other was a sham. They maintained their deceptions for only a few months past the museum's Fourth of July grand opening. Their true military backgrounds were revealed, prompting a great public uproar. Most of the attention focused on Stevens, who was discovered to have been charged in 1981 with possession of counterfeit money and conspiracy to print counterfeit currency. He pleaded guilty to the first charge, cooperated with government agents, and served no jail time. Both Stevens and Bonner admitted wrongdoing and submitted their resignations to the museum. It was clearly the right move. The museum's board of directors embraced them as if they were prodigal sons, insisting they stay on. Bonner later left, for reasons unrelated to the scandal, with Stevens remaining at the helm. Surprisingly, he emerged as something of a folk here. "I expected to be run out of town on a rail," he said at the time. "I thought I would have to leave. I never expected to still be a part of it. It's quite interesting and strange that I am." Stevens said he lied about his record in order to get much- needed donations. He said that real veterans told him they would not have helped with the project had they known he was not genuine. For a while at least, it seemed that the museum would be a success. Publicity from the scandal brought in visitors who otherwise might not have come. Those who did come were enriched, Steven said. DISCOVERED ONCE --- TRY AGAIN: "The Veterans Administration said the museum helped people who suffered from stress syndrome," Stevens said. "Psychiatrists said it helped guys to work here. I had one guy leave a piece of scrap metal that had been in his pocket for 20 years. I had one lady in tears. She confessed she had been out throwing rocks and bottles during the war because she was upset about her own husband being killed over there." Steven's good fortune did not last long. He ran into financial difficulty and attempted to transfer some of the museum's assets to a newly formed group, the Viet Nam War Institute. Last July, NAM VET Newsletter Page 90 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 officers of the institute announced they had broken off negotiations "for legal, liability and public image reasons too numerous to mention." They planned to open their own facility at a separate location. Steven's himself resurfaced in Houston, this time calling himself a "Vietnam-era vet (he served in the Coast Guard from 1969 until 1972, remaining in the United States the entire time). He announced he was raising money to open a new facility near the downtown convention center. "He came to us asking for support," an officer with a member group of the Houston-area Veterans Council, a coordinating body for the town's chartered veterans organizations, says. "We asked him to explain how and where he got his money. He said they had donations from two well-known area corporations. When we checked up on it, the companies said they hadn't even heard of Stevens, let alone been approached by him." Stevens, meanwhile, had hired a number of sack-toting solicitors to collect money by the side of the road. The takings were supposedly deposited each day at a bank named by Stevens. "The bank where he claimed to have an account said there was none in the name of Gaylord Stevens, the Vietnam War Museum, or that of his development director," according to the source. "We then set up three meetings at which we were promised the group's financial records, and the documentation on the authenticity of their 4,000 display artifacts." They never produced the records or the documentation. FAKES DAMAGE REAL VETS: The episode produced precisely the type of negative publicity veterans like to avoid. "There's a lot of animosity over this," Steve Blumenthal of the Houston chapter of VVA says. "A lot of vets feel it is giving them a bad name." The museum reportedly has a few artifacts and some camouflage netting on display at a storefront operation in Houston, but apparently has not yet installed a telephone. Neither the museum nor Stevens is listed with Houston information. Groups trying to help Vietnam veterans worry that the fakes cause damage in a way that cannot easily be seen. "When vets get into group therapy and discuss war trauma, it is a very confidential and trusting process," Oberg says. "If you open up to someone, and then find out he's not authentic, it's a very hurtful feeling. Many vets have a lot of pain in their lives from rejection, and some interpret this as a form of rejection. Some veterans don't separate the components of their lives. What happened in terms of the government, their families, wives and friends," he continues, "are clumped together as one experience. They respond to all things with the same level of mistrust. I have seen vets get very hurt by wanna-be vets undermining their trust." On another level, counterfeit vets delay the treatment of genuine vets by using up valuable group therapy time with their fantasies. Veterans groups have been particularly vulnerable to deceit because vets' etiquette