The Moonduster Chronicles
  The Official Newsletter of Operation Just Cause

Operation Just Cause...                                                                              ..for as long as it takes


January 2001
Happy New Year!!

Announcements Featured POW/MIA of the Month Featured Volunteer/Activist of the Month Moonduster Chronicles Recognition Award
OJC Site Remembrance Award Opinions and Editorials Passages and Poetry POW/MIA Freedom Radio
POW/MIA - Last Month in Review POW/MIA's This Month Tribute to Veterans Veterans News and Views

"The Moonduster Chronicles" accepts submissions for articles, stories, poems, opinions, etc. If you have something you would like to see posted in the OJC Newsletter, please send it in an email to: NL@ojc.org




A Bright and Shiny New Year

        The year 2001 stands out in the minds of science fiction fans who remember the movie: "2001 A Space Odyssey". Watching that movie in the theatre for the first time made people believe that anything was possible. Everyone had hope that their goals could be reached.

        We at Operation Just Cause continue to fight for a full accounting of our POW/MIA's not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because we believe it is possible to bring them all home. They deserve nothing less. Operation Just Cause has grown in strength and in numbers these past few years. This year we will be joined by many more who believe those who served their country and fought to preserve its freedom have the right to return home.



The Year in Review

by Steve Golding

We have made some headway into the accounting process this past year but we still have a long way to go. Some of the highlights of 2000:

Jan 2000

2,031 Americans remain unaccounted for from SE Asia.

Mission Area Analysis ("MAA") was initiated by DPMO (Defense POW Missing Personnel Office) to examine the worldwide mission of POW/MIA personnel recovery. According to the MAA, funding for the JTF-FA (Joint Task Force-Full Accounting) will not be allotted after 2004.

Feb 2000

Two alleged Americans were interviewed by VVA National POW/MIA Chairman, Bob Necci, while he was on official VVA/Veteran's Initiative business in SEA. Necci refuses to provide adequate details.

Mar 2000

After 47 years, a South Korean escapes from Communist North Korea.

Secretary of Defense Cohen is the first American Defense Secretary to visit communist Vietnam in 32 years. He visits the excavation of the crash site correlated to that of Capt. Richard Rich, USN, shot down 19 May 1967. Remains are recovered and sent to CIL-HI (Central Identification Laboratory-Hawaii) for identification.

Apr 2000

Six sets of remains alleged to be those of US Servicemen are repatriated to US control at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport.

May 2000

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Sydney Schanberg beings writing on the POW/MIA issue again. His piece, "The War Record A Senator Doesn't Want You To See," kicks off his series. Can we guess which Senator he is talking about? Does the Initials John McCain mean anything to you?

S. 484, Bring Them Home Alive Act of 1999 passes in the Senate unanimously and is sent to the House for consideration.

Jun 2000

Bob Necci, VVA National POW/MIA Chair, refuses to answers legitimate questions regarding his interviewing 2 alleged Americans while in Laos earlier in the year.

Jul 2000

Remains alleged to be those of 12 American servicemen are repatriated to US control at Pyongyang, North Korea.

Aug 2000

Remains alleged to be those of 14 American servicemen are repatriated to US control at Pyongyang, North Korea.

Sep 2000

E-mail exchanges between VVA National POW/MIA Chairman, Bob Necci and Californian Randy Armann are made public. Armann is published claiming that our MIAs are really in drug induced stupor in Thailand until their deaths whereby their remains are taken to Vietnam for eventual repatriation to the US. It is evident that Necci admittedly e-mailed Armann several times from SE Asia regarding the Feb/Mar 2000 Veterans Initiative trip.

VVA National Vice President and Veteran's Initiative Team Leader, Tom Corey, writes that he is in "no way contradicting Mr. Necci," proceeds to contradict Mr. Necci. Necci claims that the VI team were trapped in Hanoi for 3 days; Corey says they missed on flight. Necci claims they were "in the field in Laos for 3 days;" Corey claims they were on the ground in Laos for less than 24 hours. Necci claims that "we talked with 2 individuals at separate locations for a long time." Corey says that no one from the Veteran's Initiative did any such thing. Corey's time line cannot be reconciled to Necci's claims.

