Navy Board Suggests New Speicher Search

Associated Press ^ | July 8, 2005

[cynicom]

With military write off of men in the past, why the continued effort on Speicher???

[Pukin Dog]

Are you seriously in need of an answer here? Don't get me started. Spike might be out there wondering the same thing, only he doesn't have the luxury to ask anyone. We don't give up on him, because he never gave up on us.

And that is CAPTAIN Speicher, got it?

[trustandobey]

I do not know the answer to your question, but I do know that all our servicemen deserve that we never give up. God Bless them all, I'm eternally grateful. Prayers for Capt.Speicher and his family.

[Gunrunner2]

What?

[Gunrunner2]

I was about to ping you on this but see you already rolled in hot and pickled.

"Shack"

[cynicom]

Puke....If you can walk on water, I am impressed. Otherwise you effort is wasted.

From experience, I had friends shot down by the Russians, with one or more that may have survived. Military explanation, lost on routine training flight. The military and government denied them for nearly forty years.

From your lack of acceptable social intercourse, one has to wonder if you were a military lifer

[cynicom]

Perhaps the military is looking for a hero to search Iraq for the MIA. There seems to be heros here that are well qualified.

[Finalapproach29er]

"With God, all things are possible"


I haven't lost faith yet- at least, not entirely.

[Pukin Dog]

Wonder to your hearts content.

On this issue, you cant take your 'acceptable social intercourse' and put it where the sun don't shine.

Spike is my friend, and I will accept no talk about giving up on him. I don't give a rats ass what your experience was.

When we find Spike's bones is when we give up, and if you don't like it, I suggest you find someone else's cage to rattle.

[phasma proeliator]

are you suggesting that you have reason to believe the Russians (or one of the former USSR countries) is holding U.S. Military prisoners shot down during the cold war?

[#1CTYankee]

Read headline too fast, I thought the Navy was going to start so bizarre cavity search ritual.

[cynicom]

I do hope your friend had far better social manners than you exhibit.

My brother remains a MIA to this day. The military/government wrote he and thousands of others off with the stroke of a pen.

During the Korean thing, I had friends shot down by the Russians. Stroke of a pen, lost at sea on training mission.

My question was why the continued interest in this one person. If that offends you, I suggest that perhaps there are others that have a an even more personal interest.

[Redleg Duke]

Well spoken, PD!

[cynicom]

Not suggesting anything...Since WW2 our government has been willing to write off military people.

If you have time, google can provide pages of questions and answers concerning possibility of Russians keeping our people.

[Pukin Dog]

If I had manners, I would have been an Admiral. I was in the Navy to fly, not blow smoke. Your brother has my respect, as do all those who put on the uniform, living or dead.

Why the continued interest? It is staggering that you would ask, considering your own brother. Spike was my brother in a sense, but that is beside the point.

Its like this. As long as there is a chance that he is alive, none of us who knew him can really enjoy our own lives. I cant raise bottle of beer without a thought to the man whose not there to have one with me. When I think about the possibility of Spike chained in some room, wondering how long ago we gave up looking for him, whether his wife has remarried; the fact that he has given his life for this nation and your freedom, I would be an a-hole to just consider him history.

That goes for all our boys still out there. We don't forget, we don't leave anyone behind. And if Scott is out there, we are going to find him and bring him home to a grateful nation.

Don't ask me anymore questions.

[cynicom]

This is just one item via google...

13 June 1952 A USAF RB-29 (44-61810) of the 91st SRS was shot down by Soviet fighters over the Sea of Japan, 18 miles from the Soviet coast, near Hokkaido. Soviet MiG-15 pilots Fedotov and Proskurin reported intercepting the aircraft in the area of Valentin Bay, nine miles from the Soviet coastline. They reported that the RB-29 fired on the Soviet fighters, when intercepted. The Soviet pilots returned fire and the US plane descended, burst into flames and crashed into the water at a distance of about 18 miles from our coastline. Official US records state that the aircraft was on a classified surveillance mission of shipping activity over the Sea of Japan. The plane was followed by radar over the course of the flight until 1320 hours at which time the radar contact was lost. Empty life rafts were spotted by search aircraft the next day. Radio Moscow stated on June 16 stated that one officer survivor had been picked up by a Russian vessel about two days before. The name of the survivor was not given and efforts to confirm the report were unsuccessful. The crew of Sam Busch, Robert J. McDonnell, Roscoe G. Becker, Eddie R. Berg, Leon F. Bonura, William R. Homer, Samuel D. Service, James A. Sculley, William A. Blizzard, Miguel W. Monserrat , Danny Pillsbury and David L. Moore were all listed as missing, presumed dead.

A few years ago I was a guest of NSA at Fort Meade, when the military/government finally acknowledged these men, nearly forty years later. Sadly, only a few had family at the awards presentation, purple hearts etc.

Their families passed on never knowing what those men had been doing for their country.

[robowombat]

Your post raises some questions from my own family's past. My first cousin was in the 1/8 Cav. He was initially listed as MIA after the 8th's unhappy meeting with the Chinese at Unsan. About a month after being posted MIA his status was changed to 'Missing Presumed Dead' and in 1953, after the POW exchanges he was formally listed as KIA. I figure the change in status in Dec 1950 was a result of the Army doing an initial rough check of what happened to people in the 1st Cav who were unaccounted for. In that division there were a lot.

I was curious if your brother's status is still officially MIA or if DOD didn't do a mass change of status on all MIA's remaining a couple years after the POW exchange (1955-56?).

As to your friend who was listed as presumed dead in 'air crash at sea'. That invoked the memory of a coworker who was air crew on SAC strat recon flying out of Guam in the mid 50's. Apparently for missions over Red China it was SOP to file a bogus flight plan showing the mission as scheduled for some extended over ocean flight to the east of Guam for 'Navigation Training'. When such a mission went missing the official search was launched over waters the flight never was near. Presumably the USAF/CIA/KMT net conducted a real search. But this fellows take was that he never saw anyone come back from these 'missing missions'.

The public has not the slightest understanding of how many 'lost soldiers' there were during the Cold War.

[cynicom]

My brother was listed as KIA, after no body was available.

As for the Guam incident you mention...

If that happened in 1952, I was on Guam at the time and we flew two search missions looking for the aircraft. Our search was to the southwest near the Philippines. They were classified as weather recon aircraft but also contained sniffing equipment for detecting nuclear activity.

[phasma proeliator]

Thanks,
I've been out looking a bit...