TN soldier lost in Vietnam to be laid to rest at Arlington
WBIR Staff
March 13, 2014
A Tennessee soldier who was killed in a plane crash almost fifty years ago will finally be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.
According to the State Department of Veterans Affairs, Staff Sergeant Lawrence Woods of Clarksville was among eight service members killed in a plane crash in Vietnam on October 24, 1964. He was the first Tennessean to be declared missing in action leading up to the Vietnam War.
Woods was a member of the 5th Special Forces Group based out of Fort Campbell. He lived there with his wife, Francis, and three children when he was killed.
U.S. Forces were able to recover the bodies of everyone on the plane except for Staff Sergeant Woods, until recently. Crews from the U.S., Cambodia, and Vietnam coordinated a series of searches from 1997 to 2010, and were finally able to excavate the wreckage of the plane and find Woods' remains.
Woods will be buried during a group burial at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. on March 21. Governor Bill Haslam has declared that a day of mourning and ordered flags at half-staff from sunrise to sunset in honor of Staff Sergeant Woods' ultimate sacrifice.
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Showing posts with label POW-MIA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label POW-MIA. Show all posts
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Taliban says it suspends talks on Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl
Taliban says it suspends talks on Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl
The Associated Press
By KATHY GANNON
Published: February 23, 2014
50 minutes ago
ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan's Taliban said Sunday they had suspended "mediation" with the United States to exchange captive Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five senior Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, halting - at least temporarily - what was considered the best chance yet of securing the 27-year-old soldier's freedom since his capture in 2009.
In a terse Pashto language statement emailed to The Associated Press, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid blamed the "current complex political situation in the country" for the suspension.
A U.S. official with knowledge of the talks said the cause of the suspension was not the result of any issue between the United States and Taliban. He declined to elaborate and spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists.
read more here
The Associated Press
By KATHY GANNON
Published: February 23, 2014
50 minutes ago
ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan's Taliban said Sunday they had suspended "mediation" with the United States to exchange captive Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five senior Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, halting - at least temporarily - what was considered the best chance yet of securing the 27-year-old soldier's freedom since his capture in 2009.
In a terse Pashto language statement emailed to The Associated Press, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid blamed the "current complex political situation in the country" for the suspension.
A U.S. official with knowledge of the talks said the cause of the suspension was not the result of any issue between the United States and Taliban. He declined to elaborate and spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists.
read more here
50th anniversary of the Vietnam War and attacks go on
50th anniversary of the Vietnam War and attacks go on
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 23, 2014
Reading a post by Mark Ashwill on Huffington Post was not a good way to wake up this morning.
Jumping on the Vietnam War Commemoration Bandwagon: The Vain Search for Honor
This is about them. Men like my husband and families like mine. What about the contributions Vietnam veterans made to society as a whole because they did not give up on the rest of the country even though the rest of the country gave up on them?
Nothing was done on PTSD until they came home and fought for it. Everything that came afterwards, including crisis intervention, happened because of them. Frankly most are tired of people focusing on the reasons they were sent, because when they got there, the only thing that mattered was the guy standing next to them. They were willing to die for each other and that is what this is supposed to be about.
So far the only "vain search" for honor has come because of people would rather focus on everything else but the people who went.
Vietnam veterans are the majority of the veteran suicides, the VA claim backlogs that have gone up and down during every single administration like a roller coaster rising when politicians could get away with it and the press didn't care then suddenly putting all hands on deck to get them down again. During congress after congress complaining about the claims and the delay in honoring them when the report made the top of the fold.
It is all just a political game fed by people with an agenda that has nothing to do with the veterans.
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 23, 2014
Reading a post by Mark Ashwill on Huffington Post was not a good way to wake up this morning.
Jumping on the Vietnam War Commemoration Bandwagon: The Vain Search for Honor
"As we settle into year three of the 13-year Commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, which extends from May 28, 2012 to November 11, 2025, Americans from sea to shining sea are joining in events that "recognize the Vietnam Veterans and their families' service, valor, and sacrifice," according to the official Vietnam War Commemoration website. As with any program dreamed up by bureaucrats, objectives are a must, lest the organizers and participants lack focus and taxpayer dollars be wasted."He ran down the list we've all been subjected to for over 40 years. I read the words until it became clear the agenda was not to honor Vietnam veterans but to subject them to what more talented writers have done to them over all these years. How can some people be so blind to the simple fact that, this is not about politicians or reasons they sent men and women to risk their lives?
This is about them. Men like my husband and families like mine. What about the contributions Vietnam veterans made to society as a whole because they did not give up on the rest of the country even though the rest of the country gave up on them?
Nothing was done on PTSD until they came home and fought for it. Everything that came afterwards, including crisis intervention, happened because of them. Frankly most are tired of people focusing on the reasons they were sent, because when they got there, the only thing that mattered was the guy standing next to them. They were willing to die for each other and that is what this is supposed to be about.
So far the only "vain search" for honor has come because of people would rather focus on everything else but the people who went.