Necci subsequently resigns from the VVA Board of Directors and relinquishes his POW/MIA Chair and ends communication. Demands are made upon the VVA to either force Necci to answer or to expel him from VVA.

Oct 2000

The remains of Capt. Richard Rich, USN, are identified and accepted by the family several days after the marriage of Rich's son and PNOK, Christopher Rich and daughter of POW/MIA Thomas Moore, Diane Moore.

VVA Vice President Tom Corey requests time to answer the correspondence sent to him regarding the incident surrounding the Necci resignation. Corey explains that he is about to embark on another VI trip to SE Asia and he would respond upon his return 21 October.

On 29 October Corey responds that the concerns of those writing to him regarding the incident surrounding Necci's resignation would have to wait until after the November 2000 Board of VVA Director's meeting.

Nov 2000

The remains of Capt. Richard Rich, USN, are laid to rest at a hero's ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on election day.

VVA Board of National Directors move to adopt a resolution from the POW/MIA committee to ignore further correspondence regarding the Necci resignation and "move on." VVA National has mislead the rank and file and have treated the families and the POW/MIA community with the same disdain shown by the USG. A clear message is to be sent that this will not be tolerated of an organization claiming to be doing everything possible to garner the fullest possible accounting. A suit is being explored and pursued.

Bring Them Home Alive Act of 1999 is now law thanks to a large part of the efforts of Larry Vigil of Sen. Cambell's office, Rick Wilson of Con. Burton's office and Lindsey of Con. Talents office. Way to go!!!

Dec 2000

Officially, there are still 1,991 Americans unaccounted for from SE Asia. While we celebrate this holiday season with our friends and families, let us take a moment to remember our POW/MIAs abandoned by our government while fighting for freedom around the world for all people.

2001 Department of Defense Personnel Recovery Conference. The Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel office will be hosting the DoD Personnel Recovery Conference, January 22-24, 2001 at the Crystal City Hyatt Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. This year's conference comes in the wake of two important DPMO-sponsored studies.: a Mission Area Analysis (MAA) and Business Process Reengineering (BPR) Assessment for Personnel Accounting and Recovery, and an assessment of Personnel Recovery in Coalition Environments. Many of the issues that will be discussed will be direct results of findings from the two studies.

Senior leaders from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Staff, Unified Commands, Services and government agencies will be attending and participating in the conference. Many of the major problems facing Personnel Recovery to include organization, force structure, training, policy, planning, acquisition, etc. will be discussed and recommendations made to OSD, the Joint Staff, Services, and Unified Commands. Additional details are provided on the NDIA web site at http://register.ndia.org/interview/register.ndia?~Brochure~1040~1040 or by calling (703) 602-2202 ext. 213

What we can do as the new year kicks in: Keep pressure on our government to let them know that we are not going to go away. Write your representatives in the House and Senate inquiring as to what they are doing to bring home your adopted POW/MIA. Ask if they intend to continue funding the JTF-FA beyond 2004. When President Elect Bush and Vice President Elect Cheney are sworn in to their respective offices, write them asking what they intend on doing. In addition, request they appoint former Navy Commander Chip Beck Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense in charge of Defense POW Missing Personnel Office.

Help Roger Hall fund his suit against the CIA. Remember, they are still holding thousands upon thousands of documents that they refuse to turn over to the Archives as directed by law. This is what Hall's suit is about; but they are trying to outspend him. A $1, $5, $10, $50, etc. donation several times through the year to the charity that Hall has set-up to fund the FOIA Litigation suit will go a long way to being the first successful suit ever litigated against the CIA. We strongly urge you to do what you feel is right. For further information, contact Roger directly at 301/585-3361 or e-mail him at RHall8715@aol.com

In the interim be kind to your selves and keep the focus. Thank you for your effort this past year and we look forward to making more progress in the coming year. We have a ways to go yet.

