Guestbook Archive
On May 27, 2000, I moved the contents of my MIA Facts Site Guestbook from the guestbook log to this page. The guestbook log had become a big file -- almost 3 MB -- and it took forever to load. The following comments are all entries made in the MIA Facts Site Guestbook between December 24, 1997, and May 27, 2000.
When I moved the text from the Guesstbook Log to this page, the links did not follow. There are links embedded in several of the comments posted on the guestbook. If you wish to follow any links, just cut and paste the link to your browser.
Name:
Joe Schlatter
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Test the guest book.
Name:
David Edwin Mann
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Keep up the good work Joe
Fraternally, Dave CWO4 USA (Ret)
Name:
brenda m. montgomery
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
For all to see ... *S* ... eh? Well, keep up the good work Sir, for all to see! Nice to sign a fresh Guest Book Always interesting reads here.
Name:
Philip D. Doss
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
With all due respect I think you and Jane Fonda should be tied together and sent back to Nam
Name:
Steve
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Schlatter, I am disappointed. You didn't put my last email to you in the mail bag. So I'll post it here for you: Subject: Your site and mail bag Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 08:56:16 -0500 From: "Steven Terrell, Sr." <[email protected]> To: [email protected]
Hey Schlatter long time no see. Still spouting your lies I see. Yes you can post my mail on your Mailbag page. Maybe it will help people realize what a phony you really are. Oh and make sure to leave in the URL that is in this email, it is as follows:
ArmyVet's Poopy People Page: http://www.angelfire.com/ct/cterl/poopy.html
Guess what? You are honored there Schlatter. Be sure and send all your "friends" visit the site.. Steve(ArmyVet) Webmaster: Armyvet's Remember? http://www.angelfire.com/ct/cterl/index.html Armyvet's MultiState POW/MIA Pages http://www.angelfire.com/ia/dbmtoo/index.html Long-Term Care Team http://www.angelfire.com/ia/ltcmn/index.html RingMaster: "No John In 2000 Ring": http://www.angelfire.com/ia/nojohn/index.html
Name:
Email:
URL:
Comments
You know, Schlatter, you are REALLY starting to annoy me by having all these lies on the Net! why don't you do us all a favor and RE CHECK your supposed research?? What sources are you going with?? Your imagination?? I sure wouldn't be surprised!
Name:
Eva L. Donnelly
Email:
URL:
Comments
I'm real disappointed in you too, Schlatter. You didn't post my email message about the concept of honor that the armed forces are supposed to impart. But, seeing as you don't have honor, what can I expect? Maybe you're afriad of people knowing the real you:no honor, cowardice, and phony as a counterfeit bill.
Name:
Jason A. Kaatz
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
You have alredy received an e-mail with some comments in it. I stand by the analysis sent to you. The only valid records in my opinion are the record in possession of the Supreme Court of the DRV which have not as far as I know been turned over to the United States. It is those records which make up what is alleged to be the bulk of individual casae files of each POW ever held that in my opinion if they still in fact exist can provide for full accountability on a case by case basis.
Otherwise I concur with much of your personal conclussions. The POW/MIA issue is a counterintelligence related issue and the case of Jan Senja if any of the facts he related are true he should have received the hangmans noose long ago. I understand he died of old age not so long ago. If Joe Douglas's secnario has any facts to it than Senja is personally responsible for thousands of deaths of American GI's resulting from substance abuse.
There are hundreds of cases of VN veterans having died of CNS damage, New York State did a study in 1985 which was published in Public Health.
I suspect that some Americans remained alive in Red China at the hands of the MGB until the Soviets were thrown out of China during a rift over ideological doctrine. Yet, Jim Angleton stated there was never a rift. The Red Chinese and Soviets turned Japanese POWs who were later alleged to have been penetrated back into Japan. Some are alleged to have gone up the ranks of the Japanese government and society. Amerian soldiers were known to have been in Vukta at one time, most likely WWII pesonnel -- their fate remains unknown because the Camp Commander had been jailed by Stalin and was let out onlt after Stalins death. His XO was still alive a few years ago. I personally interviewed the wife of the camp commander. She is in her 90's and I have no reason to disblieve the story. She was also interviewed by the a POW/MIA Affairs officer. The case of Tsingtao seems to have some threads of the truth, the question remains if the men were American or Canadian soldiers among the 80 men -- some of whom were missionary men.
