CNN faced severe scrutiny after it broadcast its June 7, 1998 premiere of the "Newsstand: CNN & Time" program, which featured a report entitled, "Valley of Death." The CNN report, also reported that week in Time magazine using CNN's reporting, was ultimately found to be unsubstantiated in a lengthy report prepared by First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams. CNN and Time retracted their reports and apologized for their reporting.

Two CNN producers who prepared the report left CNN after the report was retracted (April Oliver was fired, Jack Smith resigned). CNN correspondent Peter Arnett, who was named in Plancich's suit as an individual defendant, reported the story on-air but was not fired by CNN due to his limited involvement with the actual reporting of the piece.

CNN has already reached a settlement with Adm. Thomas Moorer, a major source in the story.

Plancich claims that CNN seriously defamed him when they misrepresented actions taken by U.S. troops involved in Tailwind and, in effect, accused him of war crimes, including murder and violations of the Geneva Convention. In addition to CNN and Arnett, he named Time magazine and Time Warner, the parent company of both Time and CNN, as defendants. Time Warner is also part owner of Court TV.

"They knew they were wrong about the story, but they went ahead anyway," said Plancich in a statement. "I fought for our system of justice, now we will see how well it works."

KEITH E. PLANCICH,
Plaintiff,

vs.

CABLE NEWS NETWORK, INC.,
a Georgia corporation,
TIME, INC., a New York
corporation, TIME WARNER,INC.,
a New York corporation,
and PETER ARNETT, individually,
Defendants.

KEITH E. PLANCICH, Plaintiff, sues defendants, CABLE NEWS NETWORK, INC., a Georgia corporation, TIME, INC., a New York corporation, TIME WARNER, INC., a New York corporation, and PETER ARNETT, individually, and alleges as follows:

1.Jurisdiction of this action is provided by 28 USC §1332;

2. The matter and controversy in each count exceeds the sum of $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs;

3. Plaintiff, former Green Beret, Sergeant KEITH E. PLANCICH, (hereinafter referred to as "SGT. PLANCICH" is a resident of Monroe County, Florida, and is otherwise sui juris;

4. Defendant, CABLE NEWS NETWORK, INC., (hereinafter referred to as "CNN") is a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Georgia, and is authorized to do business in the State of Florida. CNN is in the business of disseminating news of regional, national, and international interest by television to all jurisdictions within the United States of America and internationally;

5. Defendant, TIME, INC., (hereinafter referred to as "TIME") is a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of New York. TIME is in the business of publishing a weekly magazine by the same name containing news of regional, national, and international interest, and such publications are distributed to every jurisdiction within the United States and internationally;

6 . Defendant, TIME WARNER, INC., (hereinafter referred to as "TIME WARNER") is a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of New York, and is authorized to do business in the State of Florida. TIME WARNER is the owner and parent company for both TIME and CNN. TIME WARNER exercises supervisory control over the dissemination of news by TIME and CNN, and further controls the publication of news stories by other subsidiary companies and corporations around the world;

7 . Defendant, PETER ARNETT, (hereinafter referred to as "ARNETT"), is an employee of CNN and TIME and he resides in the State of Virginia, and is otherwise sui juris;

8. At the time of the events hereinafter set forth, ARNETT was at all times acting within the course and scope of his employment, and in furtherance of the affairs of his employers, CNN and TIME. CNN and TIME are and were the apparent or ostensible agents of TIME WARNER. At all times relevant to the events hereinafter described, ARNETT was expressly authorized by CNN, TIME, and TIME WARNER to act on their behalf and he was acting with the knowledge, consent, and approval of CNN, TIME, and TIME WARNER;

9.In September, 1970, the Plaintiff, SGT. KEITH E. PLANCICH, was a sergeant in the Fifth Special Forces, Company B Green Berets, stationed in Viet Nam, Southeast Asia;

10.On or about the dates of September llth through the 14th, 1970, SGT. PLANCICH took part in a United States military operation which was code named "Operation Tailwind". This military operation took place in the country of LAOS, Southeast Asia;

11. The military objective of "Operation Tailwind " was to disrupt North Vietnamese and Viet Cong supply lines, divert enemy attention from a contemporaneous military action taking place elsewhere, and to gather military intelligence;

