     To : ALL                                 Number : 984
   From : DANNY PAPAGIANNIS                 Refer To : None
Subject : NAPA POW REPORT UPDATE                Read : N/A
   Date : 04/03/92  05:17 pm                Security : None
   Area : Military Forum                        Type : Echo

        I did some digging, and contacted someone who lives in the Napa
Valley, where the recent Napa article "Release of 10 POWs?" was
published. This individual spoke to the "staff" at the paper.

Turns out the Napa Sentinel is right on my way to work; never
noticed it before.  Anyway, I stopped in there to see if I could find
some back issues for you.  Let me tell you a bit about it.  It's a
little two-room hole in the wall with two Macs, lots of file cabinets,
fliers and back issues strewn about.  American flags, "Don't Tread On
Me" flags, NRA posters, etc. on the walls.  It is definitely a right
wing fringe gig.  One man/one woman operation.  I struck up a
conversation with the woman while she was digging up the back issues.
Asked her why we have yet to see any POWs after all these reports,
sightings, etc.  She said, amongst other things, "Well you know if they
ever do come back they'll be tried as deserters."  I just didn't know
what to say to this except to assure her that there would be about 3
million Viet Nam vets in the streets in that unlikely event.

I then went in and shot the bull for a few minutes with Harry V. Martin,
the guy who runs the show and who wrote your articles (an ongoing
series, BTW). Nice enough guy.  He's an ex-military type who has
published a lot of military/paramilitary rags it seems. Says he has a
lot of military contacts.  Kept showing me Senate reports, etc. which
supposedly proved things.  I asked him why on earth he was the *only*
one who knows about and has reported this incredible story. He told me
that it was all public record but that the rest of the press is just
too lazy to dig it out.  Told me that Watergate wasn't dug out by
investigative reporters but was handed to them on a silver platter by
someone I can't remember.  He also told me about the second Iran hostage
rescue mission that had been planned after the Desert One fiasco.  It
was supposedly a major unit size military operation that was all ready
to go but was aborted at the eleventh hour when three Russian divisions
were discovered on the other side of the Iranian border (Those sneaky
Russkies just slipped three divisions in there undetected!).  This story
was also in some Senate hearing report that was just there for the
taking.  I again expressed my utter dismay that there wasn't, somewhere,
some aggressive cub reporter that didn't catch this most incredible
story.  He said that his reports have been ignored for years and that
when the POWs did come back, the fact that he's been saying so will
surely be ignored as well.

Are you getting the idea, Danny? I haven't fabricated or embellished
any of this.  It was a rather interesting encounter which I thought was
going to be a waste of time.  Thanks for turning me on to this rare form
of entertainment.  Anyway, what I have are printed copies of Parts 1-3
and the March 24 copy of the actual "newspaper" which contains Part 3.
If you want this stuff, shoot me a mailing address and I'll get it to
you.  BTW, what is your interest in this, if I may ask?  I can't imagine
that too many Canucks are too worked up over this.  I used to have a very
*personal* interest in it but over the years have come to accept it for
what it obviously now is.
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