Text File

APPENDIX 1

Chronology

8/65 International Committee of Red Cross appeals to combatants to observe the Geneva Conventions with respect to the treatment of prisoners of war. United States, South Vietnam (GVN) accept; Vietcong (PRG), Democratic Republic of Vietnam(DRV) reject.

7/21/66 Defense Department issues directive saying that Americans captured in Vietnam should be considered prisoners rather than "detainees"; thereby providing grounds for the US to invoke the Geneva Convention.

5/14/69 President Richard Nixon proposes eight points for ending the war, including the release of all POWs.

8/69 Secret talks begin between President Nixon's National Security Advisor, Dr. Henry Kissinger, and representative of the DRV.

9/3/69 Ho Chi Minh, President of North Vietnam, dies.

5/70 Ambassador William Sullivan testifies before House Foreign Affairs Committee that "Most Americans captured by Communist forces in Laos remain in Laos."

10/7/70 Nixon proposes the immediate, simultaneous, unconditional release by both sides of all POWs in Indochina. Defense Department lists 458 Americans as POWs at the time.

12/70 DRV turns over a list of 339 American POWs to Senator Edward Kennedy.

5/31/71 In secret talks, US proposes POW return upon setting of a date for US withdrawal. Rejected by NVN 6/26/71.

7/1/71 DRV proposes publicly a 7 point plan in which it agrees to return POWs as part of an overall settlement.

8/16/71 In secret talks, DRV proposes that POW lists be exchanged on the day a peace agreement is signed. US agrees. 10/11/71 In secret talks, US proposes an 8 point plan, promising a total withdrawal from South Vietnam of US forces within six months of an agreement, contingent upon release of all military and civilian prisoners in Indochina that would begin and end simultaneously with the troop withdrawals.

1/72 DRV release 451 letters of POWs held in North Vietnam.

1/25/72 Nixon reveals secret Kissinger-DRV talks. Makes public US proposal of 10/71.

3/72 DRV release 251 POW letters to US journalist Seymour Hersh.

4/23/72 Pathet Lao (LPF) spokesman Soth Petrasy ties discussions on a POW release to a total US bombing halt and claims that US prisoners are detained in secure places inside various caves in northern Laos.

5/8/72 Nixon announces the mining of North Vietnamese ports.

10/8/72 Breakthrough in Kissinger-Le Duc Tho discussions. US agrees to settlement without North Vietnamese withdrawal from South Vietnam; DRV agrees to settlement without immediate resignation of South Vietnamese President Thieu. Agreement virtually complete.

10/20-22/72 Exchange of messages from Nixon to DRV Prime Minister Pham Van Dong regarding "understandings" concerning the release of US POWs in Cambodia and Laos.

10/20-24/72 Draft peace agreement falls apart due to opposition from President Thieu.

10/26/72 Kissinger press conference, "Peace is at hand".

11/20/72 Negotiations resume in Paris.

12/16/72 Kissinger announces deadlock in talks and blames DRV.

12/18-30/72 Christmas bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.

1/8-13/73 Kissinger and Le Duc Tho resume talks and arrive at a draft agreement, including understandings and protocols.

1/21/73 Thieu agrees to settlement.

1/23/73 Paris Peace Accords announced. Nixon states, "Within 60 days from this Saturday, all Americans held prisoner of war throughout Indochina will be released. There will be the fullest possible accounting for all of those who were missing in action."

1/24/73 Kissinger states, "We have been told that no American prisoners are held in Cambodia. American prisoners held in Laos and North Vietnam will be returned to us in Hanoi."

1/26/73 Kissinger tells members of the National League of Families that the peace agreement's "understandings on Laos are absolutely clear concerning POW releases in a time frame similar to that in Vietnam."

1/27/73 Paris Peace Accords signed. Cease-fire goes into effect. A supplementary protocol provides for the release of POWs in roughly equal installments at 15 day intervals during a 60 day period. The DRV/PRG prisoner lists contain 717 names, of which 577 are American (555 military, 22 civilian). The lists do not include any American prisoners held in Laos.

1/29/73 A State Department spokesman states, "We firmly expect - to have a list of POWs to cover Laos." During a meeting of the Washington Special Actions Group (WSAG), representatives of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and DoD express hope for the return of "40 or 41" American POWs from Laos. DIA compiles a list of 87 personnel recorded as POW by DIA yet not on either the dead or alive lists presented to the US by the DRV or PRG.

