Speicher and Maupin Families Deserve Answers...

Those who have read this blog and know me from other forums know I have written about Michael Scott Speicher from time to time to remind people who he is.

On January 17, 1991, Navy pilot, Lieutenant Commander Michael “Scott” Speicher, was shot down while flying a combat mission over western Iraq on the first night of Operation Desert Storm. The next morning, then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney told the news media that the United States had suffered one combat loss. When questioned whether or not it had been a death, he confirmed that the service member had been killed.

Four months later, Scott Speicher was declared KIA/BNR—Killed In Action, Body Not Recovered—by the United States Navy. Hailed thereafter as a hero, mourned by family and friends, it wasn’t until nearly two full years had passed that it was discovered that LCDR Speicher had almost certainly ejected from his aircraft before it crashed.

Scott's family still waits for confirmation, Scott's status has been changed several times but they have no real answers.

In September:

A Navy board of inquiry concluded that there is no credible evidence that Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher is dead, and it reaffirmed his official status as "missing/captured," according to the board's final report.

As I was reading Porkopolis last night, I was remindeded that there is an Ohio Family who is experiencing that same loss, the same lack of information and the inability to be able to finally know for sure what happened to their loved one.

Matt Maupin has been missing since April 9, 2004. Like Scott Speicher there are those who believe he is dead. A video showing a man being executed by terrorists some believe was Matt. Yet, there is no body, no proof, and the military has not been able to provide either family any real answers.

Just like Scott Speicher, someone knows something. Someone out there has information as to what happened to both of these men. Perhaps both men are dead, but the families deserve the peace of knowing at least that much.

I don't do New Year's Resolutions, but I do have a wish, that 2006 is the year both of these families finally get confirmation of what happened to their loved one. One family has waited since 1991, another family should not have to wait that long.

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