Vietnam veterans are the majority of the veteran suicides, the VA claim backlogs that have gone up and down during every single administration like a roller coaster rising when politicians could get away with it and the press didn't care then suddenly putting all hands on deck to get them down again. During congress after congress complaining about the claims and the delay in honoring them when the report made the top of the fold.
It is all just a political game fed by people with an agenda that has nothing to do with the veterans.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Former Air Force para-rescueman enlisted to help find remains
59 minutes ago
Former Air Force para-rescueman enlisted to help find remains
Idaho State Journal/AP
By Michael O'Donnell
Published: February 22, 2014
POCATELLO, Idaho — It's been 45 years since Aberdeen's Leland Sorensen clung to a thin steel cable as he was lowered into the jungle canopy of Southeast Asia. As a member of the elite U.S. Air Force para-rescue jump team, it was his job to drop from a helicopter into hostile territory to rescue downed pilots during the Vietnam War.
Sorensen's successful rescue efforts in 1968-69 earned him the Silver Star, four Distinguished Flying Crosses — and a return trip to the rugged jungles of Laos later this month.
A surprise email from the Army's Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office last December asked for Sorensen's help in finding the remains of F-105 fighter pilot David T. Dinan, who was shot down on a Laotian mountainside March 17, 1969. Sorensen was key because he was the last American to ever see Dinan's lifeless body.
"I was the one who went to the ground," Sorensen said about that fateful day nearly 45 years ago. "I was happy to tell what I recalled."
Sorensen will fly to Laos on Feb. 27 and become part of a mission to find the remains of Lt. Dinan. People are counting on his memory of the location and the events of that fateful day
read more here
Former Air Force para-rescueman enlisted to help find remains
Idaho State Journal/AP
By Michael O'Donnell
Published: February 22, 2014
POCATELLO, Idaho — It's been 45 years since Aberdeen's Leland Sorensen clung to a thin steel cable as he was lowered into the jungle canopy of Southeast Asia. As a member of the elite U.S. Air Force para-rescue jump team, it was his job to drop from a helicopter into hostile territory to rescue downed pilots during the Vietnam War.
Sorensen's successful rescue efforts in 1968-69 earned him the Silver Star, four Distinguished Flying Crosses — and a return trip to the rugged jungles of Laos later this month.
A surprise email from the Army's Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office last December asked for Sorensen's help in finding the remains of F-105 fighter pilot David T. Dinan, who was shot down on a Laotian mountainside March 17, 1969. Sorensen was key because he was the last American to ever see Dinan's lifeless body.
"I was the one who went to the ground," Sorensen said about that fateful day nearly 45 years ago. "I was happy to tell what I recalled."
Sorensen will fly to Laos on Feb. 27 and become part of a mission to find the remains of Lt. Dinan. People are counting on his memory of the location and the events of that fateful day
read more here
Friday, January 10, 2014
Florida POW Korean War Soldier laid to rest after 63 years
Soldier finally home 63 years later; buried Thursday at Jacksonville National Cemetery
Florida Times Union
By Clifford Davis
Jan 9, 2014
A Jacksonville soldier finally came home after 63 years Thursday.
Cpl. Joe Howard, a Jacksonville native who perished in a North Korean prison camp, was buried in Jacksonville National Cemetery with full military honors and a tombstone with his name on it.
Under gray skies and misting rain, his remaining family members finally got to welcome their “Uncle Bubba” home.
“All we ever knew was that he was in Washington, D.C., and went off to war and never came home. Uncle Bubba never came home,” Howard’s niece, Beverly Moreland, said. “It gives us a final rest and we’re deeply honored that the military would go to this extent. This is beautiful, that no soldier would be left on foreign soil and we’ve just been honored to witness this today — we’re all in awe.”
To the family, the service, at least in some small measure, gave Howard the funeral he never got.
According to the Army, Cpl. Howard died of malnutrition in Prisoner of War Camp 5 near Pyoktong, North Korea in 1951.
read more here
Florida Times Union
By Clifford Davis
Jan 9, 2014
A Jacksonville soldier finally came home after 63 years Thursday.
Cpl. Joe Howard, a Jacksonville native who perished in a North Korean prison camp, was buried in Jacksonville National Cemetery with full military honors and a tombstone with his name on it.
Under gray skies and misting rain, his remaining family members finally got to welcome their “Uncle Bubba” home.
“All we ever knew was that he was in Washington, D.C., and went off to war and never came home. Uncle Bubba never came home,” Howard’s niece, Beverly Moreland, said. “It gives us a final rest and we’re deeply honored that the military would go to this extent. This is beautiful, that no soldier would be left on foreign soil and we’ve just been honored to witness this today — we’re all in awe.”
To the family, the service, at least in some small measure, gave Howard the funeral he never got.
According to the Army, Cpl. Howard died of malnutrition in Prisoner of War Camp 5 near Pyoktong, North Korea in 1951.
read more here
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Vietnam MIA being buried 45th anniversary of disappearance
MIA remains ID'd, to be buried on anniversary of disappearance
Stars and Stripes
Published: December 10, 2013
The remains of an airman who went missing during the Vietnam War have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial on the 45th anniversary of his loss.