On behalf of Gunny Fallon, Dennis Johnson and the rest of the Operation Just Cause management team, we wish you a very happy, healthy and safe New Year.

Best Regards,

Steve Golding,
Executive Director,
Operation Just Cause



CDR William (Chip) Beck

Operation Just Cause has joined with many POW/MIA organizations in their support and endorsement of CDR William (Chip) Beck, USNR (ret), CIA (ret) for the office of DASD/DPMO (Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Affairs). The person in charged with leading the effort to account for the POW/MIA(s) must have a combination of knowledge and skills to achieve this goal. OJC believes CDR Beck has this ability and also has the trust of the groups involved in working for the repartition of the POW/MIA(s) and their families.

Politics, political parties, chads, counting and recounting votes has to be left go and we have to move on to what is best to achieve full accountability of the POW/MIA(s). There are positions in the Government that need to be filled by the President Elect George W. Bush/ Cheney transition team that can be filled with people who are concerned and have proven their desire and interest in a full accountability of the POW/MIA(s) or filled with people who will continue to shove under the carpet the information we need. The POW/MIA community has joined together in recommending CDR Chip Beck to the position of DASD/DPMO.

Chip Beck has worked with prior transitions team from “inside” the government, and has excellent institutional and physical knowledge of the CIA, State Department, and Defense Department.

For over 33 years CDR Beck has ran parallel careers in the Navy and the CIA's Clandestine Service. His experience with the POW issues began with his service in Indochina, and culminated with his time as a POW Special Investigator within DPMO in 1995-1996.With CDR Beck's mixture of Clandestine Service experience, historical knowledge of the Soviet bloc operations, leadership and creative investigation background he has the ability and knowledge to address issue of the POW/MIA(s) and resolve them.

Chip Beck is an editorial cartoonist, combat artist, photographer, and freelance writer. War, Politics, espionage, victories, and human tragedies are not abstractions for him. He also was a Nave frogman, CIA operative, and a veteran of many wars, revolutions and conflicts around the world.

In 1999 and 2000, the History Channel, in conjunction with Jaffee Productions in Los Angeles and CIA Public Affairs hired two half-hour episodes about Chip's experiences on “Top Secret Missions of the CIA.” The episodes, entitled “Live Wire in Beirut” and “Witness to the Killing Fields” chronicled Chip's war time experiences in Lebanon and Cambodia. Two more episodes related to his mission in Angola and Counter-narcotics operations are under consideration.

From 1998-1999, Chip was a Senior Analyst for Intelligence and Military Affairs for APB News, and Internet on-line news service covering police, crime, law and order, espionage, and justice stories. He received the Society of Professional Journalism's Sigma Delta Chi Award for his participation in On-Line Reporting in 1999.

During this time, he was a freelance correspondent and a contributing editor to several military and futurist magazines, writing on a variety of international, scientific, and intelligence topis. From 1997-1998, Chip was chief editorial cartoonist, caricaturist, and a writer for the satire newspaper The Real Washington. His work still reaches additional audiences via his own visual and news company, Political Graphics & News Service.

If you want to learn more about CDR William (Chip) Beck you will find a wealth of information on the Internet by doing a search.

Operation Just Cause has joined the ever growing list of references for CDR Beck's references:

1.  TOM CLANCY - Author
     (home & office) (Huntingtown, MD)

2. GENERAL COLIN POWELL, USA (ret)
     (via Co. Bill Smullen) (Alexandria, VA)

3.  JIM WOOLSEY, former Director, Central Intelligence
    (Bethesda, MD)

4. GENERAL CHARLES KRULAK, USMC (ret)
    Former USMC Commandant, National Co-Chair, Veterans for Bush
     Delaware

5.  JEFF PHILLIPS, National Veterans Coalition Director &
    Deputy National Coalitions Director, Bush-Cheney, Austin
    

6. COL. LADD PATTILLO, USA (ret) Military Coalitions, B-C Austin
    ROA VP  

7. GENERAL RAY DAVIS, USMC (ret) 
    GENERAL YARBOROUGH, USA (ret) 
    ADMIRAL THOMAS MOORE (ret) 
    via LTC RUDI GRESHAM, Vets for Bush National Vice Chair
    