12.SGT. PLANCICH was wounded in action during the military operation, and was awarded the Silver Star for his gallantry in action;

13. Plaintiff incorporates by reference the allegations contained in Paragraphs One through Twelve, as if set forth in their entirety herein;

14. SGT. PLANCICH was and is a person of good name, credit and reputation and enjoyed the esteem and good opinion of his neighbors and others who have known him;

15. At some point prior to June, 1998, CNN and TIME started publicizing a new television news program that was to make its debut on June 7, 1998. On June 7, 1998, the Defendants, CNN, TIME, TIME WARNER, and ARNETT (hereinafter referred to as "Defendants") aired a television broadcast, both nationally and internationally, called "NEWSSTAND", in which one story-was entitled "Valley of Death". A copy of the transcript of a portion of the "NEWSSTAND" broadcast is attached hereto and marked as Exhibit "A". During this broadcast, the following false, scandalous, and defamatory statements were made concerning SGT. PLANCICH:

A.Valley of Death: the U.S. military and a top-secret target. American defectors.

B.Now CNN & TIME, after an eight month investigation report that the United States military used lethal nerve gas during the Vietnam War.

C. Now, Peter Arnett has the story of Operation Tailwind: a raid into Laos, which according to military officials with knowledge of the mission contained two top secrets: dropping nerve gas on a mission to kill American defectors.

D.Pictures of Tailwind. A black operation so secret even those who carried it out did not know all the details.

E.Nineteen seventy: Van Buskirk was a platoon leader on Tailwind with orders to kill everything in sight, including American defectors.

F. SOG commandos carried out black operations against unusual targets using unusual weapons. They fought with no rules, were pledged to secrecy, everything was deniable. Both McCarley and Van Buskirk told CNN they were promised anything in the U.S. arsenal to complete _Tailwind's mission; anything except nuclear weapons. The arsenal included a special weapon known as sleeping gas.

G. NEWSSTAND: CNN & TIME contacted over 200 people, from corporals to generals, including dozens who fought or flew in the Tailwind mission. According to military officials with knowledge of the mission, Tailwind held two of the U.S. military's top secrets. The first: sleeping gas was indeed nerve gas -- deadly sarin, what the U.S. military calls GB. These military sources told CNN that during Tailwind, nerve gas was dropped on a village base camp believed to hold American defectors,and then again to get the SOG team out, the first confirmed use of nerve gas in combat by the U.S. military. The second secret: the hunting and killing of American defectors was a high priority on SOG missions, including Tailwind.

H. From this position, his [Graves] Recon team spotted several Americans: round eyes, either POW's or defectors.

I. Nevertheless, McCarley said he equipped all of his men with special gas masks, called M-17's, designed to protect against lethal gas. The SOG,commandos were also issued atropine, a nerve gas anecdote. McCarley also suggested lethal gas was always an option.

J. Oliver asked Admiral Moorer about a special weapon the military called CBU-15, a cluster bomb unit that was filled with GB, sarin nerve gas. Moorer confirmed that nerve gas was used in Tailwind.

K. Admiral Moorer acknowledged in an off-camera interview that Tailwind's target was, indeed, defectors. While he would give no firm estimate, Moorer indicated scores of U.S. military had defected during the war. Other senior military officials also confirm that Tailwind's objective was a group of defectors collaborating with the enemy.

L. In a moment, we'll return to Peter Arnett's report on Operation Tailwind. How it began and, according to our sources, how nerve gas was used and how American defectors were targeted.

M. A top secret effort, "Operation Tailwind," was launched, sources say, to find and kill those defectors by virtually any means necessary.

N. September 11, 1970, with long shadows, round eyes, pinpointed the hatchet force team of 16 Americans leading about 140 Montagnard mercenaries departed from a launch site at Dak To, South Vietnam, flying about 60 miles deep into Laos.

0. It took three days to get near the village base camp where a man believed to be defector had been spotted... According to military officials, during the evening, American planes gassed the camp with deadly sarin nerve gas, dropping the special weapon, CBU15.

P. Firing automatic weapons and tossing grenades into the hooches, the commandos met. little resistance. Suddenly, Van Buskirk spotted two Caucasians, one went down a spider hole, the second ran toward it.

