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Veterans
of the Vietnam War, Inc.
POW/MIA PAGE
Statement
/ Book List / Links
Disclaimer
FACTS DO NOT
CEASE TO EXIST
SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY ARE IGNORED
This
page on the Veterans of the Vietnam War, Inc. website, is dedicated to five distinct groups that make up the hub of the
Prisoner of War/Missing in Action issue from all wars.
To POW's: To all Americans who have been imprisoned in any
war. Each person who has worn the uniform and fought the battle understands the nature of
sacrifice. And while our military history reflects the glories
associated with our victories, it also reflects the tragedies inherent in war...those
men and women who have made the supreme sacrifice; those who have returned
maimed and wounded, many of whom will never be whole again...all, combat
veterans. Anyone caught in a firefight, flying through flak, patrolling
the jungle or desert dunes while sensing ambush or working desperately to perform triage in a make-shift hospital is a prisoner of war. But we owe
a special debt of respect and gratitude to those who were captured and yet
still kept faith, even while deprived of their freedom, victimized by brutal tortures by captors whose nations could not be viewed on a plane of moral
equality with other civilized nations. War behind barbed wire is a
war waged against hunger, disease, brutality, fear, boredom and the temptation
to yield to self pity and despair.
The prisoner of war story is on of how humans endured under desperate conditions and triumphed over appalling adversities. As a prisoner of
war you find yourself in a dimension alien to one ever experienced before and
live through a roller coaster of emotional experiences that are both debilitating and devastating. It is so humbling and despairing to
learn that your life is of such small value or concern to your enemy. As
Winston Churchill, a former POW said, "You are in the power of your enemy, you owe
your life to his humanity and your daily bread to his compassion. You
must
obey his orders; go where he tells you, stay where you are bid..."
When we hear the Star Spangled Banner, we are reminded that our National Anthem, symbol of freedom and liberty was written by
a prisoner of war. Francis Scott Key wrote the words while imprisoned on a British
battle-ship off Fort McHenry during the War of 1812.
In the words of Arnold
Bocksel, former Japanese Prisoner of War, who lived through the horrors of the Bataan-Corregidor Death
March..."The POW experience is like having a serious wound that eventually heals but
leaves a permanent ugly scar. We who have survived do not consider ourselves as heroes...only survivors...If there were any heroes among us, it
was those who perished...Those who gave up their tomorrow's so we could have our today's".
To the Families: America's POW's and servicemen and servicewomen have met the test of
personal honor and so have the families of those still missing from past American wars. For these families, the wounds of conflict have been
especially slow to heal. For them, there has been no joyous reunions,
nor even the solace of certainty ratified by a flag draped casket and the
solemn sound of taps. There has been no grave to visit and often no peace
from gnawing doubt. For them, there has been only the search for answers
through the years, with little support from their own government; many having
their personal efforts stonewalled by a bureaucracy with "a mind-set to
debunk". Their search for answers is understandable because to them, POW/MIA is not
merely an issue or a symbolic figure on a black and white flag, it is a sibling, a parent, a spouse or a child. These families deserve our
nation's
gratitude and to them we pay tribute. As long as there is one family
member dissatisfied with the governments answers as to the fate of their loved one
...we will still be in business.
To those who keep the issue
alive: To those who fight against forgetting; the veterans and activists,
who never stop pushing for answers to their persistent questions and students with an
unquenchable thirst for knowledge and truth. To the
select few brave souls in journalism and the media who dare to expose the
cover-ups and denials. To those American citizens and their comrades from
other countries who demand the truth by constantly asking "WHY?" and
"WHAT IS BEING DONE?"
To Governments: First, we salute those in position in all governments who rule the
people through trust, morality and the truth. We honor those who dare
to raise the consciousness surrounding the truth of accountability before
closure by giving their time and energy to chair committees, spending countless hours reading intelligence and who challenge their colleagues who
policy-making positions. These honorable men and women who rattle cages
on behalf of our missing American service personnel, sometimes risking their
own careers and personal safety, are also heroes.
Second, we challenge those
in government who use their elected or
appointed office for their own hidden agenda. These are the public
officials who put up smoke screens and debunk credible evidence produced by credible witnesses. We challenge the uneducated Senators and
Congressional Representatives to listen and learn the facts concerning the
POW/MIA issue and to take a positive stand when forming legislation which will affect, not only past U.S. service personnel but those who serve
today and plan to protect our freedom tomorrow.
To Future Military Service
Personnel: It is you, the young men and women of the United States of America, that the Veterans of the Vietnam War, Inc. dedicates this last part of this
page to. When you raise your right hand to defend the Constitution,
you need to know that should you become missing in action your government will make EVERY EFFORT to account for you and bring you home. In an essence,
our advocacy for the POW/MIA issue is your insurance policy.
Amidst the uncertainties of
war, every soldier is entitled to one
certainty...that he will not be forgotten. As a former POW Eugene "Red" McDaniel stated...as an American asked to serve, I was prepared to fight, to
be wounded, to be captured and even prepared to die, but I was not prepared to be abandoned. It is that one American is not worth the effort
to be found, we, as Americans, have lost.
