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Former Warsaw Pact Countries Transferred American POWs to USSR
By CDR Chip Beck, USNR (ret)
The U.S. Veteran Dispatch
As a combat veteran and former POW investigator, I was saddened by President Clinton's shortsighted call to arms at West Point ("NATO growth cuts war risk, president says," June 1). "In the years ahead, [NATO enlargement] means that you could be asked to put your lives on the line for a new NATO member," Mr. Clinton told the graduating class.
What the cadets and many Americans may not realize, however, is that U.S. servicemen already have given their lives for these very same "new NATO members" -- from World War One until the fall of the Berlin Wall. In return, many of these potential NATO members helped to cover up a shameful episode in military history -- the transfer of U.S. prisoners of war to the Soviet Union from 1919 to 1975.
According to historical accounts, declassified documents and testimonies, the number of U.S. servicemen who were secretly detained in the Soviet Union is conservatively estimated at 9,000 GIs. Many of the former Warsaw Pact countries played a significant role in the transfer of American POWs to the Soviet Union. Some expedited the transfer of U.S. POWs from German stalags to the Soviet gulag in 1945. Some served as conduits for U.S. POWs transferred to the Soviet Union during the Korean and the Indochina wars. These are the very countries Mr. Clinton expects young Americans to defend with their blood and honor. To make makes worse, these NATO candidates refuse to disclose any knowledge of these secret transfers.
In this regard, the march to expand NATO treads on the graves and honor of the forgotten men who died lonely deaths deep inside the Soviet Union. Before any American resources, personnel or funds are committed to defend new NATO members, the old Warsaw Pact countries must demonstrate that they understand and appreciate the sacrifices of those Americans who paid the price for the freedoms now enjoyed by Europe.
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