Air Force Col. Francis McGouldrick Jr., of New Haven, Conn., is to be buried Friday with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery, according to a Defense Department statement Monday.
McGouldrick was listed as missing in action on Dec. 13, 1968, after his B-57E Canberra aircraft collided with another aircraft over Laos’ Savannakhet Province during a night strike mission, the statement said. In 1978, a military review board changed his status from missing in action to presumed killed in action.
read more here
Stars and Stripes
Published: December 10, 2013
The remains of an airman who went missing during the Vietnam War have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial on the 45th anniversary of his loss.
Air Force Col. Francis McGouldrick Jr., of New Haven, Conn., is to be buried Friday with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery, according to a Defense Department statement Monday.
McGouldrick was listed as missing in action on Dec. 13, 1968, after his B-57E Canberra aircraft collided with another aircraft over Laos’ Savannakhet Province during a night strike mission, the statement said. In 1978, a military review board changed his status from missing in action to presumed killed in action.
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Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Family wants ‘definitive proof’ man in Vietnam isn’t Army sergeant
Family wants ‘definitive proof’ man in Vietnam isn’t Army sergeant
Stars and Stripes
Matthew M. Burke
Published: November 26, 2013
For years, a man living in Vietnam as Dang Tan Ngoc has been claiming that he is Army Sgt. 1st Class John Hartley Robertson, a Special Forces soldier who went missing in 1968 and was declared dead by the U.S. government.
Ngoc’s story was the subject of a controversial documentary, “Unclaimed,” which premiered in the U.S. in May as part of the annual GI Film Festival. The film professed to have found the Green Beret living in a remote Vietnamese village, spurring an impassioned backlash from veterans.
The U.S. government has condemned Ngoc as a fraud, but members of Robertson’s family aren’t so quick to dismiss the claims.
They want to know for sure.
The family wants to exhume the body of Robertson’s mother, Mildred Robertson, from a Birmingham, Ala., cemetery and perform a mitochondrial DNA test to see whether the man living in Vietnam is John Robertson.
“We need definitive proof,” said Robertson’s niece, Cyndi Hanna, who launched a fund-raising effort on behalf of her family to cover the costs of exhumation. “I believe it’s him. I believe it’s him enough to try and confirm it one way or another.”
read more here
Stars and Stripes
Matthew M. Burke
Published: November 26, 2013
For years, a man living in Vietnam as Dang Tan Ngoc has been claiming that he is Army Sgt. 1st Class John Hartley Robertson, a Special Forces soldier who went missing in 1968 and was declared dead by the U.S. government.
Ngoc’s story was the subject of a controversial documentary, “Unclaimed,” which premiered in the U.S. in May as part of the annual GI Film Festival. The film professed to have found the Green Beret living in a remote Vietnamese village, spurring an impassioned backlash from veterans.
The U.S. government has condemned Ngoc as a fraud, but members of Robertson’s family aren’t so quick to dismiss the claims.
They want to know for sure.
The family wants to exhume the body of Robertson’s mother, Mildred Robertson, from a Birmingham, Ala., cemetery and perform a mitochondrial DNA test to see whether the man living in Vietnam is John Robertson.
“We need definitive proof,” said Robertson’s niece, Cyndi Hanna, who launched a fund-raising effort on behalf of her family to cover the costs of exhumation. “I believe it’s him. I believe it’s him enough to try and confirm it one way or another.”
read more here
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Major Troy Gilbert's partial remains returned to his family
Family of fallen veteran whose body went missing receives partial remains
WFAA
by JIM DOUGLAS
Posted on November 18, 2013
ARLINGTON –– To the soldiers he saved on the ground in Iraq, Maj. Troy Gilbert was the picture of courage, posing proudly with his F-16. Other pictures torture his family back in Texas.
Images of his corpse, stolen by insurgents, have been used in propaganda videos. Gilbert died in Nov. 2006, just a few days after recording Christmas Bible readings for his five children. He hoped to be home within weeks.
But he flew his fighter low to avoid firing on civilians as he tried to protect American forces under attack. The jet scraped the ground. Within hours, insurgents posted crash video showing the pilot's intact body.
A year later, on 9/11, they used the decaying corpse in a produced propaganda film.
When America's military left Iraq two years ago without Gilbert's remains, his mother's heart broke again.
“Ninety-nine percent is still in the ground over there,” Kaye Gilbert pleaded in 2011. “Please, please help us get him home."
Maybe someone in Iraq heard Kaye Gilbert's plea. On Friday, she called her daughter in Arlington.
read more here
WFAA
by JIM DOUGLAS
Posted on November 18, 2013
Images of his corpse, stolen by insurgents, have been used in propaganda videos. Gilbert died in Nov. 2006, just a few days after recording Christmas Bible readings for his five children. He hoped to be home within weeks.
