June 2, 2001
First Lady, Laura
Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mrs. Bush:
Like millions of
other Americans, I am grateful for the grace, honor and dignity
which your presence restores to the White House.
As First Lady of this
great nation, you have a unique ability to influence the opinion
of millions of American citizens. A traditional role for the First
Lady has been to champion various causes, and to set this country
on the correct moral path. I would offer to you the challenge of
addressing the plight of hundreds of un-accounted for American
servicemen. Those who are more commonly referred to as POW-MIA's.
There is overwhelming evidence that
American Prisoners of War are still alive in Southeast Asia.
In the years following the
withdrawal of United States forces from Vietnam, there have been
hundreds of eye-witnesses who have said that they have personally
seen them.
I have sent a letter to your
husband, the President, regarding the fate of Randolph Ard, whose
helicopter crashed on March 7, 1971, inside the Laotian
border. It was verified by eyewitnesses to the incident,
that he was alive after the crash.
Randy Ard's case is
representative of so many of those who have been abandoned by the
country they served.
Nearly 600 Americans were lost
in Laos alone during the war in Vietnam.
Although the Pathet Lao stated
on several occasions they held "tens of tens" of
American prisoners, Laos was not included in the agreements ending
American involvement in the war, and the U.S. has not negotiated
for the freedom of these men since that day. Consequently, not one
American held in Laos has ever been released.
These Americans, too, were
abandoned.
I urge you to take up the banner
of these forgotten heroes, and seek a full accounting of our
missing servicemen.
Sincerely,
Larry Marino |
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