Gov Deans statement on Charlie Dean

[Demobrat]

MANCHESTER--Governor Dean's spoke today on behalf of his family regarding recent developments in the 1974 disappearance of his brother, Charles Dean, in Laos:

"Our family has learned from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) that what they believe to be the remains of our brother, Charlie, and his traveling companion, Neil Sharman, have been located in Laos in the area that I visited in 2002. While positive identification will take some time, the personal effects found at the site make us reasonably confident that we have finally located Charlie's remains.

"This has been a long and emotional journey for my mother, Jim, Bill and me. We greet this news with mixed emotions but are gratified that we may now be approaching closure to this painful episode in our lives. We ask that you respect our privacy as we arrange for the transfer, identification and ultimate burial of what we believe are Charlie Dean's remains.

"I want to particularly thank the United States military. The men and women I visited with and stayed with at base camp last year in Laos are extraordinary human beings. This whole operation is an extraordinary credit to the government and the U.S. military. My family and I are deeply appreciative.

"This is an extraordinary thing they've done: I've been on the site of five POW/MIA where they believe people are buried. It's very, very difficult. It's very rare to recover the type of remains that we recovered, which are very significant and are very likely to be positively identified.

"At every turn have been accommodating and respectful of our family's needs, and we're grateful for their service to our family and to every other family who has experienced a similar loss.

"This is painful not just for us, but for the families of every POW/MIA in America. Based on my spending time in Southeast Asia last year I can tell you and all those families that similar efforts are being made for every family and every missing America from these Southeast Asian wars. This is an extraordinary step our government has gone to .

"We will likely travel to Hawaii for a repatriation ceremony on the 26th. When we have more information from the Pentagon, we will share that which is not private or personal."

[madfloridian]

1. Excellent statement.

And sad, too.

[Democrats unite]

2. I am glad The Dean family can finally put this behind them now.

eom

[NewYorkerfromMass]

3. Does the fact that JPAC was looking for the remains

confirm that Charlie Dean worked for the CIA?

[sujan]

6. and ?

[janx]

7. Not necessarily. About ten years ago, a concerted effort

began to find the remains of Americans in that area--both military and civilian.

[Fleshdancer]

4. I can't even imagine

would it would be like to have a family member go missing then killed. My heart goes out to the Dean family, but especially Charlie and Howard's Mom. Now that I'm a mother myself, I can say without any doubt that this type of situation is my definition of pure hell.

[janx]

10. You can see the fam (and especially mom) in this shot:

http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101030811/family/index.html

[DakotaDemocrat]

5. Bless them...

Its hard to quantify what the Deans have gone through. Very eloquent.

Closure remains a distant land for many families with missing loved ones in SE Asia. May this discovery give him and his family the closure and peace necessary to move forward.

[drfemoe]

8. sorry I started a dupe thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=732770

which follows the DU guidelines for copyright ... but I didn't see your's first.

[janx]

9. Here's an old photo--

From Time Magazine

http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101030811/family/index.html

[in_cog_ni_to]

11. A very sad chapter

closed. My thoughts and prayers are with the Dean family.

[janx]

12. I hope they get the privacy they deserve.

/