The Honorable Phil Gramm
370 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-4302
29 July 2000
Senator Gramm,
Good day, sir. I am writing to
you in behalf of all those who are concerned about the
whereabouts of Lt. Col (now Colonel) John William Armstrong, an
Air Force pilot who was shot down over the Ho Chi Minh Trail on
09 November 1967. Armstrong was the bombardier/navigator of an
F4C Phantom fighter/bomber, and 1Lt. Lance Peter Armstrong was
the pilot that day. The two men crashed near the Mu Gia Pass, and
both were classified as Missing In Action.
It is known that at least Sijan
survived, as, after nearly six weeks of evading the enemy, he was
captured by North Vietnam forces. Sijan's remains were returned
to his family, but the fate of Armstrong is still unknown (to his
family and those concerned about him, that is). It is almost
certain that if Armstrong survived the crash, he would have been
captured by the Pathet Lao. Our government, despite the fact that
the Pathet Lao claimed to have "tens of tens" of American POWs,
refused to negotiate with the Lao for their release, simply
because our country did not officially recognize the Pathet Lao
as a government entity. Why is it that our government and
governments around the world will negotiate with non-government
entities to release hostages of, say, plane hijackings, but our
government refused to negotiate with the Lao to ensure the
release of our people, people who went and fought in a highly
controversial war, people who deserve to be negotiated for
?
Armstrong was one month shy of
being forty-one when his plane was shot down. He very well may
not be alive, but nonetheless, his family deserves to have him
returned, alive or dead. They deserve a grave to go to, they
deserve peace of mind that their son, husband, father is finally
home, and you and I need to do all we can to ensure that both the
Armstrong family and countless families around America have the
same peace of mind. I know that you are a strong supporter of
Veterans' rights, and for that, I give my warmest thanks. I also
thank you for taking the time to read this, and God
bless.
Sincerely,
Stacey N. Jones
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August 14, 2000
Dear Friend:
Thank you for your letter about
the fate of Air Force pilot Colonel John William Armstrong and
other American POW/MIAs. I share your concern and appreciate the
benefit of your views on this issue.
I am strongly committed to
obtaining the best possible accounting of American servicemen
missing in Southeast Asia, as well as those from the Korean War
and World War II. Throughout my tenure in Congress, I have
supported measures to ensure that foreign governments share all
the information they have regarding the fate of American
servicemen. In addition, I have made continuing appeals to the
governments of Laos and Vietnam in an effort to obtain
information on the whereabouts of our missing
servicemen.
As you may know, the Bring Them
Home Alive Act of 1999 (S. 484) was introduced by Senator Ben
Nighthorse Campbell on February 25, 1999, to create incentives
for foreign nationals to aide in the return of any American
POW/MIAs still being held. The bill would provide for the
granting of refugee status to nationals of certain foreign
countries in which American Vietnam War or Korean War POW/MIAs
may be present, if those nationals assisted in the safe return to
the United States of those POW/MIAs still alive. You will be
pleased to know that this bill unanimously passed the Senate in
May of 2000 and has been referred to the House of Representatives
for consideration.
Although we have thus far been
unable to prove that Americans are still being detained against
their will in Southeast Asia, the information available to me
precludes ruling out that possibility. You can be certain that I
will continue to ensure that investigations of live-sighting
reports proceed and that they receive the highest priority.
Should any report prove true, we must take the necessary action
to ensure our soldiers' immediate and safe return. We owe
them nothing less.
I appreciate having the
opportunity to represent you in the United States Senate. Thank
you for taking the time to contact me.
Yours respectfully,
[signed Phil Gramm]
PHIL GRAMM
United States Senator
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