Harry Wu should have been questioned about POWs being used as slave labor -- he probably was by this point in time -- I dont know if there is a relationship between him and Wu Shu-jen.
Two other high level government officals admitted that there were men in the Soviet Union. The question was quoted to me as "How the hell do you get them out". It seems that among Soviet citizens it is common knowledge that there are Americans who were in prison during WWII and following the war were let out after Stalin's death. They had married Soviet women and lived in the immediate areas of the alleged compounds -- never being allowed to have travel permits. Some are alleged to far for a living.
The case of Williams appears to be well known -- he had defected -- also a number of people believed to be on the ground in Vietnam over the years may in fact have been deserters or wanted on a wide range of charges.
Ignatov a Soviet officer in Wasington for years may have been the same Ignatov that served in Laos. He was also a member of the American Helicopter Society and a know to have made attempts to steal high technology from the United States. His current whereabout is unknown -- it is possible that he may as a Soviet agent have rum former POWs.
Otherwise your analysis seems to be solid. Mark Smith in an emotional state of mind once told me that men were still being held and that I should believe it without question. I believe that he was telling the truth.
An Army LTC walked out of China about 5 or ten years ago. Until someone tells me that the man was full of crap I have no reason to disbelieve the story. At least one MI operative defected and aided the North Vientamese.
Many antiwar activists in the VN veterans movements have long been involved in scams as well as espionage -- North Vietnamese agents were trained outside of Havana to interrogate American POWs -- they also had contact with members of the antiwar movement.
Burchett had a friend named Cora Weiss. Cora Weiss gave Kissigner an alleed list of American POWs being held. Burchett was a Soviet agent having been recruited in 1934 number among his friends a number of advisors to VN Veterans a group -- the same group aided European terrorists and assisted in their legal defense in the 1960-70 period. The same group is actiive in POW/MIA Affairs and has a serious question as to credibility.
Original Russell papers in Canada clearly demoonstrate that North Vietnam had a War Crimes Commission, The head of the Supreme Court of the DRV and the Health Minister were members. the other 9 members have never been identified. There rests the key to the whereabout and accountability of all American POWs in Southeast Asia.
With this I shall close -- your dedicattion to analysis has been well noted by those of us who have for one reason or another come close to the same conclussions.
Gardwood is alleged to have eaten in a Washington Restaurant were he had contact with a waiter who just may have been in North Vietnam with him. Garwood is a case for the Counterintelligence guys and I believe that at some future date there will bag his b-t and put him in jail for espionage.
The case of French POWs is not to be ignored -- many never returned to France, but, Ho Chi Minh shipped them out to third nations which were indicative of their native origins -- their famailies may have been on want lists in the communist world dating back to days before they entered the U.S. military service. A conference was held in 1954 in NY on the very issue.
Regards to all: Jay
Name:
Joe Schlatter
Email:
URL:
Comments
This guest book entry is in response to an earlier entry from Mr. Jason Kaatz.
Mr. Kaatz:
After reading your suggestions for research, I believe that you need to add three items to your list:
1. We need to look into why Elvis' name is misspelled on his headstone.
2. We need to investigate the link between Vince Foster's death and Newt Gingrich's resignation.
3. We need to see a digitally-enhanced version of the alien autopsy videotape.
Who knows. Maybe all the US MIAs from WWII, Korea, and Vietnam are stashed away in salt caves along with art stolen by the Nazis.
Name:
Cam Lawson
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thanks for your efforts. Cam Lawson BM3 ATC159 Rivron13 68-69
Name:
Ralph Reed
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Joe....Thamks for putting forth the effort on such an informative site. Keep up the good work. Was in VietNam from Jan 70 to Jan 71 flying with Air Rescue out of Phan Rang RVN. http://members.aol.com/rreed10910/rescue.html
Name:
Nigel Brooks
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
An extremely put together site. It is a pity that such a site is needed. Your conclusions show what a meticulous researcher you are.
Name:
Bill Cooper
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
As a radio reporter who's covered the mia-pow issue for years - and as a Viet Nam vet - I find this site an oasis of reason and clear analysis. I recommend it highly.
