European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 15, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday january 15, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 9no clues found on pow in Kazakhstan Washington up . Officials have found no evidence that an american airman shot Down during the Vietnam War 24 years ago is living in the former soviet Republic of Kazakhstan a . Official said monday. The . Embassy in Moscow dispatched two investigators to Alma Ata Kazakhstan a capital where they spent Jan. 8-11 probing a report that an unidentified . Prisoner of War was living there. A your two officials met with senior kazakh political Security and military officials in Alma Ata As Well As local residents and officials including Kab and military officials a state department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said. A none of these persons could provide any information to support these recent allegations concerning american pos in the Region and All denied any knowledge of any americans having lived or been detained in this the Story first surfaced last november when a weekly russian newspaper reported that the airman had been brought to Kazakhstan in 1967. The Story a author subsequently told . Officials that the English translation of his Story was poor and that the original russian version did not suggest the american was still living in the area. Nevertheless the information was sufficient to launch a . Investigation into the matter. Tutwiler said the two . Officials received full cooperation from kazakh authorities. Indeed when Secretary of state James a. Baker Iii visited Alma Ata last month he was assured by Kazakhstan a Leader that even restricted areas would be opened for the . Investigators. Asked whether the United states now considers the Case closed Tutwiler said that it was a was far As we re concerned unless someone brings Forth something in a related matter . Officials Are investigating information provided by a retired top soviet spy that his agents in Hanoi interrogated american pos years after All Vietnam War Cra prisoners were to have been freed. Maj. Gen. Oleg Kalugin is scheduled to appear before a Senate committee tuesday looking into allegations that Kab agents questioned at least three unidentified americans for a month near Hanoi in 1977. Kalugin does not claim to possess firsthand knowledge of this and the Kab official said to have been involved in the debriefing has denied the Steen at Home teaching journalism Albion Mich. Apr Alann Steen returned to the classroom monday for the first time since he was taken captive in Lebanon and told journalism students that the biggest problem captives faced was being Cut off from the news. A we did get Little sentences of news Here and there and it drove us crazy a the 52-year-old journalism teacher told 11 students in an advanced news writing class at Albion College. A they did no to give us bad leads a he said. A we were basically Able to surmise what was going to happen. I think our biggest problem was not knowing what was going on in the real this semester Steen also will teach photojournalism and advanced expository writing at Albion a Liberal arts school in South Central Michigan. The news writing students in the morning class were outnumbered monday by reporters and television camera Crew members. Steen spent most of the class talking about his requirements for the course. However for the last 10 minutes he told stories about his Captivity. From Jan. 24,1987, until dec. 3 of last year. In an interview last week Steen said he thought a lot about teaching during his five years As a hostage. A i do feel in a More than capable right now at least that show i feel a said Steen who suffered brain damage when his captors kicked him in the head after a failed escape attempt. He takes medication to control seizures and blackouts. A my biggest problem will be adapting to a Michigan Steen said he was a up to his elbows getting ready for his students but appreciated the Small classes at Albion. His expository writing class has just 14 students signed up. A i think the pressure would be a lot less because the number of students in class would be a lot smaller a he will be tapped for mobilization exercise Washington apr about 8,100 members of the army National guard and . Army Reserve will be called up to take part in a a no notice exercise some time during the next three months the army announced monday. The exercise dubbed optimal focus will test the units ability a to activate. During an emergency and to identify problems that might impede their rapid mobilization a the army said. No combat units will participate. The exercise will involve such combat support personnel As military police engineers and transportation and water purification specialists the army said. Army National guard and Reserve units that mobilized for operations desert shield or desert storm or previous optimal focus exercises will not participate in this exercise the army said. The exercise is expected to take less than two weeks. Those notified will be processed for Active duty just As if they were being mobilized. However no one will actually be placed on Active duty the army said. Units will be required to conduct a property inventory and Load their equipment As if they were moving to their mobilization station the army said. Former hostage Alann Steen addresses his journalism class in Albion Mich., on monday. Steen went to Lebanon in 1983 to work on the copy desk at the Beirut daily Star. He taught Public relations at Beirut University College from 1984 until he was kidnapped. Since his release he has lived in nearby Clark Lake with his wife Virginia an Art history teacher at Albion College. Steen and Albion College have Only a one semester agreement. Steen said a brother in Florida and his two daughters in California want him to live near them after he completes the semester. A talk about being torn a he said. A i think that ill be satisfied to stay Here for the Winter and perhaps a Good part of the summer. When its Over i will have to Start looking for another position he said he has been offered at least a temporary position at the american University in Washington but he is wary of the Cost of living in the nations capital. A these things i have to keep in mind a he said. Of Pilot ejects safely before Jet crash Wichita Kan. Up a military Jet crashed struck a Home and exploded monday on the outskirts of Wichita. But the Pilot ejected safely and no injuries on the ground were reported. Sedgwick county sheriffs officials said the wreckage of what was believed to be an f-16 was scattered along Macarthur Road about a mile East of Mcconnell fab. Air Force officials refused immediate comment on whether the plane was an f-16 or whether it was taking off or Landing. The crash occurred about 11 15 . Rick Salee who was driving toward his Home just South of the crash site said the plane looked As if it was coming in for a Normal Landing. A it Wasny to smoking or anything a Salee said. Quot it was just coming Down fast and when it hit it blew Salee said the plane clipped the Corner of a House and then exploded. The crash site was just Southeast of Wichita in a primarily agricultural area with a few scattered housing developments and farmhouses. Members of the 184th tac fighter group of the Kansas air National guard were on the scene and trucks were brought in to haul away the wreckage. Name of vet who died in 1990 to go on Wall North Brookfield mass. A the name of a Vietnam Veteran who died 15 months ago of injuries he suffered in the War will be added to the Vietnam veterans memorial in Washington his Mother said. Pvt. James j. Byszek was paralysed when shrapnel from an american Shell struck him during an ambush on july 11, 1970, two weeks after he arrived in Vietnam. The former hardware store clerk who was 22 when wounded never walked again. He died oct. 18, 1990, of complications from the wound. Last month the Pentagon notified his parents Margaret and Joseph Byszek that their songs name would be chiselled this october into the Black Marble of the memorial Wall that lists almost 60,000 americans killed in the War in Southeast Asia. Margaret Byszek said stacks of medical records and other information had to be forwarded to Washington to prove her son died from wounds received in Vietnam. A the government will not do it automatically she said. A the family has to request
