2023 NEWS
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Statement by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre
on President Biden’s Travel to Vietnam
www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/08/28/statement-by-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-on-president-bidens-travel-to-vietnam/
Statement by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre
on President Biden’s Travel to Vietnam
www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/08/28/statement-by-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-on-president-bidens-travel-to-vietnam/
The Museum Re-opening will be Saturday, September 16, 2023. Hours will be from 10:00am - 4:00pm.
Of course, everyone is invited!
Re-opening Day:
The Civil Air Patrol is planning on a Re-opening Day Colors Presentation Ceremony for us. Col. Brian Pearl (USA, retired) the Director of Policy & Plans at the DPAA will be on hand for some opening remarks. Will be good seeing him again... he’s a Missouri boy... it is an honor having him. Not a bad way to start the day. A shame we can’t do this every day we open.
The Spanish-American War re-enactment that County Parks had planned for the park that day has been cancelled. Will not have to worry about dismounted cavalry wandering through the area looking for San Juan Hill.
Joan Althaus, the widow of former WWII Prisoner of War Ralph Althaus (84th Inf Div) along with her daughter Marcy is planning on attending. Sandy Davis, widow of Vietnam War MIA Roger Innes is also going to try and be there although she and Bob are not sure exactly when. We will want to make them most Welcome!
I’m hoping that some of the kids and teachers from our POW-MIA Campus(sm) at Hillsboro will be able to be there.
Jerry McClain is still scheduled to do a presentation at 1:00pm about his quest to find 3 MIAs that he served with in Vietnam. I’m thinking it’s something visitors and the kids from Hillsboro would be interested in. Something that would warrant a Museum Activity Patch for the kids.
Finally, we have received permission from St. Louis County Parks to show a POW-MIA themed movie (“The Great Raid”) that Saturday evening outside at the Museum. Starting time will be around dusk (7:00pm-ish). We’re asking that folks bring their own blanket or lawn chair and their own refreshments. NO ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES ALLOWED IN THE PARK, PLEASE. Any necking and smooching planned please keep it in the back rows.
Of course, everyone is invited!
Re-opening Day:
The Civil Air Patrol is planning on a Re-opening Day Colors Presentation Ceremony for us. Col. Brian Pearl (USA, retired) the Director of Policy & Plans at the DPAA will be on hand for some opening remarks. Will be good seeing him again... he’s a Missouri boy... it is an honor having him. Not a bad way to start the day. A shame we can’t do this every day we open.
The Spanish-American War re-enactment that County Parks had planned for the park that day has been cancelled. Will not have to worry about dismounted cavalry wandering through the area looking for San Juan Hill.
Joan Althaus, the widow of former WWII Prisoner of War Ralph Althaus (84th Inf Div) along with her daughter Marcy is planning on attending. Sandy Davis, widow of Vietnam War MIA Roger Innes is also going to try and be there although she and Bob are not sure exactly when. We will want to make them most Welcome!
I’m hoping that some of the kids and teachers from our POW-MIA Campus(sm) at Hillsboro will be able to be there.
Jerry McClain is still scheduled to do a presentation at 1:00pm about his quest to find 3 MIAs that he served with in Vietnam. I’m thinking it’s something visitors and the kids from Hillsboro would be interested in. Something that would warrant a Museum Activity Patch for the kids.
Finally, we have received permission from St. Louis County Parks to show a POW-MIA themed movie (“The Great Raid”) that Saturday evening outside at the Museum. Starting time will be around dusk (7:00pm-ish). We’re asking that folks bring their own blanket or lawn chair and their own refreshments. NO ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES ALLOWED IN THE PARK, PLEASE. Any necking and smooching planned please keep it in the back rows.
Medal of Honor to Army helicopter pilot who rescued soldiers in a Vietnam firefight.
David Hill, one of the four Taylor saved that night, said his actions were what “we now call thinking outside the box.”
Hill and the others were on a night mission to track the movement of enemy troops in a village near the Saigon River when they were discovered by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops. An intense firefight ensued and soon they were running out of ammunition. They radioed for help.
Taylor arrived in minutes at the site northeast of what is now Ho Chi Minh City. He asked the team to send up flares to mark their location in the dark. Taylor and a pilot in an accompanying helicopter started firing their ships' Miniguns and rockets at the enemy, making low-level attack runs and braving intense ground fire for about a half-hour.
But with both helicopters nearly out of ammunition and the enemy continuing to advance, Taylor surveyed the team's intended escape route to a point near the river and concluded that the men would never make it.
He had to think of something else.
Now running low on fuel and almost out of ammunition himself, Taylor directed his wingman to fire the rounds left in his Minigun along the team's eastern flank and return to base camp, while Taylor fired his remaining rounds on the western flank. He used the landing lights to distract the enemy, buying time for the patrol team to head south and east toward a new extraction point he had identified.
After they arrived, Taylor landed under heavy enemy fire and at great personal risk. The four team members rushed toward the helicopter and clung to the exterior — it only had two seats — and Taylor whisked them away to safety. He was on the ground for about 10 seconds.
“I finally just flew up behind them and sat down on the ground,” Taylor said by telephone. “They turned around and jumped on the aircraft. A couple were sitting on the skids. One was sitting on the rocket pods, and I don't know where the other one was, but they beat on the side of the ship twice, which meant haul a--. And we did!"
What Taylor did that night had never before been attempted, the Army said.
Taylor said he flew hundreds of combat missions in UH-1 and Cobra helicopters during a year's deployment in Vietnam. “We never lost a man,” he said.
“You just do whatever is expedient and do whatever to save the lives of the people you're trying to rescue,” he said.
Taylor left Vietnam in August 1968. He was released from Army active duty in August 1970, having attained the rank of captain, and was discharged from the Army Reserve in October 1973. He later ran a roofing and sheet metal company in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He and his wife, Toni, live in Signal Mountain, Tennessee.
He received scores of combat decorations, including the Silver Star, a Bronze Star and two Distinguished Flying Crosses. But Hill said in an interview that he and Taylor's other supporters were shocked to learn long after that harrowing night that Taylor had not been awarded a Medal of Honor.
Hill said they believed Taylor deserved the medal, the military's highest decoration for service members who go above and beyond the call of duty, often risking their lives through selfless acts of valor.
Their campaign lasted more than six years. Biden called Taylor in July with the news.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?530232-1/medal-honor-ceremony-army-captain-larry-taylor
David Hill, one of the four Taylor saved that night, said his actions were what “we now call thinking outside the box.”
Hill and the others were on a night mission to track the movement of enemy troops in a village near the Saigon River when they were discovered by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops. An intense firefight ensued and soon they were running out of ammunition. They radioed for help.
