Repatriate Intrepid Sailors Remains Now

In 1804 the USS Intrepid was on a mission to destroy pirate ships in the harbor at Tripoli that
were attacking U.S. merchant ships.

During the attempt all 13 men aboard the Intrepid were killed, and their bodies washed ashore.

They are buried in Tripoli's Protestant Cemetery, which Chief of Naval Operations
Adm. Jonathan Greenert considers their final resting place. A navy spokesman, Lt. Cmdr.
Alana Garas said "Navy custom and tradition is to honor the final resting place of those
lost in ships and downed aircraft."

 An amendment to the NDAA 2012  introduced in the Senate by Sen. Dean Heller failed final
passage. Heller was disappointed that his amendment  failed but that he "is committed to
making sure these fallen sailors receive the recognition they deserve and (I) will continue
working with my colleagues until this legislation becomes law."


Sources say that Sen. John McCain the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee blocked the amendment from becoming a part of final bill.

McCain's office would only state that he is "still reviewing" the issue, but a source in his
office noted the Navy's objections.

So it appears that the Navy and Sen. McCain do not believe in the saying "No Man
Left Behind." Which is a long standing tradition in the US Military.

The head of the nonprofit Intrepid Project is leading the attempt to repatriate the remains,
Michael Caputo said "That the cemetery is not well cared for, is in a country that has
been hostile to the United States for decades, and has graves that are dissipated and in some
cases unmarked." He went on to say "the grave sites are squalid, unkempt and at risk
of falling into the sea."

Congressman Mike Rogers R-Mich., who in a 2004 visit to Tripoli learned of the remains
of the Intrepid sailors introduced a bill this year to repatriate the remains.

Rogers bill passed the House said that even though the Navy wants to leave the remains where
they are, and considers the graves in Tripoli a final resting place, "our country should never
leave a fellow American in uniform behind."

The amendment is now out of the Senate version of the NDAA, but it is still in the House version.
The Senate voted final passage of S.1836 the National Defense Authorization Act FY2012
last week.

So now the House/Senate conference committee members will have to debate this issue and
hopefully reach a conclusion that the remains of these brave men must be repatriated.

The US Navy should reconsider their stand, and bring home the remains to give
closure to the families of those who are left behind.

Contact your elected officials tell them that more than 200 years is much too long. Bring home
our heroes.

Jerald Terwilliger
National Chairman
American Cold War Veterans
"We Remember"



---------------- "And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be no parades." -- Robert M. Gates, 1996

Search for Korean War MIA's to Renew

On Friday Oct. 21 the Department of Defense announced that the United States and the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed to resume the search and recovery
of remains of American service members missing in action from the Korean War.

U.S. teams will work in two sections of North Korea. Approximately 60 miles north of
Poyongyang in Unsan County. The other area is in the Chosin/Jangjin Reservoir, where it is
believed more than 2,000 Marines and soldiers are buried.

The agreement includes logistics and matters to help ensure the safety and effectiveness of the
teams working in the DPRK.

The search is expected to begin next year as a humanitarian effort, and will be the first since
2005, when relations and increased tensions on the Korean Peninsula forced the American
teams to halt their search.

The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command had teams conducting searches in the country
for ten years before the halt. It is believed that the remains of 225 servicemen have been
recovered since 1996.

More than 7,900 Americans are missing from the Korean War, more than 5,500 are believed
to have been lost in North Korea.

Our country must continue to search with every means available to locate and repatriate the
remains of every MIA. We must demand the full accounting of all those who are MIA.

The families of those who are still missing deserve nothing less than our full, complete and
concentrated effort. Those who are missing must be found to bring closure to the loved ones
of those who never came home.

Jerald Terwilliger
National Chairman
American Cold War Veterans
"We Remember" 

---------------- "And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be no parades." -- Robert M. Gates, 1996

POW/MIA

The House of Representatives is actually trying to do something about the POW/MIA issue.
There is a bill H.Res 111 to set up a select committee to oversee all POW/MIA activity
A part of the bill
Sec. 2. The select committee shall conduct a full investigation of all unresolved matters relating to any United States personnel unaccounted for from the Vietnam era, the Korean conflict, World War II, Cold War Missions, Persian Gulf War, Operation Iraqi Freedom, or Operation Enduring Freedom, including MIA's and POW's missing and captured.

You can read the entire bill here
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.RES.111:

As of today the bill has 206 cosponsors read the list here
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HE00111:@@@P

Contact your representatives, ask them to cosponsor this important legislation if they are not
already show on the list.

Ask them to push to get the bill out of committee and to vote for passage when it reaches the
House Floor.

Our country must do everything possible to determine where and demand return of all
POW/MIA's or their remains from ALL conflicts.

Give closure to the families and loved ones who still do not know the final story of these brave men and women.

If the links do not work properly go to Thomas(Library of Congress) and do a search for
H. Res 111 for the 111th congress.

Jerald Terwilliger
National Vice Chairman
American Cold War Veterans, Inc.
"We Remember"