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"TO HOLD A PERSON
IN CAPATIVY FOR YEARS AFTER A CONFLICT IS BEYOND THE REALMS OF THIS MIND"
For a nation...a goverment to hold a person as
a POW/MIA years after a conflict has ended is unimaginable to me...it's simply beyond belief...unrational...and for the people
of these nations and goverments to close their eyes to this is even more so...yet throughout our world,at this very moment,
someone is being held against their will...Why???What does a man gain from holding a person and their family and friends hostage
for thirty years and more???It boggles the mind...How can a nation and its people hate that much and be able to sleep at nights
and pray to a God........
We have ships that can sit off the coast
and listen in on communications inland...We have planes that can fly overhead and receive transmissions...We have sattlelights
that can pick up a conversation in someones living room...yet...with over ten thousand reports and siteings of American still
held capative....all in one area of the world...our government still claims all POW/MIA's have been returned....
POW/MIA Flag on Duster Hill at LZ Uplift
Our uncle Sam and his leaders abandoned these
Brave American Heroes...left them behind for political motovation...Our government has lied to its people for over thirty
years and the sad truth is...they know they can do it...and they will continue to do so...A new generation of Congressmen
and Senators are begining to appear...men that are from our era and know as well as us what is wrong with this nation...We
must continue our fight to hold the government accountable...We must continue to educate the public and We must teach our
children so they may take up the fight in their generation...We must never allow the fate of our brothers and sisters to be
put on any back burner...by anyone!!
What our brothers must go thru each day is a wonder...to
endure the treatment for so many years knowing full well the ways of our Uncle....the same uncle that asked you to serve his
country all them years ago for God,Duty and Honor...then left you to rot in some asian camp...and just like Judas denys you....How...once
again...can our leaders then and now sleep at night and pray to God...How does one rationalize this???
I have adopted E-4 Kenneth James Patton
from McKee's Rock,Pa. he was born 13May43...Ken served with B troop,1st squad,9th Cavalry,1st Cavalry Division until his loss
on 2Feb 68 in South Vietnam...the coordinates were 161209N 1081006E (AT960937)...Ken was one of 5 on board a UH1H helicopter
(#66-16442) that departed Camp Evans,Quang Tri for Chu Lai on 2feb68.The others aboard were SP4 Charles Adkins,SFC Joe Pringle
,SSgt Joeseph Puggiand Donald Burnham....all members of B Troop,1st squad.The controller at Da Nang Airbase lost radio and
radar contact with the helicopter 12 miles north of Da Nang.After attempts to contact the helicopter failed, ramp checks were
conducted by other pilots of his unit.Search of the area to the north of Da Nang failed to locate the missing aircraft.
CLICK BRACELET
On 28may68,a crashed and burned UH1h helicopter
was located in the vinicity and a search partyrecovered an ID tag belonging to SFC Pringle,several weapons and some human
bones.The ID tag and weapons were given to an unidentified Major..subsequent attempts to trace the weapons have been unsuccessful.All
human remains were given to the US Army Mortuary at Da Nang and were determined unidentifiable.Search attempts were terminated
on 16nov72.Because of the density of the underbrush no attempts to recover further remains were made.The crash site was photographed
in july74 at which time it became known that parts of the aircraft had been recovered by a Vietnamese woodcutter.No evidence
of human remains were found in the area.
Donald Burnhams photo was identified by a Vietnamese
rallier as having been a prisoner of war,CIA analysis failed to determine why Burnhams photo was selected as neither he nor
the other crew members were seen by other returned POW's.If it were not for over 10,000 reports os Americans held captive
in SEAsia, the families of the men aboard UH1H might be able to give up hope of seeing their sons and brothers again.But...as
long as there is evidence that even one is alive,the possibility exists that any of the crew lost on 2feb68 could be alive......
The Articles of the Military Code of Conduct
ARTICLE I:
I am an American, fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life
in their defense.
ARTICLE II:
I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they
still have the means to resist.
ARTICLE III:
If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort
to escape and to aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.
ARTICLE IV:
If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no
information nor take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not,
I will obey lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them in every way.
ARTICLE V:
When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service
number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written
statements disloyal to my country or its allies or harmful to their cause.
ARTICLE VI:
I will never forget that I am an American, fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles
which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
In the 60's Tom Hayden and Jane
Fonda toured the colleges around the nation promoting the anti-war movement...putting on rallies and protests throughout the
country...In the summer of 72 she went to North VietNam and was treated as if she was Tokyo Rose...she arranged to see and
speak to the American POWs bein held there...There were plenty of picture ops as she tried to get our brave men to renounce
our government and concede this was an unjust war...None took part...from then to this day I have not seen a thing that has
her name on it...and the future will be the same...
While American Soldiers were fighting
and dying in the Vietnam War, Jane Fonda, the daughter of Henry Fonda, was using her money and influence at colleges and universities
to gather support to advocate communism and encourage rebellion and anarchy against the United States Government.
A POW named Jerry Driscoll
who was taken from his prison cell, cleaned and dressed for a visit with Fonda, then ordered to give Fonda a positive account
of his treatment. He spit at Fonda and was beaten and dragged away. Then a group of POWs which included a Col. Larry Carrigan
were brought out to visit with Fonda. According to the story, "...she walked the line, shaking each man's hand and asking little encouraging snippets like:
"Aren't you sorry you bombed babies?" & "Are you grateful for the humane treatment from your benevolent captors?"
Many of the POW's were listed as
missing in action so to identify themselves to American authorities, they each wrote their Social Security numbers on small
pieces of paper and slipped them to Fonda as she greeted them. To their horror, however, after Fonda finished meeting them,
she turned to the North Vietnamese commanding officer and handed him the POW's pieces of paper. In the beatings that followed,
three American POW's died and Col. Carrigan nearly died.
My five children and myself have worn POW/MIA
and KIA bracelets for many a year now....we have quite a collection of silver...gold...red and black ones that are so worn
down that their names are known only to us...They sit in a place of honor amid other Nam momentoes....these old worn out colored
pieces of metals...Their age a constant reminder of the time that has passed since they were last among us...in a perfect
world they would be here with us today...but this is far from a perfect world...thus in our hearts and our prayers they are
forced to stay...
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