European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 28, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday october 28, 1992 commentary the stars and stripes b Page 13 finally truth May be near on Vietnam s mias the mystery of what happened tothe american prisoners who did t come Home after the Vietnam War has never been a front Burner Issue in this country. That s strange in t it when you re member How in 1971 and 1972 when the peace accords were being negotiated our government led us to believe in language reserved for the noblest of heroes that ending the torture and bringing Home the prisoners were Washington s first Priori , nearly 600 did come Home All in 1973 but Mildreds More who were believed alive did not. We have never received a full accounting neither from the government in Hanoi nor from its proteges in Laos. Nor sadly from the White House nor the defense depart ment nor any of the intelligence our Side for 20 years files have been destroyed witnesses have been intimidated and information has been sup see once the executive Branch decided that it was too difficult to get themen Back or it would Cost us crucial bar gaining leverage needed for cold War geopolitical concerns that were regarded As More Well important then As Tim passed it became More and More difficult and embarrassing and shaming to admit that men were indeed kept behind by Hanoi and left behind by us. They were in a sense sacrificed to what our leadership decided was a greater cause. Is this so different you might ask from All the wars since the beginning of time have not soldiers always been asked to sacrifice themselves for their tribes their religions their nation states have not some always been left behind and Unac counted for when wars have ended yes surely. But 1 think the explanation for Why this time was different is that this time the Public knew about it. It was t secret held Only in High places. This was the firs big american War that had happened in the age of the communications explosion so it was on television. An the print press was there up close too writing for example about the secret Clawar in Laos. Thus when Sidney h. Schanberg the Vietnam peace accords were signed in Paris in january 1973, there were Sto Ries saying that the prisoner lists were in Complete that Many men were being hid Den from us perhaps As bargaining stories said that most of these men were held in Laos. But the stories soon faded from sigh because most of America wanted desperately to forget Vietnam. For a society that has never taught its Young the Art of losing it was the ultimate bad dream a misguided War that America lost. So to avoid pain we fuzzed Over our memories and through All of five presidencies we let the White House and it minions keep the secret almost out of a would have been completely out of sight except for the families of the missing men. They did t buy the secret. At first they had believed the govern ment s assurances that everything was being done to locate any men still alive and to get a full accounting from the communists about those who were Over the years it became obvious to the families that information was being withheld from them reconnaissance sightings of possible prisoners satellite photos of sos Type markings on the ground potential live sightings by asian son the scene who later emerged As Refu gees and gave depositions. Frustrated but determined the families and some veterans groups have kept the Story from being totally buried. On byproduct is a special Senate committee that has been investigating the pow Mia Issue for a year. Much fresh information has emerged All pointing to two decades of cover up. Some members of the committee including vice chairman Robert c. Smith r-n.h., a Vietnam Veteran say they be Lieve it s possible that some men May still be alive probably in Laos. Others on the committee seem More inclined to soften the edges and play Down the More startling disclosures perhaps out of a fear that to disclose everything in the files would cause too destructive an Earth quake in the Washington government machine. It s fair to say that a lot of Ca Reers Are probably at stake. The Smith group wants to keep digging until the last Stone is turned. This digging has to continue if give the amount of official disinformation we be been fed through the years we Are Ever going to be Able to distinguish be tween smoke and substance. For instance last week after Little noticed vietnamese american discussions in Hawaii and then Washington a High level . Delegation left for Hanoi on pow Mia business. Something More than cosmetic seemed afoot since the delegation included key officials from the defense department the state depart ment and the National Security Council. The Hanoi talks were held Over the weekend and the closing communique declared that major Progress had Bee made. The vietnamese for the first time said they were giving Washington Access to their prisoner archives. Laos the heart of the mystery was not mentioned. What docs this mean is it Progress Oris it instead a deft prelude to announcing Down the line that All the men have been accounted for by Hanoi and they Are All dead we need the truth not communique s. C now Day Clinton allies have Topsy Turvy View on Vietnam Harry g. Summers upside Down said my 2-year-old grandson this week surprising everyone with such a Complex phrase for one so Young. I could Only surmise that his parents had failed to properly shield his impressionable min from the Baleful effects of the Campaign rhetoric now dominating the news. What else but upside Down would a child make of those now defending Bill Clinton s draft evasion who evoke the example of the Post world War ii Nurnberg War trials in Ger Many to justify his actions just As those who opposed nazis had a moral duty to avoid serv ice in Hitler s army they say soc Linton and his compatriots had a moral duty to avoid serving in the Vietnam War. Not Only does that argument by Extension smear every american military Veteran of the War As the equivalent of a nazi storm trooper while putting the draft dodgers on the Side of the Angels it also turns truth upside Down. Nurnberg codified the fact Long part of Ameri can military Law that obeying orders is no defens against carrying out criminal acts since orders to do so Are themselves illegal and must not be obeyed. The Vietnam War May Well have been ill advised mismanaged and incompetently conducted but Vietnam Era anti War rhetoric notwithstanding the one thing it was not was illegal. Under the authority granted by article ii of the Constitution to serve As com Mander in chief of the armed forces five duly . Presidents beginning with president Truman in 1950 and continuing with Eisenhower Kennedy John son and Nixon ordered american servicemen and women into Vietnam. And beginning with the 82nd Congress in 1950 an continuing through the 93rd Congress in 1972, 12 successive congresses of the United states the representatives of the people duly elected acting under the authority of article i of the Constitution validated and legitimized those the selective service act the Congress which has sole Power to raise armies also legislated the draft that brought Young american men into involuntary Mil itary service. While they did not formally declare War for some 23 years congressional representatives consistently appropriated the Money necessary to organize train Supply arms and provision these Young men and women and Send them into combat. By cutting off the funds Congress could have ended the Vietnam War at any time of its choosing. But As Long As american Menand women were directly involved in combat in Viet Nam they chose not to do so. The Hunt Forbes in october file of Ftp puce by fl00�kt the torpedo. Pipettes by ij3h Republican and at no time during the War did the supreme court of the United states Ever find any of these governmental actions illegal. What the courts did find Ille Gal was for soldiers to surrender to the urgings of the anti War movement and refuse to obey their orders Togo to Vietnam. Not Only were such acts illegal they were unwise As Well for when the military begins to choose which orders of their civilian superiors they will obey the country ceases to be a , Legal arguments aside was american involve ment in Vietnam immoral nonetheless to Clinton an others in 1969, the answer seemed obvious. But if Clin ton were to return to Moscow today and ask the aver age russian on the Street who was More like the fascists during the Vietnam War the americans or the North vietnamese communists he would find How far the conventional Wisdom has is now publicly condemned especially by those in the former soviet Union and easter Europe now freed from its Rule As far More cruel far More deadly than fascism Ever was. As journalists Stan Ley Karnow and Morley safer themselves highly critical of the War found on their postwar trips to Vietnam even former vietnamese communists share in that condemnation. Only Here in America do former anti War activists cling to their illusions Long after most of the world has seen that those notions have been overtaken by events. Young Post Vietnam americans see that As Well. Dur ing a lecture to College students on the War a former anti War activist said the reason he opposed the War was to bring our boys Home when you were spitting at them and throwing rocks a them and calling them baby killers asked a student was that just your Way of saying glad to see you " most americans can forgive those who opposed the War in Vietnam even those As Abbie Hoffman once complained who were motivated primarily by their own self interest. What they cannot abide Are those desp Teall the evidence who continue to turn the truth upside Down. C los Angeles times
