He Forgot One
Scam Artist --
Himself
Summary: Mark A. Smith, Major, US Army (retired) is a real piece of work. Smith, captured in Vietnam in April 1972 and released 10 months later (February 1973) is something of a hero to certain of the MIA "activists." Here is a link to an article on the MIA Facts Site that tells you what he is really about. Basically, Smith lives in Thailand where he claims to be running POW rescue missions and operations. In fact, he is using his contacts with the "activist" community in the US to sucker in unsuspecting folks who will give him money, thinking that they are going on rescue operations.
Calling the Kettle Black
On Smith's web site is an article dated February 1998 in which he warns MIA activists to beware of certain scam artists. Smith lists several names of people who, according to him, may try to scam activists by claiming to have first hand information about US POWs. smith's article can be found here: http://www.rossie.com/message.htm . Here is the article quoted for your entertainment:
QUOTE
A Message From The Major
To All POW/MIA Activists
FROM: MAJOR Ret, MARK A. SMITH
Sunday, 15 February 1998
This correspondence is being sent as a word of advice. You may heed it or disregard it. The following named individuals have at various times, in the last three years, claimed direct knowledge of American POWs in Southeast Asia. They have none, but they have stolen evidence, manufactured evidence and even tried to pass off a number of albino, half caste and even elderly folks with gray hair, as; "White," "Bachelor," "Blondes."
Should you be approached by some "expert" in the U.S. for funds to allow them to go to Cambodia or Vietnam and "check it out," I would recommend you refuse participation.
The following are the names of those participating in the scams:
(1) MR CHOUM
(2) MR MA NOON (LAO)
(3) MR PHEIM KAMON (LAO)
(4) BG MENG PENG
(5) CAPTAIN DARO
(6) LIEUTENANT DARA
(7) MAJOR TUNBORAN (SOMETIMES CALLED "GENERAL")
(8) BUON CHANH (LAO)
(9) DAVID NGOC (CANADIAN CITIZEN)
(10) KHAM PHY SISOVADY (USA)
(11) CAMPAY TEP SOVANN (FRANCE)
(12) SALY SAINMABUTH (AUSTRALIA)
(13) LOUG SINA (CANADA)
(14) BOUN HOEUGN (USA)
A word to the wise should be sufficient.
Copyright 1998, by Mark A. Smith, Major, USA, Retired
END QUOTE
There is one name missing from this list of scam artists preying on would-be POW rescuers. I will give you that name after I relate a couple of incidents.
Flight from Tokyo
I was stationed in Japan from July 1990 through July 1993. As part of my assignment, I made frequent trips to and from the States, flying back and forth on United or Northwest. Because of the international date line, flights from Tokyo to the US depart Tokyo's Narita International Airport late in the afternoon (1630 - 1800 hours) and arrive in the US around 1900 - 2030 hours the next day. Aircraft from all over Asia arrive at Narita from 1200 until around 1500, passengers get off and go into the Northwest, United, JAL, etc. hubs and make their connections, after which between 1630 and 1800 everyone would leave. It was not unusual for me to board a flight to the States and find that among my fellow passengers were Americans who had come from Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, and the like to connect with the same flight that I was taking to the States.
On one flight -- I believe this was in late 1992 -- there were three people whom I recognized as MIA "activists" -- two men and a woman. They were all wearing MIA T-shirts with the black and white POW flag on the shirts, MIA bracelets, etc. I was seated in front of them and as the flight progressed, I caught most of their conversations. It was clear that they were returning from Thailand where they had gone to rescue US POWs. They were discussing their whole affair and it was interesting listening. After a while, I struck up a conversation. The woman had gone to sleep and one of the men was not especially talkative. The other one was ready to talk -- the free booze on the aircraft helped.
He told me that he and his friend were small businessmen from the West Coast and both of them were successful -- that is, they had a lot of money. He stated that he and his friend were both Vietnam veterans. He related how he had been "involved" in the POW-MIA issue for several years and he "knew" that "our guys" were still being held in SEAsia. He then told how he had been introduced to Mark Smith a couple of years before and how Smith had told him of his (Smith's) sources who brought out information about where US POWs were being held. He claimed that he had sent money to Smith on several occasions to "pay sources." Then came the good part.
It seems that Smith had told him and several other folks that he had a hot, current lead on where US POWs were being held and he needed lots of money and some volunteers to mount a rescue operation. The guy told me a long, tedious story. The short version is that he, his girl friend and the other guy went to Thailand, provided Smith with money -- he claimed to have given Smith $30,000 -- and got set to rescue US POWs. There was supposed to be training with indigenous troops and other volunteers., Smith would provide them with weapons and ammo. He then related a tale of how Smith hauled them around from "safe house" to "safe house" -- nothing but low rent hotel rooms; how Smith told them wild tales of sources who did not appear, the need for secrecy, on and on and on.
As he continued to talk, he became more and more upset. He told me that he finally realized that Smith was full of it, there were no sources, no weapons, no training, no supporting indigenous troops, no operation, and no US POWs. At that point the three of them got into a shouting match with Smith and left. I never did tell him who I was.
$40 Cab Ride
The MIA activist community is an interesting bunch, ranging from folks with their feet pretty solidly on the ground (the minority) to misguided true believers (the majority) to some real dingbats (who seem, by their vocal nature, to be the majority). Many of the latter can be seen on my Guestbook and in the Guestbook Archive. Believe it or not, I have contact with some of all of these -- I receive letters, e-mail, and an occasional telephone call. Another fact about this community is that there are factions, many of whom are enemies of others.
Early this year (2000), one of the "activists" in Smith's camp -- who I will call XX -- had a major falling out with Smith and sent me a letter. In that letter were copies of letters and e-mails that XX had received from Smith and a LONG letter about XX's relationship with Smith and how that went sour.
One of the stories that XX relayed to me has since been told to me by two other people. I hesitate to call this "confirmation" because the story could be coming from a single source. Still, I think this tale is worth telling, especially in light of Smith warning people about scam artists.
According to my sources, there is an individual who has been active in the MIA issue for some time and who was close to Smith. In fact, this individual supposedly was quite taken by Smith -- his POW background, his heroism during the battle for Loc Ninh in 1975, his Special Forces persona -- all of which Smith is known to play on. This person has a disability that limits his/her mobility and makes him/her heavily dependent on disability income. What I was told was that Smith convinced this individual that he was ready to rescue some POWs but that he needed money. In response, this individual supposedly sold his/her home, bought a smaller place, and gave Smith the cash he needed from the proceeds of the sale.
Previously, this individual -- who could hardly afford such -- had offered to pay some of Smith's expenses when he returned to the States, as he does annually for his POW physical. (The Department of Defense provides free annual physicals to all former POWs from Vietnam.) According to the stories passed to me, several things came to a head at once. If you read the previous article about Smith, you know that in 1994 he claimed to know the whereabouts of 572 US POWs and that he was working on obtaining their release. Apparently this claim began to trouble some MIA activists because, as time dragged on, they realized that Smith had no such information and that he and those around him were becoming a joke. So, several of Smith's supporters began to question him to which -- get this -- Smith responded that he had never made any such claim about 572 US POWs.
According to folks who have talked with me, this was too much for several people who turned their backs on Smith. One of these was the individual described above. Yet, to add insult, Smith visited this person and had him/her pay his $40 cab fare from the airport!!
One name missing
Earlier I pointed out that there is one name missing from Major Smith's list of scam artists that people should avoid. That name is: Mark A. Smith, Major, US Army (Retired).
(5 May 2000)
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