says you do not challenge your fellows. Even the leadership of various groups has at times been infiltrated. OP SUNBURN; HONOLULU: '68 Last August the Vietnam Veterans Resource and Service Center in Dallas was the subject of scandal when its executive director, NAM VET Newsletter Page 91 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 John Woods, admitted he had lied about his military record. Also a technical "Vietnam-era" vet with service in the Coast Guard, Woods had invented a tour in Vietnam, when in truth, he served a year stationed in Honolulu. His early discharge was brought on by repeated drug abuse while on board ship. Woods, too, had a criminal record, with prison time for drug-and firearms-related convictions. The revelations concerning Woods were akin to a bad rerun for Dallas-area veterans. A year earlier Joe Testa, president of the local chapter of the VVA, was found to have a bogus background. During his tenure with the VVA, Testa told many horror tales of watching his buddies die in combat, and also of seeing fellow veterans mistreated at home by antiwar protesters. He sometimes wore a uniform bearing sergeant's stripes and a Silver Star for gallantry in action. Again, Testa was indeed a veteran --- but he never left the States. He served 21 months, during which time he never rose above the rank of private; went AWOL repeatedly; and received two sentences of hard labor, both of which were suspended. After his discharge, he was convicted at least four times for credit card abuse and theft by check. In an odd twist, testa himself confronted another phony veteran while he was serving as the Dallas VVA chapter head. A woman claiming to have been a combat nurse in Vietnam turned out to have been a dental hygienist stationed near San Antonio. She apologized for lying, then asked the group's permission to speak at a college forum on behalf of women who served in Vietnam. Testa reportedly rejected the request, and admonished the woman for faking her service record. As outlandish as these stories are, however, they are not the first of their kind. This is not an unusual phenomenon," Smith says. "You can read in history about people who embellished their service records or made them up when they hadn't served. It is important to put things in perspective." One of the most notorious cases in recent history is that of "Tail-Gunner" Joe McCarthy, the crusading senator from Wisconsin. McCarthy gained much political mileage from his reputation as a combat tail-gunner in World War II. He also was allegedly wounded in combat. But McCarthy's true assignment was that of an intelligence officer debriefing the real combat pilots as they returned from missions over islands held by the Japanese. McCarthy's experience with a tail gun was limited to joy-ride missions against coconut trees. His famous war wound was actually sustained falling down a stairwell. His eventual exposure made him an object of public ridicule. A number of bogus claims were made following World War I regarding the famed Lafayette Escadrille. The group was formed in April 1916, a year before the United States entered the war, and was set up so that American airmen could fight for France without violating neutrality restrictions. The unit acquired a romantic and heroic reputation when men who served with less prestigious units (and some who didn't serve at all) later claimed to have flown with it. "It was a major case of cashing in," military historian Jon Guttman says. "The real veterans were quite angry about it and they protested these false claims." Not surprisingly, the genuine Vietnam vets are also very angry that phonies are cashing in on the service of others. "We have an NAM VET Newsletter Page 92 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 obligation to the memory of my brothers who served to keep the record straight," Smith says. "War is a high-cost experience. It ought not be trivialized by people aggrandizing themselves so they can get prestige, or a date with a girl. The American people deserve better than that." HOW TO GUARD AGAINST FRAUDS? Sometimes you can't --- at least not entirely. But there are ways to reduce the likelihood of being scammed. Certain lines and phrases can be dead giveaways. Very few wanna-be's, for example, claim to have been clerk typists based in the States; they all take on mantles as combat pilots, SEALs or Green Berets on supersecret missions. They typically claim to be the sole survivor of a massacre, or to have performed impossible rescues. When confronted with the lack of documentation for their deeds, the phonies deliver a stock response, their assignments were so sensitive, the military has destroyed all evidence, including service records of persons involved. This, of course, is nonsense. Even in the case of genuine secret missions, there is always a service record containing plausible cover duties. "A fake vet can be determined through an investigation of claims," Mark Katz says. "If someone is talking to you and has his times, locations and other details wrong, then you