2/1/73 North Vietnam provides a list (the DRV/Laos list) of 9 Americans (7 military, 2 civilian) and 1 Canadian which is represented as the list of POWs captured in Laos. The DRV receive a secret letter from Nixon dealing with Article 21 of the Paris Accords (reconstruction funding).

2/2/73 Nixon message to DRV labels the DRV/Laos list as "unsatisfactory," since it contains only 9 of 317 American personnel unaccounted for in Laos.

2/3/73 First meeting of the Prisoner of War Subcommission of the Four Party Joint Military Commission (FPJMC) in Saigon.

2/5/73 USAF EC47, with a crew of eight, shot down over Laos. Some intelligence analysts later suggest that four of the crew may have been captured.

2/10-12/73 Kissinger visits Hanoi for talks with DRV leaders. POW and economic aid issues discussed.

2/12/73 First release of American POWs: 116 by DRV, 27 by PRG.

2/14/73 US and DRV announce Joint Economic Commission (JEC) to oversee reconstruction in North Vietnam.

2/17/73 LPF spokesman Soth Petrasy says that the Pathet Lao is holding American POWs who will be released after a cease-fire goes into effect in Laos.

2/21/73 "Agreement on Restoring Peace and Achieving National Concord in Laos" signed between the Pathet Lao and Royal Laotian Government. US ceases bombing Laos. US embassy official John Gunther Dean informed by Soth Petrasy that the Pathet Lao "does hold foreign prisoners, including Americans."

3/13/73 WSAG meeting discusses POWs in Laos. Results in message from Kissinger to DRV asking for an explanation of statements by Soth Petrasy about the presence of additional U.S. POWs in Laos.

3/14-16/73 US sends message regarding POWs in Laos to DRV, but no response is received. China releases 2 US POWs.

3/19/73 DRV representative informs the US that the LPF is responsible for the release of US POWs in Laos and gives no assurances that those on the DRV/Laos list will be released by the deadline of 3/28/73.

3/20/73 Kissinger message to Pham Van Dong protests the inadequacy of the DRV/Laos list and failure of DRV to take its obligations seriously.

3/21/73 DIA memo indicates that the DRV/Laos list does not contain US personnel captured by the LPF, but rather only those captured in Laos by DRV forces. DIA further states LPF should have information on live US POWs beyond those on the DRV/Laos list.

3/22/73 Admiral Thomas Moorer, Commander of JCS, sends cable suspending U.S. troop withdrawal pending receipt of assurances of release for "all, repeat all American prisoners held throughout Indochina."

3/22/73 U.S. Ambassador to Laos, McMurtrie Godley, sends cable advocating two step approach: 1) conditioning U.S. withdrawal on release of prisoners on the DRV/Laos list and 2) follow up on additional POWs in Laos within the framework of the Laos peace agreement.

3/23/73 Admiral Moorer sends cable directing that U.S. withdrawal will be completed contingent on release of prisoners on the DRV/Laos list.

3/26/73 DRV tells US that the LPF will agree to release prisoners on the DRV/Laos list and that the prisoners would be released in Hanoi on March 28.

3/28/73 US POWs on DRV/Laos list released.

3/28/73 Defense Secretary Elliott Richardson sends memo to Kissinger recommending options for obtaining an accounting for U.S. POW/MIAs in Laos.

3/29/73 President Nixon announces "All of our American POWs are on their way home." Last American troops leave Vietnam.

4/1/73 The last POW released through Operation Homecoming, Army Captain Robert White, is released by PRG. A total of 591 Americans return alive during Homecoming.

4/4/73 Four Party Joint Military Team holds first meeting, discusses accounting of 1,328 MIAs and 1,100 as KIA/BNR.

4/5/73 Cable from Ambassador Godley indicates that the U.S. Embassy in Vientiane has become pessimistic about possibility that LPF holds additional U.S. POWs.

4/5/73 U.S. Senate votes 88-3 to bar the use of any previously-appropriated funds to provide economic aid to the DRV.

4/6/73 US Senator Ed Brooke is told by Pathet Lao spokesman Petrasy that no more American prisoners are held by the LPF.

4/12/73 At press conference, Dr. Roger Shields, head of the DOD's POW/MIA Task Force, says "we have no indications at this time that there are any Americans alive in Indochina."

4/16/73 U.S. begins two days of air strikes along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos.

4/19/73 US breaks off talks with DRV concerning economic aid in response to alleged cease-fire violations.

4/25/73 LPF spokesman Soth Petrasy tells the Associated Press that there are no American POWs in Laos.