8. GENERAL JACK SINGLAUB, USA (ret)
    Former Commanding General, U.S. Forces Korea
    
9. ADMIRAL JIM CAREY, USN (ret)
    President & Founder, National Defense PAC, Washington DC
    
10. SENATOR BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPELL, R-CO
    (via Larry Vigil, Legislative Director)  

11. CONGRESSMAN JOEL HEFLEY, R-CO
    House Armed Services Committee (National Security)
    
12. COL JOHN TRUESDELL, USA (ret)
    Veterans for Bush National Vice Chair, Virginia Co-Chair
    

13. KEITH FREEMAN, President Jedburgh Group, CNP
    
14. CONGRESSMAN DANA ROHRBACHER, R-CA

15. GENERAL MILNOR ROBERTS, USAF (ret)
    High Frontier 

16. BARBARA ABBOTT
    Vice Chairman, Jamestown Foundation Board of Directors
    
17. NORMAN KASS
    Executive Director, Joint US-Russian Commission on POW/MIAs
    Defense POW/MIA Office, Washington

18. DR. LANI KASS, National Defense University, Fort McNair, WashDC

19. DONNA KNOX, Esq.
    President, Families of Korean/Cold War POW/MIAs
    
20.  STEVE NOLAN, US Consul General Capetown, South Africa
    
21. SENATOR BOB SMITH, R-NH
    (via Russ ThomassoN)
    
22. AMBASSADOR DAVID FUNDERBURKE (ret)
    Former Republican Congressman, Former Ambassador to Romania
    Washington, DC

23. CONGRESSMAN DAN BURTON, R-IN
    (via Rick Wilson, Military and Veterans Affrs)
    
24. ARTHUR M. MULLER
    National President, Rolling Thunder Inc. 
    

25. JOHN L. PETERSEN, President, Arlington Institute
    
26. GENERAL HEINE ADERHOLT, USAF (ret)
    Former “Air Commando” Chief, Thailand Special Ops

27.  DOLORES ALPHONSE
    President, National Alliance of (POW/MIA) Families
    
28.  IRENE MANDRA Vice President Families of Korean/Cold War POW/MIAs
    
29.  FORMER PRISONERS OF WAR -
    FRANK ANTON (South Vietnam) - 
    MIKE BENGE (South Vietnam) - 
    PAUL GALANTI  (North Vietnam) - 
    WAYNE WADDELL (North Vietnam) - 
    RED MCDANIEL (North Vietnam) - 

30.  VIKTOR BELENKO, former Soviet AF MiG-25 pilot 
    (1976 Defector and former Intel Community advisor during Reagan-Bush
    administrations)  

31.  ROY JONKERS 
    President, Association of Former Intelligence Officers



BUSH'S REMARKS ON POW-MIA DAY BREAK NEW GROUND
by CDR Chip Beck, USNR (ret)
Virginia Veterans (and Military Retirees) for Bush

It was no accident that Texas Governor George W. Bush used the term "prisoners" alongside the word "missing" in his speech before the Veterans Museum and Memorial in San Diego on September 15 (National POW/MIA Recognition Day.) For eight years, the Clinton-Gore administration, and its front office appointees at the Defense POW/MIA Office (DPMO) have virtually eliminated the term "POW" from the official lexicon, purposefully burying the mystery of America's "unrepatriated POWs" under the more politically advantageous term "MIAs," or missing in action.

As a former POW (not MIA) Special Investigator and retired CIA Clandestine Service officer with insights into the programs, operations, and modus operandi of the Soviet KGB and its communist allies counterparts, I have been trying to educate POW and MIA families, politicians, and concerned veterans about the difference between combatants who were killed in battle (MIAs) versus those who were captured alive, secretly held without full knowledge of the U.S., and not returned to America after the conflicts ended.