Name:
Keith Gary Flanagan
Email:
URL:
Comments
Joe, Your web site continues to be a voice of calm and reason within a sea of baseless suspicion and conspiracy theories. Thanks for all the information you produce. Gary
Name:
Ron M Dove, CWO4, USN(Ret)
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Interesting and exciting. Keep up the good work.
Name:
steve golding
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
http://www.ojc.org/powfor
Comments
<b>Joe, nice looking pages. Of course, I disagree with practically the entire content of these pages, but they are nice looking just the same.<br><br>
Funny, though, how your position differs from that of the United States in that the USG recognizes that not all came home after the war and that as late as the 80's they could have been alive.<br><br>
I wonder if 10 years from now some other committee will state that they were alive as late as 1999...while you and your pal Bob [SOURCE] Destatte <i>played around with the facts.</i><br><br>
Steve
Food for thought.</B>
Name:
Tom Satery (SAC '61-'67)
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I am tired of "Monica (or was that Bill?) Sucks!!!! I don't care how many times he got or gave head!!!!! I do care about all of the time WASTED on the bill shit! If all of that wasted effort was directed towards bringing our POW/MIA Brothers back THEY WOULD ALL BE HOME!!!!!!!! It is past the time that you should tell your politicians " enough of the soap opra shit. DO YOUR JOB!! "!! A Brother vet
Name:
Ron Malone 3rd visit
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
For the most part a good sight. referring to those ligitimate ideas that others might have as "crap" and so forth is a bit much. I agree totally with you're assessments re the "cowboy" tale.(might make a good comedy).
Name:
Tommy J. Campbell
Email:
[email protected]'
URL:
Comments
I'm A in country vet, served with the 9th Inf Div 69.For many of us the Pow Mia issue was A heart felt desire for any and all of our brothers to come home or be accounted for.But for many it became nothing but a shameless money scheme causing countless pain and suffering for families that all ready had suffered pain beyond explaination.
Name:
Jim Hogue, CMSgt, USAF (ret)
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Good site
Name:
Edward Combs Jr.
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I see that many opinions have already been expressed.
Name:
DIANNE BELL
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST AND INFORMATIVE VIET NAM WEB SITES I HAVE COME ACROSS!!!! EXCELLENT JOB JOE.
Name:
Leon E. Taylor
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Nice to get some straight information.
Name:
John H. Raney
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
The Book seams like a great Book. I read the article "only the phony" in the VFW Magazine, March, 1999, written by Al Hemingway. I think if the truth were known, the VFW has a few "Phonies" Keep up the good work.
Name:
Randy
Email:
rosbel@wire fire.com
URL:
Comments
My comments , This site sucks! joe look at S.bill 484 that came out last week. one more thing joe it sure is a shame you are here and not over there. are you runnig for political office?
Randy:
No, I am not running for political office. I have read S.484. It is worthless.
Thank you for your carefully considered comments.
Joe Schlatter
Name:
James M. Howard (in country 4-69/ 4 - 70
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I Agree with you that we left pow over there, But after thirty some odd years I regret to say that I don;t think any are left. I will never forgive the government for leaving them there and I know that as these people die they will be judged my the same people they left behind. AMEN
Name:
Jim
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
<!--START Y2K BANNER--> <p><center><a href="http://home.att.net/~vietnam67/"><img src="http://home.att.net/~vietnam67/y2kban.gif" border=1 width=329 height=40 alt="A Year To Kill--A Vietnam War Novel"></a></center><p> <!--END Y2K BANNER-->
Name:
R.M. Reynolds
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Attractive and well presented. That is all I can say good about your page. You might be a retired Col. but with that and $2.50 you can get a cup of coffee at Starbucks. I thank God I have never had the misfortune of having a Commander with so little loyalty to the Country he serves or the men under his command. If I was under your command you probably would not have lifted a finger to recover me if I was reported missing. Just how many men did you leave in Vietnam? How many names are on the Wall as a result of your poor leadership? I will admit it that there is almost no chance that any American is still alive in Vietnam. My point is ALIVE or DEAD, there needs to be closure. I want to know that my country will do it's best to locate me if I am captured or become missing the next time the military becomes involved in a conflict. Right now there is not that assurance in the military. Should we stop looking all-together? I don't think so. Even today they are locating MIA's in Europe. Over fifty years later families are finding closure. That is what the POW/MIA issue is all about, CLOSURE. If you cannot understand that I guess it is a good thing you are retired. The nation definatly does not need men like you leading real sservicemen & women.