5/1/73 Secretary of Defense Richardson directs that the DOD's POW/MIA Task Force be phased out.

5/7/73 American civilian pilot Emmet Kay and Hmong intelligence team are shot down and captured by LPF in Laos. Kay is released 9/74.

5/21/73 Brig. General Robert Kingston, Commander of the JCRC, tells the Associated Press that "There is no indication that any Americans listed as missing in action in southeast Asia are still alive."

5/23/73 Le Duc Tho tells Kissinger, regarding American POWs in Laos, that "I have acknowledged to you that all of them have been released."

6/8/73 Acting Secretary of Defense William Clements directs that no changes in status from MIA to POW are to be made without his specific approval.

6/13/73 US and DRV issue joint communique pledging to renew efforts for full implementation of the Paris Accords.

7/29/73 US protests to Vietnam about failure to comply with MIA accounting provisions of the Paris Accords.

8/15/73 US ceases bombing Cambodia. All official US military operations in Indochina ended.

8/17/73 Clements issues memorandum directing service secretaries to proceed with change of status determinations as provided by the law.

9/7/73 Kissinger testifies at hearings on his confirmation as Secretary of State.

9/14/73 Agreement on joint provisional government in Laos is signed.

10/14/73 POW/MIA families meet with Soth Petrasy in Vientiane, but receive no information.

12/15/73 An American is shot and killed by Vietcong forces while investigating a crash site near Saigon.

1/22/74 Rep. Ben Gilman reports being told by Hmong General Pang Pao that "8 to 10 young American pilots were being held by the North Vietnamese..." Gilman also reports that Soth Petrasy has assured him that there are no US prisoners in Laos other than Emmet Kay.

1/28/74 Sieverts tells Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the General Pang Pao report is unsubstantiated.

3/6-13/74 North Vietnam returns the remains of 23 US POWs listed as died in captivity.

3/8/74 Exchange of Vietnamese POWs under Paris Accords completed.

4/5/74 Provisional Government of Laos is formed. Under the terms of the 2/21/73 Laos Cease-Fire Agreement, any US POWs must be released within a 60-day period following the establishment of this government.

4/17/74 DIA memo reviews reports of US POWs being sighted in Southeast Asia following Operation Homecoming.

4/17/74 Cambodian communist guerrilla force, the Khmer Rouge, captures Phnom Penh.

8/9/74 Nixon resigns; Gerald Ford becomes President.

9/74 Emmet Kay is released by the Pathet Lao

4/30/75 Saigon falls to DRV and PRG forces. US institutes trade embargo against all of Vietnam.

6/21/75 North Vietnamese Premier Pham Van Dong sends a letter to 27 US Representatives in which he links U.S. contributions to healing Vietnam's war wounds with information on American MIAs.

8/23/75 Laotian capital of Vientiane falls to the Pathet Lao.

8/29/75 North Vietnam releases 9 American civilians captured earlier in the year in South Vietnam.

12/2/75 Pathet Lao establish Lao People's Democratic Republic.

12/21/75 Remains of 3 US pilots returned in Hanoi following meeting with Members of the House Select Committee on Missing Persons in Southeast Asia (The Montgomery Committee).

7/21/76 Philip Habib, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, testifies that there has been no accounting of the 320 MIAs in Laos by the Pathet Lao or the DRV. Further, Habib notes that the DRV has continually linked the issue of cooperation in accounting for missing Americans to the issue of U.S. reconstruction aid.

7/31/76 Hanoi announces repatriation of 48 Americans stranded in Vietnam after fall of Saigon.

11/12/76 Vietnam and US representatives hold talks in Paris. Talks break down as Vietnam says it cannot implement Article 8 (MIAs) as long as the US refuses to honor Article 21 (reconstruction aid).

11/15/76 US vetoes Vietnamese application for entry into the United Nations.

12/13/76 House Select Committee on Missing Persons in Southeast Asia, the Montgomery Committee, files its report. Major conclusion is that "No Americans are still being held as alive as prisoners in Indochina."

1/20/77 Jimmy Carter is sworn in as President.

2/25/77 President Carter appoints Commission headed by Leonard Woodcock "to seek information on missing U.S. personnel," and to receive and report back on the views of Vietnam and Laos "on matters affecting mutual relations."

3/16/77 Woodcock Commission arrives in southeast Asia for talks with DRV and Lao leaders. Discussions deal primarily with MIAs and reconstruction aid.

3/19/77 Vietnam returns remains of 12 US pilots.

