VIETNAM POW/MIA REWARD HOME PAGE

$2,600,000.00

IN REWARDS OFFERED FOR THE RETURN OF A LIVING AMERICAN PRISONER OF WAR  FROM COMMUNIST CAPTIVITY IN VIETNAM, LAOS OR CAMBODIA

THE REWARDS FOR THE RETURN OF LIVING VIETNAM ERA
PRISONERS OF WAR

     The United States Department of Defense (DoD) and the private, non-profit POW Publicity Fund each offer a reward to any individual or group who directly liberates an American prisoner of war detained against his will in Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia as a result of his status as a U.S. combatant in the Vietnam conflict.  The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) reward approximates One Hundred Thousand U.S. Dollars ($100,000.00).  The POW Publicity Fund reward is Two Million Five Hundred Thousand U.S. Dollars ($2,500,000.00).  To receive the $2,600,000.00 in rewards, the claimant(s) must liberate an American prisoner and return him to U.S. Government custody and the prisoner must be identified as an actual POW or MIA from the Vietnam conflict.

THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (DoD) REWARD:

Rationale:

     The DoD portion of the $2.6 million dollar total reward is based on existing policy and commitments extended in the service personnel blood chit, a reward document which was carried by all fixed wing air crewmen and selected other servicemen engaged in combat operations during the Vietnam War.   Click here to view the signed DoD policy statement on blood chit rewards dated 9 June 1995.

The DoD Blood Chit Reward:

     The practice of the U.S. Government paying rewards for downed fliers began during World War II when U.S. air crews in the China/Burma/India theater began carrying reward offers (blood chits) on their person during combat operations.  Similar blood chits were used during the Cold War, Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War and most recently in air operations over Iraq and Bosnia.  Click here to see the U. S. Cold War blood chit.  Click here to read text of the U.S. Cold War blood chit.  Scores of U.S. airmen have been saved though the blood chit reward program, 42 in the Korean War alone.  The most recent public DoD reward payment under the blood chit program was made in 1993 for a wartime rescue of seven B-29 crewmen during the Korean War.  Click here to see the 1993 $100,000 blood chit reward payment.

The Official DoD Vietnam Conflict Blood Chit Reward Document:

     The official DoD reward document for the Vietnam conflict is the Vietnam era blood chit carried by U.S. air crewmen and selected other American servicemen during combat operations in Southeast Asia.  This blood chit states in fourteen languages that the U.S. Government will pay a reward to anyone helping a downed airman to safety.  Click here to see the DoD Vietnam era blood chit.  Click here to read the text of the DoD Vietnam era blood chit.

THE POW PUBLICITY FUND REWARD:

Rationale:

     The POW Publicity Fund $2.5 million dollar reward is patterned after the DoD blood chit reward and will be paid in addition to the DoD reward.

The POW Publicity Fund Reward:

     The POW Publicity Fund $2.5 million dollar reward is pledged by current and former members of Congress, private citizens and corporations.  The reward will be paid to any citizen or group of citizens of Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia who liberates an American prisoner of war detained against his will in Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia and delivers the prisoner to U.S. custody.

• The reward will be paid only if the American prisoner is delivered to an official U.S. Government facility.  Qualifying facilities include, but are not limited to, the U.S. embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam; the U.S. MIA office in Hanoi, Vietnam; the U.S. embassy in Vientiane, Laos; the U.S. MIA office in Vientiane, Laos; the U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia; the U.S. MIA office in Phnom Penh, Cambodia; the U.S. embassy in Bangkok, Thailand; the U.S. MIA office in Bangkok, Thailand; embassies or other official U. S. Government facilities in China, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, Taiwan or Hong Kong and any U.S. Navy vessel on the high seas.
  

• The reward will be paid only if the American prisoner is on the official U. S. Government list of "U. S. Personnel Unaccounted for in Southeast Asia."
   

• The reward will be paid only after extensive interviews have been conducted with both the rescuing party and the alleged prisoner to determine if, in fact, the said prisoner is a bona fide prisoner of war.  The interviews will be conducted by authorized representatives of the POW Publicity Fund who are experts in the field of American prisoners and missing in Southeast Asia.
  

• The $2.5 million dollar reward will be paid by the POW Publicity Fund only once, and only to the first person who qualifies.
  

• Should the person qualifying for the reward liberate and deliver more than one prisoner to the U.S. Government, only $2.5 million dollars will be paid.  In other words, payment will be for the rescue event rather than on a per-prisoner basis.

The POW Publicity Fund Official Reward Document:

     The POW Publicity Fund official reward document explains the $2.5 million dollar reward in the Vietnamese and Laotian languages and in pictures.  Click here to see the Vietnamese language portion of the official POW Publicity Fund reward document.  Click here to see the Laotian language and picture portion of the official POW Publicity Fund reward document.

RATIONALE FOR JOINT PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTICIPATION AND JOINT PAYMENT OF REWARDS:

     The rationale for joint public/private participation in rewards is rooted in two current U.S. State Department reward programs.  One of these programs, the HEROES program, is a public-private partnership between the U.S. State Department, the Air Transport Association of America and the Air Line Pilots Association, International.  In this program, a total of $4,000,000.00 is offered to prevent terrorist acts against U.S. civil aviation, with the U.S. Government offering $2,000,000.00 and the private organizations each pledging $1,000,000.00 to supplement the reward paid by the U.S. Government.  Click here for the U.S. State Department HEROES home page.    Click here for the official reward document of the HEROES reward program featuring a suitcase filled with $4,000,000.00 in cash.  In a similar program, the U.S. Department of State's Counter-Narcotics Rewards Program, the U. S. Government, in cooperation with other governments, private groups and concerned businesses, offers rewards of up to $2,000,000.00 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of drug kingpins.  Click here for the KINGPINS reward program.

     Just as the Air Transport Association of America, the Air Line Pilots Association, International and other private organizations have assisted the U. S. Government with these Department of State reward programs, the POW Publicity Fund is proud to assist the Department of Defense by offering our reward to augment the DoD blood chit reward.

INSTRUCTIONS TO THOSE WHO LIBERATE A VIETNAM ERA AMERICAN PRISONER OF WAR AND RETURN HIM TO U.S. CUSTODY:

     Once you have liberated the American prisoner and returned him to U.S. custody, you should inform the U.S. Government officials at that facility that you wish to receive both the DoD and the POW Publicity Fund rewards.  You should also request asylum or safekeeping until representatives of the POW Publicity Fund can interview both you and the prisoner to make a determination on the status of the prisoner and arrange payment to you if the prisoner is deemed to be a bona fide POW.  You should further request that U.S. officials contact the POW Publicity Fund immediately.

This document posted 12:01 a.m. Hanoi time July 4, 1996 by the POW Publicity Fund.

The internet e-mail address for the POW Publicity Fund is:  powreward@usa.net