Taylor arrived in minutes at the site northeast of what is now Ho Chi Minh City. He asked the team to send up flares to mark their location in the dark. Taylor and a pilot in an accompanying helicopter started firing their ships' Miniguns and rockets at the enemy, making low-level attack runs and braving intense ground fire for about a half-hour.
But with both helicopters nearly out of ammunition and the enemy continuing to advance, Taylor surveyed the team's intended escape route to a point near the river and concluded that the men would never make it.
He had to think of something else.
Now running low on fuel and almost out of ammunition himself, Taylor directed his wingman to fire the rounds left in his Minigun along the team's eastern flank and return to base camp, while Taylor fired his remaining rounds on the western flank. He used the landing lights to distract the enemy, buying time for the patrol team to head south and east toward a new extraction point he had identified.
After they arrived, Taylor landed under heavy enemy fire and at great personal risk. The four team members rushed toward the helicopter and clung to the exterior — it only had two seats — and Taylor whisked them away to safety. He was on the ground for about 10 seconds.
“I finally just flew up behind them and sat down on the ground,” Taylor said by telephone. “They turned around and jumped on the aircraft. A couple were sitting on the skids. One was sitting on the rocket pods, and I don't know where the other one was, but they beat on the side of the ship twice, which meant haul a--. And we did!"
What Taylor did that night had never before been attempted, the Army said.
Taylor said he flew hundreds of combat missions in UH-1 and Cobra helicopters during a year's deployment in Vietnam. “We never lost a man,” he said.
“You just do whatever is expedient and do whatever to save the lives of the people you're trying to rescue,” he said.
Taylor left Vietnam in August 1968. He was released from Army active duty in August 1970, having attained the rank of captain, and was discharged from the Army Reserve in October 1973. He later ran a roofing and sheet metal company in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He and his wife, Toni, live in Signal Mountain, Tennessee.
He received scores of combat decorations, including the Silver Star, a Bronze Star and two Distinguished Flying Crosses. But Hill said in an interview that he and Taylor's other supporters were shocked to learn long after that harrowing night that Taylor had not been awarded a Medal of Honor.
Hill said they believed Taylor deserved the medal, the military's highest decoration for service members who go above and beyond the call of duty, often risking their lives through selfless acts of valor.
Their campaign lasted more than six years. Biden called Taylor in July with the news.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?530232-1/medal-honor-ceremony-army-captain-larry-taylor
Events all week (11 Sep thru 15 Sep) on the Travis AFB, CA installation, would like to invite POW/MIA members to attend the events. POW/MIA opening ceremony and vigil. The event will take place at the Travis AFB Aviation Museum, we hope to recognize and remember the sacrifices made by our courageous service members and women.
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JUNE 20, 2023
NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POW/MIA FAMILIES – WHOLE AGAIN!
Please click on link to read more!
NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POW/MIA FAMILIIES
NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POW/MIA FAMILIES – WHOLE AGAIN!
Please click on link to read more!
NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POW/MIA FAMILIIES
July 19, 2023
Dr. Jay Veith, Executive Director of the National League of POW/MIA Families, met today with Mario Marquez, National Security Division Director, and Alyson Stapleton, National Security Policy Analyst, The American Legion. Helpful, encouraging discussions were held that focused on renewing and expanding cooperation on efforts to account for U.S. personnel still missing from the Vietnam War.
Dr. Jay Veith, Executive Director of the National League of POW/MIA Families, met today with Mario Marquez, National Security Division Director, and Alyson Stapleton, National Security Policy Analyst, The American Legion. Helpful, encouraging discussions were held that focused on renewing and expanding cooperation on efforts to account for U.S. personnel still missing from the Vietnam War.
DC AUTHORITIES CONFIRM LEAGUE NAME NO
LONGER "RESERVED" BY A THIRD PARTY AS AN L.L.C.
JUNE 7, 2023
LONGER "RESERVED" BY A THIRD PARTY AS AN L.L.C.
JUNE 7, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 14, 2023
Ann Mills Griffiths
Chairman of the Board
DR. GEORGE J. “JAY” VEITH
ANNOUNCED AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The National League of POW/MIA Families is pleased and proud to announce a highly qualified individual, Dr. Jay Veith, has agreed to serve as our Executive Director, principal spokesman and leader of policy and operations implementation. Since May 28, 1970, the League has sought the fullest possible accounting for our Nation’s unreturned Vietnam War Veterans, America’s POW/MIAs, seeking answers for impacted families to end their uncertainty.
Ex._Director_Release_6-14-23.pdf
Ann Mills Griffiths
Chairman of the Board
DR. GEORGE J. “JAY” VEITH
ANNOUNCED AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The National League of POW/MIA Families is pleased and proud to announce a highly qualified individual, Dr. Jay Veith, has agreed to serve as our Executive Director, principal spokesman and leader of policy and operations implementation. Since May 28, 1970, the League has sought the fullest possible accounting for our Nation’s unreturned Vietnam War Veterans, America’s POW/MIAs, seeking answers for impacted families to end their uncertainty.
Ex._Director_Release_6-14-23.pdf
How A Group of Women Compelled the Government to Find America’s Missing In Action
By: TAYLOR BALDWIN KILAND
TheFederalist.com
President Biden on a “Welcome Home” Vietnam War
Veterans Commemoration, 2023
Wednesday, May 24, 2023 – Honoring Prisoners Of War & Those Missing In Action
Congress has found several ways to honor military personnel who have been held as prisoners of war or gone missing in action. This program will highlight the POW Chair in the Capitol Visitor Center and the POW/MIA Flag in the Rotunda.
Registration: https://aocgovus.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItf-ispjwpHnzb4SeRe24KiNHo_SlC0XM
Congress has found several ways to honor military personnel who have been held as prisoners of war or gone missing in action. This program will highlight the POW Chair in the Capitol Visitor Center and the POW/MIA Flag in the Rotunda.
Registration: https://aocgovus.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItf-ispjwpHnzb4SeRe24KiNHo_SlC0XM
Dr. Tim McMahon, the Director of DNA Operations for the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System (AFMES) explains the process of DNA extraction to a group of cadets at the 50th Vietnam War Commemoration, Washington, D.C., May 11, 2023.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency is partnered with AFMES who use DNA analysis as a way to support DPAA’s efforts to identify remains of POW/MIA service members.
(Photo by Sgt. Ashleigh Maxwell)
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency is partnered with AFMES who use DNA analysis as a way to support DPAA’s efforts to identify remains of POW/MIA service members.
(Photo by Sgt. Ashleigh Maxwell)
Brig. Gen. Michael Yost, Deputy Commanding General of 807th Medical Command, visits the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) booth at the 50th Vietnam War Commemoration, Washington, D.C., May 11, 2023.
DPAA’s booth consisted of artifacts recovered from multiple sites and conflicts and static displays of equipment used on these sites.
(Photo by Sgt. Ashleigh Maxwell)
DPAA’s booth consisted of artifacts recovered from multiple sites and conflicts and static displays of equipment used on these sites.
