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June 08, 2004

Find Scott Speicher « GWOT »

Don't Forget:

It's been more than 13 years since Captain Scott Speicher was shot down while on a combat mission over Iraq during the first night of Desert Storm, becoming the first American casualty of the war. Initially classified by the Department of Defense as KIA/BNR (killed in action, body not recovered), Captain Speicher made history again in January 2001, when he became the first American service member ever to be switched from a status of KIA to MIA (missing in action).

On October 11, 2002, Scott's status was changed to POW, an acknowledgement by the Department of Defense that he is alive and a prisoner in Iraq

Pentagon officials did not make the decision to change his status based on a whim—a significant amount of evidence suggests that not only did Captain Speicher most likely eject from his F/A-18 strike fighter, but he also survived the landing. Even more compelling is subsequent evidence that indicates he may be a prisoner of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

From Free Scott Speicher

Obviously, he's not being held by Saddam Hussein anymore. It is conceivable he is being held by one of Saddam's subordinates who is still at large. More likely, he was either transferred out of the country, was murdered, or died in custody. We need to know what happened.

We cannot abandon our own.

Posted by Nathan at 12:35 AM | Comments (2)
Comments

I wish I still had the Seething archives, I wrote about him a couple times. (readers of brainfertilizer: just ignore my next few comments because they are really just directed towards Nathan.) The ONE silver lining I saw in the war against Iraq was the possbility of finding out what happened. Little bits and pieces seeped out, and by this time two years I had a very strong feeling that he lived beyond his crash. I was relieved that the government chose to re-designate him as POW. I still hope we find out...

and then another part of me worried..."what if we DO find him?" His wife is remarried with a family. What a painful thing to come home to.

I do really, really hope answers are found.

Posted by: Jo at June 8, 2004 12:59 PM

If Scott is found alive, the situation with his family strikes me almost as a Castaway -type situation.
Even from a common law viewpoint, while he didn't abandon her of his own free will, his absence with the assumption of death for so many years would seem to have dissolved the marriage.
But no matter how you look at it, it would truly be a poignant and troubling situation to work through...although it would be worth that trouble to find him alive.

On a side note, it is interesting how many widows end up marrying the man who helps out the family. I guess there is some controversy in fire departments in New York (and maybe elsewhere) that men will leave their wives and families to marry a widow they are assigned to help and watch over.

Posted by: Nathan at June 8, 2004 10:07 PM
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