But he flew his fighter low to avoid firing on civilians as he tried to protect American forces under attack. The jet scraped the ground. Within hours, insurgents posted crash video showing the pilot's intact body.
A year later, on 9/11, they used the decaying corpse in a produced propaganda film.
When America's military left Iraq two years ago without Gilbert's remains, his mother's heart broke again.
“Ninety-nine percent is still in the ground over there,” Kaye Gilbert pleaded in 2011. “Please, please help us get him home."
Maybe someone in Iraq heard Kaye Gilbert's plea. On Friday, she called her daughter in Arlington.
read more here
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Soldier who stood firm against Viet Cong captors inspired fellow POWs, earned Medal of Honor
Soldier who stood firm against Viet Cong captors inspired fellow POWs, earned Medal of Honor
Stars and Stripes
By Chris Carroll
Published: October 28, 2013
“VIET VICTORY NEAR,” blared a headline across the top of Stars and Stripes’ front page.
Farther down the page, a smaller article titled “3 Aides Seized in Vietnam Battle” told a far less celebratory tale. Three soldiers serving as advisers to Vietnamese government troops south of Saigon were feared to have been captured a few days earlier by the Viet Cong during a failed raid.
The date of the edition was Nov. 1, 1963.
For the men taken captive, years of torment lay ahead. At home, the nation would descend into increasing turmoil as U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War deepened.
Two of the soldiers snatched would return to the United States, but the body of the third, Capt. Humbert “Rocky” Versace, still lies in an unmarked grave somewhere in the Mekong River Delta. Versace’s heroic and ultimately fatal resistance to his Communist captors resulted in the posthumous awarding of the Medal of Honor to him in 2002.
It wasn’t the first Medal of Honor awarded to a Vietnam veteran; that honor went to Army Special Forces Capt. Roger Donlon, who in 1964 ignored serious wounds while leading the defense of a Special Forces camp from an enemy attack and rescuing several fellow soldiers.
But Versace’s medal covers the earliest time period of any Medal of Honor awarded for service in Vietnam, having been awarded for cumulative acts that began in late 1963 and continued until his death at age 28 on Sept 26, 1965.
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Stars and Stripes
By Chris Carroll
Published: October 28, 2013
EDITOR'S NOTE: With this story, Stars and Stripes begins a look back at the Vietnam War and the cultural changes that surrounded it. With contributions from the men and women who were there, we will examine how the war was prosecuted, how it changed our military and foreign policy thinking, and how America viewed itself then and now.
“VIET VICTORY NEAR,” blared a headline across the top of Stars and Stripes’ front page.
Farther down the page, a smaller article titled “3 Aides Seized in Vietnam Battle” told a far less celebratory tale. Three soldiers serving as advisers to Vietnamese government troops south of Saigon were feared to have been captured a few days earlier by the Viet Cong during a failed raid.
The date of the edition was Nov. 1, 1963.
For the men taken captive, years of torment lay ahead. At home, the nation would descend into increasing turmoil as U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War deepened.
Two of the soldiers snatched would return to the United States, but the body of the third, Capt. Humbert “Rocky” Versace, still lies in an unmarked grave somewhere in the Mekong River Delta. Versace’s heroic and ultimately fatal resistance to his Communist captors resulted in the posthumous awarding of the Medal of Honor to him in 2002.
It wasn’t the first Medal of Honor awarded to a Vietnam veteran; that honor went to Army Special Forces Capt. Roger Donlon, who in 1964 ignored serious wounds while leading the defense of a Special Forces camp from an enemy attack and rescuing several fellow soldiers.
But Versace’s medal covers the earliest time period of any Medal of Honor awarded for service in Vietnam, having been awarded for cumulative acts that began in late 1963 and continued until his death at age 28 on Sept 26, 1965.
read more here
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Honored remains? Nope MIA honor faked for 7 years!
JPAC admits to phony ceremonies honoring ‘returning’ remains
Stars and Stripes
Published: October 10, 2013
WASHINGTON — The Department of Defense unit charged with recovering servicemembers’ remains abroad has been holding phony “arrival ceremonies” for seven years, with an honor guard carrying flag-draped coffins off of a cargo plane as though they held the remains returning that day from old battlefields.
The Pentagon acknowledged Wednesday that no honored dead were in fact arriving, and that the planes used in the ceremonies often couldn’t even fly, and were towed into position. The story was first reported on nbcnews.com.
The ceremonies at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii are held up as a sign of the nation’s commitment to its fallen warriors. They have been attended by veterans and families of MIAs, led to believe that they were witnessing the return of Americans killed in World War II, Vietnam and Korea.
In a statement sent to NBC News, the Pentagon wrote:
Stars and Stripes
Published: October 10, 2013
WASHINGTON — The Department of Defense unit charged with recovering servicemembers’ remains abroad has been holding phony “arrival ceremonies” for seven years, with an honor guard carrying flag-draped coffins off of a cargo plane as though they held the remains returning that day from old battlefields.
