thedrifter
05-22-03, 08:04 AM
U.S. soldiers in Vietnam to recover casualties
by Maj. Jamie Gayton and Lt. Col. Stan Heath
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, May 21, 2003) -- One of the Army's Vietnam veterans still on active duty recently visited the fire base where he was stationed 34 years ago.
Lt. Gen. John M. Le Moyne, the Army's deputy chief of staff, G-1, visited U.S. soldiers last week in Vietnam who are there to recover American remains from a crash site in Ba Ria-Vung Tau. The soldiers are assigned to Detachment 2 of Joint Task Force-Full Accounting and the Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii.
The joint team is in Vietnam combing through thousands of tons of mud extracted from the ground and then screened for fragments by hired Vietnamese locals with supervision from the JTF-FA/CILHI team.
Recovery teams enter Vietnam and conduct full-blown recovery site operations about four times a year for about 30 days at a time. As the Army G-1, Le Moyne has oversight over the CILHI team located in Hawaii.
During his visit May 9-12 to recovery site 1538 in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Le Moyne was briefed by the recovery team leader Capt. Tod Pingrey and the lead anthropologist Dr. Pete Miller. He was escorted by the JTF-FA detachment commander Lt. Col. Steve Hawley.
The team had built a work area above the wetlands and a raised walkway to and from the crash site to enable soil stabilization and extraction.
Pingrey's team had already recovered glass from an aircraft cockpit and fragments from a fuselage confirming that the recovery site location was accurate. Le Moyne toured the site receiving briefs from each of the section leaders and then sat down and held an informal question and answer session with the team.
"The NCOs were superb," Le Moyne said after the trip. "Their work is important to the American people and to their fellow soldiers."
Le Moyne also addressed issues and answered questions about soldier career paths and recovery missions. CILHI is scheduled to merge with JTF-FA in October under U.S. Pacific Command. The resulting joint organization, while retaining all current capabilities of both CILHI and JTF-FA, would become more efficient as unity of command and unity of effort will enable seamless coordination and recovery operations throughout southeast Asia and the world, Le Moyne said.
Following his site visit, Le Moyne took a drive to visit an old fire base site where he had operated. Le Moyne said he was amazed at the difference in the country from how he left it as a young officer.
"I couldn't even tell a war had been fought there," Le Moyne said. "The effects of a peace-time economy were striking."
Le Moyne then traveled to Hanoi and along with Ambassador Raymond Burghardt attended meetings with Vietnamese government and military officials. Le Moyne thanked Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Dinh Bin and Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army Lt. Gen. Nguyen Duc Soat for their outstanding support in efforts to recover unaccounted for Americans and share information about possible recovery sites.
(Editor's note: Maj. Jamie Gayton is the aide de camp and Lt. Col. Stan Heath is the public affairs officer for G1.)
Link to original news item:
http://www.dtic.mil/armylink/news/May2003/a20030521vietnamtrip.html
Sempers,
Roger
by Maj. Jamie Gayton and Lt. Col. Stan Heath
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, May 21, 2003) -- One of the Army's Vietnam veterans still on active duty recently visited the fire base where he was stationed 34 years ago.
Lt. Gen. John M. Le Moyne, the Army's deputy chief of staff, G-1, visited U.S. soldiers last week in Vietnam who are there to recover American remains from a crash site in Ba Ria-Vung Tau. The soldiers are assigned to Detachment 2 of Joint Task Force-Full Accounting and the Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii.
The joint team is in Vietnam combing through thousands of tons of mud extracted from the ground and then screened for fragments by hired Vietnamese locals with supervision from the JTF-FA/CILHI team.
Recovery teams enter Vietnam and conduct full-blown recovery site operations about four times a year for about 30 days at a time. As the Army G-1, Le Moyne has oversight over the CILHI team located in Hawaii.
During his visit May 9-12 to recovery site 1538 in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Le Moyne was briefed by the recovery team leader Capt. Tod Pingrey and the lead anthropologist Dr. Pete Miller. He was escorted by the JTF-FA detachment commander Lt. Col. Steve Hawley.
The team had built a work area above the wetlands and a raised walkway to and from the crash site to enable soil stabilization and extraction.
Pingrey's team had already recovered glass from an aircraft cockpit and fragments from a fuselage confirming that the recovery site location was accurate. Le Moyne toured the site receiving briefs from each of the section leaders and then sat down and held an informal question and answer session with the team.
"The NCOs were superb," Le Moyne said after the trip. "Their work is important to the American people and to their fellow soldiers."
Le Moyne also addressed issues and answered questions about soldier career paths and recovery missions. CILHI is scheduled to merge with JTF-FA in October under U.S. Pacific Command. The resulting joint organization, while retaining all current capabilities of both CILHI and JTF-FA, would become more efficient as unity of command and unity of effort will enable seamless coordination and recovery operations throughout southeast Asia and the world, Le Moyne said.
Following his site visit, Le Moyne took a drive to visit an old fire base site where he had operated. Le Moyne said he was amazed at the difference in the country from how he left it as a young officer.
"I couldn't even tell a war had been fought there," Le Moyne said. "The effects of a peace-time economy were striking."
Le Moyne then traveled to Hanoi and along with Ambassador Raymond Burghardt attended meetings with Vietnamese government and military officials. Le Moyne thanked Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Dinh Bin and Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army Lt. Gen. Nguyen Duc Soat for their outstanding support in efforts to recover unaccounted for Americans and share information about possible recovery sites.
(Editor's note: Maj. Jamie Gayton is the aide de camp and Lt. Col. Stan Heath is the public affairs officer for G1.)
Link to original news item:
http://www.dtic.mil/armylink/news/May2003/a20030521vietnamtrip.html
Sempers,
Roger