tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10820485.post5614062194209607053..comments2023-11-03T09:36:22.100-04:00Comments on In From the Cold: The Search Goes OnGeorge Smileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049707648660651119noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10820485.post-46853984435226041442009-08-15T10:03:26.045-04:002009-08-15T10:03:26.045-04:00As a combat aviator, I feel comfortable commenting...As a combat aviator, I feel comfortable commenting. America has always expended great effort to recover crew-members downed on missions. Unfortunately we've got a long history as well of mistakes with regard to decision making and family notification. <br /><br />By that I mean well-intentioned actions which raise false hope. Admittedly in the chaos of WW II and Korea, there were a lot of surprises at repatriation time. This led to a practice of withholding declarations of KIA and a preference for MIA status. Hope was maintained, pay and benefits were continued, and a KIA declaration could always come later. <br /><br />I saw it done dozens of times when I was in the F-105 business and we were losing several guys a week for months on end. On-scene wingmen reported unsurvivable losses with no ejection attempt, yet they were reported as unknown status. <br /><br />The long-term result was a cadre of hopeful family members denying the eventual reality and a virtual industry in rumor, protest, demand for action, and eventually conspiracy accusations. <br /><br />I'm comfortable that all known missing aircrew members from SEA have been recovered, repatriated or accounted for. I have known and discussed this with dozens of ex-POWs who concur. <br /><br />Yet, we always look for something else, and in the process families never give up hope only to prolong their agony. <br /><br />I don't know the solution, but after 18 years I'm willing to recommend that we let Cmdr. Speicher rest in peace.Ed Rasimushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13667325554289268659noreply@blogger.com