VIETNAM Army unable to find records of some deaths

The Tiger Force was created to spy on forces of North Vietnam.
TOLEDO (AP) -- The Army can't find records detailing some of the atrocities allegedly committed against Vietnamese civilians by an elite U.S. platoon, The Blade reported Sunday.
"At this time, we don't know what happened to the records," said Chris Grey, a spokesman for the Army's Criminal Investigation Command.
The Blade first reported in October that the Army's 101st Airborne Division Tiger Force killed civilians, including women, children and elderly farmers, over seven months in 1967.
A 41/2-year investigation by the Army was closed in 1975, and results were never previously made public. The investigation substantiated 20 war crimes by 18 soldiers and reached the Pentagon and White House, but no one was charged.
While some military documents, including witness testimony, were reviewed by The Blade, other records listed in National Archives indexes can't be found.
The missing records include the first formal complaint filed against the platoon in 1969 and sworn witness statements by more than 100 soldiers, according to The Blade, citing National Archives indexes.
Army officials looking into the case were not immediately available for comment on Sunday, the public affairs office said.
Tiger Force unit
Tiger Force, a unit of 45 volunteers, was created to spy on forces of North Vietnam in South Vietnam's central highlands.
Based on interviews with former Tiger Force soldiers and Vietnamese civilians, it is estimated that the unit killed hundreds of unarmed people, The Blade said.
U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D- Cleveland, have written to Army officials, urging them to continue their search for the missing records.
One witness whose sworn statements are now missing said he provided the Army with details about eight atrocities, including the execution of villagers by Tiger Force in a rice paddy.
Reporter's record
Former Army journalist Dennis Stout said he's angry his complaints are no longer on file.
"How do you just lose records? I don't understand it," said the Phoenix contractor, who was a reporter for the Army's Screaming Eagle newspaper in Vietnam.
Stout said he witnessed mass executions as he traveled with soldiers in the Song Ve Valley.
"Hundreds were killed, and I'm talking women and kids," he said. "It didn't matter. It was murder, and I will say that until the day I die."
The Army needs to explain why the missing reports can't be found, said Curt Goering, senior deputy director of Amnesty International.
"Naturally, it gives rise to the suspicion of whether it was something different than an honest mistake," said Goering, whose group monitors human rights violations.