The United States and Vietnam are preparing for the biggest search of Americans missing in action since the war ended nearly 20 years ago.
More than 80 Americans, including four excavation teams, will launch the operation Jan. 6 with their Vietnamese counterparts. They will be in the field through Jan. 28."This will be our most ambitious yet," said Army Lt. Col. David L. Fredrikson, a military spokesman for MIA operations.
Washington is moving slowly toward diplomatic relations with Vietnam. But President Clinton has made clear that Vietnam must account to the best of its ability for Americans missing in the war before the United States lifts its 19-year trade embargo.
U.S. officials say it is unlikely that they will ever know what happened to all the 2,239 Americans still unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, including 1,648 in Vietnam, 505 in Laos, 78 in Cambodia and eight in China.
Some of the men have been missing for 25 years or more and the landscape has changed. Many of them were lost over water or in mountainous terrain.
Last week, the Vietnamese turned over the remains of eight Americans found during searches in October and November. The Vietnamese also turned over new MIA documents now being analyzed.
In the latest development, Hanoi has agreed to allow more Americans to investigate and excavate through the countryside in the operation that kicks off in January. Heretofore, Vietnam had allowed access to only seven American teams totalling more than 70 men.
As preparations were being made for the new operation, a 17-day coordinated search involving the United States, Vietnam and Laos ended Sunday.
This operation, half the size of the one planned next month, fell short of its goals because bad weather limited helicopter flights to the remote border region of Vietnam and Laos.
But U.S. military spokesman Fredrikson hailed it as a success just the same as it was the first coordinated search by the three countries. He said more trilateral operations would be launched next year.