Q. Van Buskirk held his fire and raced the man to the spider hole, tried to grab him, but missed. The man slid into the hole. Van Buskirk shouted ... Convinced they were defectors, Van Buskirk threw white phosphorus grenade down the hole. He believed both men were killed instantly. The commandos wiped out the camp in approximately 10 minutes.

R. The count was 90 some, up to 100.

S. Including women and children, the Montagnard fighters reported this to Hagen and Van Buskirk.

T. Bodies that look like Americans. Dozen, 15, maybe 20.

U. According to several commandos, the bodies thought to be American defectors were not identified, and no bodies were brought out. Later, Van Buskirk says a SOG colonel in keeping with SOG's code of deniability, ordered him delete ' his description of killing two American defectors from his after action report.

V. But several formal senior military officials have confirmed to CNN that the village and the defectors were Tailwind's objective.

W. As many as 60 Montagnards were killed, nearly all the rest wounded. Hagen has no doubts about what the gas was.

X. But chemical experts CNN consulted said tear gas is not consistent with the enemy symptoms observed by the SOG team, vomiting, convulsing, and falling quickly to the ground unconscious.

Y. Admiral Moorer had told CNN that GB, sarin nerve gas was, quote, "by and large available for many res ' cue attempts." He also told CNN, quote, "this is a much bigger operation than you realize. " A-1 sky raid pilots, other SOG veterans and former senior military officials all tell of GB being dropped on more than 20 missions in Laos and North Vietnam. Questions remain, exactly how many times has the U.S. military secretly used nerve gas? On Tailwind, just who were the defectors killed? Are military officials sure no POW's were killed? Just how many defectors were there in Laos? And ultimately, who authorized the operation? Admiral Moorer said the Nixon White House national security team had to approve nerve gas use. He also said that the CIA had partial responsibility for Tailwind. Former Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird said that while he had no recollection of GB sarin nerve gas being used, quote, "I do not dispute what Admiral Moorer has to say on this matter." And Admiral Moorer told CNN he is speaking out now because of his respect for history. Tailwind, sighted by military officials who confirm the use of nerve gas in combat by the United States on a hunt kill raid for American defectors, a top secret battle in a valley of death.

16. The aforementioned statements were made with deliberate disregard of whether the statements were true or false, and @ere made intending to injure SGT. PLANCICH and the other men involved. The Defendants did all of this knowing it would bring SGT. PLANCICH into public scandal and disgrace;

17. Defendants never advised SGT. PLANCICH of their intent to broadcast the statements, and never gave SGT. PLANCICH the opportunity to deny the allegations or provide his factual account of what occurred, even though he was one of the principal participants in the mission, and even though his picture was used throughout the broadcast;

18. Defendants did not sufficiently investigate to determine the truth or falsity of the matters contained in the above referenced statements, and ignored actual verifiable accounts of what occurred during Operation Tailwind. The Defendants affirmatively chose not to publish witness accounts of Operation Tailwind which were contrary to the conclusions which Defendants reached in CNN's broadcast of "Valley of Death";

19. Although the Defendants had received overwhelming information which contradicted the above-referenced defamatory statements,' they chose to portray the above statements as factual, as opposed to providing contradictory positions, and allowing viewers to determine for themselves what constituted the truth;-

20. ARNETT took an individual role in investigating the truth and/or falsity of the above referenced statements. ARNETT willfully disregarded factual accounts of Operation Tailwind which had been relayed to him. ARNETT reported that women and children had been killed by the members of Operation Tailwind without any direct evidence of any kind of such killings. These statements were made with deliberate disregard of the falsity of information provided to ARNETT during the course of his investigations and preparations for the above-referenced broadcast;

21. General Perry Smith (Retired), a military advisor for C.N.N. who had a great deal of knowledge as to military actions in Viet Nam, and who had not been consulted with regard to the Operation Tailwind story, tried to stop the Defendants from broadcasting the story based on his doubts of the story's validity, but the Defendants refused to delay the airing or further investigate the facts of the broadcast;

22. The above-referenced statements made by Defendants attributed to SGT. PLANCICH and the other men the commission of "war crimes" for which he and the other men could be sentenced to death. The war crimes alleged by Defendants included:

A. War crimes under the provisions of the Nuremberg Charter, Art. 6, for the wanton destruction of a village and for the murder of non-combatants, i.e., women and children;