(Photo by Sgt. Ashleigh Maxwell)
PBS video, it features the return of Sgt Hamilton's remains from WWII in Germany. Details the efforts of DPAA contractor History Flight and more www.wqed.org/homecoming
Joint Statement from the Presidents of the United States of America and the Republic of Korea on the Identification of Medal of Honor Recipient from Korean War
Click link below for more information
www.whitehouse.gov
50 Years Later, Vietnam Veterans Finally Get Official Tribute to Their Service and SacrificeRichard Sisk
Tue, May 16, 2023 at 10:14 AM EDT
For three days last week, the government sought to make up for decades of neglect with a series of events on the National Mall meant as a symbolic "homecoming" for Vietnam veterans.
The United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration, set up by President Barack Obama in 2012 and authorized by Congress, billed the belated recognition as a "Welcome Home Celebration," although the term "celebration" can seem utterly out of place in reference to a long and divisive conflict that took the lives of more than 58,000 Americans and triggered widespread anti-war protests. Navy Cmdr. Brian Wierzbicki, a Pentagon spokesman for the commemoration, said the intent of describing the events as a celebration was to mark the contributions of those who served in Vietnam on the 50th anniversary of the withdrawal of the last U.S. combat troops in March 1973.
"We are using 'celebration' in the context of giving Vietnam Veterans the 'welcome home' celebration they deserved, yet never received" from official Washington, Wierzbicki said.
"It's not a celebration of war, it's a celebration of veterans' service," said Steve Maxner, director of the Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech University.
"It's about celebrating service; that's what the whole commemoration is about," Maxner said, but some of the veterans at the events said that the organizers could have made a better choice of words.
Retired Marine Maj. Gen. Tom Braaten, who flew CH-46 helicopters out of Marble Mountain near Da Nang in Vietnam in 1969-70, said the "Welcome Home Celebration" promotional material "wasn't worded terribly well," but the tribute to Vietnam veterans was long overdue.
It didn't happen to him, Braaten said, but he had friends who served in Vietnam who were "spit on and called 'babykiller'" when they returned to the States.
"That is a curious word" to be used in the context of the Vietnam war, former Army Capt. Brock Nicholson, a flight platoon leader with the 48th Assault Helicopter Company in Vietnam, said of the celebration term.
"There might have been a better word," said Nicholson, but he agreed with Braaten that the wording should not detract from the main purpose of the events on the National Mall, which was to honor veterans.
"Am I glad I went to Vietnam -- absolutely," Nicholson said, adding that he believed the U.S. involvement probably prevented more aggression by the North Vietnamese in Southeast Asia.
The site for the events on the mall off Independence Avenue was dubbed "Camp Legacy" and featured a static display of Vietnam-era helicopters, panel discussions on veterans' issues, military band concerts, drill team performances, and exhibits on a range of topics from military dogs to the CIA's efforts in Vietnam. The events also offered veterans a chance to renew old friendships and reflect on what they saw and did during their tours, and how they coped with the near-constant pressure of what was often described as a 360-degree war in which traditional front lines were only a sometimes thing.
Retired Air Force Col. Russell Stephenson, a B-52 Stratofortress pilot, said his greatest fear did not come from the enemy's surface-to-air missiles but rather from the concern that his aircraft's load of "dumb" bombs would devastate friendly forces below on missions in 1968 to help lift the siege by the North Vietnamese of the Marine base at Khe Sanh, about six miles from the Laotian border in the northwestern sector of South Vietnam known as I Corps.
As he would make his approach, Marine spotters on the ground would keep pressing him to come in "closer, closer," Stephenson told Military.com on the first day of the commemoration that began with a fly-by of four vintage UH-1 "Huey" helicopter, the workhorse rotary aircraft of the war, and remarks by a range of officials.
One of the speakers was Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., a naval flight officer who served three tours in Vietnam aboard a P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft. "Better late than never. We're here to do what should have been done 50 years ago," said Carper, who is the last Vietnam veteran serving in the Senate. Rep. Jim Baird, R-Ind., a former Army lieutenant who lost his left arm in a 1971 convoy ambush in Vietnam, said he believed there are only two other remaining Vietnam veterans serving in the House -- Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., and Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich.
In a phone interview, Baird, who served with the 523rd Transportation Company and was awarded a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts, said, "From my standpoint, it's not only those who served" in Vietnam who should be honored. "It's just as important to recognize those families" of service members who went to Vietnam. Thompson, a former staff sergeant who served with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vietnam, said in a phone interview, "I think it's important to recognize the service of those of us" who went to Vietnam, adding that the commemoration offered an opportunity for the public "to get a better understanding of what soldiers did" in the war.
In his remarks at the opening ceremony, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, representing the Defense Department, said that Vietnam veterans deserve "our thanks, our respect and our steadfast support. Regrettably, that has not always been the case. You served in divided times and too often you were blamed or scorned for serving your country."
As always, when the subject is the Vietnam War, there were differences of opinion during panel discussions on the what-ifs in terms of strategy and tactics that might have changed the outcome of the war. There was also much comment on the lack of an official ticker tape welcome home parade for the veterans, though there was a series of parades organized locally across the country with an overriding "Welcome Home" theme to recognize Vietnam veterans who did their duty in a war that much of the nation had turned against.
In May 1985 in New York City, then-Mayor Ed Koch led an estimated 25,000 Vietnam veterans across the Brooklyn Bridge and then up Broadway through the financial district where the marchers were showered with ticker tape. The United Press International headline was "10 Years Late, Vietnam Veterans Get Their Parade At Last." Retired Army Gen. William Westmoreland, who commanded U.S.forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968, attended the New York City parade and the following year served as the grand marshal for a much bigger event in Chicago.
The New York Times account of the June 1986 Chicago parade said, "An estimated 200,000 people marched today in what sponsors called the largest parade of Vietnam veterans ever held, and a half million spectators cheered them. "As the parade wound through downtown Chicago, the crowd threw tickertape and kisses at the veterans and waved banners with such mottos as 'Honor the Warrior, not the War,'" the Times' reported.
The commitment to separate judgment on the war itself from the troops who served in it was also part of a panel discussion at the commemoration events among several veterans who served as junior officers in Vietnam and went on to high command positions. Retired Adm. Mike Mullen, who served on the destroyer Collett that provided shore bombardment in Vietnam, said of the military that "we were not a highly respected institution" coming out of Vietnam.
One of the lessons learned should have been that higher-ups have to give troops a better sense of "mission clarity," or explain what the war is about, in future conflicts, said Mullen, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs from 2007 to 2011 managing wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In the panel discussion, and in a separate interview with Military.com, retired Army Gen. Dennis Reimer, who served two tours in Vietnam, said that during the war "the relationship between the military and the civilian world was not good at all," resulting in instances where troops would be told not to wear their uniforms off base for fear of becoming targets for harassment.
