Vietnam Officials Tell U.S. Envoys That Americans May Still Be There

Vietnamese officials told Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) and a congressional delegation Saturday that some Americans may still be living in remote sections of Vietnam that are not under government control.

The Americans also were told that Vietnam soon will hand over the remains of 14 U.S. soldiers who were killed during the war and will provide information on an additional 70 listed as missing in action.

Deputy Foreign Minister Hoang Bich Son, emerging from a meeting with the nine visiting congressmen, told reporters that Hanoi officials had no knowledge of Americans held prisoner in Vietnam.

Caves, Sparsely Populated Areas

But he refused to rule out the possibility that some soldiers might be in captivity in caves or sparsely populated areas without the knowledge of Hanoi officials.

“I have told this delegation as well as others . . . there are no Americans living on Vietnamese soil,” Son said. But “if there are any, that is beyond our control. So we cannot assure you there are none.”

Son said Vietnamese authorities have captured three Americans who infiltrated illegally into Vietnam since the end of the war, and he added that “there may be others who have not been captured.”

These comments were termed a “major breakthrough” by Rep. Gerald B.H. Solomon (R-N.Y.), who led the bipartisan delegation on a weekend trip to Hanoi to seek information about the nearly 2,400 American soldiers missing in action from the Vietnam War.

Significantly Different Position

Vietnamese officials, who have consistently denied holding any Americans since the war, are now taking a significantly different position, he said.

“They have clearly not ruled out the possibility that some live Americans may be in Vietnam. We certainly would . . . work with their government to secure the safe and speedy return of remaining Americans to the United States,” Solomon said.

Other members of the delegation expressed similar enthusiasm about Son’s comments. The admission “confirms what intelligence reports have been indicating for some time: that there may be as many as 100 Americans over there,” Dornan said.

“We broke the logjam with these people today . . . we got them to realize how serious Americans are about this issue, and that they must help us resolve it once and for all.”

900 Sightings Reported

Solomon said Vietnamese officials have created three investigating teams to check out the reported sightings of Americans in captivity that have been made by Laotian, Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees. Last year, American officials received 900 such reports from refugees living in camps along the Thailand-Cambodia border.

Solomon also disclosed that Vietnamese officials have agreed to turn over the remains of 14 U.S. soldiers. The move reflects an “acceleration” of Hanoi’s pledge to turn over all such remains to American officials by the end of next year, he said. In recent months, Vietnamese have agreed to turn over the bones of an estimated 50 Americans who died during the war.

Also, Vietnamese officials promised the congressmen that they would take steps soon to resume the orderly departure program that permits Vietnamese to resettle in other countries. Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.) said Son and other Vietnamese leaders agreed to consider a U.S. offer to reunite thousands of Vietnamese political prisoners with their families living in America.

Son told the congressmen that the program was halted in 1979 after Chinese military attacks on Vietnam. Now, the government is “willing to consider” reinstituting the program, he said.

Dornan, who presented Hanoi officials with the names of Vietnamese political prisoners who he said should be freed on “humanitarian” grounds, said Son’s comments were good news for thousands of Vietnamese families in Orange County and other sections of the country.

‘Something Encouraging’

“I’ve had so many of these family members urge us to do something about this problem . . . to get as many as 7,000 of these prisoners out of Vietnam,” he said. “Today, I think we may bring them the beginnings of something encouraging.”

The American delegation, which arrived in Hanoi Friday, was miffed initially that Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach had canceled a scheduled meeting with the group. Although several members threatened to leave immediately, Son and other officials prevailed on the congressmen to stay on for the Saturday meeting.

“It was a very good thing that we did stay, because the results of this were beyond my expectations,” Soloman said. “All of the participants in this delegation are very grateful to the Vietnamese for their new spirit of cooperation.”

Other members of the delegation included Benjamin Gilman (R-N.Y.), Bill Hendon, (R-N.C.), Dave Dreier (R-Calif.), Frank McCloskey (D-Ind.), Bob Smith (R-N.H.) and John Rowland (R-Conn.).