Vets to Try New Idea in Search for MIAs

WASHINGTON — American veterans of the Vietnam War said Friday that they plan to dump Vietnamese currency into the Mekong River, each bill stamped with a message promising a $2.4-million reward in gold for the return of any live American prisoner of war.

The National Steering Committee for American War Veterans said it will drop about $5,000 to $8,000 in Vietnamese currency into the river in Thailand, hoping the bills would float on to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

At a news conference, veterans’ spokesman Ted Sampley said each bill would be stamped: “Anyone who comes out with an American prisoner of war and delivers him to a U.S. embassy or U.S. facility will receive $2.4 million in gold.”

Although the U.S. government says it has no proof any captured U.S. serviceman remains alive in Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia, Sampley said his group believes that at least 100 American POWs are still being held in Southeast Asia.

The idea of publicizing the reward on Vietnamese notes originated with Lynn Hampton, a former U.S. Army nurse who distributed money bearing such a reward message during a recent trip to Vietnam.

“Many Vietnamese came up on the streets and said ‘we would rather die than live here. We want out,’ ” Hampton told reporters. “This is just a little extra incentive for them.”