Until 1973, when the military became all-volunteer, the Vietnam War was fought with a draft army, and "the nation didn't know how to run a draft," said Reimer, who served as Army chief of staff from 1995 to 1999.
"I think it was just the way the system was run," Reimer said, and "we didn't give them the training they needed" to succeed in Vietnam.
Through the three days of the commemoration, the veterans who attended and the officials who addressed them all paid tribute to the sacrifices of the families of those who served and have kept up pressure on the government to this day to deliver a full accounting of those listed as missing. In an interview at the exhibition tent of the Vietnam Veterans of America and in a phone follow-up, Gold Star daughter Colleen Shine recounted the experience of the three brothers in her family from Pleasantville, New York, who went to serve in Vietnam.
There was her father, Anthony C. Shine, the oldest of the three brothers, and then there was Uncle Al (Alexander) and Uncle Jon (Jonathan). Alexander Shine, who retired as a colonel from the Army, was seriously wounded in Vietnam action and was awarded the Silver Star.
Army 1st Lt. Jonathan Shine, a West Point graduate, was killed in action at Cu Chi in Vietnam in 1970 and was posthumously awarded the Silver Star. Then-Air Force Capt. Anthony Shine, who was serving with the 355th Tactical Fighter Squadron in Vietnam, escorted his brother's remains home for burial at West Point and then returned to his squadron.
In December 1972, only a month before the U.S. signed the Paris Peace Accords leading to the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops in March 1973, Shine's A-7D Corsair II went missing on a mission over Laos, and search-and- rescue efforts failed to find a crash site. For more than 20 years, he was listed as missing in action and was promoted during that period to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Colleen Shine said she was eight years old when her father's plane went missing while she was still coping with what had happened to Uncle Al and Uncle Jon. She would later become public affairs director for the National League of POW/MIA Families and now is an adviser to the board of Sons and Daughters In Touch, an organization of the children of U.S. service members who were killed in Vietnam or are among the more than 1,500 still listed as missing.
In 1995, she went to the site where U.S. military officials suspected her father's plane may have gone down. Villagers turned over a helmet with her father's signature written on the inside, and parts of his plane were also scattered in the area.
"That gave me the ammunition" to press the U.S. government for a thorough excavation of the site, Shine said in an interview with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.
In January 1995, the Vietnamese government repatriated a set of remains that were identified in August 1996 as those of Shine, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Colleen Shine placed the POW/MIA bracelet with her father's name inscribed on it in the casket before he was buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery in October 1996.
She said her goal now is "to share the voices of the Gold Star families and to be able to help the next generation of families" whose sons and daughters are called upon to go to war.
Editor's Note: Richard Sisk served with the Marines in Vietnam in 1967-68.
Tue, May 16, 2023 at 10:14 AM EDT
For three days last week, the government sought to make up for decades of neglect with a series of events on the National Mall meant as a symbolic "homecoming" for Vietnam veterans.
The United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration, set up by President Barack Obama in 2012 and authorized by Congress, billed the belated recognition as a "Welcome Home Celebration," although the term "celebration" can seem utterly out of place in reference to a long and divisive conflict that took the lives of more than 58,000 Americans and triggered widespread anti-war protests. Navy Cmdr. Brian Wierzbicki, a Pentagon spokesman for the commemoration, said the intent of describing the events as a celebration was to mark the contributions of those who served in Vietnam on the 50th anniversary of the withdrawal of the last U.S. combat troops in March 1973.
"We are using 'celebration' in the context of giving Vietnam Veterans the 'welcome home' celebration they deserved, yet never received" from official Washington, Wierzbicki said.
"It's not a celebration of war, it's a celebration of veterans' service," said Steve Maxner, director of the Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech University.
"It's about celebrating service; that's what the whole commemoration is about," Maxner said, but some of the veterans at the events said that the organizers could have made a better choice of words.
Retired Marine Maj. Gen. Tom Braaten, who flew CH-46 helicopters out of Marble Mountain near Da Nang in Vietnam in 1969-70, said the "Welcome Home Celebration" promotional material "wasn't worded terribly well," but the tribute to Vietnam veterans was long overdue.
It didn't happen to him, Braaten said, but he had friends who served in Vietnam who were "spit on and called 'babykiller'" when they returned to the States.
"That is a curious word" to be used in the context of the Vietnam war, former Army Capt. Brock Nicholson, a flight platoon leader with the 48th Assault Helicopter Company in Vietnam, said of the celebration term.
"There might have been a better word," said Nicholson, but he agreed with Braaten that the wording should not detract from the main purpose of the events on the National Mall, which was to honor veterans.
"Am I glad I went to Vietnam -- absolutely," Nicholson said, adding that he believed the U.S. involvement probably prevented more aggression by the North Vietnamese in Southeast Asia.
The site for the events on the mall off Independence Avenue was dubbed "Camp Legacy" and featured a static display of Vietnam-era helicopters, panel discussions on veterans' issues, military band concerts, drill team performances, and exhibits on a range of topics from military dogs to the CIA's efforts in Vietnam. The events also offered veterans a chance to renew old friendships and reflect on what they saw and did during their tours, and how they coped with the near-constant pressure of what was often described as a 360-degree war in which traditional front lines were only a sometimes thing.
Retired Air Force Col. Russell Stephenson, a B-52 Stratofortress pilot, said his greatest fear did not come from the enemy's surface-to-air missiles but rather from the concern that his aircraft's load of "dumb" bombs would devastate friendly forces below on missions in 1968 to help lift the siege by the North Vietnamese of the Marine base at Khe Sanh, about six miles from the Laotian border in the northwestern sector of South Vietnam known as I Corps.
As he would make his approach, Marine spotters on the ground would keep pressing him to come in "closer, closer," Stephenson told Military.com on the first day of the commemoration that began with a fly-by of four vintage UH-1 "Huey" helicopter, the workhorse rotary aircraft of the war, and remarks by a range of officials.
One of the speakers was Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., a naval flight officer who served three tours in Vietnam aboard a P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft. "Better late than never. We're here to do what should have been done 50 years ago," said Carper, who is the last Vietnam veteran serving in the Senate. Rep. Jim Baird, R-Ind., a former Army lieutenant who lost his left arm in a 1971 convoy ambush in Vietnam, said he believed there are only two other remaining Vietnam veterans serving in the House -- Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., and Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich.
In a phone interview, Baird, who served with the 523rd Transportation Company and was awarded a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts, said, "From my standpoint, it's not only those who served" in Vietnam who should be honored. "It's just as important to recognize those families" of service members who went to Vietnam. Thompson, a former staff sergeant who served with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vietnam, said in a phone interview, "I think it's important to recognize the service of those of us" who went to Vietnam, adding that the commemoration offered an opportunity for the public "to get a better understanding of what soldiers did" in the war.
