Judicial Watch sues Defense Department, seeking POW and MIA records from Vietnam era

Of interest to members of Rolling Thunder, veterans’ groups and others who have not forgotten those soldiers who were prisoners of war or still missing in action during the Vietnam War, or through military action in Laos.

Judicial Watch has sued the Defense Department, seeking government records from 1973 to the present regarding American soldiers who were prisoners of war or missing in action.

“Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit after the Pentagon failed to respond to two Freedom of Information Act requests,” the watchdog organization said in a statement.

The request includes access to lists of POWs and MIAs provided to North Vietnam, as well as materials used to brief President Nixon in 1973 about those who could be remaining in that nation.

The organization is also seeking reports of “live sightings” of U.S. soldiers from Jan. 27, 1973, to the present, along with data collected from the classified program known as “PAVE SPIKE,” plus electronic messages containing individual code numbers issued to U.S. airmen transmitted from the ground in Vietnam and/or Laos from Jan. 27, 1973 to the present.

“The Vietnam MIA-POW issue is a sore spot for many veterans and concerned Americans,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Why is the Pentagon stonewalling our attempts to obtain information that is clearly in the public interest?”