18 Years Later, His Family Refuses To Give Up Hopes That He's Alive

A hearing to be held by a Navy review board on Monday (today) may result in a missing airman's status being changed from "missing/captured" to "killed in action," a decision his family says they will oppose.

In 1991, US Navy Captain Michael "Scott" Speicher was the pilot of an F/A-18 Hornet, the first US plane shot down in the Persian Gulf War. His status, initially listed as "killed in action" just hours after his plane went down, was changed 10 years later to "missing/captured" when a review board revealed there was no evidence of his demise.

In fact, some evidence supported the conclusion he had ejected from his stricken plane, was captured and still alive, such as reported sightings of the airman and the initials "MSS" found written on the wall of a Baghdad prison.

After Baghdad fell to US-led forces in 2005, another review board recommended an intensified effort in the case, requesting cooperation between the Pentagon, the US State Department, the US Embassy in Baghdad, and the Iraqi government.

Navy spokesman Cmdr. Cappy Surette said recently that "Capt. Speicher's status remains a top priority for the Navy and the U.S. government. The recent intelligence community assessment reflects exhaustive analysis of information related to Capt. Speicher's case."

The Associated Press said the latest report in the case was released last fall by the Defense Intelligence Agency. It contains information Speicher's family believes will lead Navy Secretary Donald Winter to change Speicher's status back to "killed in action."

Family spokeswoman and attorney Cindy Laquidara said the Pentagon needs to do more to find out what actually happened, before changing the airman's status again - especially because the case will likely set precedents that will have an effect on subsequent MIA cases.

"This really is a precedent for every other captive serviceman or woman and it needs to be done right," Laquidara said. "We've looked at the information that's going to be presented to the board and we feel pretty confident that it's not time under the standards that they've set to change the status. There are things that need to be done before one can be certain.

The board will consist of three officers, including one experienced in F/A-18 aircraft. There will be two legal advisers assigned, one to the board and another to Speicher's family, Navy spokesman Lt. Sean Robertson said.

Robertson explained that once the board meets, it has 30 days to complete its report and make a recommendation. The family then has 30 days to comment on the board's recommendation, before it gets forwarded to Navy Secretary Donald Winter for a final decision.

Laquidara said family members will be present at the hearing.

"It's really easy to put out a yellow ribbon but not so easy to allocate resources to find a missing serviceman or woman," she said.

"If Scott's not alive now, he was for a very long time, and that could happen to somebody else."

FMI: www.navy.mil