If an adversary nation holds an American serviceman as a prisoner, then that man is a "Prisoner of War" or POW, whether we know his true status or not. He is not technically or literally an MIA, because the "other side" knows he is not missing. Even if that POW dies in captivity, and is thus can be accounted for by the enemy, he does not then become an MIA. He becomes a dead POW. The enemy government can account for him. 9000 Unrepatriated American POWs from 20th Century conflicts fall into that category. The POW versus MIA status is a critical distinction.

Governor Bush and his key aides have listened to recent input on this matter provided by myself and others for the Governor's background and consideration. The Governor is aware that equal and dedicated special attention must be given to a competent, professional investigation leading to a full accounting of our Unrepatriated POWs, just as was done for remains recovery efforts for MIAs who fell on the battlefield, not as prisoners, but as combat casualties.

The difference as to why the POWs have been ignored, and the MIAs attended to, is that our foreign adversaries have been offered financial incentives to help U.S. teams dig up the remains of service personnel killed in combat. President Clinton's announced trip to Vietnam, after the election, is part of the economic payoff involved for this "half" of the accounting equation. This has not been a full accounting under Clinton-Gore. It is a "half-accounting" at best.

The other side of the coin, the POW side, is far more embarrassing to the governments and intelligence services of Russia, China, North Korean, Vietnam, and even former Warsaw Pact countries. Nearly all of them, to one extent or another, were involved in secret exploitation of American and other foreign POWs. There are still plans on the books of the Russian and Chinese services to resurface these programs, which the Bolsheviks first used against American troops in 1918, in future wars against NATO or the U.S.

What happened to past Unrepatriated POWs is a matter of national honor. It is a source of concern for the welfare of our future combatants. In 1997, I and the Executive Director of the Joint U.S.-Russian Commission Support Directorate, Mr. Norm Kass, provided Vice President Al Gore with an opportunity to see the distinction and act on it. We did this through his senior military aide in a private meeting. Mr. Gore failed the test. The Vice President never responded, which clearly demonstrated his indifference and lack of caring regarding the POW issue.

By contrast, Governor Bush responded with a clear signal that he heard what was said, understands the distinction, and plans to do something about it once he is in office. He did so in both public, and private, channels. As to what needs to be done in the future, he had an additional message, which was equally intentional and with purpose as was his use of the term "prisoner." He stated "First, should I be elected president, I will direct all relevant departments and agencies to make it their own priority. Second, I will work with Congress to provide all the necessary resources to carry out that mission." That is a clear signal, and a reaction to special background provided to him, that priorities will change in a Bush administration to make sure that the accounting is indeed "full," rather than "half." The accounting will include the unaccounted-for POWs, not just combat fatalities which constitute the MIAs.

Governor Bush's remarks, and the access channels that he has allowed to be opened to him and senior advisors, represent the best opportunity in three decades for competent and professional investigations to be applied to the mysteries surrounding an estimated 9000 unrepatriated POWs from the North Russia Expedition (1918), Depression Era Soviet retention of American agents (1930s), 7000 Americans transferred from the German Stalags to the Soviet Gulag for permanent holding (1945), 2000 Americans transferred to Siberia from North Korea and China (1950-1953), Cold War shootdowns (1948-1962), and the First and Second Indochina Wars (1954-1975).

As in so many other problem areas, one has to ask, "Where was Al Gore during the last eight years?" Why are things that never concerned him then, suddenly at the top of his rhetoric? We know the reasons, and it is time for him to go. Integrity, honor, dignity, and character counts as much as the issues they affect. Veterans, military retirees, and people in uniform need to cast their votes for a new Commander-and-Chief that does not include the Clinton-Gore team.

CDR Chip Beck USNR (ret) Arlington, VA



Navy Changes Status of Gulf War Pilot

by ROBERT BURNS
.c The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a highly unusual move, the Navy has changed the status of Lt. Cmdr. Michael Speicher, shot down in an F-18 fighter on the opening night of the 1991 Gulf War, from killed in action to missing, officials said Wednesday.