The Pentagon acknowledged Wednesday that no honored dead were in fact arriving, and that the planes used in the ceremonies often couldn’t even fly, and were towed into position. The story was first reported on nbcnews.com.
The ceremonies at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii are held up as a sign of the nation’s commitment to its fallen warriors. They have been attended by veterans and families of MIAs, led to believe that they were witnessing the return of Americans killed in World War II, Vietnam and Korea.
In a statement sent to NBC News, the Pentagon wrote:
“Part of the ceremony involves symbolically transferring the recovered remains from an aircraft to a vehicle for follow-on transportation to the lab. Many times, static aircraft are used for the ceremonies, as operational requirements dictate flight schedules and aircraft availability. This transfer symbolizes the arrival of our fallen servicemembers.
read more here
Monday, September 23, 2013
Families express frustration with efforts to recover MIA members
Families express frustration with JPAC's efforts to recover war missing
Stars and Stripes
Matthew M. Burke
Published: September 23, 2013
On June 12, 1966, Marine Corps radioman Cpl. Gregory Harris and a contingent of South Vietnamese marines were ambushed and overrun in Quang Ngai province. When friendly forces retook the area the next day and recovered the dead, Harris was nowhere to be found.
His family’s nightmare was just beginning. They watched as Harris was first listed as missing, then declared dead. Months turned into decades of waiting in vain.
They say dealing with the military’s accounting agencies for the missing — known today as the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office — has been nearly as painful as the loss itself. They claim the agencies have withheld information and kept important documents out of Harris’ file. Credible leads weren’t followed, they say. potential grave sites weren’t excavated and important witnesses weren’t interviewed.
read more here
Stars and Stripes
Matthew M. Burke
Published: September 23, 2013
On June 12, 1966, Marine Corps radioman Cpl. Gregory Harris and a contingent of South Vietnamese marines were ambushed and overrun in Quang Ngai province. When friendly forces retook the area the next day and recovered the dead, Harris was nowhere to be found.
His family’s nightmare was just beginning. They watched as Harris was first listed as missing, then declared dead. Months turned into decades of waiting in vain.
They say dealing with the military’s accounting agencies for the missing — known today as the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office — has been nearly as painful as the loss itself. They claim the agencies have withheld information and kept important documents out of Harris’ file. Credible leads weren’t followed, they say. potential grave sites weren’t excavated and important witnesses weren’t interviewed.
read more here
Veteran and Rolling Thunder founder devotes life to honoring POW/MIA
Veteran and Rolling Thunder founder devotes life to honoring POW/MIA
Loudon Times
by Andrew Sharbel, Times-Mirror Staff Writer
Sep. 20, 2013
According to the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office, from World War II to present time, there are more than 83,000 Americans still listed as unaccounted for or missing.
Four men started a rally 26 years ago for those 83,000.
Every Memorial Day since 1988, veterans and their rumbling engines roar into the D.C. area from the north, south and west to remember their fallen and missing brothers in arms.
Rolling Thunder, a motorcycle ride stretching from the North Pentagon parking lot over the Memorial Bridge past the Lincoln Memorial, around the National Mall to West Potomac Park, has grown during the last 26 years to become the largest single day event in the world.
Today the nation celebrates POW/MIA Recognition Day and Rolling Thunder Washington D.C. Inc. will be holding a ceremony on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to remember those who placed their country's well-being above their own.
Rolling Thunder has made it their duty to never forget those who have been lost.
read more here
Loudon Times
by Andrew Sharbel, Times-Mirror Staff Writer
Sep. 20, 2013
Rolling Thunder founder Walt Sides of Round Hill, left, and Board of Directors member Rob Wilkins of Lansdowne pose on their motorcycles at Sides’ home, also the Rolling Thunder headquarters, on Sept. 18.Through the past six world conflicts, unbeknownst to many, there is an astounding number of prisoners of war and missing in action service members.
Times-Mirror Staff Photo/Beverly Denny
According to the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office, from World War II to present time, there are more than 83,000 Americans still listed as unaccounted for or missing.
Four men started a rally 26 years ago for those 83,000.
Every Memorial Day since 1988, veterans and their rumbling engines roar into the D.C. area from the north, south and west to remember their fallen and missing brothers in arms.
Rolling Thunder, a motorcycle ride stretching from the North Pentagon parking lot over the Memorial Bridge past the Lincoln Memorial, around the National Mall to West Potomac Park, has grown during the last 26 years to become the largest single day event in the world.
Today the nation celebrates POW/MIA Recognition Day and Rolling Thunder Washington D.C. Inc. will be holding a ceremony on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to remember those who placed their country's well-being above their own.
Rolling Thunder has made it their duty to never forget those who have been lost.
read more here
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Vietnam POW-MIA pilots to be buried at Arlington
No. 670-13
September 19, 2013
Airmen From Vietnam War Identified
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of Air Force pilots Maj. James E. Sizemore of Lawrenceville, Ill., and Maj. Howard V. Andre Jr., of Memphis, Tenn., have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors on Sept. 23 at Arlington National Cemetery.