In his remarks at the opening ceremony, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, representing the Defense Department, said that Vietnam veterans deserve "our thanks, our respect and our steadfast support. Regrettably, that has not always been the case. You served in divided times and too often you were blamed or scorned for serving your country."
As always, when the subject is the Vietnam War, there were differences of opinion during panel discussions on the what-ifs in terms of strategy and tactics that might have changed the outcome of the war. There was also much comment on the lack of an official ticker tape welcome home parade for the veterans, though there was a series of parades organized locally across the country with an overriding "Welcome Home" theme to recognize Vietnam veterans who did their duty in a war that much of the nation had turned against.
In May 1985 in New York City, then-Mayor Ed Koch led an estimated 25,000 Vietnam veterans across the Brooklyn Bridge and then up Broadway through the financial district where the marchers were showered with ticker tape. The United Press International headline was "10 Years Late, Vietnam Veterans Get Their Parade At Last." Retired Army Gen. William Westmoreland, who commanded U.S.forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968, attended the New York City parade and the following year served as the grand marshal for a much bigger event in Chicago.
The New York Times account of the June 1986 Chicago parade said, "An estimated 200,000 people marched today in what sponsors called the largest parade of Vietnam veterans ever held, and a half million spectators cheered them. "As the parade wound through downtown Chicago, the crowd threw tickertape and kisses at the veterans and waved banners with such mottos as 'Honor the Warrior, not the War,'" the Times' reported.
The commitment to separate judgment on the war itself from the troops who served in it was also part of a panel discussion at the commemoration events among several veterans who served as junior officers in Vietnam and went on to high command positions. Retired Adm. Mike Mullen, who served on the destroyer Collett that provided shore bombardment in Vietnam, said of the military that "we were not a highly respected institution" coming out of Vietnam.
One of the lessons learned should have been that higher-ups have to give troops a better sense of "mission clarity," or explain what the war is about, in future conflicts, said Mullen, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs from 2007 to 2011 managing wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In the panel discussion, and in a separate interview with Military.com, retired Army Gen. Dennis Reimer, who served two tours in Vietnam, said that during the war "the relationship between the military and the civilian world was not good at all," resulting in instances where troops would be told not to wear their uniforms off base for fear of becoming targets for harassment.
Until 1973, when the military became all-volunteer, the Vietnam War was fought with a draft army, and "the nation didn't know how to run a draft," said Reimer, who served as Army chief of staff from 1995 to 1999.
"I think it was just the way the system was run," Reimer said, and "we didn't give them the training they needed" to succeed in Vietnam.
Through the three days of the commemoration, the veterans who attended and the officials who addressed them all paid tribute to the sacrifices of the families of those who served and have kept up pressure on the government to this day to deliver a full accounting of those listed as missing. In an interview at the exhibition tent of the Vietnam Veterans of America and in a phone follow-up, Gold Star daughter Colleen Shine recounted the experience of the three brothers in her family from Pleasantville, New York, who went to serve in Vietnam.
There was her father, Anthony C. Shine, the oldest of the three brothers, and then there was Uncle Al (Alexander) and Uncle Jon (Jonathan). Alexander Shine, who retired as a colonel from the Army, was seriously wounded in Vietnam action and was awarded the Silver Star.
Army 1st Lt. Jonathan Shine, a West Point graduate, was killed in action at Cu Chi in Vietnam in 1970 and was posthumously awarded the Silver Star. Then-Air Force Capt. Anthony Shine, who was serving with the 355th Tactical Fighter Squadron in Vietnam, escorted his brother's remains home for burial at West Point and then returned to his squadron.
In December 1972, only a month before the U.S. signed the Paris Peace Accords leading to the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops in March 1973, Shine's A-7D Corsair II went missing on a mission over Laos, and search-and- rescue efforts failed to find a crash site. For more than 20 years, he was listed as missing in action and was promoted during that period to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Colleen Shine said she was eight years old when her father's plane went missing while she was still coping with what had happened to Uncle Al and Uncle Jon. She would later become public affairs director for the National League of POW/MIA Families and now is an adviser to the board of Sons and Daughters In Touch, an organization of the children of U.S. service members who were killed in Vietnam or are among the more than 1,500 still listed as missing.
In 1995, she went to the site where U.S. military officials suspected her father's plane may have gone down. Villagers turned over a helmet with her father's signature written on the inside, and parts of his plane were also scattered in the area.
"That gave me the ammunition" to press the U.S. government for a thorough excavation of the site, Shine said in an interview with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.
In January 1995, the Vietnamese government repatriated a set of remains that were identified in August 1996 as those of Shine, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Colleen Shine placed the POW/MIA bracelet with her father's name inscribed on it in the casket before he was buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery in October 1996.
She said her goal now is "to share the voices of the Gold Star families and to be able to help the next generation of families" whose sons and daughters are called upon to go to war.
Editor's Note: Richard Sisk served with the Marines in Vietnam in 1967-68.
Lessons from Vietnam: ‘Stay Connected, Don’t Be Alone’
AURORA, Colo.--1st Lt. Lee Ellis’ F-4C Phantom was shot down on his 53rd bombing mission over North Vietnam. Captured immediately on Nov. 7, 1967, he was taken to the notorious Hoa Lo prison in Hanoi, where he stayed for the next five and a half years.
“That cell in the Hanoi Hilton … was six and a half by seven feet,” Ellis told a packed room of Airmen and Guardians at the AFA Warfare Symposium. “That’s like a bathroom in a gas station. I was in there with three other guys for the first eight months.”
Despite the cramped conditions, Ellis and his fellow American POWs endured, helping each other maintain their collective spirit by offering encouragement and moral support. And when they were isolated from one another in attempts to break their wills, they did what they could to remain connected.
Click here to read more about Lessons from Vietnam!
AURORA, Colo.--1st Lt. Lee Ellis’ F-4C Phantom was shot down on his 53rd bombing mission over North Vietnam. Captured immediately on Nov. 7, 1967, he was taken to the notorious Hoa Lo prison in Hanoi, where he stayed for the next five and a half years.
“That cell in the Hanoi Hilton … was six and a half by seven feet,” Ellis told a packed room of Airmen and Guardians at the AFA Warfare Symposium. “That’s like a bathroom in a gas station. I was in there with three other guys for the first eight months.”
Despite the cramped conditions, Ellis and his fellow American POWs endured, helping each other maintain their collective spirit by offering encouragement and moral support. And when they were isolated from one another in attempts to break their wills, they did what they could to remain connected.
Click here to read more about Lessons from Vietnam!