Navy Secretary Richard Danzig notified the Speicher family of the decision Wednesday, according to officials in the office of Sen. Bob Smith, R-N.H., who has long challenged the Pentagon's official ``finding of death'' for Speicher. The officials discussed the matter on condition they not be identified. Pentagon officials confirmed the information.

Pentagon officials said Danzig acted because of substantial evidence that Speicher may not have died in the crash.

``It's substantial in nature, in the totality,'' one official said. He would not elaborate. The official said the State Department sent a new diplomatic note to Baghdad demanding that the Iraqi government tell all it knows about Speicher's fate.

Last March, Smith and Sen. Rod Grams, R-Minn., asked Danzig to change Speicher's status to missing in action, reflecting evidence of doubt about whether he survived the crash. Smith met with Danzig again Dec. 20 on the matter, officials said.

In a letter dated Dec. 18, Sandy Berger, President Clinton's national security adviser, told Smith a recent intelligence assessment ``has stimulated a high-level review of this case - several new actions are under way and additional steps are under intense review.''

Berger's letter, which was provided to The Associated Press on Wednesday, did not specify what actions were contemplated.

Speicher, of Jacksonville, Fla., went missing when his Navy F-18 Hornet was shot down on Jan. 16, 1991, in an air-to-air battle with an Iraqi fighter. He was the first American lost in the war and the last still unaccounted for.

The late Adm. Mike Boorda, then the chief of naval operations, approved the official ``finding of death'' on May 22, 1991. That action changed his official status from missing in action to killed in action.

In September 1998, after efforts by Smith and Grams to learn more about what U.S. intelligence agencies knew of Speicher's fate, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence was given a classified chronology of the agencies' activities on the matter.

``We strongly believe that the information contained therein supports the request we are making of you with this letter,'' Smith and Grams told Danzig in a letter last March. They did not cite any specific evidence, which is classified secret.

The senators said they were informed March 12 by the Defense Department's POW-Missing Personnel Office that its position on whether the available evidence indicates Speicher perished in the crash of his plane is, ``We don't know.''

Smith and Grams have said before that Pentagon officials initially told them evidence had not been found to indicate that Speicher could have survived the crash. However, in May 1994 - more than three years after Speicher went missing - Pentagon officials indicated in a secret memorandum that a U.S. spy satellite had photographed a ``manmade symbol'' at the crash site earlier that year. Some military officers said they interpreted the symbol as a sign that the Navy pilot might have survived the crash.

Speicher was the only American killed on Iraqi territory whose remains were not recovered.

A plan was devised in 1994 to conduct a covert operation into Iraq to search the crash site for clues to Speicher's fate, but it was scrapped in December 1994 by Army Gen. John Shalikashvili, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The general ruled the risk of casualties was too high to justify the secret mission.

In 1995, U.S. crash site specialists from the Defense Department, working with the International Committee of the Red Cross, entered Iraq with President Saddam Hussein's permission. When they got to the crash site they found it had been excavated, The New York Times reported in December 1997.



A Call For Help
Sent in by Patrick McSherry

Hello!

Please help in spreading the word about the Cruiser OLYMPIA, Dewey's flagship at Manila Bay in the Spanish American War. She is in great need of public support to raise the funs to allow her to survive. A link to the website on the new "Michael Borsuk Fund for OLYMPIA Preservation" would be most appreciated.

USS OLYMPIA Needs Your Help

Thanks!
Patrick McSherry
Editor, Spanish American War Centennial Website



POW/MIA's Reported Missing on New Years' Day

  01/01/69   Cecil J. Clack   ARMY   Chester, SC
  01/01/68   James R. Dennison   USN   Rochester, NY
  01/01/68   Terence H. Hanley   USN   Gardiner, ME
  01/01/68   Henry H. Herrin, JR.   USN   West Springfield, MA
  01/01/66   Robert I. Kirksey   ARMY   Mobile, AL



This Month in History

Important Events

Jan 15, 1943
On this day, The Pentagon, the world's largest office building was completed,
just outside of Washington, DC, in Arlington, VA.

