European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 15, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pago 12 the of ars and stripes world monday november is 1099 Mia team sifts the grime of time. I -.-. -. Americans dig in Vietnam for signs of someone s son by George Esperte. Associated press d1nh Trung Vietnam Steve Dell is cramped into a tiny Gray site hunched Over on his hands and Knees his body smeared with the dirt and sweat of Vietnam. He is army a 34-year-old sergeant first class from Beaverton Mich. By the time he came aboard the Vietnam War had ended. But he is Here now on another Mission nearly 20 years later. His Only weapons could pass for the toys of children aying in the dirt a Small trowel and a hand Rake e is digging furiously with them and scooping the dirt into a Dustpan. It is emptied into a sifting screen for slivers of human remains or a piece of hair or fragment of a uniform. An american Pilot shot Down in the War is said to reburied in the duh Trung Village cemetery where the children play the Rice grows and the water Buffalo roam. The Pilot was somebody s son perhaps somebody husband or father or brother. Loved ones wait in the United states for word that will ease their grief for that final return Home from Halfway across the world and an end to the uncertainty that has imprisoned them. Deil and the other nine men of a team who search for americans missing in action arc out to find that Pilot. Here in the Field is the reality of the 2,248 american Stilt missing in action and the difficulties and frustrations Mia search teams such As Dell s encounter. Back Home and in Washington the Issue has become political and understandably emotional. Pow Mia activists have successfully lobbied president Clin ton not to heed Vietnam s plea for reconciliation and a lifting of the . Trade embargo until the mias Are accounted for. L the enemies of americans in Vietnam today arc no the cannons of War. Instead they Are time geography weather the deaths of witnesses and the occasional reluctance of those still living to come Forward. And Many of those who do Are in their 70s, their memories dulled by time. The first american Pilot was shot Down nearly 30years ago. The Pilot Dell s group is searching for was shot Down in 1966 in this area 75 Miles Northwest of Hanoi. The Mia team declined to disclose his name saying his family must be notified first of the outcome. At the prodding of capt. Jim Campbell the 31-year-old team Leader from Greenville n.c., seven Vietnam Ese men came Forward. At first he was told there we Reno living witnesses. Then one Man Nguyen Van Toa said he actually buried the american after he died at the Hospital where Toa worked. Toa is 73 he remembered the month december but could not remember the exact year. It was sometime Between 1967 and 1969, he  other men did not actually see the burial but were a team marches cemetery in Dinh Tui Al in 19661, ton left Are anthropologist Elliott Moore army capt Jim Campbell and air Force master sgt Day West. Told about it. Campbell interviewed each Man through vietnamese and american translators one of them a member of his team Navy Petty officer 2nd class Eric Frandsen 26,of Lansing Mich. He was probing and patient. Did they actually see the burial is there anyone else alive who witnessed it How deep was the grave what month what year the time of Day what was he wearing Why this or that spot How do you remember it was right Here landmarks which direction was the Man buried in was his head East or West on the basis of their testimony the american formed what they called skirmish lines spreading across the cemetery at intervals of two Arm lengths an walking straight ahead their Heads lowered. They were looking for unusual formations in the soil of the 80-acre cemetery a depression or a Rise that might indicate a grave big enough to hold an  vietnamese generally Are much smaller. We re looking for something that does t quite fit Campbell said. It helps narrow the  probably time is the biggest Factor Campbell  s been a Long time and Sites change. Trees May grow where they weren t at the  seven accounts. Seven different stories. But the americans unearthed each site the vietnamese led them to. They dug for three Days with picks and shovels and with More delicate trowels and nand rakes when they thought they might be near remains until their hands were blistered. They relieved each other. During a lunch break of tuna and sardine sandwiches the youngest of the group army pfc. James Williams 20, of Denver relaxed listening to rap Singer scar face s the world is sgt 1st class Steve Dell in Hole Confer with other Mia searchers from left anthropologist Elliott Moore sgt fist class Frank to gland capt Jim Campbell Ana sgt 1st class Lee Rose. Yours on his compact disc player. It s kind of monotonous out Here he said. You get tired. We be been digging for the past 28 Days and your body gets worn out. Will As the others Call him was just a toddler when the Vietnam War ended in 1975. My dad was Over Here he said. I remember som of the stories he told me about his friends who died. So i figure i m Over Here to help my country. I figure it the right thing to  autumn Sale Sigril publicity on downed plane i worried soviets files show monday wednesday 15-17 november 2 5 % o f f hardcovers except already discounted bestsellers & Sale items. 8o% off selected titles Only at the Fliege Horst Bookstore Moscow a a newly published document shows that immediately after korean air lines flight 007 was shot Down killing 269 people. Soviet leaders did not question the order to shoot but worried Matthei bookstores when the communist party s ruling Polit buro members met sept. 2, 1983, the Day after the plane crossed into soviet airspace and was shot Down they were mainly concerned with How to present the disaster to the world. The minutes of the meeting recently de classified and published thursday by the newspaper Rossinskaya gazeta quote for eign minister Andrei a. Gromyko As telling his colleagues it would be impossible to deny the shooting. In the absence of a Clear soviet statement the imperialist propaganda might present the matter As a deliberate attack on a peace Ful plane Gromyko warned. We must. Of. First of All say firmly that we acted lawfully and that the shots were made he urged. He objected to the expression shot Down As too Strong. Soviet and russian officials have adamantly defended Downing the Boeing 747, which strayed 300 Miles nto soviet airspace and for Yean insisted it was an american spy plane. Flight data records and other materials were released Only last year. At the politburo meeting defense min ister Dmitri f. Ustinov reported that the korean plane flying Over soviet military bases without any lights had been mistaken for an american rc-135 reconnaissance plane because of its shape. The 15 politburo members spent sometime discussing How much the world knew or could discover. No one questioned the order to shoot. There was some debate Over whether the truth should be released at once or i measured doses. The members eventually decided to leave the final word to soviet Leader Yuri v. Andropov who was too ill to attend