10
University Daily Kansan
Campus/Area
Wednesday, Oct. 30, 1985
Veteran savs U.S. has forgotten about MIAs
By Gary Duda Of the Kansan staff
The United States has done more to bury its missing soldiers in Vietnam than it has to bring them home, a spokesman for a group seeking information about Americans missing in action in Vietnam said last night.
John Musgrave, spokesman for the group, called Project Prairie Fire, spoke to a group of KU students last night in the Kansas Union about the United States' lack of action in freeing its soldiers held prisoner in Southeast Asia.
"They were there when we needed them," Musgrave said. "Where were we when they needed us?"
The name Prairie Fire comes from code words for secret operations in Laos. American soldiers in distress would radio the words "Prairie Fire" so that they would be rescued.
Musgure, a veteran, said more than 1,100 soldiers, including 39 Kansans and 12 soldiers who were KU students at the time of their capture, were still listed as missing in action. He said those who were alive were probably being used as slave labor or for political propaganda.
Musgrave said that when the war ended in 1975, all 591 soldiers released were unarmed.
Because many soldiers were captured after their planes were shot down, he said that the soldiers who remained probably were injured in some way and the North Vietnamese didn't want to send them back because the United States would learn about their harsh treatment.
"What we saw was the best they had to give us back," he said.
Musgure said every administration since the end of the war had tried to prove that either all of the soldiers were dead or already home.
"Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford abandoned the prisoners of war, but James Earl Carter buried them," he said.
When Carter took over the presidency, Musgrave said, he declared all but one of the prisoners dead. Musgrave said Carter did this because of one piece of evidence.
"The evidence of whether they were dead was whether or not they were home," he said.
Musgrave said the Reagan administration had at least admitted that there were still live Americans in Vietnam. He said despite this admission, the present administration had done more than past administrations to deal with the issue.
"It sounds like another politician using another emotional issue to get a vote," he said.
Mmusgave said the United States had "disgraced itself" by its actions.
Despite large amounts of evidence, which include sightings of live Americans as recent as August 18, Grave said, nothing has been done.
"Our flag is still there," he said.
"Our flag is in the rags that those prisoners wear. Our flag is in the prayers those prisoners say."
Mustgrave said that when the war ended the government said the United States had achieved peace with honor. He said, however, while Americans were still imprisoned there could be no room for honor.
"There is not peace with honor as long as our flag is in the enemies' hands," he said.
Besides the live Americans in Vietnam, Musgrave said, there are also remains of hundreds more. He said the North Vietnamese used these as a bargaining stick with the United States.
"In North Vietnam, 482 sets of remains that the North Vietnamese have are boxed up and put in a warehouse," he said. "They are holding it like a carrot on a stick in front of the United States."
Musgrave said the United States had received some remains of American soldiers and returned them to their families. He said the government, however, had passed along boxes of remains that weren't even one person, let alone the service man they said it was.
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The following ART courses for the Spring '86 semester are open to non-majors and have no prerequisites:
Specifically for students with limited or no previous experience. An exploration of basic technical and expressive possibilities in drawing and painting; may include field trips, films, visiting lecturers. Six hours scheduled studio activity and three hours outside work weekly. Will not count as studio requirement for BFA in Art or Design. May not be repeated for credit.
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ART 121 FUNDAMENTALS OF PRINTMAKING. 3 credits.
no prerequisites
Specifically for students with limited or no previous experience. An exploration of basic technical and expressive possibilities in printmaking, including woodcut, etching, lithography, and silk screen; may include field trips, films, visiting lecturers. Six hours scheduled studio activity and three hours outside work weekly. Will not count as studio requirement for BFA in Art or Design. May not be repeated for credit.
ART 122 FUNDAMENTALS OF SCULPTURE. 3 credits,
7-10 p.m., MW, Room 212C Art & Design Instructor: John Talleur Line no. 68610
no prerequisites.
Specifically for students with limited or no previous experience. An exploration of basic technical and expressive possibilities in three-dimensional form and space, including sculpture modeling, carving, and construction; may include field trips, films, visiting lecturers. Six hours scheduled studio activity and three hours outside work weekly Will not count as studio requirement for BFA in Art or Design. May not be repeated for credit.
7-10 p.m., TR, Room 104 Art & Design Instructor: Elden Tefft Line no. 68615
During the past two years, Musgrave said, there has been an increased interest in the Americans alive in Vietnam. While movies such as "Rambo" and "Missing in Action" were not accurate portrayals of the problem, they did show that people were interested in bringing the prisoners home.
"Our government is lying to families as to what they are giving them in those boxes," he said.
In addition to the courses listed above we will continue to allow non-majors to enroll in all of our other courses if the student has the correct prerequisites and obtains a signed "Permission to Enroll" card from the department.
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