TOLEDO Group seeks probe of Vietnamese deaths

The Army closed its investigation into the case in 1975.
TOLEDO (AP) -- The human rights group Amnesty International is asking the Defense Department to interview witnesses who say they saw atrocities reportedly committed by U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War.
"It's important that the government take this seriously, and if it doesn't, it's a great dereliction of duty," said Curt Goering, Amnesty International's senior deputy executive director. "The last thing you want to do in light of these revelations -- and these are serious -- is to sweep them under the rug."
Newspaper report
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 4 1/2-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.
Two witnesses have contacted the Army since the newspaper's report. Neither has been interviewed.
Army spokesman Lt. Col. Kevin Curry could not be reached for comment on Sunday. Calls to his office went unanswered.
The Army's Criminal Investigation Command has refused to comment on the review.
Witnesses
Rion Causey, a 56-year-old nuclear engineer who was a medic with the platoon for six months, told the newspaper that he watched the unit break the rules of war and that commanders knew about it.
"I still want to see those officers called on the carpet," he said. "They have yet to answer to what happened, and that's wrong."
The second witness, Dennis Stout, 58, a former Army journalist who covered Tiger Force for The Screaming Eagle military newspaper, said, "I'll never forget what I saw. I've lived with this for a long time."
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, an Ohio Democrat seeking the party's presidential nomination, said the Army needs to take the case more seriously. He said he will press for congressional hearings.
Last week, he wrote acting Army Secretary Les Brownlee, urging the Army to conduct an investigation.