Date: 06-2013 Biography: Amy Waters Yarsinske wears many hats. She is a former military intelligence officer, an aviation expert, and is extremely knowledgeable about POW/MIAs. This combined expertise is what made her feel something was amiss when a U.S. plane was shot down in the first Gulf War over Iraq. The first casualty Lt. Cmdr. Scott Speicher was listed dead. She began an investigation, which resulted in her book "No One Left Behind: The Lt. Cmdr. Michael Scott Speicher Story," as well as the reclassification of Scott Speicher as MIA rather than dead. Never before has a change in status like that happened. A former naval intelligence officer, discussed the incredible story of denial, deceit, and deception that ultimately cost Navy pilot Captain Michael Scott Speicher his life after the government left him behind in Iraq during the first Gulf War. She traced the story back to 1991, when Speicher's air squadron was flying over Iraq. As a result of friendly fire due to complications with the jet, Speicher crashed in the desert, but managed to safely eject from the craft. Despite having U2 imagery of the downed craft and knowledge that Speicher had been ejected, Yarsinske lamented that CIA and military officials made a "conscious decision" to not rescue him. She suggested that the decision was borne out of a desire to keep him from talking about being shot down by friendly fire as well as an effort to maintain the public perception that the early air missions had been a complete success. According to Yarsinske's research, Speicher followed all of the steps to signal that he had survived the crash and needed help. However, since aid did not arrive, he took refuge with a group of sympathetic Bedouins and lived with them for nearly four years. During this time, attempts were made by an intelligence asset within Iraq to help rescue Speicher, but the U.S. State Department and DoD "wanted nothing to do with this." In 1995, she said, Saddam Hussein's intelligence forces found Speicher amongst the Bedouins and captured him, while also slaughtering the entire tribe for having protected him. Following that, Speicher was secretly held captive by the Iraqi government until it fell during the second Gulf War and a handful of his bones were discovered in the desert under suspicious circumstances.

• published: 04 Sep 2013
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