Excuse me, Mr. Reynolds, but exactly where do I suggest that we should stop looking for our missing men? What I want stopped is the bogus reporting, the unceasing phony stories, and the misinformation that does nothing but raise false hopes. At several points on my web site I point out and applaud the efforts going on worldwide to account for men from Vietnam, Korea, the Cold War and WW II. I did not spend six years in the POW-MIA offices, working with familes and veterans groups, just to take shots from the uninformed. When was the last time you sat down with a family for hours and answered -- or tried to answer -- their questions and their heartache?
-- Joe Schlatter
Name:
Michael A. Anderson
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Interesting, provocative, persuasive, knowlegable, logical and generally well done. Your position is not popular, but it is reasonable. I recommend this site to anyone interested in balanced views on this complicated and emotional issue. Thanks for making a difficult and lonely stand. P.S. something is wrong with the URL space above.
Name:
Joe Schlatter
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
http://www.schlatter.org
Comments
Testing the guestbook. March 13, 1999
Name:
Jeff McIntyre
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Joe, I dissagree with most of your site, I find it hard to believe you just want to forget about them, sure, the POW's just might not be alive today,but their still missing!! I'm doing everything I can to see the POW/MIA Flag fly's everywhere, it's about NOT FORGETTING,and it is a nationally recognized flag.I wonder if your son was missing would you give up on him also ? I haven't seen too many site's like yours,this must be the only one thank god for that. I'd better stop now or I'll get myself into trouble.Hope to see you and McCain someday..Jeff
Name:
Email:
URL:
Comments
Dear Friends,
I am a Vietnamese American. More than any others, we saw MIA-POWs in Vietnam war ... ALIVE....and in captivity after the war ended. Alot of Vietnamese saw them deep in jungle, held in mobilize prison camp. Why nobody testify in congress?. Why nobody report to US Goverment?. WE ARE AFRAID TO BE KILLED, by both vietcong goverment and ...ironicly... the US Goverment, to cover up. We could help bring them back, not by rewarding large money, but by promising to end the communist goverment in Vietnam. Let put out a better reward to those who saw LIVE POW-MIA than just money. We want to see more tougher policy toward the communist goverment in Vietnam
Name:
AMHC PAUL E. O'DELL USN (RET)
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I did 25, some in Harm's way. Now i know that you are the reason I lined through the last line of the old Code of Conduct: the line that reads"And the United States of America.", and got myself in a sling for my effort. People such as yourself are the reason I will never allow any member of my family to serve in the Military Services. You are dangerous in that people who are unable to think for themself will take your writings seriously, and believe Bobby Garwood is not to be believed. I note that the majority of the supporters of your line are Officers. I guesss that is why most of the Ranks refer to them as Zero's.
Name:
David R. Bergeron
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I am presently reading Stolen Valor and agree with the author's assertions. We served with honor and dedication second to none.
Sgt./USMC RVN 1969 - 71
Name:
sam
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
This is a test messge of guest book
Name:
Beverly Moore
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
My father is a vietnam vet and I am currently trying to learn more about this war.
Name:
John P.Martin
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
OK, You gave more than i asked, thats for sure! Regards, J.P.M
Name:
John F. O'Keeffe
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Just finished the latest Reader's Digest article. Keep up the good work. Will pickup your book. Looking forward to reading it. Semper Fi!
Name:
Dave Barber
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Dear Joe:
I attended one of the DOD POW/MIA family briefings in Portland, Oregon last spring. I attended on behalf of a friend here in Seattle who lost a family member in WWII. Over half of those attending the Portland briefing had lost family members in Korea. It was a very moving, intense session. I was extremely impressed by the dedication and hard work of most of the DOD presenters. I think that this is one of the most worthwhile uses of public tax dollars that I have ever seen in action.
But I do have one issue which bothers me, and that I would like your comments on. It is clear that the DOD is conducting incredibly difficult archeological style recoveries in extremely remote locations in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. But there is no effort being made to recover the remains of those lost over water. There were half a dozen families at the Portland briefing (plus my friend) who lost family members over water and who expect recovery efforts to be made. There were very minimal efforts at the end of the Vietnam War. There was one followup effort to a Vietnamese salvor raising parts of a B-52 and recovering 2 US remains in the 1990s.