know you have a fake on your hands. The problem is, how many people know what to look for?" "Little things can be done," Oberg says. "When we service a client, we have him sign a waiver saying he is telling the truth under penalty of perjury. We get his DD-214, pus his 201 file, which is the military war record. That turns up what the person did, his testing scores, the whole ball of wax." The services, meanwhile, might do well to follow that advice themselves. During Operation Desert Storm, the Pentagon narrowly averted disaster when it learned that a special operative dispatched on a mission to the Persian Gulf had been through none of the special warfare schools indicated on his resume. The faker was uncovered by chance, when he happened to sit next to a genuine operative in a bar, and happened to rattle off specifics about his alleged training. The stories didn't ring quite true to the listener. One thing led to another, and an investigation was soon underway. The imposer was yanked from the field in the nick of time, just as he was about to lead his unsuspecting team to certain failure. "You have to do the moral equivalent of turning on the light to look for cockroaches," smith says. "Press people. Ask for verification." NAM VET Newsletter Page 93 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 PERSEVERE WHEN DEALING WITH THE VETERANS COURT By Gary L. Bloomfield August 1991 VFW Magazine Submitted by: Charlie Revie Desert Dolphin BBS - Las Cruces, NM (505) 523-2811 -and- Isaac Frazier VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 Presenting your case before the U.S. Court of Veterans Appeals is a time-consuming and complex process. And a recent proposal to bar non-attorneys from representing vets could make it even more frustrating. Perseverance may be a virtue, but when a veteran files a claim for benefits with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), often it becomes a necessity. Usually months, and sometimes years, are required to resolve a case. Prior to 1988, a veteran denied compensation had no recourse but that of submitting to the gauntlet from VA regional office through the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA). This entire process remained within the control of VA, leaving the veteran feeling powerless. Many dropped out along the way, frustrated by the fight for a benefit they felt they deserved. But with the Veterans Judicial Review Act in 1988, Congress acknowledged the need for a mediated appeal. One in which the veteran had a fair chance of being heard by impartial judges. Thus was created the United States Court of Veterans Appeals (COVA). Totally separate from VA, COVA reviews the documentation of a veteran's claim, from initial request up through the BVA's decision to deny the claim. "It's a review to determine whether BVA or a VA regional office committed some error in the process," explains COVA's Chief Judge Frank Nebeker, a National Guard veteran. (Five of the six associate judges are veterans, three of whom served in Vietnam. One, John Farley III, is a combat vet who received two Purple Hearts between 1968-69.) Most COVA cases can be decided by reviewing the documentation submitted by the veteran and the VA. But when questions arise, a hearing is held where both sides face probing queries that take on an adversarial tone. VA lawyers, often appearing at a COVA hearing as a team, are prepared to defend the BVA's decision to deny a benefit. They are well-versed in veterans law and legal posturing, leaving the unrepresented veteran with little or a reduced chance of success. (PRO SE cases - when a vet is not represented - account for nearly two-thirds of the cases decided by COVA so far.) Often opposing the VA are personal lawyers unfamiliar with veterans law, or non-attorney representatives who are experts on the VA, but may lack some of the legal background to maneuver safely through the minefield of the appeals process. COVA ESTABLISHES PRECEDENTS In the two years since its investiture, on Oct. 16, 1989, COVA's chief judge and six associate judges have made decisions on numerous landmark cases that will guide VA regional offices and NAM VET Newsletter Page 94 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 the BVA for all related cases to follow. "Even though veterans who have been denied a benefit by the BVA have the right to an appeal, the Court is screening cases for merit," stresses George Estry, VFW's Chief of Appeals. "We have to understand that this court is a battleground for larger issues and how the law affects all entitlements for all veterans, rather than one individual." Rather than hear hundreds of Agent Orange cases, for instance, COVA will rule on one case and remand the others to BVA for re- review. And it will expect VA to issue instructions to its claims officers concerning COVA's Agent Orange directive for all future cases. "Many veterans have common issues and they would like one decision that applies to all," says Nebeker. "Every decision of the Court is in effect a class-action decision in that it has a