In keeping with the President and First Lady’s commitment to honor the sacrifices of all who serve - veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors - the League's POW/MIA flag was restored to its globally recognized position on top of the White House. This action reaffirms our Nation's commitment to account as fully as possible for American Prisoners-of-War and Missing-in-Action, as well as other US personnel still unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War and wars and conflicts further past, thus ending the uncertainty of their families.
The League (EIN #23-7071242) is a tax-exempt
501(c)(3) nonprofit, also eligible for donations through
the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), #10218
501(c)(3) nonprofit, also eligible for donations through
the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), #10218
As of September 26, 2023
the number of Americans Missing and Unaccounted-for from
the Vietnam War is 1,578.
the number of Americans Missing and Unaccounted-for from
the Vietnam War is 1,578.
Dear League Members and fellow Americans,
In our fast-paced information world, electronic communication provides the quickest and least costly means to update League members and interested citizens with accurate and timely information. The League currently provides this information in two ways: via the League website and our various social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, or via our email list. Emails from the League include updates on the “Status of the Issue” and “Vietnam’s Ability to Account for Missing Americans,” along with many other important issues. Recipients will see an email addressed from national.league@pow-miafamilies.org.
If you are not receiving these League emails, please either check your Spam filter, or email
national.league@powmiafamilies.org and ask to be included. Email communication helps the League financially by lowering ever-increasing postage costs. For those who have indicated that you prefer paper copies, or if you cannot receive electronic communications and still want the paper copy, please let us know by calling the League office at 703-395-7432, or by asking someone to notify the League at national.league@pow-miafamilies.org. We have occasionally send updates via the U.S.
Postal Service and will do so for those who cannot use the electronic option. Please sign-up for our League email communications and ask your family members to also join. These updates are important for everyone! They help the League better serve you, and they are free! Or, if you wish to unsubscribe from our email list, please let us know at national.league@pow-miafamilies.org.
Thank you!
Dr. Jay Veith, Executive Director
National League of Families of American
Prisoners & Missing in Southeast Asia
In our fast-paced information world, electronic communication provides the quickest and least costly means to update League members and interested citizens with accurate and timely information. The League currently provides this information in two ways: via the League website and our various social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, or via our email list. Emails from the League include updates on the “Status of the Issue” and “Vietnam’s Ability to Account for Missing Americans,” along with many other important issues. Recipients will see an email addressed from national.league@pow-miafamilies.org.
If you are not receiving these League emails, please either check your Spam filter, or email
national.league@powmiafamilies.org and ask to be included. Email communication helps the League financially by lowering ever-increasing postage costs. For those who have indicated that you prefer paper copies, or if you cannot receive electronic communications and still want the paper copy, please let us know by calling the League office at 703-395-7432, or by asking someone to notify the League at national.league@pow-miafamilies.org. We have occasionally send updates via the U.S.
Postal Service and will do so for those who cannot use the electronic option. Please sign-up for our League email communications and ask your family members to also join. These updates are important for everyone! They help the League better serve you, and they are free! Or, if you wish to unsubscribe from our email list, please let us know at national.league@pow-miafamilies.org.
Thank you!
Dr. Jay Veith, Executive Director
National League of Families of American
Prisoners & Missing in Southeast Asia
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TRIP TO VIETNAM & POW/MIA TALKS IN DC
Summary by Ann Mills Griffiths, League Board Chairman
September 21, 2023
Vietnam is now consistently characterizing as "missing" both their own and US personnel, just as DPAA has been doing for some time, thereby supporting the Biden Administration’s policy of no longer differentiating between being POW or
MIA in a foreign country, versus known dead, body not recovered from service in your own country.
This smearing of status has been a long-time project of Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc, former SRV Ambassador to the US. He led efforts a few years ago with former Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and his senior staff member, Tim Reiser, to formalize the term & Vietnamese Missing in Action & as part of US policy through DoD funding-related Congressional actions. Millions of dollars in aid to the SRV was approved by Congress to address "Legacy" issues (dioxin remediation, unexploded ordinance clearance, assistance to the disabled, etc.) which they placed on equal footing with the real foundational issue of US efforts to account for missing American personnel.
