European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 31, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse A amp Page 28 the stars and stripes monday december 31, 1900soviets held secrecy shrouds Wii Korea cases Washington Uit the evidence from recently declassified . Government documents is Clear and compelling there were american military prisoners held in the soviet Union after world War ii and the korean War. One such document from . Army Europe Headquarters in Heidelberg in 1954, recounts the testimony of a returned German prisoner of War. He described a Man identified As maj. William Thompson of Sofri Antonio an air Force officer who told the German that he had been arrested by the soviets in 1144 after a forced Landing in Germany. Thompsons family was told in 1946 that he was declared dead. However the German informant described in the document As a intelligent and cooperative a reported seeing and talking to Thompson in a prison Camp in the Early 195.0s. Another document with the names deleted describes two . Army Comman Dos and an army lieutenant who were captured in the korean War and gave their names to other prisoners in the Camps where they worked in the 1950s. The other prisoners either poles or germans gave the information to it i the . Government. There it stopped with the state department and Pentagon citing National Security and refusing to put the information out even to the families involved on the grounds that it contained classified information. 1 that infuriates rep John Miller r-wash., and the National Alliance of families made up of pow so relatives. A a in a sceptical that anything from world War ii and the korean War could Compromise . National Security now a Miller said in an interview. He has introduced a Bill in Congress requiring the . Government to in Ami lies of military members listed As missing or kilted in action nto look at their files the Bill did not make it to the floor in the last session. A we ran out of time a Miller said a but we re going to re introduce it in the next in the meantime he has written president Bush and Secretary of state James Baker asking them to raise the Issue of the american pos with the soviets at the scheduled mid february Summit in Moscow. A Miller who has seen some of the information still classified said a there is substantial evidence in the 1950s and �?T60s a from . Government documents a that there were american prisoners in the soviet he said that is not necessarily grounds for believing those americans arc still alive. The reasons for americans being in the soviet Camps were sometimes not easily explainable. But the first Batch of american pos in the soviet Union apparently resulted from the fact that in the final Days of world War ii . And soviet forces both overran. German Camps housing Allied pos. The general agreement Between the wartime allies was that prisoners in those liberated German Camps would be returned to their countries of origin. However . Authorities held Back some soviet prisoners who knew they would be executed by dictator Josef Stalin if they were returned. In retaliation Stalin held Back some american prisoners taken from the German Camps. In addition some americans reported to be alive in soviet Camps in the late 1940s said they were kidnapped off streets in Germany by soviet authorities and never knew Why they were picked out. What is less Clear and clouded by continuing classification of documents is Why the United states did not make the pos a major Issue. One explanation by a former administration official stems from tension within i the . Government with the state department pushing for an accounting and a the defense department opposing it because it would blur the . Military Moli by of protecting its own. J a it was easier to classify it a the former official said in the korean War some americans with special skills such As intelligence or electronics were seen in soviet Camps. Some were officially reported to be killed but at least one was later seen by his son As a prisoner of War in a korean propaganda from Page 1 a Bush a comment to time Magazine that he had a a gut feeling Iraq might still withdraw from Kuwait. Iraq will never do so Jassim said. Bush he said a must have been drunk and drunk people usually lose their a the iraqi threat of terrorist attacks against us. And other installations came in the Al thaw a daily which is the mouthpiece of iraqis ruling baath socialist party. A hundreds of thousands of volunteers Are now at the highest state of readiness to fight against the Alliance of evil and aggression a said the newspaper. Iraqis religious affairs minister Abdullah Fadil warned sunday that muslims would retaliate against the United states and its allies if islamic holy shrines were hit in any multinational offensive aimed at driving the iraqis out of Kuwait. forces in saudi Arabia have been on heightened Alert since before president Dan Quayle arrived sunday in saudi Arabia but his staff said there were no plans for him to launch any new diplomatic initiative during the three Day trip. Fie is to visit . Troops and consult with saudi arabians King fahd and the exiled Emir of Kuwait. Flis visit was drawing mixed reactions from desert shield troops. A a a who a Dan Quayle a senior master sgt. Mike Lee Alabama. A