VVA National President Jack McManus Testifies Before Joint House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committee (Washington, D.C.) – Vietnam Veterans of America National President Jack McManus presented VVA’s 2023 legislative priorities and policy initiatives on March 1, 2023, before the joint hearing of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees. In his opening remarks, McManus addressed the origins of VVA, founded in response to the shameful treatment Vietnam veterans encountered on their homecoming, and called for equitable treatment of all veterans. He drew the applause of the whole room when he asserted: “An American Veteran is an American Veteran – regardless of how or when they served.”
Click here for more!
Click here for more!
Thousands of Men Have Come Home Because of Him
Johnie Webb has spent nearly half a century spearheading the search for those missing in action from America’s wars. Now, he’s finally getting his own homecoming..
For nearly half a century, Johnie Webb has been the heart and soul of the Pentagon’s effort to put the pieces back together for thousands of families whose loved ones were taken prisoner, killed in action, or buried in an unknown grave and never got their proper homecoming. He has navigated the fraught politics in the aftermath of an unpopular war, balancing the sometimes-competing interests of Congressional budgets with those of anguished family members who turned their grief into activism. Though approximately 80,000 U.S. service members are still unaccounted for, the team Webb built at what is now the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has located and identified and returned to their families for a proper burial the remains of more than 3,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines from far-flung battlefields as far back as World War II and as recent as Iraq. Read more here!
Johnie Webb has spent nearly half a century spearheading the search for those missing in action from America’s wars. Now, he’s finally getting his own homecoming..
For nearly half a century, Johnie Webb has been the heart and soul of the Pentagon’s effort to put the pieces back together for thousands of families whose loved ones were taken prisoner, killed in action, or buried in an unknown grave and never got their proper homecoming. He has navigated the fraught politics in the aftermath of an unpopular war, balancing the sometimes-competing interests of Congressional budgets with those of anguished family members who turned their grief into activism. Though approximately 80,000 U.S. service members are still unaccounted for, the team Webb built at what is now the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has located and identified and returned to their families for a proper burial the remains of more than 3,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines from far-flung battlefields as far back as World War II and as recent as Iraq. Read more here!
Today, January 27th, we remember the 50th Anniversary of the signing in 1973 of the "Paris Peace Accords" that ended active US involvement in the Vietnam War. Families around the world, but mostly in America, breathlessly awaited word of as to whether their loved one would be coming home, and shortly thereafter, 591 POWs returned to national celebrations. Thankful for all who returned, Vietnam War POW/MIA families continue seeking answers, an end to uncertainty that we've pursued since before the end of that long-ago war...........YOU CAN HELP..........Please let President Biden know you are grateful that our POW/MIA flag flies over the White House......signaling worldwide our Nation's commitment to accounting as fully as possible for America's 1,581 unreturned Vietnam War Veterans.
Soldier Accounted For From
Vietnam War (Green, T.)
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pfc. Thomas F. Green, 19, of Ramona, California, killed during the Vietnam War, was accounted for Aug. 23, 2022.
In October 1971, Green was assigned to the 68th Aviation Company, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group. On Oct. 26, Green was serving as the door gunner on a CH-47B Chinook helicopter when it went down over water in bad weather while flying from Tuy Hoa to Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam. Remains of four of the 10 Soldiers on board were recovered during search and rescue operations following the crash, but Green was not accounted for.
An unsuccessful recovery attempt was made in 1974 when divers from the Joint Casualty Resolution Center dove on what was believed to be the crash site. A number of investigation and recovery efforts took place between 1994 and 2021 with a June 2021 recovery mission finding possible human remains and material evidence.
To identify Green’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as material and circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Green’s name is recorded on the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with others who are unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Green’s will be buried in Ramona, California on Feb. 23, 2023.
www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3139077/soldier-accounted-for-from-vietnam-war-green-t/
In October 1971, Green was assigned to the 68th Aviation Company, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group. On Oct. 26, Green was serving as the door gunner on a CH-47B Chinook helicopter when it went down over water in bad weather while flying from Tuy Hoa to Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam. Remains of four of the 10 Soldiers on board were recovered during search and rescue operations following the crash, but Green was not accounted for.
An unsuccessful recovery attempt was made in 1974 when divers from the Joint Casualty Resolution Center dove on what was believed to be the crash site. A number of investigation and recovery efforts took place between 1994 and 2021 with a June 2021 recovery mission finding possible human remains and material evidence.
To identify Green’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as material and circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Green’s name is recorded on the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with others who are unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Green’s will be buried in Ramona, California on Feb. 23, 2023.
www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3139077/soldier-accounted-for-from-vietnam-war-green-t/
2022 NEWS
Michigan State University has installed POW/MIA Chairs of Honor in three locations on campus. In partnership with Rolling Thunder Michigan Chapter 5, the Michigan State Student Veterans Association, and ROTC programs, MSU Athletics has dedicated POW/MIA Chairs of Honor in Spartan Stadium, Breslin Center, and Munn Ice Arena in recognition of service members who are unaccounted for.
On Friday, November 11 a chair was dedicated in Munn Ice Arena and another in the Breslin Center. On Saturday, November 12, a chair was dedicated in Spartan Stadium. MSU plans to install Chairs of Honor at outdoor athletic facilities on campus in spring 2023. Here is a link to the MSU Athletic Department announcement: https://msuspartans.com/news/2022/11/10/general-military-honor-chairs.aspx
Rolling Thunder Inc. Michigan Chapter 5 has worked closely with the MSU Athletic Department on this project. There are more Chairs of Honor to come in several additional Michigan college campuses and sports locations. As you may know, POW/MIA Chairs of Honor is a national initiative of Rolling Thunder, Inc. Many thanks go to Michigan Chapter 5 and MSU for these recent placements.
Purdue University was scheduled to dedicate a POW/MIA Chair of Honor in the Purdue Memorial Union Great Hall at 11:30 a.m. yesterday but I don't have any follow up information or photos yet. Here is a link to the announcement: https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2022/Q4/purdue-to-dedicate-pow-mia-chair-of-honor-in-purdue-memorial-union.html#:~:text=Purdue%20to%20dedicate%20POW-MIA%20Chair%20of%20Honor%20in,%28Nov.%2014%29%20in%20Purdue%20Memorial%20Union%E2%80%99s%20Great%20Hall.
Clemson University dedicated a POW/MIA Chair of Honor at Memorial Stadium on Veterans Day. Here is a link to news coverage with video: https://www.foxcarolina.com/2022/11/12/clemson-honors-pow-mia-with-empty-seat-memorial-stadium/
And a link to a print story here: https://www.postandcourier.com/militarydigest/pow-mia-chair-of-honor-dedicated-at-clemsons-memorial-stadium/article_2e225b1e-61f9-11ed-9884-3785bc87e157.html
Please share this information with others!
