A senior U.S. Defense Department official began a tour of Indochinese countries Thursday to discuss progress on resolving the fates of more than 2,000 Americans missing in action.
The U.S. Embassy said Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense James Wold flew to the Laotian capital, Vientiane. On Sunday he departs for Vietnam followed by a visit to Cambodia.Wold - the Pentagon's top official on MIAs and prisoners of war - is to meet with senior government officials in the three countries and accompany search teams in Laos and Vietnam.
The department lists 2,211 American servicemen as missing in action from the Indochina wars. Despite numerous reports of "live sightings" of Americans, none has panned out.
Former U.S. Rep. William Hendon had asked Wold to take him on the trip to Vietnam, saying he had "irrefutable evidence" that U.S. prisoners were being held in that country.
Hendon, a North Carolina Republican, was denied a visa to enter Vietnam and is currently in Bangkok. On earlier trips to Vietnam, Hendon failed to lead investigators to live Americans and Washington views his claims with skepticism.
Hendon said he had not heard from Wold but was ready to accompany him to Vietnam at any time.
Wold is scheduled to accompany a joint U.S.-Laotian MIA search, the 37th of its kind. Teams plan to investigate 54 cases and excavate eight sites in search of remains. The probe began Thursday and will run until April 7.
In Vietnam, Wold is to join the 34th U.S.-Vietnamese MIA search, which ends March 21. A similar joint search is scheduled in Cambodia later this spring.