B. Murder under the Federal common law, for intentionally killing women and children and American defectors without just cause or legal defense;

C.Murder under the Provisions of U.S. Code of Military Justice;

D. Violation of the Geneva Convention forbidding the use of nerve gas;

23. Defendants' defamatory statements as to SGT. PLANCICH and the men on the mission were expressly malicious and constitute libel per se;

24. As a result of Defendants' defamatory statements, SGT. PLANCICH was injured in his good name, credit, and reputation, and brought into public scandal and disgrace, has been shunned by many persons with whom he previously had social or business relations, has suffered tremendous mental anguish by being accused of war crimes (murder of women, children, and fellow Americans), and these injuries.are continuing in nature;

25. SGT. PLANCICH served a notice in writing on the Defendants specifying the broadcast and the statements therein which are false defamatory at least five (5) days before commencing this action.

WHEREFORE, SGT. PLANCICH demands judgment against the Defendants, jointly and severally, for compensatory damages in excess of $75,000.00, and for punitive damages in excess of $100,000,000.00. Should the Court disallow a demand for punitive damages, SGT. PLANCICH requests the right to amend this Complaint to add such a request when it is further supported by evidence in the record. SGT. PLANCICH requests such additional relief as the Court deems just and proper, and demands a trial by jury.

26. SGT. PLANCICH incorporates by reference the allegations contained in Paragraphs One through Twenty-Five, as if set forth in their entirety herein;

27. On June 14, 1998, the Defendants aired another "NEWSSTAND" television broadcast, both nationally and internationally, continuing the "Operation Tailwind" news article entitled "Valley of Death". A copy of the transcript of the portion of the broadcast including "Operation Tailwind" is attached hereto and marked as Exhibit "B". This electronic publication by Defendants included the following false, scandalous, and defamatory statements concerning the Plaintiff:

A. When we return: Operation Tailwind, new voices from a secret mission add to claims the U.S. used nerve gas during the Vietnam War.

B. Last week here, and in Time magazine, we reported the story of Operation Tailwind, a covert American raid into Laos in 1970. In the course of eight months of reporting we contacted over 200 people, from the men on the ground, to the pilots above, to those in the military chain of command; participants and officials with knowledge of the mission told us nerve gas was used twice to attack a camp where U.S. defectors had been spotted, and again, to suppress enemy forces, enabling American commandos to escape.

C. Jay Graves, a leader of a reconnaissance team on Tailwind, also says it was nerve gas.

D.During our reporting, several current and former military officials, who asked not to be identified, also told CNN that GB -- sarin nerve gas -- was used on Tailwind.

E. During our story last week, Admiral Moorer, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff in 1970, acknowledged to CNN that GB nerve gas had been used on Tailwind ... Most of the men in Operation Tailwind talked about the use of knockout gas on the mission.

28. Following the Defendants' June 7, 1998, broadcast of its first story of "Valley of Death" on CNN and TIME's new television news program, "NEWSSTAND", but before the June broadcast, SGT. PLANCICH contacted the Defendants telephonically, identified himself by name and as a participant in Operation Tailwind, and notified Defendants' agents and/or employees that the contents of the broadcast.pf June 7, 1998, were not true. SGT. PLANCICH requested to speak with anyone involved with the broadcast or anyone who had authority to stop any further broadcasts, the Defendants agent and/or employee did not allow SGT. PLANCICH to speak with anyone. SGT. PLANCI CH asked that CNN further investigate the matter before again broadcasting any defamatory statements; they did not.

29. Prior to the June 14, 1998, broadcast by the Defendants, CNN's military advisor, Gen. Perry Smith, approached agents and/or employees of CNN, TIME, and TIME WARNER, who had the authority to stop any further broadcasts or publication of the defamatory statements (some of which are listed above) and advised such person or persons that the story which had been broadcast on June 7, 1998, was false. Gen. Smith told the Defendants that he had undertaken an investigation and had proof tha t the conclusions reached by the Defendants were false.

