21 More U.S. Bodies Found, Vietnam Says

The Vietnamese government has informed Pentagon officials that it has located an additional 21 remains believed to be those of missing American servicemen, a top Pentagon official said today.

Richard L. Armitage, the assistant defense secretary for international security affairs, also told reporters that an Army laboratory has identified five of the seven remains returned to the United States by Vietnam in December as those of missing American servicemen.

Armitage said the identified remains will be transported from Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii to Travis Air Force Base, Calif., on Thursday after “a full military honors ceremony.”

Forensic scientists at the Army’s Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii are still working to identify the other two remains, Armitage added.

‘Most Substantive . . . to Date’

Armitage called the recent U.S.-Vietnamese technical meeting in Hanoi, which ended Feb. 28, “the most substantive talks held to date.”

He said that as a result of a new Vietnamese effort to extend the search for missing Americans into the rural countryside, Vietnam’s government had informed U.S. officials that it had uncovered a total of 49 remains in recent months. Of those 49, Armitage continued, the Vietnamese have identified 21 as suspected Americans and the remaining 28 as Asians. Of the 21 suspected Americans, the Vietnamese have already provided tentative identifications for 10.

No date has been set for returning the 21 sets of remains, but the United States hopes that the repatriation will be completed within the next three weeks, Armitage added.

The five identifications announced today are Navy Capt. William D. McGrath of Colton, Calif., lost Nov. 17, 1967; Air Force Col. Robert W. Hagerman of Chicago, lost Nov. 6, 1967; Navy Cmdr. Barton S. Wade of Jasper, Ind., lost Dec. 21, 1972; Navy Lt. Cmdr. Robert S. Graustein of Fryeburg, Me., lost Dec. 21, 1972, and Navy Lt. Cmdr. Richard W. Minnich Jr. of Collegeville, Pa., lost Jan. 4, 1968.