| Dear Ms. Dietch:
Thank you for your September 13
inquiry to Assistant Secretary Veroneau on behalf of Senator
Harkin's constituent, Ms. Stacey Jones. She is seeking
information on Navy Commander Frank C. Green, Jr., who is
unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. As the Department of
Defence (DoD) agency responsible for accounting for missing
Americans from our nation's wars, we are pleased to provide you
the following information.
Commander Green was lost July
10, 1972, when his A-4 aircraft crashed during a night armed
reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. His wingman reported
that Commander Green crashed while making a bombing run on the
target. After the crash, the wingman began a search under flare
illumination and identified the crash site. A search and rescue
effort was initiated but no emergency signals were heard and no
voice contact was ever established with Commander Green.
Returning American POWs did not report ever seeing him in the
North Vietnamese prison system or in the jungle prisons in Laos
and South Vietnam.
Since 1993, DoD investigators
have conducted seven investigations in Vietnam in an effort to
account fro Commander Green. Although his crash site has been
located, he remains unaccounted for at this writing. In
accordance with 50 USC Sec. 435 Note (Public Law 102-190,
commonly referred to as the McCain Bill) we are unable to provide
Ms. Jones with more information regarding Commander Green because
his family has not consented to the release of information
regarding his loss.
Ms. Jones makes reference to a
claim that a search and rescue team found that his aircraft crash
site had been camouflaged. We have reviewed all of our agency's
material on Commander Green's loss and are unable to find any
information to support a belief that his crash site was
camouflaged. In recent years, US teams have visited the crash
site which is at the top of a 720-foot karst comprised mainly of
large, unstable boulders and deep crevasses. The slope of the
mountain runs 80 - 90 degrees and our teams had to use ropes and
harnesses to get to the site. This fact further belies the claim
that anyone could have camouflaged the crash site immediately
following the loss.
Commander Green has not been
forgotten. President Clinton, like President Reagen and Bush, has
affirmed the POW/MIA issue to be a matter of the highest national
priority. At present, the DoD has more than 500 people in
Washington, Hawaii, Southeast Asia, and Russia who work full time
to determine the fates of our unaccounted for Americans. DoD is
diligently perusing accounting for our missing personnel in
Southeast Asia. Since 1988, American teams have completed more
than 2,000 investigations in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia in an
attempt to account for Americans lost during the war. These
efforts have resulted in the recovery, identification, and return
of 590 missing Americans for interment with full military honors.
At this writing, 1,993 remain unaccounted for from the war in
Southeast Asia.
I hope this information is
helpful. We who are privileged to be involved in this important
humanitarian issue gratefully acknowledge and appreciate Senator
Harkin's support for our efforts. If we can be of further
assistance, please contact us.
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