On July 8, 1969, Sizemore and Andre were on a night armed reconnaissance mission when their A-26A Invader aircraft crashed in Xiangkhoang Province, Laos. Both men died in the crash but their remains were unaccounted for until April 2013.
In 1993, a joint U.S./Lao People’s Democratic Republic team investigated an aircraft crash site in Laos. They recovered aircraft wreckage from an A-26. The team was not able to conduct a complete excavation of the site at that time.
Twice in 2010, joint U.S./Lao People’s Democratic Republic teams conducted excavations of the crash site recovering human remains, aircraft wreckage, personal effects and military equipment associated with Sizemore and Andre.
In the identification of the remains, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools, such as dental comparison – which matched Sizemore’s records.
There are more than 1,640 American service members that are still unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War.
September 19, 2013
Airmen From Vietnam War Identified
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of Air Force pilots Maj. James E. Sizemore of Lawrenceville, Ill., and Maj. Howard V. Andre Jr., of Memphis, Tenn., have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors on Sept. 23 at Arlington National Cemetery.
On July 8, 1969, Sizemore and Andre were on a night armed reconnaissance mission when their A-26A Invader aircraft crashed in Xiangkhoang Province, Laos. Both men died in the crash but their remains were unaccounted for until April 2013.
In 1993, a joint U.S./Lao People’s Democratic Republic team investigated an aircraft crash site in Laos. They recovered aircraft wreckage from an A-26. The team was not able to conduct a complete excavation of the site at that time.
Twice in 2010, joint U.S./Lao People’s Democratic Republic teams conducted excavations of the crash site recovering human remains, aircraft wreckage, personal effects and military equipment associated with Sizemore and Andre.
In the identification of the remains, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools, such as dental comparison – which matched Sizemore’s records.
There are more than 1,640 American service members that are still unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War.
Monday, August 12, 2013
MIA lab, Navy at odds over exhuming unknown USS Oklahoma casualties
MIA lab, Navy at odds over exhuming unknown USS Oklahoma casualties
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
By William Cole
Published: August 12, 2013
HONOLULU — The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command wants to take the unprecedented step of exhuming all of the Dec. 7, 1941, casualties of the USS Oklahoma buried as "unknowns" at Punchbowl cemetery — more than 330 crew members — to help it reach a higher number of annual identifications mandated by Congress.
But the Hawaii-based military command, known as JPAC, is getting resistance from the Navy, which prefers to maintain the "sanctity" of the graves at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, officials said.
Further, the Navy would like to take the partial and commingled remains of more than 100 Oklahoma crew members who were disinterred in 2003 from a single casket at Punchbowl, possibly rebury them at a memorial and grave site to be created on Ford Island, and invite family members to an interment ceremony on Dec. 7, 2014.
read more here
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
By William Cole
Published: August 12, 2013
HONOLULU — The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command wants to take the unprecedented step of exhuming all of the Dec. 7, 1941, casualties of the USS Oklahoma buried as "unknowns" at Punchbowl cemetery — more than 330 crew members — to help it reach a higher number of annual identifications mandated by Congress.
But the Hawaii-based military command, known as JPAC, is getting resistance from the Navy, which prefers to maintain the "sanctity" of the graves at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, officials said.
Further, the Navy would like to take the partial and commingled remains of more than 100 Oklahoma crew members who were disinterred in 2003 from a single casket at Punchbowl, possibly rebury them at a memorial and grave site to be created on Ford Island, and invite family members to an interment ceremony on Dec. 7, 2014.
read more here
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Marine killed in Korean War identified as Pfc. Jonathan Reed Posey Jr
Remains of Camp Pendleton Marine killed in Korean War identified
LA Times
By Tony Perry
August 10, 2013
The remains of a Marine from the Camp Pendleton-based 1st Marine Division who was killed more than 60 years ago during one of the most brutal battles of the Korean War have been identified, the Department of Defense announced.
Pfc. Jonathan Reed Posey Jr., 20, of Dallas, was killed Dec. 2, 1950, during the Marines "fighting withdrawal" from the Chosin Reservoir. Burial is set for Monday at Arlington National Cemetery.
In sub-zero weather, the outnumbered Marines fought for 17 days to withdraw to Hagaru-ri. The Marines, along with U.S. Army and British troops, suffered thousands of killed and wounded while inflicting massive casualties on the enemy.
Army historian Brig. Gen. S.L.A. Marshall has called the battle of Chosin Reservoir "the most violent small-unit fighting in the history of American warfare."
read more here
LA Times
By Tony Perry
August 10, 2013
The remains of a Marine from the Camp Pendleton-based 1st Marine Division who was killed more than 60 years ago during one of the most brutal battles of the Korean War have been identified, the Department of Defense announced.
Pfc. Jonathan Reed Posey Jr., 20, of Dallas, was killed Dec. 2, 1950, during the Marines "fighting withdrawal" from the Chosin Reservoir. Burial is set for Monday at Arlington National Cemetery.
