Not Forgotten, Ever: U.S. Navy Pilot Still Unaccounted For After 14 Years In Iraq
Friends of Captain Michael “Scott” Speicher, a Navy pilot who was captured after being shot down in the first Gulf war, have created a new website as a show of renewed faith and spirit in the search for this still-unaccounted for American hero. Despite recent negative news releases in the media regarding Captain Speicher’s current Missing In Action/Captured status, friends of the missing hero are showing that not only have they not lost hope for his homecoming, but are instead displaying the tenaciousness that has become their trademark. The site, created by the Friends Working to Free Scott Speicher group, offers a glimpse at Captain Speicher as a "real" person by using pictures and relevant news articles as well as a song written for the Navy pilot, and a public forum where interested parties can communicate their thoughts on Speicher’s situation
Jacksonville, FL (PRWEB) June 21, 2005 -- Do you think the world has given up
hope for missing/captured Navy pilot, Captain Michael Scott Speicher? If so,
think again. Despite all the negative reports coming out of the media recently,
Scott's friends and supporters—in a spirit of renewed strength—have launched a
brand new website to educate others about this true American hero, missing since
the first Gulf war. You can find the new site at http://www.freescottspeicher.org.
Some of what makes
this new website unique is its capacity to offer a comprehensive biography of
Scott Speicher the friend, the family man, the hero—and the prisoner of war.
With links to a vast array of available transcripts, documents and news items,
the site also offers never-before-seen photos, a forum that allows opinions and
ideas to be shared, and even a song that was written for Scott by members of
Friends and can be downloaded in MP3 format.
The search is still on for
Captain Speicher, but many citizens of the U.S. aren’t even aware of who he is.
That is the primary reason for launching the new website—to allow Michael
"Scott" Speicher to enter the homes of the American public as a real, living,
breathing person. Someone who smiles, laughs, loves, and has friends—friends who
have made it their life’s mission to see that he comes home to a waiting nation
who knows just who he is, assuring that his sacrifices will never be forgotten.
Scott Speicher’s jet was launched off the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga
in the Red Sea on the first night of Operation Desert Storm—January 17, 1991.
When his squadronmates returned to the ship after completing their missions,
Speicher was not with them. Hoping against hope that he'd diverted to Riyadh
Saudi Arabia—possibly for refueling—his friends awaited news that would confirm
their worried hope. But when word came, it wasn’t the news they’d hoped for.
Instead, they heard then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney say words that still
bring a feeling of sick dread to those closest to Speicher. Cheney
dispassionately spoke at that news conference about America’s first official
casualty of the war, and after mentioning a downed Navy pilot, was asked to give
that airman’s status. “A death,” he replied bluntly. The world—including the
U.S. Navy—assumed Cheney knew this to be a fact. That day, Michael Scott
Speicher was left behind without so much as a cursory search to determine the
truth of his fate.
But then questions arose when his plane was found a
couple years later—nearly intact on that central-western Iraqi desert floor. It
became evident that he’d ejected well before his F/A-18c Hornet had hit the
ground. The U.S. later excavated the site, but Speicher’s remains were not
found. So where was Speicher? In the years since, witnesses who have seen him in
captivity have come forth on his behalf. Speicher’s initials, M.S.S., have been
found written on walls and beams in several different locations in Iraq. In each
case, they were written in the same exact handwriting, in the same exact format.
But Speicher himself was nowhere around.
Now, fourteen years later, the
questions remain. Where is Scott Speicher? When will he be rescued and brought
home? Friends Working to Free Scott Speicher seeks to find answers to those
questions, and to remind the American public of one of their own, still awaiting
a rescue that has never come.
Scott’s friend and one of the founding
members of the group, Nels Jensen, has been quoted as saying, “The most
important thing about the new website is that it lets the world know that Scott
Speicher is a real person; an American hero. He’s not just a statistic. We must
not forget his sacrifice to this great nation he’s still fighting for.” We have
not forgotten Scott Speicher. We will not forget. Ever.
For more
information please contact Angela Santana, Friends Working To Free Scott
Speicher Member and Webmaster at
541-990-1150 or by email at e-mail protected
from spam bots
For further information please see: http://freescottspeicher.org
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb253101.htm