BACKGROUND OF COLD WAR POW/MIAs
There were many conflicts
that made up the Cold War: the Berlin Wall crisis, The Korean War, The Bay of
Pigs, Vietnam and, of course, the Arms Race. During the time between April 8,
1950 and October 21, 1970, 31 American planes were shot down. Two hundred fifty two crew members were on
board these flights. There were 90 survivors; 24 dead; and 123 fates unknown. Families of these 123 men have
waited and searched for answers about their missing loved ones for years, to no
avail.
When the Cold War ended in
1991, and President Yeltsen mentioned live Americans being held in Russia, the
formation of Task Force Russia was underway. The missing men were classified
into groups: World War II; Korea; Cold
War; Men lost in countries with which the U.S. was not officially at war; and
Vietnam. After about 9-10 months, the Cold War search for the missing was
absorbed into DPMO, the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Office, that
had taken over the accounting effort.
The Cold War working group still exists, but the flow of information
coming from it is just as slow as that of any other group.
Families of Cold War
POW/MIAs have the same issues and problems seeking closure as the families who
lost men during other wars: lies, half-truths and misinformation. Some of these
problems are generated from the lack of cooperation from other countries, and
some from the fact that our own U.S. government does not push hard enough to get
information from them. For more
detailed information please read the article on the background of the Korean
War POW/MIA issue, posted elsewhere on this page.
Coalition Headquarters
P.O. Box 7152
Roanoke, VA 24019-0152
info@coalitionoffamilies.org