



And Some Are Still Giving !!
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Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 07 August 1949
Home City of Record: Albuquerque, NM
Date of Loss: 25 March 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 144018N 1073621E (YB805235)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Prentice Hicks; Richard Roberts (both missing)
As the unit was moving toward high ground, they again came in contact with the enemy. At that time, PFC Roberts was the point man. During the contact, the unit began to move in a disorderly fashion back down the hill, and during that period, PFC Hicks, Herrera and Roberts were separated from the main element.
It is believed that PFC Herrera and Roberts had stayed behind with PFC Hicks. This was the last time they were seen. At that time, neither Herrera or Roberts were injured.
During a search of the area on April 5, a reconnaissance team found some letters belonging to PFC Hicks, along with the cover from a Bible belonging to PFC Herrera, but there was no sign of the three missing men. The three men had disappeared, and, given the enemy situation in the area, it is entirely possible that they were captured. They were declared Missing In Action. Later hearings were held to declare them dead, although no evidence was ever received that the three died.
Americans captured by the Viet Cong had a terrible and grueling ordeal ahead. The Viet Cong themselves were often deprived of adequate food, and the need to be constantly moving only made life more difficult to sustain. Americans were ill-equipped to cope with jungle diseases and drastic change in diet. Torture was commonplace and cruel. Many were mentally and physically depleted to the point of starvation and death. Towards the end of the war, prisoners captured in the south were routinely taken north for detention by the North Vietnamese, and although torture was a daily threat, few died of starvation during those late years.
Whether Herrera and the others were captured is not known. The chances of their having survived the second attack are good. Alive or dead, however, the Vietnamese certainly know their fate. Someone knows where they were taken that day.
Tragically, reports of Americans still held captive in Indochina continue to be received, creating a large body of evidence difficult to ignore. It seems clear that some of our military are still held prisoner in Southeast Asia. Herrera, Hicks and Roberts could be among them. Isn't it time we brought our men home? I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to keep pushing this issue inside the Beltway... The need to get specific answers is more important now than ever before. If still alive, some MIAs are now in their 70s...They don't have much time left. We have to demand the answers from the bureaucrats and keep standing on their necks (figuratively speaking) until they get the message that THEY work for US and that we are serious about getting these long overdue responses. Diplomatic considerations aside... We can no longer allow questionable protocols established by pseudo-aristocratic armchair strategists, to determine or influence the fate of the men who were in the trenches while the diplomats were sharing sherry and canapes and talking about "Their Plans" for the future of SE Asia. If you'd like to see what some others are doing in addition to writing their congressmen, senators and the Whitehouse, check out some of these sites which I have listed and linked below.
"All Biographical and loss information on POWs provided by Operation Just Cause have been supplied by Chuck and Mary Schantag of POWNET. Please check with POWNET regularly for updates."

DID YOU KNOW....??
We all know that 591 came home in Operation Homecoming. But did you know that in Sept. of 1972 the General of the Army , Gen. Quang, told the North Vietnamese Politburo that they (the Vietnamese) were holding 1,205 Americans as POWs and that only 368 had been acknowledged or were to be acknowledged to the American authorities? The document was uncovered just after Clinton's first inauguration and the first thing his administration did with the document was classify it. The document can be found at:
(The above is reprinted with permission of Captain Barbara A. Wilson, USAF (Retired )captbarb@aug.com )
Click & Take a Tour of *The Wall*
31 July, 1997, I received the following notice:
Advocacy And Intelligence Index
For Prisoners Of War/Missing In Action, Inc. ( AIIPOWMIAI )
Bob Necci and Andi Wolos
THE POW/MIA E-MAIL NETWORK aiijul31.97d
No. 128-M
July 28, 1997
MEMORANDUM FOR CORRESPONDENTS
The remains of two American servicemen previously unaccounted-for from Southeast Asia have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial in the United States.
They are identified as Maj. James B. East, USAF, of Oklahoma City, Okla. and Lt. Col. Thomas R. Morgan, USAF, of Akron, Ohio.
