No Smoking Gun

PERHAPS SOMETHING WAS LOST IN THE TRANSLAtion. The Russian document suggesting there were 600 more Americans in North Vietnam than were admitted by the , Vietnamese prompted General John Vessey, the President’s special envoy on POWs, to fly to Hanoi to check again. “It is an authentic Russian document,” he reported, but added, “we know a great deal of the information ((in it)) is inaccurate.” A faded ledger provided by Vietnam — and supported by U.S. documents — shows far fewer POWs than the report claims. Hanoi also disputes the document’s assertion that its Politburo met on a certain day to be briefed on the captured Americans.