Never give up,
Marty
(Ms.) Marty Eddy
Michigan Coordinator, National League of POW/MIA Families
On Friday, November 11 a chair was dedicated in Munn Ice Arena and another in the Breslin Center. On Saturday, November 12, a chair was dedicated in Spartan Stadium. MSU plans to install Chairs of Honor at outdoor athletic facilities on campus in spring 2023. Here is a link to the MSU Athletic Department announcement: https://msuspartans.com/news/2022/11/10/general-military-honor-chairs.aspx
Rolling Thunder Inc. Michigan Chapter 5 has worked closely with the MSU Athletic Department on this project. There are more Chairs of Honor to come in several additional Michigan college campuses and sports locations. As you may know, POW/MIA Chairs of Honor is a national initiative of Rolling Thunder, Inc. Many thanks go to Michigan Chapter 5 and MSU for these recent placements.
Purdue University was scheduled to dedicate a POW/MIA Chair of Honor in the Purdue Memorial Union Great Hall at 11:30 a.m. yesterday but I don't have any follow up information or photos yet. Here is a link to the announcement: https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2022/Q4/purdue-to-dedicate-pow-mia-chair-of-honor-in-purdue-memorial-union.html#:~:text=Purdue%20to%20dedicate%20POW-MIA%20Chair%20of%20Honor%20in,%28Nov.%2014%29%20in%20Purdue%20Memorial%20Union%E2%80%99s%20Great%20Hall.
Clemson University dedicated a POW/MIA Chair of Honor at Memorial Stadium on Veterans Day. Here is a link to news coverage with video: https://www.foxcarolina.com/2022/11/12/clemson-honors-pow-mia-with-empty-seat-memorial-stadium/
And a link to a print story here: https://www.postandcourier.com/militarydigest/pow-mia-chair-of-honor-dedicated-at-clemsons-memorial-stadium/article_2e225b1e-61f9-11ed-9884-3785bc87e157.html
Please share this information with others!
Never give up,
Marty
(Ms.) Marty Eddy
Michigan Coordinator, National League of POW/MIA Families
Clemson honors POW-MIA with empty seat at
Memorial Stadium
www.postandcourier.com/militarydigest/pow-mia-chair-of-honor-dedicated-at-clemsons-memorial-stadium/article_2e225b1e-61f9-11ed-9884-3785bc87e157.html
&
www.foxcarolina.com/2022/11/12/clemson-honors-pow-mia-with-empty-seat-memorial-stadium/
"The Vietnam War POW/MIA Families the League represents are deeply grateful for this renewed pledge of effort and support."
A Proclamation for Veterans Day, 2022
Today, we honor generations of patriots who have earned the title of “American veteran” — a badge of courage that unites the finest group of former service members the world has ever known. With their selfless sacrifice, our Armed Forces have forged and defended the very idea of America — a promise of freedom and equality, democracy and justice, possibility and hope. We owe them an incredible debt that can never be fully repaid.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/11/07/a-proclamation-on-veterans-day-2022/?ct=t(EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_5_19_2022_14_55_COPY_01)
A Proclamation for Veterans Day, 2022
Today, we honor generations of patriots who have earned the title of “American veteran” — a badge of courage that unites the finest group of former service members the world has ever known. With their selfless sacrifice, our Armed Forces have forged and defended the very idea of America — a promise of freedom and equality, democracy and justice, possibility and hope. We owe them an incredible debt that can never be fully repaid.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/11/07/a-proclamation-on-veterans-day-2022/?ct=t(EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_5_19_2022_14_55_COPY_01)
possible Vietnam War remains repatriated from Laos
Upper Peninsula Vietnam, Korean War veterans take ‘Honor Flight’ to Washington
www.graydc.com/2022/09/28/upper-peninsula-vietnam-korean-war-veterans-take-honor-flight-washington/
www.graydc.com/2022/09/28/upper-peninsula-vietnam-korean-war-veterans-take-honor-flight-washington/
Cambria County Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge to be dedicated
news.yahoo.com/cambria-county-vietnam-veterans-memorial-115500098.html
news.yahoo.com/cambria-county-vietnam-veterans-memorial-115500098.html
Vietnam War Veterans Recognized at Commemoration Event in Somers, CT
www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/vietnam-war-veterans-recognized-at-commemoration-event-in-somers/ar-AA12pBnk
www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/vietnam-war-veterans-recognized-at-commemoration-event-in-somers/ar-AA12pBnk
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In Pocatello they held their traditional ceremony at the Southeast Idaho Veterans Memorial that included a missing man table presentation and remarks from Senator Crapo's liaison on his behalf and a City Councilman on behalf of the mayors of Pocatello and Chubbuck that were out of town.
Saturday, they had the dedication of a Chair of Honor in the first collegiate football stadium in Idaho on the campus of Idaho State University in Pocatello. The chair is featured outside the President's Box in the newly remodeled stadium. POW*MIA Awareness Association were honored to present the world's largest POW/MIA flag on the field. They were pleased to have 2 from Boise Valley and Katy from Magic Valley join us. We certainly encouraged Boise Valley to engage Boise State to follow suit. By all accounts it was a successful event and was well received. powmiarodeo.org |
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Update:
CHAIRMAN/CEO MESSASGE
July 7, 2022
I am writing this note to introduce the beautiful program that was to be distributed at our 52nd Annual Meeting, long scheduled for June 22-25 th . As you will see in the program, senior officials from the State Department, National Security Council (NSC) Staff, US-Russia Joint Commission (USRJC) on POW/MIA, US Chairman General Doc Foglesong, USAF (Ret), and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, USA, all responded positively to the League’s invitation. Numerous senior officials from the Military Services, Ambassadors from key counterpart countries and prominent former officials who have been with us for decades also planned to attend. In addition, the Vietnam War Annual Government Briefings (AGBs) were to be held in conjunction with remarks given by officials from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Director, LTG Scott Berrier, USA, and DIA’s Stony Beach Team, and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL).
update_to_all_members_7-7-22.pdf
CHAIRMAN/CEO MESSASGE
July 7, 2022
I am writing this note to introduce the beautiful program that was to be distributed at our 52nd Annual Meeting, long scheduled for June 22-25 th . As you will see in the program, senior officials from the State Department, National Security Council (NSC) Staff, US-Russia Joint Commission (USRJC) on POW/MIA, US Chairman General Doc Foglesong, USAF (Ret), and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, USA, all responded positively to the League’s invitation. Numerous senior officials from the Military Services, Ambassadors from key counterpart countries and prominent former officials who have been with us for decades also planned to attend. In addition, the Vietnam War Annual Government Briefings (AGBs) were to be held in conjunction with remarks given by officials from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Director, LTG Scott Berrier, USA, and DIA’s Stony Beach Team, and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL).
update_to_all_members_7-7-22.pdf
PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM ANN MILLS-GRIFFITHS CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD/CEO
May 19, 2022
It is imperative that you do your very best to make the 52nd Annual Meeting this year. Never has there been a more important time for the POW/MIA families to show determination and strength. The dates are June 22-25 and we’ve extended the registration deadline until June 1 st . The Hilton Crystal City Hotel has also extended their reservation deadline to get the special rates contracted long ago. This message is long overdue! The reason? I was trying to have more positive information to share but, in reality, nearly everything has been an uphill battle. Sadly, the challenges include getting timely updates from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), the organization that the League was instrumental in helping form in December 2013, into early 2014. At that time, false allegations and misplaced assertions were running rampant, and Congress held numerous hearings in the fall of 2013. It became abundantly clear that major changes had to be made or Congress would assert itself and decide what was best. That potential caused grave concern over what the outcome might be.