retrospective effect on cases that have already been decided." For example, an early COVA decision concerned "benefit of the doubt." In GILBERT VERSUS DERWINSKI COVA ruled that in order to file a claim a veteran must have valid evidence to support it. If, in its ruling, the VA or BVA is undecided about the validity of that evidence, then the benefit of the doubt goes to the veteran. In this same ruling BVA lawyers stressed that a reason for denying a claim does not have to be given. But the judges disagreed, demanding that this case and all future denials warrant specific reasons why a benefit was denied. All future cases involving "benefit of the doubt" will be referred back to BVA. VFW Department service officers assisting veterans with their claims will also be notified through National Veterans Service (NVS). They will be able to "remind" VA claims officers of pertinent COVA rulings. "If VA is doing what should be done, that decision would be immediately disseminated to the regional offices and to all the BVA members," according to Nebeker. "Let's assume a VA regional office or the Board in reviewing another case implicating the same regulation and the same issue. Our decision would be binding on that case." Ruling on one case to benefit many is crucial. As Estry points out, "Even though every veteran who has been denied a benefit at BVA has an absolute right to appeal to the court, the court does not have to hear that appeal." APPEALS PROCESS Two restrictions apply to cases considered by COVA: only those for which a notice of disagreement were entered after Nov. 18, 1988 (when the Veterans Judicial Review Act was passed) will be reviewed, and only claims filed within 120 days of a BVA decision are reviewed. All other cases are dismissed. Any veteran dissatisfied with a BVA ruling may appeal his case within 120 days to COVA by filing a Notice of Disagreement Also, a $50 filing fee is required, unless a financial hardship waiver is requested. "This starts the process, followed by a Statement of Issues which explains those points the claimant wants the court to review," says Estry. "The veteran cannot raise new issues with the court that were not ruled upon by the Board." Once contending sides have submitted their statements, this evidence is made available to both, and then they can amend their initial statements. NAM VET Newsletter Page 95 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 This seesawing alone can take 305 days, as allowed, before the case is actually assigned to a panel of three judges for their review. A prehearing conference is held, and sometimes an "oral argument" is required. Any questions that arise require further delay in scheduling a court date acceptable to both parties. Even after all this a final decision can take weeks. "As can be seen it is a long and arduous task to take a case through to its completion under the system of judicial review," cautions Estry. VFW's COVA Section With the creation of COVA, the VFW's NVS formed its own COVA appeals staff and immediately began reviewing more than 2,800 BVA decisions for possible representation. "All requests for VFW representation must have been cases the VFW DSO assisted in throughout the VA administrative decision making process," Estry emphasizes. Veterans have used other veterans service organizations (VSOs) for their initial claims, but not all VSOs can provide representation at the COVA level. "Resources are limited and some VSOs cannot maintain a staff to work with the court," says Estry. "Training in veterans law is vital, but that also costs money, which some VSOs may need for other programs. Even office space, which is free within VA facilities but not at COVA, can be a hugh expense in Washington, D.C. "To make sure our service officers were brief on COVA we invited Chief Judge Nebeker to our service officer training program last year." Because of all these factors, and because of its commitment to COVA, the VFW is one of the few veterans organizations prepared to handle a veteran's case from initial claims request all the way to COVA, if necessary. NON-ATTORNEY REPRESENTATION Any courtroom is a battlefield, and within the COVA arena VA attorneys have been well-prepared to defend their department. Facing them are non-attorney representatives who are experts at veterans entitlements but know little about the legal side. Or professional attorneys who can parry any opposing legal blows, but often are not well-versed in veterans law. Nebeker underscored this disparity. "When I came to this Court I had zero understanding of the complexities and the process of administering veterans benefits. That is one of the reasons the Court saw fit to have non-lawyer representation. We knew that though they were not lawyers, they knew a hell of a lot more about the process than most lawyers, and that's proved to be quite true. "The rub is that we're asking them to double as lawyers. They're perfectly at home dealing with the administrative process, but in dealing with judicial review they're out of their element." Recently