Chapter I - - THE LIVE SIGHTINGS

On 22 March 1979 Robert R. Garwood returned to United States' control for the
first time since 28 September 1965, the day on which he disappeared from his
assigned duty station at DaNang, South Vietnam. From the time of his first
debriefings at the Great Lakes Naval Station on 29 March by the USMC [3] and again
on 4 April by Congressmen Gilman and Wolff, [4] PFC Garwood stated that he had "no
first-hand" knowledge of any live U.S. POWs in Vietnam after "Operation
Homecoming" in 1973. Indeed, PFC Garwood maintained that he had not seen any live
U.S. POWs or other Americans since his departure from South Vietnam in 1969.

However, on 4 December 1984, almost six years after PFC Garwood's repatriation,
the WSJ [5] reported, after exclusive interviews, that he had said that he had seen
live U.S. POWs in Vietnam after 1973. This unexpected announcement led the
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the U.S. Government (USG) Agency chartered
with the responsibility for investigating reports of live American POWs in
Southeast Asia (SEA), to hold more than 100 hours of debriefings with Mr. Garwood
between 1986 and 1990. The interviews were delayed until 26 February 1986 [6]
because Mr. Garwood and his attorneys were awaiting the result of their appeal
to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn his court-martial conviction and were

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3. USMC Intelligence Debrief, 29 March 1979.

4. Congressmen Wolff and Gilman Debrief, 4 April 1979.

5. Garwood interviews with WSJ reporter Bill Paul on 4 December 1984.

6. Vaughan Taylor letter to OASD/ISA/EAP of 24 January 1986. Taylor remains
Garwood's civilian defense counsel to this day.

<-- Introduction

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