Nice to meet you!
Tammy
Posted on 11/05/2004 9:22:40 AM PST by cgk
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- First Coast News has learned a body has been found in Iraq and DNA testing is underway.
Multiple sources tell First Coast News Captain Scott Speicher's family has been notified.
They will not disclose the details of why they believe these are his remains only to say they have reason to feel confident these are his remains.
Test results are expected within weeks.
When I sat down with Buddy Harris, who was Speicher's best friend and is now married to Speicher's widow, he told me the family would never give up until they found what happened to him and brought him home.
They may be well on their way to learning the answer and putting this mystery and this man to rest.
From the deck of the USS Saratoga in the Red Sea., a husband and father of two from Jacksonville prepares to fight for the first time. 33 year old Lt. Commander Michael Scott Speicher, also known as "Spike", is ready for take off.
It's 1 a.m. January 17th, Speicher is part of the first mission flown over Iraq during the first Gulf War.
Within hours his squadron is in the heat of battle. The mission is deemed a success.
But when Speicher's unit returns He is the only one who is not accounted for.
From the first moments, fellow pilots and squadron mates believe the highly skilled Speicher ejected and survived.
But within hours the Pentagon announces Speicher is dead, killed in action in a mid-air explosion. There would be no recovery mission.
In 1993, U.S. Intelligence finds an American plane in better condition than expected in a remote desert in Iraq.
The plane's identification numbers confirm it is Speicher's plane.
The cockpit canopy was found some distance from the wreckage, raising the theory that Speicher ejected, survived and was captured.
First Coast News has learned the human remains, thought to be Speichers, were not found at the crash site.
The remains being tested were found in another part of Iraq.
After the initial discovery of the crash site, in an unprecedented move, the Pentagon changed Speicher's status from Killed in Action, to Missing in Action, and then later, Missing Captured.
The president even included Speicher and the fact that he was still in Iraq in a speech he gave to the nation.
Shortly into the second Gulf War, the initials M.S.S were found in a Baghdad prison.
Sources are now telling First Coast News they have information that indicates Speicher was captured after the crash and held as a prisoner for some time before he died.
However, DNA tests performed on the materials used to make the markings failed to confirm those initials found in a cell were made by Michael Scott Speicher.
His friends and family were not discouraged saying they knew the wall had been painted over several times and other things found in other prison cells supported their theory that Scott had been held at that prison.
We were the only local news station in country to sit down and talk with Buddy Harris, Speicher's best friend and now husband to Joanne Speicher Harris.
Buddy told us then that the family would never stop asking the question of what happened to Scott. And they were prepared no matter the answer.
"I cannot foresee a situation where we would just give up and go away.
I won't do it and I know my family backs me on his 100 percent in not giving up."
The family went through this once before.
Several years ago, then President of Iraq Saddam Hussein sent a pound of flesh to the United States claiming it was the remains of Scott Speicher.
The pilot's children at that time provided their DNA so the remains could be tested.
That test proved the remains were not their fathers.
The family has been through a roller coaster of emotions over the years.
They have learned to be very cautious about any new information they receive.
We expect they are taking the same approach with this latest news.
This remains a very big development.
If the tests indicate the remains are the missing the navy pilot Scott Spiechers', they will finally have an answer to the question they've asked for more than a decade.
We contacted the family's attorney, Cindy Laquidara, Thursday night for reaction to this new discovery. She had no comment for us at this time.
Now just two and-a-half months shy of the fourteenth anniversary of Speicher's disappearance, the answer may finally come in the form of DNA.
An American hero... A First Coast son... may finally return home after a very long mission.
© 2004 First Coast News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, or redistributed.
Nice to meet you!
Tammy
Not all.. some did. It was covered, sort of, in Denis Leary's "Rescue Me" on FX as well... he survived WTC, his best friend didn't... (cousin, too?) and he ends up having an affair with that guy's wife. He is separated from his own wife before any of this happens. Survivors find each other is the explanation from the Real Life occurrences - which if I understand it correctly, are not common.
I guess maybe something good did come from the gossiping over the back fence!
