June 5, 1997 The Honorable Susan Molinari Member, U .S. House ...

APPENDIX IVWANTED :INFORMATION ON MIA/POWJoint operations are being conducted in Korea to recoverthe remains of Americans who died during the Korean War .The Pentagon has requested that any one with informationas to grave sites or crash sites in North Korea or anywhereelse to forward such information to one of the agencies listedabove .It is suggested that the primary next of kin or relativeof a service member who has been un-accounted for to contact :Department of DefenseArmed Forces Institute of Pathology6825 16th Street, NW - Bldg . 54Walter Reed Army Medical CenterWashington, DC 20306-6000That address houses the Armed Forces DNA IdentificationRegistry Attn : James J . Canick, Administrator, Washington, DC20306-6000 Call : (202) 576-3287/3288/3232Forensic investigation is conducted at the Armed ForcesDNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL), Rockville, Maryland,and Department of the Army, Central Identification Laboratory,Hawaii, 310 Worchester Ave ., Hickham AFB, Hawaii 96853-5530 .Hopefully, the efforts in North Korea will be moreproductive than past efforts to recover remains in the formerUSSR .If the remains-recovery program in North Korea is anythinglike the one in Vietnam, it may be a costly operation .According to the San Jose Mercury News :"More than one-third of the $11 .2 millionspent last year by DoD in the Vietnam MIAprogram could not be accounted for ."Over a period of four years, the U .S . has spent $33 .6million in its remains-recovery operations in Vietnam .In a story in the Washington Post on June 26, 1996, MikeBenge, a former POW held for five and one-half years in Laoshad this to say about the remains-recovery program to beginin North Korea :"At the rate of $600,000 paid for each ofthe five sets of remains returned to date,this could amount to a $5 billion surreptitiousforeign-aid program for what should be a purelyhumanitarian effort ."PLEASE PASS ALONG THIS INFORMATION ; IT'S BEEN TOO MANYYEARS NOW AND IN TOO MANY INSTANCES THE FAMILIES OF OUR POW/MIAHAVE BEEN HANDED BITTER DISAPPOINTMENTS, BUT THERE'S ALWAYSHOPE . . . THERE'S ONE THING WE CAN REJOICE ABOUT, OUR LOST BUDDIESARE IN GOD'S CARE ; KEEPING THIS IN MIND, THE MACHINATIONS OFSECULAR MAN SEEM TRIVIAL .