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Bob Necci and Andi Wolos
THE POW/MIA E-MAIL NETWORK (c)
aiinov05.99g
A PLEA FOR HELP ON BEHALF OF JAMES A. PRESTON~ MIA
Date: 10/29/1999 1:12:44 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: AKidd13036
To: AIIPOWMIAI, Bob Necci
Dear Bob~
I'm not sure if you can use this for distribution or not, but I thought
I'd forward it just in case... It's a copy of my POW/MIA Recognition Day
speech that I delivered at the Rolling Thunder rally in New Jersey on behalf
of my cousin James Arthur Preston who will be among the latest MIAs to be
included in yet another "empty coffin" group burial at Arlington soon--
Without adequate human remains as evidence of their deaths.
No specific date for the Arlington memorial service has been set yet, but
it's only a matter of time. Possibly by the end of December or early January.
As far as I know, it hasn't been announced by DPMO, but our family is very
thankful to have a bit of "fight time" beforehand so that contrary evidence
can be presented. Although it's highly doubtful that the group burial can be
"stopped," any help that you can provide in helping our family to call
attention to the discrepancies surrounding the case of James and the crew
would be greatly appreciated.
If there's any way that this can be forwarded throughout the POW/MIA
community, it would help immensely... (Please find speech below...)
Thank you so much for all of your help...
Amanda Kidd
Bowdon, Georgia
Relative of CMSgt. James A. Preston-- MIA-- Laos
September 19th, 1999
Rolling Thunder Rally
Homdel, New Jersey
A PLEA FOR HELP
On Behalf Of
CHIEF MASTER SERGEANT
JAMES ARTHUR PRESTON
Missing In Action
Laos
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am deeply grateful and honored for the opportunity to join you today in
this united stand on behalf of America's Prisoners of War and those who
remain Missing In Action from the war in Southeast Asia.
My name is Amanda Kidd-- And I stand before you now to extend to each of
you...
A Plea For Help.
I am a cousin of Chief Master Sergeant James Arthur Preston who is among
the 2,047 members of American military service personnel who remain
unaccounted for-- Abandoned by our government officials in Southeast Asia--
But certainly not forgotten by the countless veterans and POW/MIA activists
who refuse to rest until the last hero is home.
Generally, I would like for you to think of me as a peacemaker-- But I
offer no apology if my words today shock and anger you. It is my sincere
hope that you WILL become angry-- Angry enough that each of you-- upon your
departure-- will constructively and non-violently utilize this sentiment as
an incentive to strive with me for the search of truthful answers regarding
the fate of our nation's abandoned heroes.
It is my cousin James Preston whose story I would like to share with you
today~ One of your missing brothers-- Whose voice may soon become forever
silenced without your help.
On May 15, 1966, James Preston was the Loadmaster aboard an AC-47D gunship
that was lost to enemy fire over Savannakhet Province while bound on an
armed, visual reconnaissance mission just within the country of Laos shortly
after departure from Udorn Air Base in Thailand. On May 18, our family was
notified of the loss of the aircraft and was informed that all personnel
aboard were consequently declared to be Missing In Action. We were assured
that our government was doing everything possible to locate the wreckage-- as
well as our loved one-- James Preston-- and the remaining seven crew members
who were aboard at its time of loss.
Quietly and dutifully, our family waited daily with blind trust for word
that our loved one would be found safe and alive... Word that would never
come.
Days would evolve into years... Yet no trace of this aircraft or the
eight dedicated members of United States Air Force personnel who were aboard
were ever located.
In 1978, an unwelcomed milestone was reached-- The official status of
James Arthur Preston was changed from "Missing In Action" to "Killed In
Action / Body Not Recovered."
Eventually, James' immediate family-- his wife, brothers, and three
children-- would turn to me-- and to other relatives-- in the hope that there
would be more strength in numbers as we joined together in a united effort to
learn the truth.
Years have now come and gone... and the details surrounding this tragic
incident have continually eluded our family... Sincere inquiries regarding
James' fate have proved fruitless. Our United States Government has simply
not been adequately forthcoming with thorough and truthful answers regarding
this tragedy.