In sub-zero weather, the outnumbered Marines fought for 17 days to withdraw to Hagaru-ri. The Marines, along with U.S. Army and British troops, suffered thousands of killed and wounded while inflicting massive casualties on the enemy.
Army historian Brig. Gen. S.L.A. Marshall has called the battle of Chosin Reservoir "the most violent small-unit fighting in the history of American warfare."
read more here
Friday, July 19, 2013
Korean War Vet returns to North Korea to keep promise
UPDATE
Vet Fails to Make it to North Korea Crash Site
Vet Fails to Make it to North Korea Crash Site
Vet returns to North Korea for 1st black Navy aviator
By JEAN H. LEE
The Associated Press
Published: July 19, 2013
SEOUL, South Korea - Two years after he made history by becoming the Navy's first black pilot, Ensign Jesse Brown lay trapped in his downed fighter plane in subfreezing North Korea, his leg broken and bleeding. His wingman crash-landed to try to save him, and even burned his hands trying to put out the flames.
A chopper hovered nearby. Lt. j.g. Thomas Hudner could save himself, but not his friend. With the light fading, the threat of enemy fire all around him and Brown losing consciousness, the white son of a New England grocery-store magnate made a promise to the black son of a sharecropper.
"We'll come back for you."
More than 60 years have passed. Hudner is now 88. But he did not forget. He is coming back.
Hudner, now a retired Navy captain, heads to Pyongyang on Saturday with hopes of traveling in the coming week to the region known in North Korea as the Jangjin Reservoir, accompanied by soldiers from the Korean People's Army, to the spot where Brown died in December 1950.
read more here
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Honor veterans of the forgotten war
Honor veterans of the forgotten war
Chicago Sun Times
BY WILLIAM A. BALTZ
July 12, 2013
One military historian called it “the century’s nastiest little war.” On June 25, 1950, seven divisions of elite North Korean communist troops invaded the fledgling democracy of South Korea with the intention of conquering their southern neighbor and ally of the United States in three weeks.
Three years and three weeks later — when the United Nations, China and North Korea signed an armistice ending the Korean War — U.S. casualties amounted to 33,629 killed, 103,284 wounded and 7,140 taken prisoner. Millions of civilians had perished.
American soldiers were dubbed “the walking wounded” because they were patched up in the field and sent back into battle — a savage existence where ever-changing front lines, hand-to-hand combat, merciless artillery barrages, amputations from frostbite and death from dysentery were commonplace.
Sixty years after the armistice signing on July 27, 1953, the walking wounded remains an apt description for Bernard Bossov, 83, of Wilmette, and other American veterans who continue to battle physical and emotional trauma caused by the war. “I can handle the pain and the nightmares,” Bossov says, “but worse is that people might forget how well we fought and what we did.”
Bossov, like so many other Korean War veterans, feels his sacrifice has been overlooked.
read more here
Chicago Sun Times
BY WILLIAM A. BALTZ
July 12, 2013
One military historian called it “the century’s nastiest little war.” On June 25, 1950, seven divisions of elite North Korean communist troops invaded the fledgling democracy of South Korea with the intention of conquering their southern neighbor and ally of the United States in three weeks.
Three years and three weeks later — when the United Nations, China and North Korea signed an armistice ending the Korean War — U.S. casualties amounted to 33,629 killed, 103,284 wounded and 7,140 taken prisoner. Millions of civilians had perished.
American soldiers were dubbed “the walking wounded” because they were patched up in the field and sent back into battle — a savage existence where ever-changing front lines, hand-to-hand combat, merciless artillery barrages, amputations from frostbite and death from dysentery were commonplace.
Sixty years after the armistice signing on July 27, 1953, the walking wounded remains an apt description for Bernard Bossov, 83, of Wilmette, and other American veterans who continue to battle physical and emotional trauma caused by the war. “I can handle the pain and the nightmares,” Bossov says, “but worse is that people might forget how well we fought and what we did.”
Bossov, like so many other Korean War veterans, feels his sacrifice has been overlooked.
read more here
Friday, June 28, 2013
Patriot Guard Riders escorts MIA home from Vietnam
Wisconsin Marine comes home 46 years after his death in Vietnam
Article by: ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 27, 2013
WASHBURN, WIS. – Marine Lance Cpl. Merlin “Merl” Raye Allen was just 20 when his life ended in Vietnam. Forty-six years later, he’s finally back in his beloved Bayfield County of northern Wisconsin.
An enemy rocket brought down the helicopter he was in over Hue Province. His remains were not discovered until a joint U.S.-Vietnamese recovery team excavated the wreck site last year.
“Merl has never been forgotten. He has always been remembered by family and friends,” his sister, Marilyn Allen Neff, told the Daily Press of Ashland.
Neff and other family members were stunned when they drove into Washburn on Wednesday, completing a trip from Minneapolis, where the family received the casket holding Allen’s remains. They arrived in town with an escort from the Patriot Guard Riders, a national organization of motorcycle enthusiasts who attend funeral processions to honor fallen U.S. military personnel. The streets of Washburn were lined with well-wishers, waving American flags.