On April 26, 1969, East was attacking an enemy mortar position in Laos when his A-1J Skyraider was struck by enemy ground fire. The aircraft crashed and exploded.
In 1994, a Lao witness identified a possible crash site associated with that of East. A joint U.S./Lao Recovery Team excavated the site later that year and found aircraft wreckage, pilot-related items, and human bone fragments.
On January 26, 1967, Morgan was conducting a strike mission over a target in South Vietnam. As the attack began, pilots in other aircraft on the mission observed smoke trailing from Morgan’s F100D Super Sabre. His plane burst into flames and broke in half prior to impact.
Investigations of Morgan’s crash site were conducted in 1967 and 1968 by American investigators, but no remains were located. A joint U.S./Vietnamese recovery team in 1994 excavated the crash site and found human remains. In 1996, a local Vietnamese turned over more bone fragments and personal effects of Morgan scavenged from the crash site. Morgan’s remains were subsequently identified.
Mitochondrial DNA testing was used to confirm the two identifications. The remains will be shipped from the U.S. Army’s Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii at a date to be determined by the families.
With the identification of these two servicemen, there remain 2,116 unaccounted-for Americans from the Vietnam War.
The U.S. government welcomes and appreciates the cooperation of the governments of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic which resulted in the accounting of these servicemen. We hope that such cooperation will bring increased results in the future. Achieving the fullest possible accounting for these Americans is of the highest national priority.
(Note from DPatrol: 2,116 unaccounted for is 2,116 too many!! )
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| There are times in our lives when something that someone
says something to you that tears you apart and makes you love them even
more than you thought possible. On Thursday, 4 November, 1999 it happened
to me.
A close friend, who I have never met in person, but have known for over a year, wrote to me. I could tell that he was in deep anguish and needed someone to talk to, so we talked, and the following is from his heart and deep in his soul. Joe's feelings from his heart and soul are what so many of our Veterans feel like, and this is so sad. That they were made to feel and to this day still continue to feel this way. God Bless you Joe!! I am always here for you and never will I be to busy for any Veteran who put their life on the line for my freedom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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I am glad to hear that I did not scare you away. Most people would shy away from me and then think I am a little crazy or mental. See I was drafted right out of high school back in '71. I think it was about 2 or 3 days after grad that I shipped out to basic training. I had no idea what I was going to encounter and have this kind of affect on me for the rest of my life. I was given a few weeks time to spend with my family before shipping out to the Nam. Here I was 18 yr. old and have no idea what the hell I am doing here. I kept wondering why am I here? What have I done to deserve this punishment? Why are we fighting this war in this land? Why is someone playing God with my life? I wasn't old enough to drink beer nor old enough to vote, but yet I was old enough to give my life away. I wonder who's idea was this? To hold someone in your arms and just watch as their life slips away and there isn't a damn thing you could do. Or take a gun and end your friend's life instead of watching him suffer from traumatic pain due to infliction of a land mine. What do you tell an 18 yr. old? Or see a friend blown to pieces. How can anyone live a life to have gone true hell and not think of it every day of his life? Then to come home and be treated like dirt or an animal. To be called names that make your stomach turn. For some it was choice to go and for others it was because they were drafted. I can not yet fully comprehend our total involvement in that war. Why so many has given there lives.... Like I said the emptiness in my soul and heart is heavy. To try and take one's life was an option, but can do more harm then anything else. To indulge in the drinking or taking of drugs is another thing, but again the options of doing harm will create a very sad scenario. I know that I am trying my best to cope with this matter. It is very hard and unrelenting. I don't know if i could be called mid-life crisis's. I know though that the doctor's call it post traumatic syndrome. Thanks Joanie for being here for me and listening to me babble away. I know you are a very busy person. But I am glad you have taken the time to listen and be a friend. (Joanie's note: I do not feel that this was babbling, these are the feelings and pain of a man who fought to keep me free!! The pain of a man who was THERE when I needed him to be, and I will aways be THERE for HIM and any others who need me.) |
Twenty years in the jungle has taken it's toll on me.
I'm not the same man I used to be.
But one thing's consistent ... I long to be free.
Please, Mr. President, come for me.
