Thursday, March 21, 2013
Leave No Man Behind
This is a link sent to me by a friend of mine to a lengthy but fascinating bit of reporting by Sidney Schanberg on what he claims has been a longstanding government cover-up regarding the existence of a substantial number of POW's from the Vietnam War that were believed to be alive in Laos and Vietnam at least into the late 1980's. The link is here. I haven't investigated further into the issue, and have not read articles presenting the counterview, so I am linking to it with serious caveats. That being said, it is a compelling read if you are interested in the subject, and if Schanberg is to be believed, from the Nixon administration on, there seems to have been a concerted effort by those in power to bury this evidence. Interestingly, he really goes after John McCain (whom I have admired a great deal) as one of the main culprits. Anyway, fascinating reading, and I'm curious on your thoughts or if any of my dear readers have read anything else on this subject.
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It is interesting. Shanberg was let go from the NY Times after his success after the "Killing Fields" movie came out and was relegated to minor local papers in the New York area. Not sure why. He seems cogent and not a nut, and won a Pulitzer after all. The book an "Enormous Crime" documents the evidence supporting POWS existing in Laos and VN until at least the early 90s.
For more see that book Enormous Crime, the movie Uncommon Valor, see the documentary about Mickinley Nolan, a fascinating journey into the search for a deserter from Texas who may have been killed in the Killing Fields of Cambodia.
My feeling is that there were some still alive at least in Laos in the early 80s, and probably some until early 90s. I would imagine the Communists killed them before the US opened diplomatic relations in 95 in order to avoid embarrassment
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