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OFFICIALS LAST NIGHT recovered the bodies of 16 people -- including seven Americans -- who died in a helicopter crash while searching for Americans missing in action from the Vietnam War.
The group, including 7 Americans,
was searching for the remains of
U.S. MIAs from the Vietnam WarBy Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-BulletinThe bodies were carried on stretchers down the hillside where the Russian-made MI-17 helicopter crashed yesterday near Thanh Tranh village in Quang Binh province's Bo Tranh district, about 280 miles south of Hanoi.
U.S. officials said the American victims were military service people, but were withholding their names until the next of kin have been notified. The cause of the mid-afternoon crash, which killed all aboard, is being investigated. The sky was hazy at the time.
In what the military said was the first death of U.S. servicemen in Vietnam since the war ended there three decades ago, the seven Americans and nine Vietnamese were killed yesterday while searching for remains of American MIAs still unaccounted for from the Southeast Asia conflict.
President Bush yesterday expressed his condolences and urged Americans to "remember their sacrifice."
"The families of the service personnel lost in today's tragic accident know better than most the contribution their loved ones made in bringing closure to scores of families across America," the president said in a statement issued at the White House.
"Today's loss is a terrible one for our nation," Bush said. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfield said: "Americans are saddened by today's tragic loss of life of both U.S. and Vietnamese service personnel in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Killed were members of the U.S. Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA), which has its headquarters in Hawaii.
The team was planning a recovery mission which was supposed to begin May 3 at six different sites in Vietnam, Lt. Col. Franklin Childress, JTF-FA spokesman said.Until the team's relatives have been notified, Childress declined to say if any of the seven American servicemen were from Hawaii. A team from Hawaii had deployed to Laos two months ago, but Childress said its members were not involved in yesterday's mishap.
Although the U.S. Central Identification Laboratory at Hickam Air Force Base, the Army's premiere forensic facility, does conduct joint operations with JTF-FA, Johnie Webb, the lab's deputy director, said none of his staff is now in the field doing recovery operations at this time.
Rumsfield said "the tragedy represents the first loss of life either side has suffered in the 65 joint field activities that have been completed in Vietnam. To the families of those whose loved ones have yet to be accounted for, be assured that our mission will continue, even in the face of this tragedy."The Vietnam helicopter crash is just another tragedy for the Pacific Command which is still coping with the collision of a Chinese fighter plane and a U.S. spy plane a week ago. The Navy crew of 24 is still being held captive on a Chinese island while Beijing continues to demand an apology for the loss of their jet fighter and pilot.
Two months ago, a Pacific Fleet nuclear submarine USS Greeneville rammed into the hull of a Japanese training vessel, sinking it and killing nine adults and students. Six 25th Division Infantry soldiers were killed that same month in a North Shore training exercise where it appears that the blade of one of the Black Hawk helicopters might have touched the cargo another Black Hawk was carrying.
Currently, JTF-FA conducts 10 recovery missions in Southeast Asia annually -- four in Vietnam, five in Laos, and one in Cambodia.
Depending on the mission, the size of the team ranges from 30 to 95 personnel. Each recovery mission lasts about 35 days. Of the 1,981 American servicemen still missing from the Vietnam War, 1,498 of them are in Vietnam.
Childress said this was supposed to have been the third Vietnam recovery mission this year. Ninety-five team members from different military services were supposed to start coming together this coming week to train together in preparation for the deployment to Vietnam on April 29.
No decision has been made whether to continue the scheduled mission.
"We are going to assess the MIA-recovery operation." Childress said.
Since 1973, the remains of 591 American servicemen, formerly listed as missing, have been identified and returned to their families. Currently, there are 1,981 Americans still listed as missing from the war in the Southeast Asia; 1,498 of them are in Vietnam. JOINT TASK FORCE-
FULL ACCOUNTING>> Established: January 1992.
>> Mission: To conduct field operations to achieve the fullest accounting of Americans still missing in Southeast Asia.
>> HQ: Camp Smith
>>Detachments: Bangkok, Vientiane and Hanoi
>> Staff: 161
The 16 victims were onboard a Vietnamese transport helicopter when it crashed in Quang Binh province in Vietnam around 7 p.m. (2 a.m. in Hawaii). Quang Binh was the southernmost province of North Vietnam during the war, just north of the former demilitarized zone. It contains many military crash sites because it was heavily bombed during the war.
Reports from the scene said the mountain where the helicopter crashed was covered by a blanket of thick fog. The crash site was said to be about 2,300 feet from Vietnam's main north-south artery, Highway One, in the Thanh Tranh commune of Bo Tranh district.
The Russian-made MI-17 helicopter carrying 16 crew and passengers crashed while doing advance work for the May recovery efforts. The Quang Binh province is approximately 250 miles south of Hanoi.
Villagers saw the helicopter making unusual swinging-like movements in the air before it crashed into the side of a mountain, a local official said. Childress said it would take at least a day to sort out such details. He said he expected the first U.S. officials on the scene sometime today.
Joint Task Force-Full Accounting was established in 1992. Besides a command operation at Camp Smith in Hawaii, it has detachments in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.
Since the task force was established it has been able to identify 591 Americans of the 2,583 missing servicemen from the Vietnam War.
In November, President Clinton inspected a JTF-FA recovery site 30 miles south of Hanoi in Hay Tay province. The site was believed to be the area where Lt. Cmdr. Richard Rich crashed in May 19, 1967 after his F-4B Phantom was struck by a missile.
Political pressure following the end of the Vietnam War, forced politicians and military leaders to create JTF-FA at Camp Smith's Pacific Command.
The unit is comprised of 161 investigators, analysts, and linguists from all branches of the military. In its recovery efforts specialists, archeologists, and anthropologists from Webb's Army Central Identification Laboratory round out a JTF-FA team.
Since 1992 JTF-FA has conducted 590 recovery operations which has led to the discovery and return of more than 500 sets of remains believed to be those missing Americans.
There are currently 1,981 Americans unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.
The United States spends $5 million to $6 million annually on MIA recovery operations in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