May 19, 2022
It is imperative that you do your very best to make the 52nd Annual Meeting this year. Never has there been a more important time for the POW/MIA families to show determination and strength. The dates are June 22-25 and we’ve extended the registration deadline until June 1 st . The Hilton Crystal City Hotel has also extended their reservation deadline to get the special rates contracted long ago. This message is long overdue! The reason? I was trying to have more positive information to share but, in reality, nearly everything has been an uphill battle. Sadly, the challenges include getting timely updates from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), the organization that the League was instrumental in helping form in December 2013, into early 2014. At that time, false allegations and misplaced assertions were running rampant, and Congress held numerous hearings in the fall of 2013. It became abundantly clear that major changes had to be made or Congress would assert itself and decide what was best. That potential caused grave concern over what the outcome might be.
In Castlewood, VA, the Russell County Board of Supervisors honored SFC Fred Taylor - a Castlewood native listed as missing in action from the Vietnam War. You can read a story and see pictures here (https://wcyb.com/news/local/castlewood-intersection-named-in-honor-of-service-member-missing-in-action) and below is a picture of SFC Taylor.
The Misty Experiment
The movie "The Misty Experiment" has been chosen for national distribution by American Public Television (APT).
The film has been offered this month to public television stations across the country by Maryland Public Television. It needs your help getting it shown on TV screens across the country on or near Memorial Day Weekend.
1. Find the contact information for your local station through the American Public Television (APT) website here: https://aptonline.org/pages/viewers/Index-Stations+Near+You
The film has been offered this month to public television stations across the country by Maryland Public Television. It needs your help getting it shown on TV screens across the country on or near Memorial Day Weekend.
1. Find the contact information for your local station through the American Public Television (APT) website here: https://aptonline.org/pages/viewers/Index-Stations+Near+You
On March 29th, we ran a fundraiser on Facebook for the 1,584 Americans waiting to come home from the Vietnam War. We set our goal at $1,584. Thanks to all of you who donated, we beat that goal by nearly $1,000!
Honoring President Reagan on President's Day 2022
President's Day Weekend reminds us of the deep gratitude the National League of POW/MIA Families owes to one very special President of the United States, Ronald Reagan. Without President Reagan's commitment to bring home America's military and civilian personnel not returned after the Paris Peace Accords were signed January 27, 1973, current priority on accounting for our unreturned Vietnam Veterans would not exist. For that matter, neither would the League!
President Reagan's commitment and determination, implemented by his incredible team of Vietnam Veterans serving in key positions in the White House/National Security Council, Department of Defense and State Department, the POW/MIA families' quest for answers would have disappeared by 1981. Our strongest supporters and advocates were the major Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) - Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), The American Legion, Disabled American Veterans (DAV), American Veterans (AMVETS), Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) and Jewish War Veterans (JWV). Their collective influence carried great impact at home and abroad, more recently augmented by the viable contributions of Special Operations Association (SOA) and Special Forces Association (SFA)!
On this President's Day Weekend, the POW/MIA families, America's Veterans, all now serving, and the American people - regardless of political or policy differences - should pause to recognize President Ronald Reagan for his principled effort to ensure that our country truly stands behind those who serve. America now seriously implements "Leave No Man Behind" as a commitment to all currently serving our Nation."
Ann Mills-Griffiths
Chairman of the Board/CEO
National League of POW/MIA Families
President's Day Weekend reminds us of the deep gratitude the National League of POW/MIA Families owes to one very special President of the United States, Ronald Reagan. Without President Reagan's commitment to bring home America's military and civilian personnel not returned after the Paris Peace Accords were signed January 27, 1973, current priority on accounting for our unreturned Vietnam Veterans would not exist. For that matter, neither would the League!
President Reagan's commitment and determination, implemented by his incredible team of Vietnam Veterans serving in key positions in the White House/National Security Council, Department of Defense and State Department, the POW/MIA families' quest for answers would have disappeared by 1981. Our strongest supporters and advocates were the major Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) - Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), The American Legion, Disabled American Veterans (DAV), American Veterans (AMVETS), Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) and Jewish War Veterans (JWV). Their collective influence carried great impact at home and abroad, more recently augmented by the viable contributions of Special Operations Association (SOA) and Special Forces Association (SFA)!
On this President's Day Weekend, the POW/MIA families, America's Veterans, all now serving, and the American people - regardless of political or policy differences - should pause to recognize President Ronald Reagan for his principled effort to ensure that our country truly stands behind those who serve. America now seriously implements "Leave No Man Behind" as a commitment to all currently serving our Nation."
Ann Mills-Griffiths
Chairman of the Board/CEO
National League of POW/MIA Families
American Legion Post 176 located in Springfield, Virginia. Photos taken by
Northern Virginia Coordinator Cesar Giorffino,
who is also a member of Post 176. Thank You!
Northern Virginia Coordinator Cesar Giorffino,
who is also a member of Post 176. Thank You!
Sent in by John Stryker "Tilt" Myer, now living in White Bluff, TN - Thank You!
Newsletter to Inactive Family Members: June 7, 2021
CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE:
It will soon be two full years since we gathered to celebrate the League’s 50th Anniversary Annual Meeting in June 2019. Inspiring and motivational as it was to have with us so many near-legendary former officials attesting to 50 years of League efforts seeking answers, many challenges were already apparent, and others were building. I waited much too long to share my thoughts on where things stand. despite my concern over serious disappointment on impacted family members, countless veterans and other dedicated Americans who’ve been key to sustaining the League all these years, I can wait no longer, .
Click to continue reading Chairman's message!
league_newsletter_to_inactive__nok_6-7-21.pdf
CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE:
It will soon be two full years since we gathered to celebrate the League’s 50th Anniversary Annual Meeting in June 2019. Inspiring and motivational as it was to have with us so many near-legendary former officials attesting to 50 years of League efforts seeking answers, many challenges were already apparent, and others were building. I waited much too long to share my thoughts on where things stand. despite my concern over serious disappointment on impacted family members, countless veterans and other dedicated Americans who’ve been key to sustaining the League all these years, I can wait no longer, .
Click to continue reading Chairman's message!
league_newsletter_to_inactive__nok_6-7-21.pdf