30. The Defendants refused to investigate to determine the truth of the matters alleged by Gen. Perry Smith, their own advisor. The Defendants chose to disregard any information which Gen. Perry Smith may have been able to provide. Knowing that their own military advisor, Gen. Smith, was disputing the CNN/TIME allegations, the Defendants chose to air the defamatory statements of June 14, 1998, notwithstanding Gen. Perry Smith's representations;

31. The aforementioned statements were maliciously made with deliberate disregard of the falsity of the statements. The false statements were broadcast with the intent to injure SGT. PLANCICH and to bring SGT. PLANCICH into public scandal and disgrace;

32. Defendants did not sufficiently investigate to determine the truth of the matters contained in the above referenced statements, and ignored actual accounts of what occurred during Operation Tailwind, or simply chose not to publish witness accounts of Operation Tailwind which were contrary to the alleged "facts" in Defendants' two broadcast NEWSSTAND articles the Defendants called the "Valley of Death";

33. ARNETT took an individual role in investigating the truth and/or falsity of the above referenced statements. ARNETT willfully disregarded factual accounts of Operation Tailwind which had been relayed to him. ARNETT reported that women and children had been killed by the men of Operation Tailwind without any eye witness reports or any direct evidence of any kind of such killings. These statements were made with deliberate disregard of the fact that during ARNETT's personal investigations and preparations for the above-referenced broadcasts, he was given information directly contrary;

34.Although Defendants had received information which contradicted the above-referenced defamatory statements, they chose to portray the above statements as factual, as opposed to providing contradictory positions and allowing viewers to determine for themselves what constituted the "truth."

35. SGT. PLANCICH served a notice on the Defendants, specifying the broadcast and the statements therein which are false defamatory at least five (5) days before commencing this action.

WHEREFORE, SGT. PLANCICH demands judgment against the Defendants, jointly and severally, for compensatory damages in excess of $75,000.00, and for punitive damages in excess of $100,000,000.00. Should the Court disallow a demand for punitive damages, SGT. PLANCICH requests the right to amend this Complaint to add such a request when it is further supported by evidence in the record. SGT. PLANCICH requests such additional relief as the Court deems just and proper, and demands a trial by jury.

36. Plaintiff incorporates by reference the allegations contained in Paragraphs One through Thirty-Five, as if set forth in their entirety herein;

37. The June 15, 1998, issue of TIME Magazine, distributed both nationally and internationally, included an article entitled "Did the U.S. Drop Nerve Gas?" A copy of said article is attached hereto and marked as Exhibit "C". In the TIME article, among other things, the following false, scandalous, and defamatory statements were made concerning SGT. PLANCICH:

A. They had just wiped out a village base camp, killing about 100 people that included not only women and children but also what some believed to be a group of American G.I.s who had defected to the enemy.

B. The enemy troops had appeared suddenly on a nearby ridge, and were about to cut off the Americans as they tried to reach a rice paddy where rescue helicopters would land to fly them out of officially neutral Laos, back to their base in Vietnam.

C. Now, after an eight-month investigation, military officials with knowledge of the mission assert to NEWSSTAND: CNN & TIME that the gas dropped 28 years ago in Laos was nerve gas, specifically sarin, the lethal agent used in the 1995 terrorist attack in a Tokyo subway that killed a dozen people.

D. Admiral Thomas Moorer, U.S.N.(ret.), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in 1970, and other top military officials have confirmed the use of sarin in the Laotian operation and in other missions to rescue downed U.S. airmen during the Vietnam War. Moorer argues the use of the gas was justified under the circumstances.

E. In addition to using the nerve gas to extract the Americans after their raid, though, veteran Special Forces officers claim to NEWSSTAND: CNN & TIME that sarin was also used the night before the assault to "prepare" the village for the attack the next morning. This would indicate that civilians as well as combatants were victims of poison gas.

F.Just as surprising as the use of the gas is the reason for the raid: the targeted village was believed to be harboring a large group of American G.I..s who had defected to the enemy. The Special Forces unit's job was to kill them.

G. During its preraid briefing at Kontum, the SOG "hatchet force" was told to kill anyone it encountered.

H. In keeping with the compartmentalization of information necessary to protect top-secret missions, only a few of the SOG officers knew the precise target. And very few knew the exact type of gas available for their mission, although the unit was promised anything in the non-nuclear U.S. arsenal it might need to complete the mission. The commandos understood there was an agent commonly known as "sleeping gas" available for last-resort situations; they were aware that the gas caused respiratory distress, sudden vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions and often death.