I did a little research on my own and found about 332 MIA/BNR in approximately 175 aircraft losses over water. The most common excuse I hear on this is that "fighter aircraft just explode when they hit the water at speed." That may be true, but that description fits only a small number of the losses. A great number of aircraft were lost over the end of carriers on failed launches. And there were many more slow crashes in very shallow coastal waters (I plotted all the locations and depths).
Today's side scan sonar and deep diving technologies could locate and recover at least half these missing. I have come to believe that the main reason this hasn't been done is that the search and recovery "toys" belong to the Navy, and the Navy believes in burial at sea. They don't care about congressional direction or the wishes of the families. Frankly, I think that this whole part of the recovery effort should be contracted to private firms. Any comments?
Dave Barber US Army, Vietnam 1967-68
Name:
G. Leon Hudson
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I found this site very interesting. It makes me question many things about psychiatric disorders as determined by the VA Medical System.
Name:
JOHN VAUGHT
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Joe, I agree there are a lot of fabricated stories about Viet Nam. Stolen Valor is an excellent illustration of this fact. Our unitwas much envolved in working in orphanages, leper colony, conducting civiloian sick call, building a hospital out of scraps, and all of this in our "spare time".Most everyone I knew during my two years there were good people,and great ambassadors for the United States of America. They were good soldiers who did a great job with honor. This story deserves to be told. THANK YOU.
Name:
William H. Grant
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Name:
Jeanette O'Fallon
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Great information - I will pass this on
Name:
Sepp Dietrich
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Chairman Comrade Clinton's QUEEN BERETS
FALLING FAIRIES FROM THE SKY I BROKE MY NAIL, OH I COULD CRY, DON'T YOU LIKE HOW MY TUSHY SWAYS WE ARE FAGS OF THE QUEEN BERETS.
BILL CLINTON'S WORDS UPON MY EARS, YOU GUYS HAVE RIGHTS, BE PROUD YOU QUEERS I ONCE WAS SCARED; - NOW I'M OKAY, CAUSE I'M A FAG lN THE QUEEN BERETS
PUT SILVER CLIPS UPON MY NUTS, I LOVE THE PAIN, NOW SPANK MY BUTT, THE WAY YOU WALK IS AWFULLY CUTE, I SURE WOULD LOVE TO PACK YOUR CHUTE.
THIS ARMY STUFF IS REALLY SLICK, FREE MEALS AND CLOTHES AND LOTS OF DICK, WHEN I RETIRE, I STILL GET PAID, WE THANK YOU BILL, FROM THE QUEEN BERETS.
Name:
John Fellows
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Interesting, and deserving of further visits.
Name:
kim green
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
disgusting bunch of hog wash!!!!! youll rot for this
Name:
Ted Willies
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Good Work, Joe. It's nice to see a voice of reason in the wilderness. I admire your perservance in the face of the attacks you get. Keep it up.
Name:
Michelle
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Name:
cynthia s black
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
good read
Name:
Cyndie Schaaf
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
THE POW BRACELET STORY: Very nicely done. I wore one of those bracelets myself for many years. I was in the 8th grade when I started wearing my first one. I supported the people in Desert Storm, with a bracelet. Today I'm am wearing one for SSCT Andrew A. Ramirez of California and am proud to be doing so.
Name:
Carolyn M. Thrower
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
My uncle was/is an MIA, SSgt Lamar Thrower...A Park in Gulfport, MS has his picture and name on some building...
Name:
Jeannie H. Schiff
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Joe, I sent you an earlier e-mail before I really looked at this site and found the kind words you said about me in the Lao study section. I wanted to thank you, and perhaps note that it really no longer is all DPMO's fault that the study hasn't been published. I did propose to finish it and return it for publication after I retired, but family and resettlement concerns got in the way. Do you think it is still worth doing?
Name:
ROBERT ALBEE
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
1ST WEB SITE THAT DEALS IN COMMON SENSE AND FACTS, NOT FICTION. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.
Name:
sarah
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
hotmail
Comments
I think this sucked i didn't even finish reading it I agreed with alot of the people who said the same thing as myself. It isn't fair to those people to say that about them, because you really don't know what they went through.
