Dear Albert,�
As I sat in front of my computer monitor, struggling to find a web page that would break my boredom, I chanced across a unique story on an obscure site. I suspect it was run by the C.I.A., you know, those shadowy intelligence figures that use misinformation to control our minds, but the story was so viable I had to read it twice.....then a third time. It reminded me of all of those stories I heard during the war that supposedly explained where all of the missing men went. You know the ones I mean. Like the island refuge were all of the men infected with incurable strains of sexually transmitted diseases were sent. Then there were the stories of satellite images showing walking �K�s in the jungles of Laos. That�s how downed pilots were supposed to signal where they were. Anyway, the more I read, the more the line between black and white seemed to dissolve. I mean it just assumed all shades of gray. I thought if I sent it to you, you could read it and help me make sense out of it. I think it was buried where no one would find it. The site was so remote, if I hadn�t made a copy, I would have never found it again, except by accident. Take a look and let me know what you think.
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THE OTHER SIDE OF TRUTH
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In December of 1993 I was told a fantastic story of survival involving the existence of American POWs in Laos as late as 1986. The story might have been just another war story if it were an American veteran of the Vietnam War telling it. The individual was a Laotian who had escaped from Vientiane prison in Laos, and had seen twenty-five American POWs the year he had escaped, 1986.
In the era of truth in government, many authors have attempted to redefine the truth regarding POWs and MIAs left over from the Vietnam War by using the freedom of information act, only to find large gaps in the available information. National security is often the excuse used to justify these gaps, but under close scrutiny one might wonder if it is national pride that may be the largest loser in the battle for truth.
On January 2, 1994, the Wall Street Journal released an article that explained the official government position on the MIA/POW subject. It listed 330 probable MIAs most of which were killed when their planes went down that could be MIAs in Laos. Officially they acknowledged only two MIAs known to have been held in Laos.'No other reports from human sources or aerial pictures had confirmed the existence of POWs in Laos.'was the official U.S. government response. With the freedom of information act, several documents were located that provided conflicting information that suggested an intentional cover up was taking place. When congress was told that it was the opinion of the naval intelligence community in 1992 that it was possible that many more victims of air crashes in Laos could be alive, the subject was quickly dismissed from the press as the informant, Bobby Inman, a nominee from the Clinton
Administration for the post of defense secretary, reversed his position and 'changed his opinion' as to the fate of the MIAs. This might have ended my interest in the subject if I hadn't met an individual that was able to provide me with information that contradicted these findings. This was the story that he told to me.
Koune, (His name changed to protect his identity) was a POW in a Vientiane, Laos prison. He had been captured in a battle with Pathet Lao forces while securing an area for 'advancing US forces.' The CIA had hired him along with his brother in March 1980. He had waited three years in a displaced person refugee camp in Thailand, across the border from Vientiane, the capital of Laos. It had cost him three hundred American dollars to cross the border, and he was to remain in the refugee camp until work could be found. He witnessed many atrocities while in the camp. It was common for girls to be raped in front of their families, and old people to be beaten.
His brother was hired first, and a couple of months later they were reunited. An individual identifying himself only as �John� from the CIA told Koune he could earn his way to America if he worked for the U.S. government. He would keep track of Pathet Lao, Vietnamese and Soviet troops in Laos, by photographing troop movements and supply build-ups where American forces could not go. Koune was no stranger to the Pathet Lao as he had been responsible for rescuing several old people trying to flee the communist regime by swimming the Mekong River. He had barely avoided capture on several occasions, but all he could see was himself going to America. Much to his surprise, he was reunited with his brother in the jungle of Laos. They would play at sneaking up on each other to sharpen their stealth skills. It was not enough to help Koune. While on a patrol, they were ambushed, and during the firefight his brother was wounded, but managed to avoid capture by crawling under the brush. Koune was not so lucky. He was captured by the communist rebel army and taken to a jungle prisoner of war camp. After a few months, he was then taken back to Vientiane and put on trial in the Pathet Lao peoples court. He was quickly convicted of spying, and received a seven year sentence. He was sent to prison on the 9th of September 1980.
