Ex‐P.O.W. Offers Reason For Statements in Hanoi (David W. Sooter)

An Army officer said today that he made voluntary statements for the Hanoi radio during the six years that he was a prisoner in Vietnam to let his family know he was alive.

Chief Warrant Officer David W. Sooter, 34 years old, Umatilla, Ore., also admitted at a news conference at Letterman Army Hospital that he was one of 15 prisoners who signed a letter to Congress urging it “to end this tragic war.”

“These messages were made to get my name out so that people would know I was alive,” he said. “My sister said it was the first word they had.”

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