Name:
Eric Warfield
Email:
EDOG @ Zapme.com
URL:
eric warfield
Comments
I think that you page is really good on facts and everything. What you could do is add some pictures so people know that a lot of people know how you feel.
P.S. other than that YOUR web page is verry good
Name:
Maurice Tourison
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Tough Duty
Name:
joe
Email:
URL:
Comments
hey buddy you need to learn to respect our veterans and pows
Name:
HM1(SW)(SEAL) Thomas Villanueva
Email:
URL:
Comments
What's up Joe! Interesting website! I agree with those veterans who want to expose phony Navy SEALs, being that I'm in the teams my self.I graduated from BUD/S class #216.I'm currently in SEAL Team 5, 4th platoon. This is a message to all you fake SEALs out there. Give up your impersonation NOW! We're wathching you.
Name:
Toye
Email:
URL:
Comments
I think your site is poorly researched. Apparantly you were not involved with the Vietnam War and don't really care about what those that fought over there went through.
Dear Toye:
Because you do not have the courage to post your e-mail, I must respond to you here. Apparently you do not read English very well, otherwise you would have read on the first page of this site that I am a Vietnam veteran, I fought there, and I went through what other combat veterans went through. Thank you.
Joe Schlatter
Name:
Charles W Hopkins
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Your site is very informitive, I have read a few books and articles on the subject of robert garwood but none as complete or detailed as the articles you have printed on your site . which I belive yours to be true. compared to the lies, and deciete I have read in a few books I dont care to mention. Keep up the good work. I veiw your site daily and will continue to do so. THANK YOU.
Name:
Richard E. Foster
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
My specific interest is Lt. Richard Brazik...initially declared MIA and toward the end, perhaps '73 or '74 reclassified as KIA...how can I find information about this and where can I go on the net to find a list of personnel classified as KIA...would appreciate a reply..thanks, ref49
Name:
Jason C. McArdle
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
no space
Comments
You are right and wrong on some stuff here.
Mr. McArdle:
Thank you for visiting my site and for your comments. Be more specific: Right and Wrong about what? You are welcome to post here the items about which you believe that I am wrong; or, you may e-mail me and call to my attention what you believe to be wrong. However, be certain that what you cite as "wrong" can be proven wrong and that it is not just something that you disagree with. The fact that you disagree with something, or do not like something, does not make it wrong.
Regards,
Joe Schlatter
Name:
Southwest Asian Service Medal Awardee
Email:
URL:
Comments
Dear Sir. As an U.S. Army Veteran...3/9th FAand a combat Navy Veteran... USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN-71, I find your page to be somewhat disheartening. As I am a veteran of a foreign war, as are you, I find it dificult for you to give up any and all hope that no one survives. I do realize also that this "policing action" as it was taught to me in school, not a war that I lost an uncle to, happened several decades ago. And though the chances that anyone remains alive today, there is still that possibility, however remote. I ask you sir, If you had not come home to your family and the ones that you hold dear and love... .Would you wish for the nation that sent you to the HELL, that was Viet-Nam, to dismiss you so readily? I say to you sir, that i don't believe for a New York minute that you would. I do agree that the time is long past for the healing to begin. But, when there is even a shadow of doubt, how can there be? Even though I was a young lad when all this happened, My Dad taught me to be patriotic, and love, and serve my nation to the best of my abilities...and I WILL NOT FORGET those whom died, and have been declared MIA, before me in thier uniforms. Sir, as I was taught when I went through boot and AIT at Ft. Sill in the 5th TRNG BN, otherwise known as "the BE PROUD" battalion, when I salute, I say "BE PROUD". That has stuck with me over the years, even through the Navy. And, now and then I get some quirky response from some SHIT FOR BRAINS CAN'T CUNT OFFICER, like yourself, that is not proud of his uniform. The only reason that it is worn is for personal gain.....not PERSONAL PRIDE AND SACRIFICE! It would burn my ass to no end to have to salute SORRY ASSED SONS O' BITCHES like you. You are a disgrace to that green uniform, with gold plated brass, because you're probably to fuckin' lazy to polish the brass you were issued. It is RAT BASTARDS like you that put that WORTHLESS LYING DRAFT-DODGING DOPE SMOKING RAPIST ENEMY COLLABERATING RAPIST in the White House. I hope that you too realize that while you can not prove...you also can not disprove americans still left in southeast Asia. And until you can, I suggest you get the FUCK off this bandwagon, and help us bring something of our boys home.......
