Tom Abraham's
Military Records
You should have come to this page from an article about the bogus claims of UK citizen Tom Abraham. Abraham was a lieutenant in the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam, 1968. In October 2002 his book The Cage was published in which he claims that he was captured by the "Viet Cong," tortured for several days, after which he escaped.
Not only are his claims to have been captured bogus, but people who served with him have pointed out that many of the other claims made in his book are not true. If you have not read the initial article, follow this link to read it.
Tom Abraham's official military records
Anyone can submit a request under the Freedom of Information Act to the National Archives' retired records center in St. Louis, MO and obtain a copy of an individual's military records. Unless you are requesting your own records, what you get is limited -- that is, if you request someone else's records you will get a bare-bones record, but that's enough.
B. J. "Jug" Burkett, author of the book Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of its Heroes and its History, obtained a copy of Abraham's military records and posted them on the web. I copied the records from the site where they were originally posted and here they are.
-- Enlisted service: 4 Feb 66 - 26 Jan 67
-- Commissioned Second Lietuenant, Infantry: 26 Jan 67
-- Served as a training officer at the Basic Training Center, Ft. Dix, NJ: 19 Feb 67 to 21 Apr 67, then enroute to Vietnam
-- Upon arrival in Vietnam, assigned to Headquarters (HHC), 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Arimobile) -- HHC5thBn7thCav1stCavDiv(Airmbl): 12 Aug 67
-- Platoon leader, B Company, 5/7 Cav: 13 Aug 67 to 15 Feb 68
-- Platoon leader, D Company, 5/7 Cav: 15 Feb 68 to 10 Mar 68
-- Assigned to the S-2 (Intelligence) office at the battalion headquarters (S-2; HHC, 5/7 Cav):10 Mar 60 - 8 Jun 68; two days of casual, unassigned duty enroute from battalion to brigade for his next assignment (8 jun 68 - 10 Jun 68).
-- Assigned as assistant S-2, 3rd Brigade HQ: 10 Jun 68 to 4 Aug 68 at which time his tour ended and he returned to the States
-- He was then assigned as an Assistant Training Officer with a US Army Reserve unit in Oakdale, PA from 10 Oct 68 until he was released from active duty, 26 January 1969
And that's it, folks. Never a prisoner of war.
Some notes on these records
Dickinson College - or - York Junior College? Not the same.
Go to this page, an interview given by Abraham to The Spectator, a UK newspaper. Read the interview. Note in the interview where he says:
"When his father moved his family from Yorkshire to Pennsylvania, Tom
attended Dickinson College. 'Notionally,' he writes, 'I was supposed to be
studying what they called "liberal arts", but in reality I spent almost all
my time partying and playing sports.' His father bought him a white Ford
Mustang, 'a boy-racer's dream'.
Abraham says he attended Dickinson College, a small liberal arts college in Carlisle, PA. His military records include his education, both civilian and military -- the civilian education information is what he would have told the Army at the time he enlisted. Note that on his official military records he lists attending York Junior College, York, PA, and he says nothing about Dickinson College.
No record of having been a prisoner of war
There is absolutely no mention in his records of him having been a prisoner of war as he claims. Abraham claims he was captured and escaped after a few days. IN FACT, any American who escaped captivity or who was released was IMMEDIATELY flown out of Vietnam and never returned. Note, however, that Abraham finished a normal 12-month tour.