Due to President Reagan's personal interest, his Administration established the US policy to pursue accounting as a "matter of highest national priority." Knowing the US would prioritize the return of our POWs and accounting for our MIAs, the Vietnamese had an in-depth documentation process in place. It was official knowledge of this process that served as the basis for developing the US policy of reciprocity during the Reagan Administration to pursue answers as a "matter of highest national priority." This policy focused on a step-by-step reciprocal humanitarian basis, separate from policy and political differences between the US and Vietnam. At the time, I was the only non-government participant in the US Interagency Group (IAG) that negotiated agreement with Vietnam. The intention was to encourage them to unilaterally provide both stored remains and archival documents known by the US to exist, subsequently leading to joint operations to investigate, recover and return others. The overall scope more recently includes KIA/BNRs. The reason? All US personnel previously listed as POW or MIA are now listed by DoD and pursued as remains recovery cases in policy statements and presentations.
At the end of the war, the North Vietnamese (PAVN) controlled the battlefields in North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Anyone who did not return home to their family was obviously killed in action. The long-used number of 300,000 known dead Vietnamese whose remains were not recovered was first conveyed to the League in 1982. At that time, I expressed sympathy for the much larger number of their losses, but that their unaccounted-for personnel were not MIA. I noted they either escaped as refugees or were among the thousands group-buried in various locations by US forces. These deceased Vietnamese are now again being cited as "missing" or MIA. Most often, such characterizations come from politically motivated senior US and SRV officials. Either they don’t want to know or understand the difference or find it more in keeping with the Biden Administration policy to relegate the accounting mission to a “legacy” issue of low importance when compared to dioxin remediation, mine clearance or assistance to disabled Vietnamese.
The US Government didn't have wartime requirements to collect, and store remains, nor was the US withholding archival documents on deceased Vietnamese personnel. In fact, the US government and private entities have provided several significant collections of wartime documentation to assist SRV recovery efforts, along with encouraging Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) and individual US veterans to return captured identification media and provide the location of graves.
During President Biden’s trip to Hanoi on September 10th , the Vietnamese turned over 14 items, reportedly 12 of which related to missing US personnel, including two Last Known Alive (LKA) cases. The items included ID cards, “dog tags” and even at least one passport. The Vietnamese asserted having had to search "far and wide" for this material, and on September 20th, at the US-SRV Defense Policy Dialogue, they reportedly turned over two more ID media items, specifics not yet known. Turnover of these items is most welcome and crucial for the cases represented and the impacted families. Most importantly, it signals that unilateral efforts by the Government of Vietnam can most likely bring these men home.
Hopefully, this brief summary helps all understand the background of "discussions" recently held at multiple levels between the US and Vietnam. Is it positive for the accounting mission? Not especially, unless one thinks beyond the rhetoric to the signals. Rather than a "matter of highest national priority," the accounting mission appears to warrant mention by the Biden Administration only as a "Legacy" issue, routinely in last place. The signals by Vietnam are crucial. As ever trying to be hopeful...........and moving forward.......Ann
chairmans_message_.pdf
Summary by Ann Mills Griffiths, League Board Chairman
September 21, 2023
Vietnam is now consistently characterizing as "missing" both their own and US personnel, just as DPAA has been doing for some time, thereby supporting the Biden Administration’s policy of no longer differentiating between being POW or
MIA in a foreign country, versus known dead, body not recovered from service in your own country.
This smearing of status has been a long-time project of Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc, former SRV Ambassador to the US. He led efforts a few years ago with former Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and his senior staff member, Tim Reiser, to formalize the term & Vietnamese Missing in Action & as part of US policy through DoD funding-related Congressional actions. Millions of dollars in aid to the SRV was approved by Congress to address "Legacy" issues (dioxin remediation, unexploded ordinance clearance, assistance to the disabled, etc.) which they placed on equal footing with the real foundational issue of US efforts to account for missing American personnel.
Due to President Reagan's personal interest, his Administration established the US policy to pursue accounting as a "matter of highest national priority." Knowing the US would prioritize the return of our POWs and accounting for our MIAs, the Vietnamese had an in-depth documentation process in place. It was official knowledge of this process that served as the basis for developing the US policy of reciprocity during the Reagan Administration to pursue answers as a "matter of highest national priority." This policy focused on a step-by-step reciprocal humanitarian basis, separate from policy and political differences between the US and Vietnam. At the time, I was the only non-government participant in the US Interagency Group (IAG) that negotiated agreement with Vietnam. The intention was to encourage them to unilaterally provide both stored remains and archival documents known by the US to exist, subsequently leading to joint operations to investigate, recover and return others. The overall scope more recently includes KIA/BNRs. The reason? All US personnel previously listed as POW or MIA are now listed by DoD and pursued as remains recovery cases in policy statements and presentations.
