                                                            [wahr0922.txt]
                        NEW EVENTS RAISE HOPE FOR MIAS
                             THE HERALD 09/22/91
                                  Jim Kelton

   SEATAC, Wa.    Richard Keeton, chairman of the Washington State POW/MIA
   Concerned Citizens Association, is convinced that prospects have never
   been better for a resolution of the long-standing and intensely
   emotional issue of America's missing servicemen.

   "This is the best it's ever been," he said Saturday during a lull in the
   dedication of a POW/MIA "Living Memorial Plaza" to be built in honor of
   unaccoundted-for men at Washington Memorial Cemetery.

   "This time, we think everything is ready to open up," Keeton continued.
   "We expect a live POW or MIA to come out of Southeast Asia at any time
   now."

   Keeton was one of the many prominent figures at a ground- breaking at
   the cemetery. Others on hand included U.S. Reps. John Miller and Jim
   McDermott, state Senator Leo Thorsness (a former Vietnam POW and Medal
   of Honor winner), plus members of the families of dozens of GIs still
   missing from both world wars, the Korean War and the Cold War as well as
   the war in Southeast Asia and Operation Desert Storm.

   The POW/MIA issue has been gaining momentum rapidly since the widespread
   publication this summer of a photo that many believe shows three aging
   prisoners of war who were captured during the Vietnam conflict.

   Families of servicemen who are described by the federal government as
   missing in action have objected vigorously for years to the government's
   attitude about the matter. They feel that most of those officials
   handling POW/MIA information are at best unresponsive and at worst
   completely cynical about the fates of the missing.

   Their fears have been fueled by constant reports of live sightings of
   Americans throughout Southeast Asia. There also is substantial evidence
   of Americans still alive and being held hostage in North Korea, China
   and the Soviet Union.

   In short, the government's almost total silence in the face of
   legitimate concerns is highly frustrating for families of missing men
   and it suggests an even graver issue: a massive interagency federal
   coverup of nearly century-long proportions.

   The coverup charge stems from even Congress' difficulty in obtaining any
   information on any of the missing men. Almost every bit of data relating
   to POWs or MIAs is classified Top Secret.

   However, a Senate select committee is scheduled to begin POW/MIA
   hearings soon and Keeton, for one, believes that that will lift the veil
   of secrecy surrounding the files.

   "I think they (the committee members) will demand the files," Keeton
   said.

   Meanwhile, Rep. Miller is pushing a measure known as the Truth Bill (a
   security-loosening act) through Congress and he is encouraged by its
   increasiing support. Miller spoke briefly at the cemetery dedication and
   later at the nearby Wyndham Garden Hotel.

   "I'm really guardedly optimistic today," Miller said at the breezy
   cemetery dedication. "I believe that in the coming year we are in a
   position to learn more about this issue than we have in the past 20
   years."

   Later at the hotel seminar, Miller announced that he had received
   written verification from President Bush that Bush had raised the issue
   of POWs in the Soviet Union with Mikhael Gorbachev at the U.S.-Soviet
   summit in July.

   The official policy of Bush's administration previously has been that no
   POWs were known to be alive anywhere, much less being held in the Soviet
   Union.

   Mark Sauter, a reporter for a Seattle television station and moderator
   of the seminar, added, with Miller's acknowledgement, that there is
   compelling evidence of Soviet archives detailing the history of every
   prisoner's confinement in the Soviet Union. Moreover, other nations,
   including Japan, have recently been given limited access to the
   archives, according to both Sauter and Miller.

   All of these developments came one day after a candlelight vigil was
   held in Olympia, a vigil starting at noon Friday that signified the
   passing of National Recognition Day of MIAs and POWs.

   The POW/MIA Living Memorial Plaza dedicated Saturday is the first
   repository for POW/MIA bracelets that have been damaged or replaced or
   of former POWs or MIAs who have returned. It was donated by Edward Wahl,
   president of Bonney-Watson and Washington Memorial Cemetery.

   The ceremony, with its spitpolished honor guards and grieving family
   members, brought an outpouring of tears and comforting words.

   Ann Holland, whose husband disappeared from a radar station in Laos more
   than 20 years ago, spoke for the families of the missing.

   "They are the living casualties of the Vietnam War and this is a
   memorial for them," she said.

   State Senator Leo Thorsness spoke of his ordeal as a prisoner in Vietnam
   and added:

   "It hurts to say that even great nations make mistakes."

   At the hotel discussion, Thorsness was asked if he had any doubts that
   prisoners were still being held in Southeast Asia or anywhere else.

   "No," he replied. "When I was released in 1973 there were two Frenchmen
   released with me who were captured in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu so there was
   a precedent for keeping prisoners."

                   [distributed through the P.O.W. NETWORK]
