90 Day Wonder

Thousands of WWII MIAs

Congressman Lipinski of Illinois has sent a letter to each of his colleagues in the House of Representatives urging them to support his request of the Department of Defense to greatly increase the recovery of the remains of WWII MIAs, tens of thousands of whom still lie where they fell, in unmarked graves, --in Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Okinawa, the Palaus, the Marianas--during the Pacific  War. Please write or phone your Congressman, telling him/her to support Lipinski. Time is of the essence.  The relatives of these dead, eg., the wives, brothers, sisters, nephews et al, will themselves be dead before long. Who will then claim the remains of these honored dead?
NB The Department of Defense recovers about 100 MIAs per year from all US wars, Korea, Vietnam and WWII, although WWII is more than 90%  of the total number of MIAs (90,000)  Doesn't that make you angry? Don't you want to do something about this disgrace?

My claim about Tarawa dead

I'm going to Hawaii on August 1 to meet with the Department of Defense people (JPAC) who are going to Tarawa later that  month to investigate the claims I make in my film, "Return to Tarawa-the Leon Cooper Story,"' that the remains of possibly hundreds  of Americans stil lie there, in unmarked graves," sixty-seven years after the battle of "Bloody Tarawa," in 1943. I'm sure that my claim will prove to be true--and then this hopefully will lead to an aggressive recovery program for the recovery  of the remains of the tens of thousands  more Americans who lie where they fell, in unmarked graves in Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Okinawa, the Palaus, the Marianas during the Pacific War. See my film, "Return to Tarawa" that obviously had something to do with getting Washington off its ass finally. Go to WWW.returntotarawa.net  for more information. 

Netflix wants to know if you'd like to buy my award-winning documentary from them.
Ask for "Return to Tarawa-the Leon Cooper Story." the film that exposes the Department of Defense's shameful indifference to the many thousands of WWII dead who still lie where they fell, in unmarked graves in the many Pacific Islands where these battles were fought. My award-winning film exposes this shame, this insult to the memory of the men who gave their lives defending America's freedom. Today is July 4, our nation's Independence Day, It will pass without any interest shown by our government in recovering their remains, returning them to their home cemeteries.. Will another Independence Day pass and still another Indenpence Day pass while this shameful neglect of these honored dead continues. Ask Netflix to send you the DVD. Also inquire about charitable contributions to my IRS-approved non-profit corporation to fund a film series publicizing the need to bring home the remains of these men. Their next of kin deserve nothing less after all these years.

Often overlooked among ancient Rome's achievements. Everybody in Rome could speak Latin.

My interview with John Roberts, CNN, will air on Memorial Day 6:40 AM ECT

John Roberts CNN "Morning Show" recently interviewed me for viewing on Memorial Day. He asked me about the many thousands of WWII American dead who still lie where they fell, in unmarked graves, 65- 70 years later, in ancient battle sites in the Pacific. It's a tragedy that most Americans today are not aware of--except that the relatives of these dead are very much aware, and indeed, have never been told the complete story of their missing husband, grandfather, uncle, brother, cousin--just that "They're MIA, 'missing in action.' My film, "Return to Tarawa-the Leon Cooper Story" brings out into the open what can only be called "America's Shame." Since my film was produced I've received many e-mails, letters, faxes, phone calls from the "MIA" relatives asking for my help in bringing home the remains of these dead. Film is on sale at Amazon "DVD"

Larry King says my documentary "Return to Tarawa-the Leon Cooper Story" is "An extraordinary dfocumentary--brilliantly done!"
Now on sale ar Amazon, soon to be at Netflix, Blockbuster, Redbox. ask for it.

Our nation's laws are enacted to bring to jusrice those who violate them. The major problem we face now is how to bring to justice those who operate within the law e.g., , Goldman Sachs, Lehmann Brothers, the tobacco companies. These organizations and many others like them are performing perfectly legal operations,but are destroying the lives of millions and killing millions more outright.

Leon Cooper Interview by Larry King

Recently Leon Cooper, along with Ed Harris and director Steve Barber, was interviewed on the Larry King King-Live show aired December 19th on CNN. The interview can be seen in its entirety here. Please be patient, this inteview follows a segment on President Obama or you can skip ahead to the interview.

SnagFilms tells me that my documentary "Return to Tarawa-the Leon Cooper story" was one of the ten most watched films during 2009

A summing up & a new direction

I feel pretty good, but am far from feeling smug about it...My efforts and those of others helping me have finally resulted in Congress getting off its ass in directing the Pentagon to repatriate the remains of the hundreds of guys who still lie in Tarawa sixty-six years later, after the battle of "Bloody Tarawa," during November, 1943. (That doesn't mean, of course, that the military will actually do it.).

I'm in the process of setting up a non-profit corporation that will receive charitable contributions--for tax credit--to finance my filmed visit to a number of Pacific War battlefields, e,g., Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Okinawa, Palau and other sites. The purpose: to show compelling evidence that the remains of the fallen are still there, e.g., the tail assembly of the downed plane, the dogtags or other evidence of the remains of the MIA, what natives in the area concerned can tell us about the dead American, etc. Five films in all will be produced at a cost of 1 million, a significant part of which to defray the cost of private jet flights to many of the battle sites, sites that simply can't be reached by comercial flights.

Readers of my blogs will recall that almost 80,000 WWII MIAs from WWII are still "there," where they fell in battles in Europe and in the Pacific. The Pentagon admits that upwards of 35,000 are "recoverable." That doesn't mean that the Military will make an effort to recover these guys. In fact,  I've just learned that 3,000 WWII MIAs have been recently identified, including the exact location of their remains, along with other information that will permit their speedy repatriation, but this will not be done because there ain't any money to pay for the effort.,

What the hell...Nearly all of the Viet Nam MIAs have been recovered and repatriated--thanks to the nation-wide campaign during the 70's to recover them--"You Are Not Forgotten"--Remember?

Unlike Viet Nam and Iraq, too, for that matter--and similarly unpopular and unnecessary wars, it''s generally ackmnowledged that WWII was a "necessary" and even a "popular" in the sense that virtually the entire nation was involved. The anomaly remains: in dumb wars, we recover the dead. In good wars--the hell with the "Greatest Generation."