POWs and MIAs: Status and Accounting Issues

1 Congressional Research Service The Library of CongressCRS Report for CongressReceived through the CRS WebOrder Code RL33452 POWs and mias : Status and Accounting IssuesJune 1, 2006 Charles A. HenningAnalyst in National DefenseForeign Affairs, Defense, and Trade DivisionPOWs and mias : Status and Accounting IssuesSummaryThere has been a long-running controversy about the fate of certain of war (POWs) and servicemembers missing in action (MIAs) as a resultof various military operations. While few people familiar with the issue feelthat any Americans are still being held against their will in communist countriesassociated with the Cold War, more feel that some may have been so held in the pastin the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, or North Vietnam. Similarly, few believethere has been a conspiracy to cover up the existence of live POWs, but manywould maintain that there was, at least during the 1970s, governmentmismanagement of the of relations with Vietnam exacerbated this longstanding s supporters contend that Vietnamese cooperation on the POW/MIAissue has greatly increased.

2 Opponents argue that cooperation has in fact been muchless than supporters say, and that the Vietnamese can only be induced to cooperateby firmness rather than conciliation. Those who believe Americans are now held, orwere after the war ended, feel that even if no specific report of live Americans hasthus far met rigorous proofs, the mass of information about live Americans iscompelling. Those who doubt live Americans are still held, or were after the warended, argue that despite vast efforts, only one live American military prisonerremained in Indochina after the war (a defector who returned in 1979). The indicates the possibility that Americans are still being held in Indochinacannot be ruled out. Some say Americans may have been kept by the Vietnameseafter the war but killed later. Increased access to Vietnam has not yet led to alarge reduction in the number of Americans still listed as unaccounted for, althoughthis may be due to some policies as well as the level of Vietnamese is considerable evidence that prisoners from the end of World War II, theKorean War, and Cold War shootdowns of military aircraft may have beentaken to the USSR and not returned.

3 The evidence about POWs from Vietnam beingtaken to the Soviet Union is more questionable. There is evidence that Navy pilotScott Speicher, shot down on the first night of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, and untilrecently listed as killed in action rather than missing in action, was almostcertainly captured by the Iraqis. Information about his fate has not yet beendiscovered by and coalition forces in Iraq. All American POWs captured by theIraqis during the initial stage of the current war were returned to control; theremains of all others listed as MIA have been recovered. One Army soldier,captured by Iraqi insurgents, on April 9, 2004, is currently listed as a POW; there hasbeen no word about his fate since his POW Status was confirmed by DOD on April23, report replaces issue Brief IB92101 of the same name. This report will beupdated as needed.

4 ContentsMost Recent of Congressional Interest ..1 Definition of Terms .. POWs and mias in 20th Century Wars: Statistics ..2 Vietnam War POWs and mias ..3 Vietnam POW/MIAs: Government Policy and Organization .. Interaction on POW/MIA Issues : Recent Developments and Issues .. Policy and the Remains issue ..5 Congress and the POW/MIA issue , 1993-2005 (FY1994-FY2006)..6 Vietnam POW/MIAs: Were Americans Left Behind? Are Any Still Alive? .. 7 The Coverup issue ..7 Have Americans Remained in Indochina Voluntarily?..7 Are the Vietnamese, Laotians, or Cambodians Still Holding the Remains of Dead Americans?..8 Korean War POWs/MIAs ..8 POWs and mias from Cold War Incidents ..9 Post-Cold War POW/MIAs ..10 The Persian Gulf War of 1991 (Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm)..10 The Speicher Case ..11 The Ongoing Iraq War, 2003-Present: POW/MIA Matters.

5 11 World War II POWs and mias : Soviet Imprisonment of POWs Liberated from the Germans ..12 For Additional Reading ..13 CRS of TablesTable 1. POWs, World War I (1917-1918) through the Iraq War (2003-Present) .. 2 Table 2. Americans Unaccounted For, World War I through the Korean 3. Americans Unaccounted for in Southeast and mias : Status and Accounting IssuesMost Recent DevelopmentsIn early September 2005, another Navy report on the Status of 1991 Gulf War Navy pilot Michael Scott Speicher was completed. It reiterated conclusions reached in earlierstudies that he could well have been captured; that there was no specific evidence of hisdeath; and that some former members they were not identified, if known of theSaddam Hussein government of Iraq were knowledgeable about his fate. Accordingly, itrecommended that Speicher s Status be maintained as missing, rather than of Congressional InterestThis report summarizes numbers of prisoners of war (POWs) and servicemembersmissing in action (MIAs) lost during the Vietnam War (1961-1973) and the Korean War(1950-1953), compares these losses to other 20th century American wars, and describes thePOW/MIA investigation and policy process.

