No Smoking Gun

A Russian report on American POWS may have been real but not right

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...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!