The Veterans of the Vietnam
War, Inc. have again taken up arms and are fully prepared to do battle with the enemy. Our weapons are the
truth, support of protective legislation, and faith in God to give us strength to
reach our goal of an honest accounting of our POW's and MIA's. We invite
you to join us here at the website where we will provide up-to-date
information and action sheets for you to respond to. We have a book list for expanding
your knowledge and addresses to other POW/MIA links.
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Book List
(Recommended
reading only, not for sale)
THE BAMBOO CAGE
by Nigel Cawthorne
Barnes and Noble, Publishers
"The full story of the American Servicemen Still Held Hostage in South-East
Asia"
"Major Mark Smith, a highly
decorated Vietnam Veteran ...former POW...accorded the honor of being the first off the
plane...during Operation Homecoming...worked with Sergeant Melvin McIntire...went on
missions to Laos...brought back evidence, reported this...told there is no interest in the
part of the United States Government!"
KISS THE BOYS GOODBYE
by Monika Jensen-Stevenson
Barnes and Noble, Publishers
"How the United States Betrayed it's own POW's in Vietnam"
"In 1985, Jensen-Stevenson was
developing a segment for 60 Minutes on ex-marine Bobby Garwood, who escaped from Vietnam
in 1979...claimed to be a prisoner of war...the government disagreed and convicted
him...of collaboration with the enemy, burying his story of prisoners along with his
reputation."
THE MEN WE LEFT BEHIND
by Mark Sauter and Jim Sanders
The U.S. Veteran Dispatch - 1-800-452-8906 (information)
"Explores secret Communist
offers to ransom American POW's and the explosive evidence that some Americans were
secretly returned to the United States years after the war ended."
MOSCOW BOUND
by John G. Brown
John M.G. Brown, P.O. Box 30, Patrolia, CA 95558 (order info)
"Policy, Politics and the POW/MIA Dilemma"
RICE MEN AND BARBED WIRE
by Arnold A Bocksel
Michael B Glass & Associates (Publishers)
"A True Epic of Americans as Japanese POW's"
"...the person who wrote this
narrative is still alive today, more than 45 years after the events..." Mr. Bocksel
survived in Japanese POW camps of World War II...thousands taken prisoner from The
American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor did not survive.
"It is now April 1945...been
prisoners a long, long time...hard...to realize that we survivors have to endure so
long...the survivors were the stronger ones...so far the 'luckier' ones...no denying that
death was a kind release for many thought we would never get out alive."
SCARS AND STRIPES
by Eugene B. McDaniel, Capt. USN
American Defense Institute - 703-519-7000 (order info)
"The True Story of One Man's Courage in Facing Death as a Vietnam POW"
"During the long night
hours...through the endless months of captivity, I learned to pray drawing on the goodness
of God...My strength to face each new crack of light meant another day...first light on, I
was forced to face the grittiness of clinging to the narrow edge of survival."
SOLDIERS OF MISFORTUNE
by Mark Sauter, Jim Sanders and R. Cort Kirkwood
The U.S. Veteran Dispatch - 1-800-452-8906 (order info)
"Washington's Secret Betrayal of American POW's in the Soviet Union"
"...Thousands of American
POW's held captive by the Soviet Union...United States government officials who lied about
their fate." "Authors neared the truth...top level Pentagon officials attempted
to 'neutralize' and silence them...to bury the truth from the public."
AFTER THE HERO'S WELCOME
by Dorothy McDaniel
"A POW Wife's Story of the Battle Against a New Enemy"
"...for six years in a POW
camp. Dorothy did not know whether Red was alive...At home, she waged a battle on two
fronts: one against the Hanoi government...the second against Washington politicians
who...didn't seem to care about Red and the others missing."
POW/MIA REPORT
United States Senate Select Committee On POW/MIA Affairs
January 13, 1993
202-224-7880 (order info)
"The Committee's purpose...Our
nation has been haunted by the possibility that some of the missing may have survived and
that, somewhere in Southeast Asia, brave men remain in captivity...it (Select Committee)
was created to investigate and tell publicly the complete story about what our government
has known, and what it is doing and has done on behalf of our POW/MIA's."
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Related Links
National Alliance of Families - http://www.nationalalliance.org/
Advocacy & Intelligence Index - Fax
Network - http://www.aiipowmia.com/
Library of Congress - POW Database - http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pow/powhome.html
Roger and Pam Young's HomePage - http://members.aol.com/bear317/nwvets.htm
Col. Ted Guy - Former
Pow-
Take a journey to the Hanoi Hilton & attached villas http://www.soft-vision.com/hanoi/index1.html
Robert Weaver's - York County, PA,
Remembers! http://members.tripod.com/~bobbymeisters/index.html
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Disclaimer
The book list and list of related links are
not neccessarily the thoughts and views of Veterans of the Vietnam War, Inc.. They appear
on this page as a way for people to obtain information, to expand their knowledge and to
disseminate the information as the reader or viewer wishes! Thank You.
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