the chief judge rewrote Rule 46 of the Court, which would require a veteran's non-attorney representatives to be directly supervised by an attorney admitted to the bar of the Court. "We believe that the Court in changing Rule 46... constitutes an egregious flaunting of the spirit and the intent of Congress in creating the Court, that of making the Court service organization-friendly," wrote VFW Washington Office Executive Director Larry Rivers in a letter to Chief Judge Nebeker. NAM VET Newsletter Page 96 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 "As staunch advocates for the establishment of judicial review of VA decisions... it is our conviction that representation by non-attorney experts in veterans law and entitlements is in the best interest of veterans." Rivers has testified before Congress, saying that COVA was created "by veterans for veterans" and the hiring of an attorney just so VFW can defend cases before the court would be hypocritical. In response to opposition from the VFW and other veterans service groups, COVA's Rule 46 has been put on hold. Nevertheless, though Rule 46 threatens to jeopardize VFW's participation, for the present VFW will continue to work with COVA. It has the potential to balance the system, forcing VA to follow the governing laws and regulations more uniformly. After all, to ensure fairness is why COVA was created. NAM VET Newsletter Page 97 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 ================================================================== Charlie's Angels ================================================================== VIETNAM_VETS: Where? By Charlie Revie NamVet's KOTL (Keeper of the List) Desert Dolphin BBS - Las Cruces, NM (505) 523-2811 [Note from Joe - The following is a list of where the VIETNAM_VETS echo has been known to be available for users to access and post messages. Charlie and his team of Angel's (Charlies Angels ) keep a constant monitor on the echo and, should a new entry be noticed, it is quickly added to the list. If you notice that the bbs where YOU access is NOT listed, please post a message in VIETNAM_VETS to let us - and other vets - know where it is being received. Thanx - Joe] AL Huntsville Gateway 205-880-7723 AZ Phoenix NCMC BBS 602-840-4752 AZ Phoenix Nighthawk 602-995-3321 AZ Phoenix The Ranch 602-780-9180 CA Anaheim CA Self Help Library 714-952-2110 CA Azusa Azusa Pacific 818-969-9542 CA Azusa Azusa Pacific 818-969-9170 CA Benicia Byte Out of the Apple 707-747-5406 CA Benicia Byte Out of the Apple 707-747-0306 CA Benicia DCC BBS 707-746-6091 CA Burlingame SeaHunt BBS 415-344-4348 CA Folsom Second Opinion 916-985-4720 CA Oxnard SURFBOARD BBS 805-483-1467 CA Sacramento Broken Rose 916-971-0589 CA TwentyNine Palms Desert Night RBBS 619-361-3421 CN Regina, Sask Holistic BBS 306-789-9909 CO Fountain Military Connection 719-391-9387 CT Branford Alice's Restaurant 203-488-1115 CT Branford Fernwood 203-483-0348 CT Cheshire Soapbox BBS 293-271-2249 CT Concord Online Computer Reso 415-687-0230 CT Plantsville The Pig Pen 203-628-9346 CT Plantsville The Pig Pen 203-620-0562 CT Southington DownStairs 203-621-1930 CT West Haven Ascii Neighborhood 203-934-9852 DE Dover DELFIRE 302-739-6757 FL Orlando Digital Connection 407-896-0494 FL Orlando Freedom Line BBS 407-423-2111 FL Orlando Gourmet Delight 407-649-4136 GA Albany 2/121st IN-formation 912-430-4543 GA Athens Classic City 404-548-0130 GA Athens Classic City 404-548-0726 GA Hephzibah FORT KNOX'S BBS 404-592-6527 GA Savannah Night Owl 912-964-4266 GA Savannah Night Owl 912-964-1161 GA Savannah Night Owl 912-964-2425 GA Savannah Night Owl 912-964-1121 GA Savannah Night Owl 912-966-1167 IA Des Moines FOG-LINE 515-964-7934 IA Des Moines KARMA *VS* DOGMA 515-288-7793 NAM VET Newsletter Page 98 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 IL Chicago NETWORK Echogate 312-427-1395 IN Ft. Wayne Semper Fi 219-424-4292 LA New Orleans MUG BBS (Line 2) 504-837-8180 LA New Orleans Southern Star 504-885-5928 MA Amherst Pioneer Valley PCUG1 413-256-1037 MA Lynn Freedom's Choice 617-593-2605 MA Pepperell Region 16 Echo Coord 508-433-8452 MA Pittsfield Berkshire Estates BBS 413-499-1327 MA Pittsfield VETLink #1 413-443-6313 MD Baltimore Jim's Hooch 301-866-8613 MD Baltimore PainFrame BBS 301-488-7461 MD Shady Side VetLink #4 301-261-5644 MO Cape Girardeau Capaha Online 314-334-3605 MO Cape Girardeau Cape Girardeau 314-334-6576 MO Cape Girardeau In My Room BBS 314-334-6576 MO Cape Girardeau Nightline 314-334-3340 MO Cape Girardeau VETLink #3 314-334-6359 MS Vicksburg Southern Belle 601-634-1625 MS Vicksburg The Wishing Well 601-638-7056 NC Fayetteville Federal Post 919-436-2055 NC Havelock Dragon Quest II 919-447-3321 NC Raleigh InfoSys 919-851-8460 NC Raleigh Shalom-3 919-851-3858 NJ Garfield Quill & Inkpot BBS 201-340-1340 NJ Lyndhurst Starship ][ 201-935-1485 NJ Lyndhurst Starship ][ 201-935-7036 NJ Passaic VetLink #5 201-778-1879 NM Las Cruces Desert Dolphin 505-523-2811 NV Las Vegas Sports_Line 702-565-5271 NV Reno Deceiver_System 702-322-6570 NY Marlboro ACORN I 914-236-3265 NY Phoenix G A L A X I A ! 