Correspondence Between Senator Dole and Parents of a POW about a Withdrawal Date in Vietnam

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s-con_293_018_004_Redacted_1_tr.txt

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Extent (Dublin Core)

4 Pages

File Name (Dublin Core)

s-con_293_018_004

Title (Dublin Core)

Correspondence Between Senator Dole and Parents of a POW about a Withdrawal Date in Vietnam

Description (Dublin Core)

Correspondence between Senator Dole and parents of a prisoner of war about a withdrawal date in Vietnam.

Date (Dublin Core)

1971-05

Date Created (Dublin Core)

1971-05

Congress (Dublin Core)

92nd (1971-1973)

Topics (Dublin Core)

See all items with this valuePrisoners of war--United States

See all items with this valueVietnam War, 1961-1975

Policy Area (Curation)

Armed Forces and National Security

Creator (Dublin Core)

Dole, Robert J., 1923-2021

Record Type (Dublin Core)

correspondence

Rights (Dublin Core)

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

Language (Dublin Core)

eng

Collection Finding Aid (Dublin Core)

https://dolearchivecollections.ku.edu/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=31&q=

Physical Location (Dublin Core)

Collection 002, Box 293, Folder 18

Institution (Dublin Core)

Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

Archival Collection (Dublin Core)

Robert J. Dole Senate Papers-Constituent Relations, 1969-1996

Full Text (Extract Text)

COPY
May 27, 1971
Leg-pow
Mr. and Mrs (redacted)
(Street address redacted)
Norman, Oklahoma 73069

Dear Mr. and Mrs. (redacted)
Thank you for your letter of May 10 .
I am sorry that my letter of May 7 increased your concern about your son. It is cruelly misleading for those who say that if the President would announce his intention to withdraw all U. S. troops by the end of this year, U. S. prisoners held in North Vietnam could be home "by Christmas". Proponents of setting the date state that this would be no problem since the Communists returned prisoners immediately after the conclusion of hostilities with the French in the 1950's. This is not entirely accurate. According to authoritative French sources and North Vietnamese defectors, hundreds and perhaps thousands of POW's are still being held by the Communists from the French-Indochina War.

An examination of the Communists' negotiating position shows that they demand much more than setting the date for U. S. withdrawal before they will agree to discuss the POW issue. Point 9 of the National Liberation Front's proposals, put forth in May of 1969, links the release of American POW's with the payment of reparations by the U.S. Point 1 of the Provisional Revolutionary Government's 8 point plan put forward in September of 1970, calls on the U. S. to stop "Vietnamization," totally withdraw all troops, personnel, weapons, and war material, without posing any conditions at all, and dismantle all military bases. In exchange for all this, the PRG agreed only to discuss the POW issue. Therefore, it is clear that even if the U. S. were to set a date for the withdrawal the Communists cannot be counted on to release the POW's.




Mr. and Mrs. (redacted) COPY
May 27, 1971
Page 2
As you may know, the South Vietnamese are releasing in June 570 North Vietnamese Prisoners of War. It is hoped that the North Vietnamese might release some of our American prisoners. However they have given no indication of doing so.

I hope this letter has not caused you further concern. Mrs. Mary Jane McManus, Secretary-Treasurer of the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia has said: "We do not believe that setting a date willaautomatically mean a return of our men. It is sad to see some saying this because it is not true. Even worse, it cruelly raises the hopes of those who have suffered so much and so long. Our cause is not served by the raising of false hopes for political purposes."
Sincerely yours,
BOB DOLE United States Senate
BD: nmm



May 10, 1971
(redacted)
Norman, Okla.

(Stamped) P.A.K. May 13, 1971

Senator Robert Dole
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C.
Senator,
Your letter only increased our concern about our P.O.W. son. This determination of our gov't to keep this residual force indefinitely to help the S. Vietnamese continue the war is to write off the prisoners of war. When all Americans are gone or when we set a definite date so that we will have to get out, those men will be released as there will be no farther reason for them to keep them. They, of course, will not release these men while we continue our part of the war. All they want is to have the Americans out and they don't feel that they plan to leave. We have a feeling that our own gov't are using these men as an excuse to keep

a force over there. If so our only hope now is to work to get men in who will set a date and really end the war. We worked for Nixon because he promised to end(Underlined) the war one way or another not just wind it down so it will be acceptable to the silent majority who are really the uninvolved(Underlined). We believe, though, in the coming election the Americans will not accept a continued role in Asia that does write off these mere and continues a loss of a minority of men.

We received mail from [redacted] all last year but none at all this year Since the F.B.2. came and wanted us to help them stop the mail, we have a feeling that they are responsible for cutting off all mail. We, of course, would like it through the regular mail but we couldn't have it that way. So we are now confused about who is our enemy and who we can count on to try to save these mens lives.
Thank you.
Mr. & Mrs.(redacted)
(redacted)
Norman, Okla. - 73069