The Pentagon - HQ of the US Department of Defense



Presidential Firsts

January 1, 1863
President Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in territories held by Confederates and encouraging the enlisting of black soldiers in the Union Army.

The Emancipation Proclamation

January 2, 1776
George Washington designed the first U.S. flag with thirteen
red and white stripes and a Union Jack in the corner.

American Flag Gallery

January 6, 1941
President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his "Four Freedoms" speech outlining four goals:
Freedom of speech and expression; the Freedom of every person to worship God in his own
way; Freedom from want; and Freedom from fear.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt - The Four Freedoms


10 Years Ago This Month

Jan 17, 1991
Operation Desert Storm Began

Operation Desert-Storm.com

15 Years Ago This Month

Jan 28, 1986
Tragedy in Space - U.S. Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, killing
seven astronauts, seventy-three seconds after liftoff.

The Crew of the Challenger Shuttle Mission in 1986



Trivia for this Month

*Why do we call an insignificant person a pipsqueak?

In the cacophony of battle, sound is relative. What might strike one as a loud sound at any other time could seem diminished when compared to a battle's bigger boom. So it was in World War I. The Germans had powerful artillery pieces, as the Allied soldiers knew all too well. But they also had smaller guns, the shells from which announced their arrival with a lesser calling card and exploded with a less significant burst.

One such shell seemed to squeak as it came in, exploding with something more akin to a pip than a kaboom. The Brits and Yanks even called it a "pipsqueak." Later, by extension, it described a person of lesser significance.

*Courtesy of Mailbits.com



Words to Remember

"I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community
and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can."

- George Bernard Shaw



How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.

- George Washington Carver



  "Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others...he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." ...Robert Francis Kennedy (1925-1968)


Important Operation Just Cause Links

There are ways for us to work together to start tearing down those 'mighty walls of oppression and resistance' and gain a full accountability of our POW/MIA's.
Please feel free to browse through the following links to see what you can do to help.

Operation Just Cause Adopt a POW Operation Just Cause Build a Page OJC Government Contact Page
OJC Members' Message Board OJC POW/MIA Freedom Radio Operation Just Cause Screen Saver
OJC Site Remembrance Award Operation Just Cause Switchboard Operation Just Cause Webring



Feel free to print out and distribute any or all parts of "The Moonduster Chronicles". There are those individuals without access to the Internet who might enjoy reading it. Prime examples of places frequented by veterans are VFW's and VA HealthCare Facilities. We may also have 'offline' friends who would want to adopt a POW/MIA, as a group or individually, that are unaware of Operation Just Cause.



If anyone wishes to send snail mail to Operation Just Cause, the address is:

Operation Just Cause
PO Box 264
Stockholm, NJ 07460




Back issues of "The Moonduster Chronicles"

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http://www.ojc.org/NL


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You will find a variety of banners to choose from on OJC's Main Page. This is just one of several.



If you would like to be notified by email when the new issue of "The Moonduster Chronicles" is up,
or when current issues are updated, please send an email to:

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Credits

Thanks to Karl Kristiansen, of Karl's Korner for the Moonduster Chronicles Banner, the Moonduster Chronicles Recognition Award, and the POW/MIA Related News Graphic

Thanks also to Ron, of POW/MIA and Patriotic Graphics

And Dennis Johnson, of Raptor's Nest


Trivia and Quotes Courtesy of Useless Knowledge




"The Moonduster Chronicles"

is updated daily to include new items of interest, new announcements, and new submissions. So be sure to bookmark this page and stop by every day for the latest version of the Operation Just Cause Newsletter.



* Disclaimer *
Submissions of original work posted in all issues of "The Moonduster Chronicles" do not necessarily represent the views of Operation Just Cause, the Operation Just Cause Staff, or its members as a whole. All comments, criticisms and points of view are welcome. Please send them to:
NL@ojc.org




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