“We are overwhelmed, just overwhelmed,” Neff said. “Everybody has just touched our hearts all along the way. This is amazing. We love our small towns.”
Her brother’s remains were solemnly carried into a funeral home by a Marine honor guard, past an honor guard of Patriot Riders standing at attention in their motorcycle leathers.
read more here
Flags to be lowered to half-staff for Vietnam Marine returned home
Article by: ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 27, 2013
WASHBURN, WIS. – Marine Lance Cpl. Merlin “Merl” Raye Allen was just 20 when his life ended in Vietnam. Forty-six years later, he’s finally back in his beloved Bayfield County of northern Wisconsin.
An enemy rocket brought down the helicopter he was in over Hue Province. His remains were not discovered until a joint U.S.-Vietnamese recovery team excavated the wreck site last year.
“Merl has never been forgotten. He has always been remembered by family and friends,” his sister, Marilyn Allen Neff, told the Daily Press of Ashland.
Neff and other family members were stunned when they drove into Washburn on Wednesday, completing a trip from Minneapolis, where the family received the casket holding Allen’s remains. They arrived in town with an escort from the Patriot Guard Riders, a national organization of motorcycle enthusiasts who attend funeral processions to honor fallen U.S. military personnel. The streets of Washburn were lined with well-wishers, waving American flags.
“We are overwhelmed, just overwhelmed,” Neff said. “Everybody has just touched our hearts all along the way. This is amazing. We love our small towns.”
Her brother’s remains were solemnly carried into a funeral home by a Marine honor guard, past an honor guard of Patriot Riders standing at attention in their motorcycle leathers.
read more here
Flags to be lowered to half-staff for Vietnam Marine returned home
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Taliban offer trade for US Soldier held captive
Bowe Bergdahl Trade: Taliban Offer To Hand Over Captive U.S. Soldier For 5 Senior Operatives
Huffington Post
By KATHY GANNON and KAY JOHNSON
06/20/13
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan Taliban are ready to free a U.S. soldier held captive since 2009 in exchange for five of their senior operatives imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay as a conciliatory gesture, a senior spokesman for the group said Thursday.
The offer came as an Afghan government spokesman said President Hamid Karzai is now willing to join planned peace talks with the Taliban – provided that the Taliban flag and nameplate are removed from the militant group's newly opened political office in Doha, the capital of the Gulf state of Qatar. Karzai also wants a formal letter from the United States supporting the Afghan government.
The only known American soldier held captive from the Afghan war is U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, 27, of Hailey, Idaho. He disappeared from his base in southeastern Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, and is believed held in Pakistan.
In an exclusive telephone interview with The Associated Press from his Doha office, Taliban spokesman Shaheen Suhail said on Thursday that Bergdahl "is, as far as I know, in good condition."
read more here
Huffington Post
By KATHY GANNON and KAY JOHNSON
06/20/13
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan Taliban are ready to free a U.S. soldier held captive since 2009 in exchange for five of their senior operatives imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay as a conciliatory gesture, a senior spokesman for the group said Thursday.
The offer came as an Afghan government spokesman said President Hamid Karzai is now willing to join planned peace talks with the Taliban – provided that the Taliban flag and nameplate are removed from the militant group's newly opened political office in Doha, the capital of the Gulf state of Qatar. Karzai also wants a formal letter from the United States supporting the Afghan government.
The only known American soldier held captive from the Afghan war is U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, 27, of Hailey, Idaho. He disappeared from his base in southeastern Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, and is believed held in Pakistan.
In an exclusive telephone interview with The Associated Press from his Doha office, Taliban spokesman Shaheen Suhail said on Thursday that Bergdahl "is, as far as I know, in good condition."
read more here
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Winter Park Scottish Rite Masonic Center Flag Ceremony
Orlando Scottish Rite Masonic Center and the Knights of St. Andrews held their ceremony for over 6,000 American Flags in Winter Park today. The VFW Post 4287 as usual provided a wonderful music selection for about 100 guests and honorees.
Rich Wirth Jr. gave a moving speech about the flag along with others speaking about what the flag means. Oakridge High School JROTC presented the POW-MIA Remembrance ceremony.
This is some of what happened during the service.
Rich Wirth Jr. gave a moving speech about the flag along with others speaking about what the flag means. Oakridge High School JROTC presented the POW-MIA Remembrance ceremony.
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| Winter Park Scottish Rite Flag Ceremony |
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| Winter Park Scottish Rite Flag Ceremony |
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| Winter Park Scottish Rite Flag Ceremony |
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| Winter Park Scottish Rite Flag Ceremony |
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| Winter Park Scottish Rite Flag Ceremony |
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| Winter Park Scottish Rite Flag Ceremony |
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| Apopka Police Department |
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| Masons |
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| Roger Sutton |
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| VFW Band |
This is some of what happened during the service.
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