Now our hopes have once again been elevated only to be dashed by the
recent notification that our family has been given on behalf of the national
decision to prematurely close our loved one's case.
Only a few short months ago, in June of this year... after 33 agonizing
years of waiting... our family was abruptly notified that Joint Task Force
excavation teams had successfully located the wreckage of the AC-47D on which
James and his fellow crew members were aboard. Unfortunately, with nothing
more than a limited number of mingled, non mt-DNA tested bone fragments and a
few questionable personal belongings, eight more military servicemen are now
being deleted from our nation's list of missing service personnel.
From the cold, impersonal standpoint of our government officials... "Case
Number 0339", as this incident is generally known-- is now fully resolved.
Tragically, James Preston has become one of our nation's most recent
victims of the all-too-familiar "empty coffin" group burials at Arlington
National Cemetery that are so frequently used in our government's hurried
attempt to dismiss our MIAs without the repatriation of physical human
remains as adequate evidence of their deaths.
This American hero will now be abandoned once again by our government--
solely on the questionable recovery of a wrist watch... various material
items found at the crash site... and an undamaged military identification tag
which bears his name.
To those within our national heirarchy who are responsible for the
POW/MIA recovery effort, it matters not that no human remains have been
identified as being those of Chief Master Sergeant James Arthur Preston.
It matters not that James Preston's name was heard over Voice of Vietnam or
camp radio by five returned POWs...
It matters not that he is the only one of all eight crew members whose name
appears on Senator Bob Smith's 1992 POW/MIA Senate Select Committee List of
324 MIAs who are most likely to have survived captivity...
It matters not that possible remains of one of the aircraft door gunners
involved in this incident were recovered from a shallow grave at Houai Het
Prison-- Proving beyond all doubt that the entire crew did not perish upon
impact-- And that at least one-- and possibly more-- survived long enough to
be taken captive...
It matters not that a live sighting of James Preston was reported as
recently as 1992...
Despite WHATEVER evidence that we may present to the contrary... In the
eyes of our United States government officials... It... matters... NOT.
I extend my most sincere condolences to the families of the other crew
members of this incident whose loved ones have been tentatively identified
and repatriated...
But in the case of my cousin... such closure is not to be found. Chief
Master Sergeant James Arthur Preston does not yet stand on or rest in
American soil.
As I depart from you today, I leave you to contemplate the following
thought:
Is this the type of full accounting that you desire for the brothers that
you fought alongside during the war in Vietnam?
Is this the type of full accounting that you would quietly accept if James
Preston were Your son...? Your brother...? Your father...? Your
cousin...? Your friend...?
If not, then I ask you to please join me in helping to give him A Voice
That Will Not Be Silenced.
This American hero does not rest in Arlington National Cemetery as our
national leaders would have us believe. But without your help, U.S.
government officials will no longer be undertaking formal efforts to learn
more about his fate. Without your help, no one will pursue the
inconsistencies that I have presented to you today. There will be no
incentive for anyone to provide additional information that might otherwise
bring him home. Without you... James Arthur Preston will once again be
abandoned by the nation that he so loyally trusted to protect him.
From the standpoint of our national leaders, James Arthur Preston no
longer has a name or place among the missing American servicemen who remain
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. We, as his family, will no longer
adequately be heard-- And without your help... he will no longer have A
Voice.
Now, more than ever, I wish to inquire of each of you here today...
Will YOU become his Voice?
If my words today have angered you, I pray that you will receive and
embrace them as a symbol of our common bond of friendship-- For I, too, am
angry.
Please... Let us utilize our anger constructively and non-violently in a
united voice that will demand that our government officials CEASE the
practice of the dismissal America's missing heroes solely on the grounds of
Identification by Association--
A practice that so tragically permits the burial of empty coffins in our
national military cemeteries without the presence of human remains...
And for as long as necessary... Please strive with me in my family's
continued search for truth by inquiring of our nation's leaders...
Where IS Chief Master Sergeant James Arthur Preston-- Really?!
May God bless you all...
And again... Thank you.
**********************************************************
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