I. Through a special field telescope, Graves' men spotted the prize -- several "roundeyes," Americans, in the village.

J. The SOG team hit the ground several miles from the targeted base camp and spent the next three days fighting its way toward it.

K.On the third night the commandos hunkered down near the village as the Air Force A-ls "prepped" the target.

L.With the camp destroyed, spotter planes overhead ordered the SOG unit to the rice paddy: where the rescue helicopters would land.

M. As many as 60 of the Montagnards died in Operation Tailwind.

N. Confirming the use of sarin, Moorer says the gas was "by and large available" for high-risk search-and-rescue missions. Sources contacted by NEWSSTAND: CNN & TIME report that GB was employed in more than 20 missions to rescue downed pilots in Laos and North Vietnam.

0. In Sept. 1970 a "hatchet force" was assigned to wipe out a Laotian village suspected of harboring American defectors. The commandos were promised any weapon they might need, including an agent they called "sleeping gas," for "last resort" situations.

38. The aforementioned statements were made with deliberate disregard of the falsity of the statements and were intended to injure SGT. PLANCICH and the other men involved in "Operation Tailwind." The statements were made in order to bring SGT. PLANCICH into public scandal and disgrace;

39. TIME, TIME WARNER, and ARNETT never advised SGT. PLANCICH of their intent to publish the statements, and never gave SGT. PLANCICH the opportunity to deny the allegations or provide his factual account of what occurred, even though he was one of the participants in the mission;

40. ARNETT took an individual role in investigating the truth and/or falsity of the above referenced statements. ARNETT willfully disregarded factual accounts of Operation Tailwind which had been relayed to him, and he reported that women and children had been killed by the members of Operation Tailwind without any eye witness reports or any direct evidence of any kind of such killings. These statements were made with deliberate disregard of the falsity of information provided to ARNETT during the course of his investigations and preparations for the above-referenced broadcast;

41. TIME, TIME WARNER, and ARNETT did not sufficiently investigate to determine the truth of the matters contained in the above referenced statements, and ignored actual accounts of what occurred during Operation Tailwind, or simply chose not to publish witness accounts of Operation Tailwind which were contrary to the conclusions which were reached in TIME's publication of "Did the U.S. Drop Nerve Gas?";

42. Although the Defendants had received overwhelming information which contradicted the above-referenced defamatory statements, the Defendants chose to portray the above statements as factual, as opposed to providing contradictory positions, and allowing readers to determine for themselves what constituted the "truth".

43. The above-referenced -statements made by Defendants attributed to SGT. PLANCICH and the other men the commission of "war crimes" for which he and the other men could be sentenced to death. The war crimes alleged by Defendants included:

A. War crimes under the provisions of the Nuremberg Charter, Art. 6, for the wanton destruction of a village and for the murder of non-combatants, i.e., women and children;

B. Murder under the Federal common law, for intentionally killing women and children and American defectors without just cause or legal defense; C. Murder under the provisions of U.S. Code of Military Justice;

D. Violation of the Geneva Convention forbidding the use of nerve gas;

44. The TIME Magazine article's defamatory statements as to SGT. PLANCICH and the men on the mission were expressly malicious and constitute libel per se;

45. As a result of the Defendants' defamatory statements, SGT. PLANCICH was injured in his good name, credit, and reputation, and brought into public scandal and disgrace, has been shunned by many persons with whom he previously had social or business relations, has suffered tremendous mental anguish by being accused of war crimes and murder, and these injuries are continuing in nature;

46. SGT. PLANCICH served the notice in writing on TIME, TIME WARNER, and ARNETT, specifying the broadcast and the statements therein which are false and defamatory at least five (5) days before commencing this action.

WHEREFORE, SGT. PLANCICH demands judgment against the Defendants, jointly and severally, for compensatory damages in excess of $75,000.00, and for punitive damages in excess of $100,000,000.00. Should the Court disallow a demand for punitive damages at this time, SGT. PLANCICH requests the right to amend this Complaint to add such a request when it is supported by additional evidence in the record. SGT. PLANCICH requests such additional relief as the Court deems just and proper, and demands a trial by jury.

