POW MIA

Many of these records concerning Vietnam-era prisoners-of-war and missing-in-action were located, reviewed and released as a result of requests from next-of-kin and other interested parties concerning specific individuals in this category. Most of the records, however, were located and released as a result of Executive Order 12812, dated July 1992, which required all executive branch agencies of the government to review, declassify and release relevant documents pertaining to American POWs and MIAs missing in Southeast Asia. In accordance with this order, CIA conducted a thorough and exhaustive search of its operational files, finished intelligence reports, memoranda, background studies and open source files. CIA's compliance with the executive order was completed on 9 November 1993. This collection also contains a limited number of documents created after that date, most notably a National Intelligence Estimate entitled "Vietnamese Intentions Capabilities, and Performance Concerning the POW/MIA Issue (April 1998)" and the Joint Report of the Inspectors General of the Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency entitled "A Review of the 1998 National Intelligence Estimate on POW/MIA Issues and the Charges Levied by 'A Critical Assessment' of the Estimate (29 February 2000)." Certain material was withheld from the records released based on the continuing need to protect sources and methods, negotiations on foreign policy issues such as the normalization of relations, or privacy issues related to returnees and the families of POWs and MIAs.