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| Michael Scott Speicher Captain, U.S. Navy MIA - Iraq 1991
Shot down 17 Jan 1991
On 17 January, 1991, then Lt. Cmdr. Michael Speicher's F-18 Hornet disappeared after an encounter with an Iraqi Mig fighter. Lieutenant Commander Speicher reportedly bailed out of his damaged aircraft, and went in search of medical attention. He was found by Bedouins and nursed back to health by them. It's alleged that the Bedouins later tried to exchange the Navy pilot with U.S. authorities for about $1,800, but the exchange was deemed to risky because of the presence of Hussein's Republican Guards in the area.
It has been charged that no truly concerted effort was made to locate and rescue Lieutenant Commander - now Captain - Speicher until the recent Operation Iraqi Freedom was underway. There is said to be evidence that he was held captive in several places over the years, and that he left coded messages at each of these locations. Whatever the truth, it's apparent that Speicher did survive, was taken captive, and that no sustained effort was made to locate and rescue him for a number of years. Needles to say, this is not a shining example of the much-touted "No One Left Behind" Policy. A joint team of officials from the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency is now in Iraq, searching for clues to Capt. Speicher's fate.
On March 1, 2004, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., sent Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld a letter asking why he had never made available a $1 million reward for information about Speicher that Congress had authorized and funded last year. The letter urged Rumsfeld to reconsider. Rumsfeld replied that an aide would be in touch with the senator.
Petition for the Return of Michael Speicher http://www.petitiononline.com/Speicher/petition.html
Webmaster: Thurman P. Woodfork
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