European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 5, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Top secret National Security Agency in late 1977 and Early 1978 when it picked up Airport radio transmissions from Hanoi on the transport of at least 22 americans with special signals intelligence skills to the soviet Union Quot for every Rule that says you must t talk there Are 150 that say you must Quot Minarcin told the associated press in explaining Why he was now coming Forward. A a we lived in Ivory towers for a Long time and believed people who said Don t worry about this we re working on those disposed toward cover up theories cite Vietnam s alleged decision to withhold prisoners after Washington failed to pay $4 billion in Aid promised by Secretary of state Henry Kissinger in 1973, the Cia s desire to conceal secret military operations in Laos or an obsession with Security related to possible Rescue operations. But Ann Mills Griffiths executive director of the National league of families of Ani Encan prisoners and Missig in Southeast Asia says she does Mot believe the United states is capable of a conspiracy or cover up. Quot. Her organization which works closely with the Pentagon contends there Are americans being held prisoner but she stresses that Vietnam not the United states is responsible for their tragic situation. Former Navy capt. Eugene Quot red 1 Mcdaniel a prisoner of War in North Vietnam for six years said Vietnam s desperate need for . Trade and technology and pressure for action from such sources As the Senate select committee could mean Quot Well be seeing prisoners come out of the Jungle this he estimated there May be hundreds of americans still alive in Indochina. One Mcdaniel says is navigator Kelly Patterson his companion when they were shot Down 24 years ago. The Pentagon is taking seriously the possibility that the photo on the right could be army capt Donald Carr left who was lost Over Laos in 1971 at the age of 23. Mass. Sen. John Kerry left Heads a Senate committee that will try to determine whether photos like the one above really depict american mias. Danang revisited turning the former . Stronghold into a tourist United press International Danang the scene of mass panic in the final Days of the Vietnam War and since deadened by years of socialist economics is starting to revive. The City Vietnam a third largest is blessed with Miles of Lovely beaches nearby mountains and a pleasant River. It also boasts a huge .-built Airport a one of the country s Best. The Airport where South vietnamese troops punched and kicked their Way through crowds of women and children to Board the last american flight from the besieged town in 1975, is nearly deserted. Only rows and rows of empty Concrete warplane shelters remind that this was once one of the busiest air bases in the War. But the old terminal is being fixed up and a Well stocked tourist shop has opened. Quot now we want to take advantage of the excellent Airport to make Danang into an International tourist destination said Nguyen Binh an Deputy governor of Quang Nam Danang province an said the province soon hoped to Issue tourist visas on arrival helping to reduce the isolation that has plagued efforts to develop Central Vietnam. Quot last year we received Only 20,000 foreign visitors but Many foreign companies say they Are ready to build More hotels once the . Embargo is lifted Quot he said. In the meantime the government particularly the military and the communist party has begun to renovate hotels in the province. The military run Bach Dang hotel overlooking the pretty Danang riverfront has been renovated and already is undergoing expansion. Interestingly the staunchest advocates of communist ideological purity have been among the first to seize the Chance to make Money under the new free Market policies. With Little budget available from the nearly empty Treasury the party and military Are forced to use their own initiative to make Money for salaries and benefits. During a recent visit the largest group of guests at the Bach Dang was a team of . Military experts searching for clues to the fates of the americans still missing in Vietnam. Cooperation has improved remarkably despite the lingering distrust and misunderstanding Between the two countries. The americans Many of them fluent vietnamese speakers sift through vietnamese military records and Memorabilia question former vietnamese officials and excavate the Sites where . Planes crashed. Quot we vietnamese and americans Are learning to Trust each other Quot said Ngo Hoang Deputy director of Vietnam s office for seeking missing persons. But there still is distrust Between the vietnamese who found themselves on the opposite sides in the War. Quot Frankie Quot who says he is a former South vietnamese Soldier crippled in the invasion of Laos lashes out quietly and bitterly against the northerners who now run Danang those bastards they no Good they steal everything says the painfully thin Veteran at the end of a Long conversation Frankie wheedle a donation for he Purchase of a new artificial leg due to arrive the next Day but hotel employees say he has been collecting Money from soft hearted americans to buy that same new leg for years most vietnamese seem to want to forget the War a few hours North of Danang is the old Imperial capital of Hue. The Royal Palace and Citadel were the focus of the fiercest lighting of the 1968 tet offensive it took weeks of bitter Street fighting to defeat the vietnamese communist forces at Hue but now vietnamese prefer to see the colourful Palace with its dozens of Ceramic encrusted buildings As a Symbol of the time when the vietnamese people were United under the Nguyen dynasty after a Long civil War there also is a return to traditional vietnamese ceremonies and dress. The drab Quot communist look of the recent past has Given Way to padded silk and brocades at least among the older set teen agers Don eans and colourful to shirts. New restaurants a nightclub and a booming Central Market have sprung up in Danang on weekends thousands of teen agers wheel their motorcycles and bicycles slowly Down along the River in a steady Stream the object is to see friends and be seen frequently couples Park in the shadows for a Little Public necking the new private Enterprise policies have sparked a construction Boom with extra income from Small businesses and bettor prices for farm produce Many people Are blowing their savings into new Homes or renovating their old Homes now that the Law provides More Protection for private property. Despite endless slogans about Quot socialist construction Quot vietnamese saw very Little construction under the old ideology now with private initiative the rebuilding has begun saturday october 5, 1991 the stars and stripes b Page 15