47.SGT. PLANCICH incorporates by reference the allegations contained in Paragraphs One through Forty-Six, as if set forth in their entirety herein;

48.The June 29, 1998, issue of TIME Magazine, which was distributed nationally and internationally, included an article entitled "The, Nerve Gas Story". It was published in a "letter to readers" format. A copy of said "letter" is attached hereto and marked as Exhibit "D". In this letter, the following false, scandalous, and defamatory statements were made concerning SGT. PLANCICH:

A. The CNN story was based on interviews with soldiers and officers who participated in the mission, several of whom said they believed nerve gas had been used on enemy troops attempting a counterattack on the U.S. forces. Those reports were confirmed by several high-level military sources.

B. We believed that the initial CNN report and article were based on substantial evidence.

49. The aforementioned statements were made with deliberate disregard of their falsity and were intended to injure SGT. PLANCICH and to bring SGT. PLANCICH into public scandal and disgrace;

50. Again, TIME, TIME WARNER, and ARNETT never advised SGT. PLANCICH their intent to publish the statements, and never gave SGT. PLANCICH the opportunity to deny the allegations or provide his factual account of what occurred, even though he was one of the participants in the mission;

51. Again, TIME, TIME WARNER, and ARNETT did not sufficiently investigate to determine the truth of the matters contained -in the above referenced statements, and ignored actual accounts of what occurred during Operation Tailwind, or simply chose not to publish witness accounts of Operation Tailwind which were contrary to the conclusions which were reached in the Defendants' publication of "The Nerve Gas Story";

52. Although the Defendants had received information which contradicted the above-referenced defamatory statements, the Defendants chose to portray the above statements as factual, as opposed to providing contradictory positions, and allowing readers to determine what constituted the truth for themselves;

53. The above-referenced statements made by Defendants attributed to SGT. PLANCICH and the other men the commission of "war crimes" for which he and the other men could be sentenced to death. The war crimes alleged by Defendants included:

A. War crimes under the provisions of the Nuremberg Charter, Art. 6, for the wanton destruction of a village and for the murder of non-combatants, i.e., women and children;

B. Murder under the Federal common law, for intentionally killing women and children and American defectors without just cause or legal defense;

C.Murder under the provisions of U.S. Code of Military Justice;

D. Violation of the Geneva Convention forbidding the use of nerve gas;

54. The Defendants' continuing defamatory statements as to SGT. PLANCICH and the men on the mission were expressly malicious and constitute libel per se;

55. As a result of the Defendants' defamatory statements, SGT. PLANCICH was injured in his good name, credit, and reputation, and brought into public scandal and disgrace, has been shunned by many persons with whom he previously had social or business relations, has suffered tremendous mental anguish by being accused of war crimes and murder, and these injuries are continuing in nature;

56. SGT. PLANCICH served a notice in writing on the Defendants specifying the broadcast and the statements therein which are false and defamatory at least five (5) days before commencing this action.

WHEREFORE, SGT. PLANCICH demands judgment against the Defendants, jointly and severally, for compensatory damages in excess of $75,000.00, and for punitive damages in excess of $100,000,000.00. Should the Court disallow a demand for punitive damages, SGT. PLANCICH requests the right to amend this Complaint to add such a request when it is further supported by evidence in the record. SGT. PLANCICH requests such additional relief as the Court deems just and proper, and demands a trial by jury.

57. SGT. PLANCICH incorporates by reference the allegations contained in Paragraphs One through Thirty-Five, as if set forth in their entirety herein;

58.SGT. PLANCICH is entitled to relief against the Defendants upon the above referenced facts.

59.When SGT PLANCICH learned,of the Defendants' above statements, he became extremely upset, suffered extreme mental pain. and anguish, suffered severe emotional distress, and became extremely distraught and ill;

60. The above-referenced statements imputed to SGT. PLANCICH and the other men on the mission the commission of very serious and felonious crimes, including war crimes and violations of the Geneva Convention, the Nuremberg Charter, and violations of the code of military justice and Federal common law, with the penalties for such crimes including imprisonment and/or the death penalty. On many of these crimes there is. no applicable statute of limitations;

61. The above-referenced statements were made intentionally to inflict severe emotional distress upon SGT. PLANCICH, and the Defendants' conduct exceeded all bounds of decency. The actions of the Defendants were of a nature calculated to cause mental damage of a very serious kind. It was obvious to the Defendants that such statements would cause severe emotional distress to SGT. PLANCICH as a person of ordinary sensibilities;

