Messages Offering Reward for POWs Floated Down River
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NAKHON PHANOM, Thailand — A group of Americans seeking U.S. prisoners of war in Indochina today floated plastic bags down the Mekong River toward Laos with messages offering $2.4 million to defectors who bring POWs out with them.
The seven Americans, led by former U.S. Rep. Bill Hendon (R-N.C.), had wanted to send 2,500 balloons bearing the same message over the river into Laos today and Friday.
But Thai authorities barred that plan. A river launch was allowed because, one Thai official said, it was less likely to succeed.
MIA family members dropped the bags into the Mekong and tried to prod them toward the main current with sticks and by pushing water forward with their hands.
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