have we given up on the POWs left in vietnam? i have just finished a book about how our government turned thier back on our POWs. its called "an enormous crime " by u.s. rep. bill hendon and elizabeth stewart. you can check on it by going to www.enormouscrime.com.after reading it i had my eyes opened and some of the men involved with keeping this quiet surprised me but most did not. this issue has been hard for me to deal with since i got back from nam. now after reading the book it just stirred up old anger at our government officals.this book is full of dates, places,names,quotes and a lot of details.not an easy book to read but its one our polititions should be afraid for the public to read.if enough people read or hear the facts in this book it should create a huge shakeup in washington and around the world.we as veterans especially should demand an accounting for all this new information released to the public. our polititions have had this information since the release of the POWS at operation homecoming.there has been proof of live POWs at late as 1992 and its all been covered up.the vietnamese have held them to use for negotiating purposes and our government could have gotten them back for about 5 billion dollars.if you are interested in these facts then check out the book or just read about it.america should demand answers. tom
The Federal government did give up- back when slick willy recognized Hanoi as the Vietnam government and opened trade with them.
Assuming there are/were POW/MIAs alive (and I do) their last best hope was Ross Perot and Rep. Robert K. Dornan.
BTW---Some years ago I read a book by Nelson DeMille(I think?) in which the plot was that the Soviets took alot of the U.S. POWs from North Vietnam and brought them to the USSR so the Sovs could learn how to act like Yanks...
There were special pilots and aircrews shipped off to Russia for intel reasons. Who knows where they are today. Some prized aircrews were wild weasel air crews who went after SAM Missle Sites. ECM Electronic Counter Measures aircrew members were a nice catch for the soviets. For-sure the Hanoi government handed these valuable aircrews to the Soviets.
Slightly off topic, but I heard at one time at the end of WW2 that Russia had US military as POW's and IKE decided not to go after them because the country was tired of the war. Has anybody ever heard of that story?
Originally posted by oldgoat49: Slightly off topic, but I heard at one time at the end of WW2 that Russia had US military as POW's and IKE decided not to go after them because the country was tired of the war. Has anybody ever heard of that story?
Howdy OldGoat49:---What you mentioned sounds familiar. I saw on History Channel or PBS or Discovery/Wings..? or? a story/newsreel footage of some American B-29's that had landed in Siberia on the way back from Japan ( couldn't make it back to Alaska.). The slick Soviets claimed they were neutral with Japan, and were not our *allies-therefore they impounded the B-29s, not sure how long the crews were there, or when/if released.
* Of course the very same Soviet commies convinced FDR and his commie-friendly State and War Departments to give them Tanks/planes/equipment because we were "allies". [check: Murmansk.] Lying skunks.
I've heard about that also, but what I remember is that these were US POW's that the Germans had and when the Russians liberated the camps they took some that had special skills and kept them. The story was that Ike knew about them being kept, but decided that the country was tired of war and wouldn't support another war to try to get the men back. He knew that trying to take Russia would be as bad or worse than trying to defeat the Germans so it would be another long war.
so, the age old question is, what does the average john q public do or say about forgotten pows that will require answers? the government seems to answer to nobody so these soldiers are on thier own with the knowledge that they will not be rescued. what an incentive to join the military and fight for your country.in training we were taught to do everything possible to escape but i dont remember being taught that if caught you might as well give up. maybe the training should be modified to reviel the truth.the geneva convention should also be updated tom
I am halfway through the book An Enormous Crime and it is eye opening and it is hard to put down. I do believe that there were men left behind as seen with Marine Robert Garwood coming back in 1979. What about the photos of the symbols in the rice paddies found in 1988 and all the eyewitness accounts of the boat people?
BUT, I just have a hard time believing that every single administration since 1973 has conspired to cover up all POW/MIA information, there has to be hundreds/thousands of people involved and to think that they all are in on it doesnt sound credible.
In 1970 & 1971 I was in Viet-Nam in I Corps, part of that time with a Army Ranger unit. For those who may not know, that was the northern-most part of South Vietnam.
I made 3 different LRRPs in the area where North Viet-Nam, South Viet-Nam and Laos came together. Passing through the same area after a period, the vegetation had grown to the point you could hardly recognize the place you had been camped a month before. If a pilot or aircrewman had been shot down and had not survived the crash or had not survived the parachute jump, within a few weeks you wouldn't be able to find the plane or the body in that jungle.
Based on that admittedly limited experience, I believe that many of the MIAs who were shot down and are presently unaccounted for are not live POWs but bones in the jungle which may never be recovered except by accident.
The old adage "If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there, does it make a noise?" sort of applies. If a plane or a body in a parachute falls from the sky and no one is there to see it/him fall, it may never be seen again.
There are both POW/MIA's still in Cambodia, Laos and VietNam. Which is why I fly my POW/MIA flag every day along with the American flag. It is also why I have returned to VietNam twice.
Rolling Thunder has been instruemental in not only getting information about POW/MIA's, but also procurring the remains of some and the release of others. Hey, THANKYOUVETS, here's a group you should ride with on Memorial Day.
Personally I don't care who may have been involved in a cover up (if there was one), I would want each and every one prosecuted for high treason.
I made 3 different LRRPs in the area where North Viet-Nam, South Viet-Nam and Laos came together. Passing through the same area after a period, the vegetation had grown to the point you could hardly recognize the place you had been camped a month before. If a pilot or aircrewman had been shot down and had not survived the crash or had not survived the parachute jump, within a few weeks you wouldn't be able to find the plane or the body in that jungle.
Based on that admittedly limited experience, I believe that many of the MIAs who were shot down and are presently unaccounted for are not live POWs but bones in the jungle which may never be recovered except by accident.
Very, VERY true FlightDirector.
Unless one has been there, they have no clue how dense and unpenetrable those areas can be. A lone pilot downed could be lost forever.
wasn't that what troutman said in a rambo movie.....'we were to pay the viet cong 4.5 mil and we didn't so they kept the POWs'...it sucks to be left behind by your own gov....
I guess you can call it a conspiracy theory. I don't think our government really knows whether or not there were any POWs left behind. However, I do believe that our government gave up and just took the North Vietnamese at their word that the POWs they released were all that were left. In other words, I think our government was too scared to look under the rock and deal with it. It was politically and bureaucratically easier to just leave it alone. Whether you want to call THAT a conspiracy or not is up to you.
Ray, American Military Supporter. 