62. By reason of the acts and conduct of the Defendants, SGT. PLANCICH has endured severe mental pain and suffering and has sustained permanent injuries to his person, and he will continue in the future to have severe mental pain and suffering, severe emotional distress and impairment of his mental faculties;

63. The acts of the Defendants as set forth above are wanton, reckless, careless, false, malicious, and were made with an utter disregard of the truth of the representations made, and with an utter disregard of the rights of SGT. PLANCICH and the other men on the mission. The amputations of the defamatory words were directed against SGT PLANCICH, and they were malicious and false, and imputed the.commission of numerous war crimes and murder. The Defendants knew that their statements and amputations would disgrace SGT. PLANCICH and degrade his reputation. All of the said charges were false.

64. As a direct and proximate result of the carelessness and negligence of the Defendants, SGT. PLANCICH has suffered severe mental pain and suffering and has sustained permanent injuries to his person, and -he will continue in the future to have severe mental pain and suffering, severe emotional distress and impairment of his mental faculties;

WHEREFORE, SGT. PLANCICH demands judgment against the Defendants, jointly and severally, for compensatory damages in excess of $75,000.00, and for punitive damages in excess of $100,000,000.00. Should the Court disallow a demand for punitive damages, SGT. PLANCICH requests the right to amend this Complaint to add such a request when it is further supported by evidence in the record. SGT. PLANCICH requests such additional relief as the Court deems just and proper, and demands a trial by jury.

68. SGT. PLANCICH incorporates by reference the allegations contained in Paragraphs One through Twelve, and Paragraphs Thirty-Six through Fifty-Six, as if set forth in their entirety herein;

69. SGT. PLANCICH is entitled to relief against the Defendants upon the above referenced facts;

70. When SGT PLANCICH learned of the above statements, he became extremely upset, suffered extreme mental pain and anguish, suffered severe emotional distress, and became extremely distraught and ill;

71. The above-referenced statements imputed to SGT. PLANCICH the commission of very serious and felonious crimes, including war crimes and violations of the G@neva Convention, the Nuremberg Treaty, and violations of military and Federal common law for murder of women and children and American defectors, and the penalties for such crimes include imprisonment and/or the death penalty;

72. The above-referenced statements were made intentionally to inflict severe emotional distress upon SGT. PLANCICH, and the Defendants' conduct exceeded all bounds of decency, and were of a nature calculated to cause mental damage of a very serious kind, and were such as were calculated to cause severe emotional distress to SGT. PLANCICH as a person of ordinary sensibilities;

73. By reason of the acts and conduct of the Defendants SGT. PLANCICH has endured severe mental pain and suffering and has sustained permanent injuries to his person, and he will continue in the future to have severe mental pain and suffering, severe emotional distress and impairment of his mental faculties;

74. The acts of the Defendants as set forth above are wanton, reckless, careless, false, malicious, and were made with an utter disregard of the truth of the representations made, and with an utter disregard of the rights of SGT. PLANCICH. That the amputations of the defamatory words were directed against SGT. PLANCICH, and that they were malicious and false, and imputed the commission of numerous war crimes and murder, and that the amputations disgraced SGT. PLANCICH and degraded his reputation. That all of the said charges were false.

75. That as a direct and proximate result of the carelessness and negligence of the Defendants, Plancich has suffered severe mental pain and suffering and has sustained permanent injuries to his person, and he will continue in the future to have severe mental pain and suffering, severe emotional distress and impairment of his mental faculties;

WHEREFORE, SGT. PLANCICH demands judgment against the Defendants, jointly and severally, for compensatory damages in excess of $75,000.00, and for punitive damages in excess of $100,000,000.00. Should the Court disallow a demand for punitive damages, SGT. PLANCICH requests the right to amend this Complaint to add such a request when it is further supported by evidence in the record. SGT. PLANCICH requests such ad "tional relief as the Court deems just and proper, and demands a trial by jury.

DATED this 6th day of August, 1998.

HORAN & HORAN
608 Whitehead Street
Key West, FL 33040

By
EDWARD W. HORAN

AND

By
MITCHELL J.COOK