a what can he give us ask him about a rotation plan for All of air Force sgt. James Norman 8th Mobile Aerial port so. A a a it a Nice if he can make it. Fie did no to make Vietnam a an air Force enlisted Man who requested that his name not be used. A re Quayle a not serving in Vietnam. A some Guys did some did no to. It does no to really matter a air Force sgt. Ralph Molyneux 435th combat support group a a if he wanted to stay Over Here for a while to work with us that a be Nice. We can use All the help we can get a it. . Joe Stowell Navy nurse aboard the Hospital ship a amps Wilto Deedee Arrington Doko. News briefs Jet hijackers surrender after standoff in Algiers Algiers Algeria apr two alleged army deserters surrendered peacefully sunday after High jacking a Domestic jetliner and holding 88 people hostage during a two Day standoff on an Airport runway algerian officials reported. The pair handed their firearms Over to police shortly after Dawn. Their surrender followed 30 hours of dogged negotiations with algerian authorities in the Eastern City of Annada the official aps news Agency said a the deserters had demanded fuel to Fly to a foreign country possibly Egypt or Libya but their motives had remained a mystery to their captives. Aps identified the pair As deserters from the saharan town of Gharda a. Their Ages were listed As 22 and 23, but their names were not signs order to Aid soviets with food goods _ f a Washington up1 a president Bush signed an executive order saturday allowing Moscow to receive up to $1 billion in . Credit guarantees for food and other agricultural goods. J the action promised by Bush on dec. 12 to infuse the soviet Union with badly needed Aid set in motion the assistance already requested by the soviets a spokesman said. It formally lifts a 15-year-okl ban on such credits and allows the department of agriculture to immediately begin making commodities available. Bush noted that the waiver will apply to the three Baltic republics now struggling for i Tepen i Deuce from the soviet from Page 1. A , Iskra was a Likely candidate to take command. Ships that specialize in her Field Are Small and typically go to lieutenant commanders while other surface ships generally have commanders or captains in charge. Commissioned in 1945, the 213-foot, 2,040-ton opportune Falls a bit Short in the creature con fort category when compared with newer Salvage shins. Its roughly 100-member Crew shares one head or bathroom although us commander Iskra gets her own Cabin and private Bath. The newer salvages such As the grasp which Iskra helped put into commission in 1985, were built with a coed Crew in mind. Besides salvaging sunken vessels and aircraft the opportune assists Navy combat ships. Its equipped to fight rfcs and repair and Rescue Battle damaged ships it Tso tows targets and has a decompression chamber. Title Salvage ships Are classified As non combatants that does not mean they done to operate in combat zones. A we might be asked to Salvage a vessel where we re getting shot at from ashore but hopefully Well have an escort providing Shore bombardment a Iskra said. The challenges ahead for Iskra probably done to seem any larger than what she has already faced. She was one of the first women to Complete the Navy a diving and Salvage school. From there she was assigned to the tender ship Hector cohere she served As diving officer and a division officer. A. A Aback in 1982, when i was getting ready to Transfer there weren to any other ships available so transferred to a Shore facility a Iskra said. A in 1983, they opened the Salvage ships Ana some other auxiliary ships to women i had to stomp in Fli Psi tire of Iii Furmil it inf rink to fit desk and a j on my Cie Tailer a assignment specialists a a i want a ship a because i knew if i did no to terminate Shore duty and go Back to sea i was never going to be where i am now.�?�, her retailers have been More understanding about assigning Iskra to the same Home port As her husband of 10 years it cmdr. Marc a Thomas who is commander of special boat unit 24 at Little Creek naval amphibious base in the Norfolk va., area Norfolk is also of por Tuncy a Home from Page 1 away with the concept of annual to limes after taking Over from former Secretary John Marsh. Marsh Egan the practice in 1981 As a was of boosting morale by emphasizing positive aspects of the service. Here Are some of the entries that the Money but had our judges a All with actual army experience mind you a debating Well into the night �?o1990. The army year of worldwide complimentary travel with free desert Nice we thought but a bit Long for posters and matchbook covers. A Emres Are Finger Licking enough about res already a we get Down and dirty a so do kindergarteners a year of some of a the staff really liked this on -1a be All Dugan an extremely witty reference to the fired Gen. Michael Dugan. Too bad he a air Force a a 1990 whereas the theme a too cute a see a you wont be because they done to need you in the obviously from someone making new career plans j there were Many Mote som serious and some not so serious. We appreciate them All. And if tries to get through 1991 without a hereto Boot morale stars and stripes May just try try Correct this grievous oversight once again. So get that Garfield stationery ready