6 It discusses reports asserting that some POWsfrom these wars were not returned to control when the wars ended, and that some ofthese individuals may still be alive. Further, it discusses Americans possibly captured bycommunist countries during Cold War incidents, or after being liberated from German POWcamps at the end of World War II, and whether any such Americans could still be alive. Italso summarizes POW/MIA matters and controversies related to post-Cold War militaryoperations, particularly the 1991 Persian Gulf War; the ongoing Operation EnduringFreedom that began on October 7, 2001, when the United States began combat operationsagainst the Taliban regime in Afghanistan; and Operation Iraqi Freedom that began on March19, 2003. Finally, the report describes legislation and congressional oversight concerningthe POW/MIA issue . For information on other aspects of relations and on thecurrent controversy over the attempt by some American former POWs held by the Japaneseduring World War II to obtain compensation from Japanese corporations, see the ForAdditional Reading section at the end of this of TermsThe following terms are frequently encountered in analyses of the POW/MIA issue :!

7 POW ( prisoner Of War): Persons known to be, or to have been, held by theenemy as a live prisoner or last seen under enemy control.!MIA (Missing In Action): Persons removed from control of forces dueto enemy action, but not known to either be a prisoner of war or !KIA-BNR (Killed In Action-Body Not Recovered): Persons known to havebeen killed in action, but body or remains not recovered by forces, suchas an aircraft exploding in midair or crashing or a body lost at sea.!PFOD (Presumptive Finding Of Death): An administrative finding by theappropriate military service Secretary, after statutory review procedures, thatthere is no current evidence to indicate that a person previously listed asMIA or POW could still be alive.!Unaccounted For: An all-inclusive term not a legal Status used toindicate Americans initially listed as POW, MIA, KIA-BNR, or PFOD, butabout whom no further information is yet are shifted, usually from the most uncertain Status , MIA, to more certaincategories, during and after hostilities based on new information, or, in the case of a PFOD,lack of any new information over time that indicates an individual is still POWs and mias in 20th Century Wars: StatisticsStatistics on POWs and mias in Vietnam and past wars are often mutuallyirreconcilable.

8 Tables 1, 2, and 3, below, as with all such material, are not alwayscompatible in detail, but they do provide some basis for comparison. Table 1. POWs, World War I (1917-1918) through the Iraq War (2003-Present)TotalWWI1917-1918 WWII1941-1945 Korea1950-1953 Vietnam1961-1973 PersianGulf1991 Somalia1992-1994 Bosnia 1995-PresentKosovo1999-PresentAfghan-ist an2001-PresentIraq2003-PresentCaptured &Interned)142,233 4,120 130,201 7,14072523103010 Returned MilitaryControl125,208 3,973 116,129 4,4186612310309 RefusedRepatriation2100210000000 Died while POW17,00414714,0722,70164000000 Still officiallyheld byenemy forces00000000001*Sources: All data except for Iraq from Stenger, Charles A., American prisoners of war in WWI, WWII,Vietnam, Persian Gulf, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan: Statistical Data Concerning NumbersCaptured, Repatriated, and Still Alive as of January 1, 2003.

9 Prepared for the DVA [Department of VeteransAffairs] Advisory Committee on prisoners of war . Mental Health Strategic Care Group, VHA [VeteransHealth Administration], [by] the American Ex- prisoners of war Association. Iraq data obtained fromDepartment of Defense (DOD) documents and press releases, and regular press reports.*Reports of the death of this POW, first listed as missing on April 9, 2004, and confirmed as a POW on April23, 2004, have not been confirmed; he is still listed as captured by military 2. Americans Unaccounted For, World War I through the Korean WarWorld War I (1917-18) aUnidentified remains1,648 World War II (1941-45) bRemains not recovered78,794 cKorean War (1950-53) dUnaccounted for8,100 Source: a. Bruce Callender, The History of Arlington s Silent Soldiers, Air Force Times, June 19, 1984 Congress, House Select Committee on Missing Persons in Southeast Asia, Americans Missing inSoutheast Asia, Final Report, 94th Cong.

10 , 2nd sess., 94-1764, (Washington: GPO, 1976), pp. An estimated 9,000-17,000 were subject to the equivalent of a PFOD. Ibid: Current DPMO figure is always stated as approximately 8,100. Korean War POW/MIA statistics are amass of inconsistencies. The Final Report of the 1976 House Select Committee on Missing Persons inSoutheast Asia: 75, listed a total of 5,866 total Korean War MIA, of which 4,735 had been subjected to aPFOD; 1,107 listed as KIA-BNR; and 24 known to be in Chinese prisons as of Sept. 30, 1954; of which all wereeither eventually released or subject to a PFOD. A Rand Corp. study prepared for DPMO itemizes Korean Warunaccounted-for Americans somewhat differently, but along lines that are broadly similar to the current DPMO figure of about 8,100- 8,140 KIA-BNR, of which the deaths of 5,945 were witnessed or otherwise well-documented, leaving 2,195 whose death cannot be explicitly established, although many were undoubtedlykilled.