Legislative Priorities for the the Jewish War Veterans March 18, 2015
Stating in part: POW-MIA J W V continues to strongly support the need for this country to account for all the missing
POW/MIA individuals. There are sti11 1,636 personnel listed by the Department of Defense as missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
On December I I , 20 I 4, JWV was one of the signers of a letter sent to then Secretary of Defense Hagel spelling out serious concerns over lost momentum and lack of confidence in the ongoing reorganization n effort. Transparency was sorely needed.
Since that time, senior DoD officials have pledged that the reign of secrecy is over, full transparency would prevail and a working partnership with the National League of Families and Military Service Organizations (VSO’s) will be formed.
J WV remains committed to supporting the National League of POW-MIA Families in general and our dear friend, Ann Mills Griffiths, Chairwoman of the National League of
POW/MIA Families, in particular, to gain a full accounting of those still missing.
WHEREAS, the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is deeply committed to achieving the fullest possible accounting of 83,000 missing Americans that include approximately 73,600 from World War II, 7,900 from the Korean War, 1,630 from the Vietnam War, 126 from the Cold War, and 6 post-Vietnam that include Operations Eldorado Canyon (1), Desert Storm (2) and Iraqi Freedom (3); and
WHEREAS, it is hoped that the merger of the former Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, and the Air Force Life Science Equipment Laboratory, into the new Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) will produce the unity of command necessary to achieve the fullest possible accounting of missing and unaccounted-for Americans; and
WHEREAS, DPAA has strong bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, which will be necessary should additional funding be required to support recovery operations in North Korea, which have been interrupted since 2005 due to U.S. safety and security concerns; and
WHEREAS, without additional funding to meet expanded requirements, DPAA could be forced to postpone or cancel difficult recovery sites in favor of potentially more productive locations, such as mass burials or multi-crewman aircraft crashes. Full funding enables DPAA to efficiently plan, resource and accomplish its worldwide mission to recover, identify and return to their families all missing American service members from all wars and conflicts; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, by the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, that we call upon Congress to fully fund the requested amounts for the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and all supporting organizations involved in the Full Accounting Mission.
Submitted by Commander-in-Chief
To Committee on NATIONAL SECURITY & FOREIGN AFFAIRS
APPROVED by the 116th National Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.
Resolution No. 418 CALL FOR MORE UNILATERAL POW/MIA ACTIONS BY VIETNAM
WHEREAS, 2,583 Americans were listed as missing and unaccounted-for at the end of the Vietnam War. As of February 2015, the number of missing is slowly nearing 1,630 due to a combination of increased U.S. Government emphasis, better research and identification technology, stronger diplomatic ties with host governments, and access to aircraft crash and ground battlefield sites; and
WHEREAS, Vietnam had a comprehensive wartime and post-war process to collect and retain information and remains, and according to the National League of POW/MIA Families, this unilateral effort enabled the Vietnamese to locate and return remains to U.S. custody along with records that continue to offer significant potential; and
WHEREAS, onsite joint field operations are also achieving increased results. The process now includes both U.S.-led Joint Excavation Teams and Vietnamese-led Recovery Teams that are assisted by fewer Americans who are experts in their fields of forensic science, EOD and medical. This formula allows a greater number of teams to “increase the pace and scope of field operations,” as requested by Vietnam; and
WHEREAS, increased military-to-military relations is also benefiting the Full Accounting Mission. U.S. Navy assets are increasingly allowed to participate in underwater survey and recovery operations, which has long been advocated for by the VFW; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, by the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, that we encourage Vietnam to continue to expand the number and frequency of Vietnamese-led recovery operations; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, in this cooperative effort, that we urge Vietnam to continue to authorize its officials to locate and release immediately to the United States all records relating to Americans missing from the Vietnam War, and to urge the Vietnamese people to turn over the remains of Americans or information on American burial sites, as well as any reports of live American servicemen.
Submitted by Commander-in-Chief
To Committee on NATIONAL SECURITY & FOREIGN AFFAIRS
APPROVED by the 116th National Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.