Koune went through Pathet Lao re-education, a training course designed to ensure the complete loyalty of any student who lived long enough to graduate. For eighteen months he was kept naked in a dark windowless room with his hands tied to his ankles behind his back. Once a day he was given a bowl of rice and another with water. He was forced to find and eat the nourishment while tied face down. Every couple of days he was beaten with canes on the feet and back. At the end of his training, he was carried to a barracks where he spent the next three months relearning how to walk, and regain his strength. The next stage of his imprisonment was to farm the crops that were planted and grown between the barrack buildings. These crops were used to feed the prisoners. The prison was guarded by a combination of Pathet Lao Army Regulars, and Vietnamese soldiers. He was not allowed outside of the compound. There was another section in one corner of the prison yard that was off limits to all of the prisoners. It was revealed to him later that it was the area were American and other Western POWs were kept. They no longer spoke English, which Koune had learned in school. It was unknown by the prisoners if they could, and no one was allowed to speak to them. Many had been there longer than anyone could remember.
It did not take long for Koune to prove he was a jack of all trades. He was called upon to repair trucks used to run supplies to unknown locations. Koune kept quiet and learned as much as he could. He met a long-term political prisoner that was a former Vientiane policeman. He learned the tricks of getting along in the prison from him. With his aid and his own fix it abilities, Koune was able to gain the trust of his captors. His status in camp grew until he was assigned to ride along with the deliveries. He saw remote jungle camps where people were being held in four and a half foot tall bamboo cages. At first they were located up north by the Chinese boarder, but then they were moved to the Vietnamese boarder farther south. As Koune developed the trust of the prison officials, his work assignments allowed him to travel farther on supply runs. He visited several POW camps still in existence around B Sop Bau. The mobile prison camps had been located north of Phong Sally prior to 1975. After the fall of Saigon, they had been moved south. They were under Vietnamese army control. He saw westerners that were being kept in half buried cages. He heard that many more were being held in the mountain caves farther to the east on the Vietnamese border. They were moved often to avoid detection, but there were so many caves that they could not all be investigated The Pathet Lao allowed the Vietnamese to run their prison camps because of a mutual hatred for the United States. During the Vietnam war, many bombing missions were flown during inclement weather. According to the mountain people of Laos, the US planes would drop their bomb loads on any 'target' available when they could not find their assigned targets. Many civilians were injured or killed by these unauthorized drops. Prior to this the mountain people of Laos had been very pro-American. The U.S. pilots were under extreme pressure to deliver their loads on target and not come back to base with loads undelivered. In spite of all this, Koune still believed in freedom, and dreamed of going to America. . Finally he was assigned to work on a daily release program, where prisoners worked in the local area and returned to prison each night. With this change in status, he was allowed visits from his mother each month. This all happened in 1984.
On January 24th, 1986, Koune received permission to visit his mother in Vientiane. This was a common reward for long term prisoners that had proven their loyalty and the effectiveness of the retraining. Without prior notice, his mother had arranged with the help of Kounes police officer friend in prison, and his friends still inside the local police department, to get him across the border to Thailand one more time. After approximately 15 minutes at home, Koune's friends showed up unannounced and hustled him into a car. They hurried him to the ferry crossing the Mekong River. No one checked his identification at the border, but then no one knew he was attempting to escape. His friends had planned well. Once inside Thailand, Koune was given help to find his way to the United States. Once there, he was reunited with his brothers who had both made it years earlier.
Well, what do you think Albert? Have we been snookered one more time? Let me know. In the mean time I�ll keep looking into this story of POWs and MIAs. It seems a lot of questions could have or should have been answered at the end of that war. At any rate, I�ll talk to you later. Maybe we could discuss... UFOs?
