March 1994 field investigation (JFA 94-4L)

and

December 1994 field investigation (JFA 95-2L)  Photos

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The JTF-FA and CILHI members of the JFA 95-2L team were away from their families through the entire holiday season from 12 December 1994 and 1 January 1995.

April 2002

VFW Senior Vice Commander-in-Chief Ray Sisk traveled to Southeast Asia.  His delegation, which included VFW Junior Vice Commander-in-Chief Ed Banas, Washington Office Executive Director Bob Wallace and POW/MIA chairman Billy Ray Cameron, visited Laos and Thailand, as well as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.  The official purpose of the trip was to assess the accounting of U.S. POWs/MIAs lost during the Vietnam War - a mandate of VFW res. 453.

Sisk said that while he was in Thailand, he was briefed of JTF-FA's mission.  Cooperation with Cambodia is "Very Good," he reported.

"Our personnel are able to do whatever is necessary to fulfill their mission with the full cooperation of the government," he said.

After visiting Laos, however, Sisk says cooperation there is proportional to the amount of U.S. Funding.

"The Laotian government can do more to assist in the POW/MIA issue," Sisk said.  "Laos is a very poor isolated country with old leaders who do not embrace change.  They want the United States to pay for everything and because of the political landscape, we must negotiate every issue concerning POW/MIA matters. The war is still very much an issue with some of the older members of the government and this can hinder the process."

Cooperation in Vietnam, he says, is better than Laos. {Source: VFW Magazine August 2002}

July 31, 2002

They investigated the case on the last JFA (Joint Field Activity), but the Lao would not permit the trilateral investigation of the case with Mr. X* or an investigation on the mountain or at any villages in the area, so basically they just talked to a few witnesses in Xam Nua and Vientiane who provided no new information. We are going to ask them at our next talks in three weeks when they will allow us on the mountain again. Mr. X* has not changed his story significantly, just as to what unit was there after the battle. 

*(Mr. X) sources have indicated recently that a survivor of the attacking force has been found who has shown a fair recollection of what happened. Negotiations are ongoing to make this individual available for interrogation.