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CNN Live At Daybreak

In Laos, Human Remains Turned Over to U.S. Military

Aired November 24, 2003 - 05:04   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In Laos this morning, human remains believed to be three U.S. citizens and one Australian have been turned over to the U.S. military. One body is thought to be the brother of presidential candidate Howard Dean.
CNN's Tom Mintier joins us live by video phone from Southeast Asia -- good morning, Tom.

TOM MINTIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

I'm in Bienchen, Laos, where this morning there was a ceremony where four sets of remains were turned over by the Lao government to the U.S. government, bringing the total to 182 Americans that have been repatriated since this system started.

As you said, Charles Dean is believed to be one of the four. As you said, the brother of presidential candidate Howard Dean. The identification process really is just getting started. They have located these sets of remains, but they're on their way to Hawaii now, where the Central Identification Laboratory is located. There, they will use dental records or maybe even DNA to try to process the identification of these recovered remains.

Now, it may be difficult. If they use dental records, it could be a matter of days or weeks. But if they have to go to DNA, that could be a very time consuming process that could take months or even years. So while three American families are one step closer to closure after the Vietnam War, it may take some more time before they can really bring closure because of the problem of positive identification.

Now, the U.S. military wants to have positive identification, 100 percent certainty that the remains that they are returning are those of the loved ones -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And, Tom, you talk about closure, will it always remain a mystery as to exactly what happened to these men?

MINTIER: Oh, I think it is going to be a mystery because many of the eyewitnesses who might have seen what took place in 1974 have already passed away. They did have one witness who knew of the location where these remains were said to have been buried. They were apparently captured somewhere on the Mekong River, about four miles away from where the burial site was located. Just what transpired between being captured on the Mekong River by the Pathet Lao forces and being executed, no one is really quite sure what happened. There are a lot of unanswered questions in this case and the recovery of the remains answers one of those questions, about where Charles Dean will be located. But as far as how he got to where he was at and then the problems he got into, there are very few people still alive that can answer that question.

COSTELLO: All right, Tom Mintier reporting from Laos this morning.

You'll find more information about this on our Web site at cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired November 24, 2003 - 05:04   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In Laos this morning, human remains believed to be three U.S. citizens and one Australian have been turned over to the U.S. military. One body is thought to be the brother of presidential candidate Howard Dean.
CNN's Tom Mintier joins us live by video phone from Southeast Asia -- good morning, Tom.

TOM MINTIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

I'm in Bienchen, Laos, where this morning there was a ceremony where four sets of remains were turned over by the Lao government to the U.S. government, bringing the total to 182 Americans that have been repatriated since this system started.

As you said, Charles Dean is believed to be one of the four. As you said, the brother of presidential candidate Howard Dean. The identification process really is just getting started. They have located these sets of remains, but they're on their way to Hawaii now, where the Central Identification Laboratory is located. There, they will use dental records or maybe even DNA to try to process the identification of these recovered remains.

Now, it may be difficult. If they use dental records, it could be a matter of days or weeks. But if they have to go to DNA, that could be a very time consuming process that could take months or even years. So while three American families are one step closer to closure after the Vietnam War, it may take some more time before they can really bring closure because of the problem of positive identification.

Now, the U.S. military wants to have positive identification, 100 percent certainty that the remains that they are returning are those of the loved ones -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And, Tom, you talk about closure, will it always remain a mystery as to exactly what happened to these men?

MINTIER: Oh, I think it is going to be a mystery because many of the eyewitnesses who might have seen what took place in 1974 have already passed away. They did have one witness who knew of the location where these remains were said to have been buried. They were apparently captured somewhere on the Mekong River, about four miles away from where the burial site was located. Just what transpired between being captured on the Mekong River by the Pathet Lao forces and being executed, no one is really quite sure what happened. There are a lot of unanswered questions in this case and the recovery of the remains answers one of those questions, about where Charles Dean will be located. But as far as how he got to where he was at and then the problems he got into, there are very few people still alive that can answer that question.

COSTELLO: All right, Tom Mintier reporting from Laos this morning.

You'll find more information about this on our Web site at cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com