At the end of the war, the North Vietnamese (PAVN) controlled the battlefields in North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Anyone who did not return home to their family was obviously killed in action. The long-used number of 300,000 known dead Vietnamese whose remains were not recovered was first conveyed to the League in 1982. At that time, I expressed sympathy for the much larger number of their losses, but that their unaccounted-for personnel were not MIA. I noted they either escaped as refugees or were among the thousands group-buried in various locations by US forces. These deceased Vietnamese are now again being cited as "missing" or MIA. Most often, such characterizations come from politically motivated senior US and SRV officials. Either they don’t want to know or understand the difference or find it more in keeping with the Biden Administration policy to relegate the accounting mission to a “legacy” issue of low importance when compared to dioxin remediation, mine clearance or assistance to disabled Vietnamese.
The US Government didn't have wartime requirements to collect, and store remains, nor was the US withholding archival documents on deceased Vietnamese personnel. In fact, the US government and private entities have provided several significant collections of wartime documentation to assist SRV recovery efforts, along with encouraging Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) and individual US veterans to return captured identification media and provide the location of graves.
During President Biden’s trip to Hanoi on September 10th , the Vietnamese turned over 14 items, reportedly 12 of which related to missing US personnel, including two Last Known Alive (LKA) cases. The items included ID cards, “dog tags” and even at least one passport. The Vietnamese asserted having had to search "far and wide" for this material, and on September 20th, at the US-SRV Defense Policy Dialogue, they reportedly turned over two more ID media items, specifics not yet known. Turnover of these items is most welcome and crucial for the cases represented and the impacted families. Most importantly, it signals that unilateral efforts by the Government of Vietnam can most likely bring these men home.
Hopefully, this brief summary helps all understand the background of "discussions" recently held at multiple levels between the US and Vietnam. Is it positive for the accounting mission? Not especially, unless one thinks beyond the rhetoric to the signals. Rather than a "matter of highest national priority," the accounting mission appears to warrant mention by the Biden Administration only as a "Legacy" issue, routinely in last place. The signals by Vietnam are crucial. As ever trying to be hopeful...........and moving forward.......Ann
chairmans_message_.pdf
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Current National League of Families Brochure
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Ann Mills-Griffiths, leader of the National League of POW/MIA Families, discusses her many years of advocacy to account for U.S. personnel missing from the Vietnam War, reflects on the challenges ahead, and outlines her continuing optimism to achieve the fullest possible accounting. The League thanks long-time fellow-advocate, The American Legion, for sharing our accounting goals and hosting this Tango Alpha Lima Podcast!
Click below to access our National League of
POW-MIA Families Facebook page.
POW-MIA Families Facebook page.
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Accounting for all of the missing will never be possible, but working together, we can and will achieve the fullest possible accounting for America's Vietnam War POW/MIAs.
This message reaches those serving today in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and at bases, posts and stations around the world. They NEED TO know if captured or missing while serving, our nation will be there for them.
This message reaches those serving today in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and at bases, posts and stations around the world. They NEED TO know if captured or missing while serving, our nation will be there for them.
The League is always seeking photos of POW/MIA flag, monuments, Missing Man Honors Tables, and POW/MIA empty chairs from your community to feature on our social media pages and website.
Sharing with us is easy, just message your photos to the League Facebook page or
nationalleague@pow-miafamiles.org with a brief description of when & where
the photo was taken.
All proper credits will be given.
Sharing with us is easy, just message your photos to the League Facebook page or
nationalleague@pow-miafamiles.org with a brief description of when & where
the photo was taken.
All proper credits will be given.
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RAF LAKENHEATH POW/MIA Activities.
Thank you, Mr. Bob Hale, Education Development Volunteer @ Bentwaters Cold War Museum (BCWM) and UK / European Coordinator for the National League of POW/MIA Families |
Contact us
NationalLeague@pow-miafamilies.org | (703) 465-7432