3/24/77 Woodcock Commission reports to the President that "There is no evidence to indicate that any American POWs from the Indochina conflict remain alive."

5/3/77 The U.S. and Vietnam begin two days of talks in Paris. The US proposes mutual and unconditional restoration of diplomatic relations. Vietnam turns the proposal down and insists that it will not normalize relations until US makes good on commitment to provide economic aid.

5/19/77 State Department declassifies 2/1/73 letter from President Nixon to DRV leaders promising reconstruction aid.

5/26/77 Secretary of Defense Harold Brown recommends to President that status reviews of missing US personnel be resumed. The memo expresses pessimism about the possibility that any of the MIAs will be found alive, and argues that continuing Americans in missing status adds to the pressure on the United States to make concessions to Vietnam.

6/2/77 US and DRV begin two days of talks in Paris. No agreements are reached, but the US is given information on the deaths of 20 US pilots during the war.

7/20/77 Vietnam joins the United Nations, US supports the application.

9/77 Vietnam returns 11 sets of remains of MIAs.

8/21/78 A delegation led by U.S. Rep. Sonny Montgomery arrives in Vietnam. Delegation later receives the remains of 11 US pilots.

3/79 Marine private Robert Garwood, a defector during the Vietnam war, returns to America from Vietnam.

4/80 Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs releases a "White Paper" on the "Question of Americans Missing in the Vietnam War." The MIA issue is linked to economic aid.

1/20/81 Ronald Reagan is sworn in as President.

5/13/81 The Washington Post reports on an inconclusive US reconnaissance operation aimed at confirming the presence of live Americans in Laos.

8/81 Vietnam issues a statement on the MIA question, which refers to the cases of Americans who were "reportedly captured but not registered" and who, because of "war circumstances," died or became "missing" on their way to detention centers.

2/82 President Reagan formally designates POW/MIA issue as a matter of "highest national priority."

11/11/82 The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington D.C.

l/5/86 US and Vietnam begin two days of talks in Hanoi. Two sides agree that the MIA question is a "humanitarian one that cannot be used as a political condition for normalization of relations."

5/27/86 A DIA Task Force, chaired by Gen. Eugene Tighe, concludes that there is "a strong possibility" that American POWs are still alive and being held against their will in Vietnam.

2/87 General John Vessey (ret.) is appointed Presidential Emissary to Vietnam on POW/MIA matters.

8/1/87 General Vessey arrives in Hanoi for three days of talks. Resulting joint statement says that "specific measures were agreed upon to accelerate progress towards accounting for Americans missing in action, and to address certain humanitarian concerns of Vietnam."

8/19/87 US and Vietnam reach agreement concerning searches for American MIAs.

1/19/89 "Final Interagency Report of the Reagan Administration on the POW/MIA Issue in Southeast Asia" is released. Report finds that there exists "no conclusive evidence" of live US POWs being held.

1/20/89 George Bush is sworn in as President. General Vessey is reappointed as Presidential emissary on POW/MIA matters.

4/8/91 The US presents its "roadmap" to Vietnam, linking steps towards the normalization of relations to progress in POW/MIA matters and Cambodia.

8/2/91 The US Senate passes legislation (S.Res.82) to create a Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs.

11/6/91 Select Committee hearings begin.

1/92 US Joint Task Force Full-Accounting is created under the Pacific Command. General Thomas Needham is named chief.

2/13/92 Senators Kerry and Smith arrive in Moscow to discuss the fate of American MIAs in WW II, Korea, and Vietnam. One Vietnam MIA case is resolved. Russian government acknowledges that some American deserters were brought to the Soviet Union after the Vietnam War, but there is no evidence that any still remain in Russia.

3/4/92 A US delegation headed by Asst. Secretary of State Richard Solomon arrives in Vietnam. US agrees to provide small scale humanitarian aid to Vietnam in return for increased efforts by Vietnam to resolve the POW/MIA issue.

4/20/92 Senate Select Committee delegation begins week long fact-finding mission to southeast Asia.

9/92 US gains access to more than 4,000 Vietnamese photos of American casualties taken during the war.

10/92 Existence of photos acknowledged publicly.

10/17-19/92 General Vessey leads a delegation of US officials, including Senator John McCain, to Vietnam to discuss ways to improve MIA accounting.

11/16-21/92 Senate Select Committee delegation visits Vietnam and Laos. 12/17-18 Senate Select Committee delegation visits Hanoi.

12/19-21 Senator Bob Smith visits Pyongyang and Beijing.