BRING LT CMDR MICHAEL SCOTT SPEICHER HOME
Allow Mr. Speicher's family and the US Navy to sort out the rest.
God bless LT CMDR Speicher.
Please don't judge situations you don't understand.
Did you mean to address that comment to me? If so, please, please go back & re-read my posts. I'm defending the Harris' because I, for want of a better word, 'respect' their situation--I won't claim understanding because I've never faced these dilemmas.
I don't remember how many but it was several. The wives were understandably ticked off. I guess the dept has (or HAD) a program where firefighters act as a surrogate father figure for the family of the deceased. Let's just say they went above and beyond their duties. The wives complained to the dept. higher ups for intervention but got no help.
Even more interesting, the first wives were pretty good looking women. Their replacements were older, harsh looking and not very nice.
"Buddy Harris, who was Speicher's best friend and is now married to Speicher's widow, he told me the family would never give up until they found what happened to him and brought him home."
Wow! Some friend this guy is.
How soon after Spike's disappearance did he marry his "best friend's" wife?
And, what if Spike had been found in an Iraqi jail immediately after his "best friend" married his wife and brought home alive?
I salute Spike, a true American hero. May he at long last be brought home to rest. God Bless you, Spike.
Very, very sad. For all involved (except those who took his life).
I say, let his wife re-marry. Scott would have wanted his devastated wife to find some happiness following his tragic death. That her husband now is a friend of Scott is wonderful.
OMG! I don't believe it. I've been following this case for years. I wonder if they are sure of his identity because he died very recently?
Oh, no! Definitely not. I was trying to support you in what you were saying to pitinkie.
That's why I added your name to the post, since you had posted the information I was using to make my point with her/him.
Sorry it came across wrong. It looks like we have much the same opinion of this situation.
Aw--I thought that was the case. Not a problem--just wanted to make sure there wasn't a misunderstanding. And thanks for the help!
This question about money and benefits...isn't this what happened?
When Scott was listed as MIA, doesn't everything continue? I mean...wouldn't Scott still rate his pay and benefits? After all...he isn't declared killed...he is missing in action. If a wife were to remarry while a spouse is still declared missing, then she would not be the next of kin if his status were changed to KIA.
Given that Scott's status was changed long ago to KIA, I believe that Mrs. Speicher would have received money from the gov't for his death.
I also believe that when Scott was re-declared MIA at the end of Clinton's monarchy, because of the new intelligence that Scott was alive in Iraq and being held prisoner, Mrs. Speicher, now Harris, was due to receive all of the years of back pay which were wrongfully stopped.
Anyway, my dh is a military pilot. We lost many friends over the years on active duty. People who are not in Mrs. Speicher's shoes have absolutely no right to criticize any of her actions. The grief that our friends widows endured/endure is off the charts. These guys who fly in our military squadrons are closer than fraternity brothers, especially during deployments and wartime. They grieve incredibly each and every time. Pilots in the squadrons are like brothers, and add their families to the mix, and it does become a family. I will never forget the morning the wives received news that one of the pilots went missing during night operations over the Indian Ocean. After 3 days of searching, the pilot was considered dead, and the ship pressed forward in their mission. Months later when the pilots returned home from deployment, one of their immediate requests had to do with visiting with the KIA pilot's widow.
Anyway, to all, please understand that this is a situation well beyond anything you can imagine. So please, do not judge anyone in this family.
BTTT
That is so sick what the Butcher of Baghdad did. May he rot eternally. God Bless your soul, Spike.
Your post was warm, compassionate & obviously heartfelt. Thank you for taking your time to share your thoughts and experience on this very emotional topic.
This is a good article:
Michael Scott Speicher: Dead or Alive? Part 5
Dead or Alive? - Part 5: Hope Reawakens
By LON WAGNER AND AMY WATERS YARSINSKE, The Virginian-Pilot
© January 3, 2002
In September 1996, the Navy looked over everything it knew about Scott Speicher.
The early reports about the fireball. That he might have lost his survival radio. What they found at the crash site. No blood. No bones. No body. A good ejection.
http://www.aiipowmia.com/pgw/speicherpart5.html
ping
How judgemental.
I agree...
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