315-695-4436 NY Rochester Flower City 716-889-2016 OH Akron Buckeye Hamshack 216-867-6984 OH Rocky River Nerd Nook II 216-356-1872 OK Lawton DarkStar 405-248-9884 OR Beaverton Chess Board 503-629-5473 OR Portland Landing Zone 503-254-6819 PA Bensalem Backbone Collection 215-638-8367 PA Harrisburg The Other BBS 717-657-8699 PA Johnstown Family BBS 814-536-7617 TN Memphis Network BBS 901-763-1427 TN Nashville Homestead 615-385-9421 TN Nashville Unicorn & Dragon 615-385-2260 TX Arlington DD Connection 817-261-6309 TX Corpus Christi SEABAT BBS 512-387-6638 TX Corpus Christi Ye MailRoom 512-855-7584 TX Dallas Chrysalis 214-349-9397 TX DeSoto Diamond Lil's Saloon 214-228-9173 TX Houston Fireside 713-496-6319 TX Houston LAW=ONLINE 713-526-0719 TX Houston Leaders in Control 713-584-1821 TX Houston Texas Fathers For ER 713-376-4767 TX Houston TreeShare Genealogica 713-342-1174 TX Katy Executive Washroom 713-347-2558 TX Missouri City Soldier's Bored 713-437-2859 TX Pasadena Pier 7 713-477-2681 TX Portland Garfield 512-643-7858 TX Rosenberg Merlin's Keep 713-342-7629 NAM VET Newsletter Page 99 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 VA Falls Church Grey Eagle 703-534-0177 VA Herndon HBX/VETLink #2 703-471-8010 VA Herndon HBX Veterans Memorial 703-471-8563 VA Newport News Brokedown Palace 804-591-8537 VA Newport News OBSESSIONS 804-887-2140 VA Norfolk Apex 804-436-3125 VA Williamsburg Rainbow's End 804-872-7171 WA Bremerton Jimby BBS 206-698-1044 WA Everett Silver Lake 206-338-3723 WA Everett Silver Lake Too 206-338-3168 WA Ft. Lewis Silent Sentry BBS 206-984-1048 WA Graham Last Frontier RA 206-847-8168 WA Redmond GreyHounds BBS 206-868-4402 WA Seattle Puget Sound TBBS 206-745-6340 WA Spokane Think Tank II 509-244-6446 WA Tacoma Group Medical BBS 206-581-9088 WI Milwaukee PC-Express 414-327-5300 ** Bremerton, WA British Hands Off ** Corpus Christi Corrosion by the Ocea ** Custer, SD GOTCHA! ** Phoenix, AZ Hirschfeld Law Office ** Pittsfield, MA VetPoint 707 ** ............... Any Port in the Storm ** ............... OLD Soldiers Home ** ............... Support our men NAM VET Newsletter Page 100 Volume 5, Number 9 September 17, 1991 Some Gave ALL ... Some Still Give!!! O O O SOME GAVE ALL ... ________O__________________________________O______________ ! O O ! ! pow mia pow mia - BRING THEM HOME NOW! - pow mia pow mia ! ! O O ! ! ~~~~~ ~ ~ O~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~ O ~~ ~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~ ! ! ~~~~ ~ ~~ O ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~O~~~ ~~~ ~ ~~~~ ~~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ O~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ O ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~ ! ! ~~~ ~~ ~~ ~ O ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~ O ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ ~ ! ! ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~ ~ O ~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ O ~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ ! ! ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ O ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ O ~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ O ~_~_~_~_~_ ~ O ~ ~~~~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ! ! ~~~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~~ ~ O ) O ~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ /(O) / O \ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~ ~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ / / O \~~~~ ~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~ ! ! ~~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~ / PRISONER / \~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~ ~~~~~~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~ / / MISSING \~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~ ~~ ! ! ~~~ ~ ~~ ~~ / OF /\ \~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~~ ~ ! ! ~ ~~~~ ~~ ~ / / \ IN \~ ~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ! ! ~~~ ~~~ ~ / WAR / ~~ \ \ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~~ ~ / / ~ ~~ \ ACTION / ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ! ! ~~ ~~ ~~~(__________/ ~~ ~~~ \ / ~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ! ! ~~~~~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~~ \ / ~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ! ! ~~ ~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~ ~~~ \ / ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~ ! ! ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~ \ /~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ ~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ! ~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~ SOME STILL GIVE ! ~ ~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ! ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ! ! mia pow mia pow - BRING THEM HOME NOW! - mia pow mia pow ! !__________________________________________________________! NAM VET Newsletter Page 101