The scars of my torture will never go away.
I'm fifty pounds lighter. My hair is gray.
But the shackles can't chain the freedom in me.
Please, lawmakers come for me.
If my family believed there's a chance I'd survived,
They'd fight to their deaths to prove I'm alive.
Please, lovin' family, come for me.
Some captors say you don't know I'm here,
That I'm doomed to this prison year after year.
God Bless America, the land of the free.
Please, friends and parishoners, come for me.
Other captors say you know that I'm here,
But refuse to accept the evidence, so clear.
Will some caring citizen hear my plea?
Please, fellow countrymen, come for me.
I'll have faith in my country 'till my dying day.
I'll never believe you could leave me this way.
My Country, 'tis of thee .....
Please, please, America, come for me!
~LeAnn Thieman, 1987~
Contributed By Willie Dougherty http://vvoa.com Vetrans Voice of Austin
I did my duty and answered my country's call.
I went to war and saw many of my comrades
fall.
I served my country, oh so proudly,
so why have you FORGOTTEN ME?
You remember on Memorial Day,
those who served and passed away.
The flags, the uniforms, the bands you see,
but why have you FORGOTTEN ME?
I am the veteran who made it home,
sometimes to a hero's welcome.
But after awhile I become just a memory.
Why have you FORGOTTEN ME?
Even though the war I served is gone,
the aftereffects still linger on.
I gave so proudly, so unselfishly,
but you have FORGOTTEN ME!
I might be in a wheelchair or walk with a cane,
but I fought for my country, so I don't complain.
I didn't forget you while I was doing my duty,
so why have you FORGOTTEN ME?
So next time when someone says 'put our wars
behind us',
stand up and make quite a fuss.
Say 'it's our nation's obligation to remember
those who served
so proudly', and that YOU HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN
ME!!!
~~~~~
JUST NAMES
A Soldier's Story
I was young when my country said,
'Uncle Sam Wants You!'.
Being patriotic and proud,
there was only one thing to do.
I was told that my country needed me
and I never questioned 'Why?'.
I just signed on the dotted line
and kissed my family goodbye.
I went into training and learned
how to kill the enemy.
Preparing for the time to go
to a country across the sea.
The day finally came when
it was time for me to leave.
To help another country fight for freedom,
was what I was led to believe.
So I went into battle and fought
to help set another country free.
Killing, bombing and rifle fire
was all around me.
Days turned into weeks,
and weeks seemed like years,
as I saw many young soldiers die
and wiped away my tears.
As I held one young soldier
and he said one last goodbye,
I wondered how many more
would have to fight and die.
I wondered who would tell
this young soldier's family,
that he died a hero giving his life,
taking a bullet for me.
When the battle ended
and I made it through somehow.
I remembered that young soldier,
and made a solemn vow.
I vowed to tell all who would listen
how one hero answered his Country's call.
So that maybe young soldiers never have to
again,
become just names upon a wall.
(the 2 poems above were written and Published by
Debbie Peare
and are
Copyrighted to her. For Permission to use these poems
please visit
her site and ask her from there.)
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"The Advocacy and Intelligence Index for Prisoners of War - Missing in Action"
"Veterans Voice of Austin Texas"
"Let's
Give Them Their Freedom!"
Thanks to DNick for the Guestbook CGI
Most of the Graphics on this page courtesy of Doc
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Awards for DPatrol's PoW/MIA Page
Know ye, that I, confiding in the outstanding
PATRIOTISM - LOYALTY - INTEGRITY of "D Patrol"
For Adopting A POW/MIA do as of this date, 12
December, in the year of our Lord
one thousand nineteen hundred and ninety seven
and of the great Independence of
the "United States of America" the two hundred
and twenty first year bestow upon
the above named "Patriot" with great pride for
the exceptional display of
"Outstanding Patriotism" this Award
Presented by: Al Varelas - USMC
Decorated Vietnam Veteran Know ye all who preview
this presentation, that this
Award is confered upon True Patriots only Be
it also known that this Award is
given at the discreation of it's originator,
or by recommendation of a
receipient, and cannot be applied for...
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