Dear Southwest Asian Service Medal Awardee:
Thank you for your clear, logical, and very literate comments. It's such a joy to know that individuals of your caliber wear our country's uniform.
Joe Schlatter
Name:
Stephen Tustison
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
You are doing a great job. Please hang in there . I've keep up with this for years and the internet has been a great resource. This Spite House is the biggest bunch of crap ever printed.
Name:
Southwest Asian Sevice Medal Awardee
Email:
URL:
Comments
Hey Joe, FUCK YOU, you limey lookin walwrus piece of shit!
Name:
L>L>McClintick EMC USN(ret)
Email:
URL:
Comments
Name:
Markus Zuleger, SGT German Army
Email:
URL:
Comments
Tough I am not an American, I am really interested in the POW/MIA issue. Your page has shown me the way to a few very good books.
Markus Zuleger Unteroffizier d. R. Gebirgsjägerbataillon 233
Name:
Quinn G. Smith
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I like this site. I am a retired MI colonel, served as S-3 of the 525th MI Gp in Vietnam in 1966, and have an interest in the issues you have on your excellent web page. Keep it up!
Name:
Mike Gaudio
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Very informitive
Name:
Ernest P. Hayes, SSG Ret
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
good site, I spent two years in "I" corps, always interested in mia,pow.
Name:
Ramona M. Fraunfelder
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
no url
Comments
I really dig your page....opened my eyes let me tell you that much. :) please I have wrote you e-mails I would love a response. thank you so much Mona
Name:
Steve Foster
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Very intresting reading. I aree with some and disagree with some, but that's what makes America what it is today.
Name:
Larry R.Tachka
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Since I'm a brand new visitor, may I reserve comment until I've been here a couple of hours? I do like what I've seen and read.
Name:
Wes
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Have to long a URL
Comments
Okay...Lets see here..First of all I don't believe you have all your facts right. Second..I am in complete shock what you have here. I'm just too upset to say what I really want to say, but I will be back to give you some real facts. My URL is http://members.xoom.com/lovinheart/index1.htm
Name:
Dr. Daniel H. Pike
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thanks, lest we forget . . . . . Sgt, USAF, Korean War
Name:
Dave Parks
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Great site! I was interested in the Garwood case and your site/efforts in detailing the information on him and his activitys were top notch. Thank you. dp - 856th RRD, 199th LIB, VN 67-68.
Name:
SFC (R) R.W. Williamson
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I haven't had time yet to find my way around - and to digest what's here. I will and submit my reactions then.
Name:
John Di Nunzio
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Mr. Schlatter, I can only say that I learned a lot from reading your site. I have read all the articles, and I know now that in some case, I was as mis-lead as everyone else.
Your site should be required reading for everyone who really CARES about pow/mia issues.
I am a 3 year Vereran of Viet-Nam. I served with the 144th Aviation Co. (RR) in Nha Trang. I was directed to your site by a discussion on the ASA-VN-TALK website about Garwood. Thank you for printing the truth.
John Di Nunzio
PS I was recently contacted by the Sen Bob Smith for President Committee, I can't wait for them to call back!
Name:
Michael G. Kinney MSgt. USAF (Ret)
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thanks for alerting me to this site in the "Vietnam" Magazine. I've only spent a few minutes reading you WEB Page but plan to devote more time and return frequently. I may have further comments the more I read.
Name:
SFC James G Scheffler
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Joe - Like many others I know, I was on the POW-MIA/Government Conspiracy bandwagon for many years. I gradually became aware of the greed and power hunger that drives so many in the various organizations. I've bought and read nearly every book printed concerning Vietnam War POW-MIAs. Most present partial truths and suppositions, interspersed with unadulterated BS, leavened with the occasional urban legend, and accept the 'true lies' told by POW wannabees as the Word of God. Other than that, of course, I guess money and political power are the major goals of many of that crowd. It's refreshing to see people like yourself who, though no longer officially involved, still care enough about the truth to suffer the slings and arrows you attract by publishing facts which do not accord with those published by the hucksters and outright phonies out there. For what it's worth, you have my full support, and I've sent your URL to everyone I know. This site, and your dedication to it, reminds me of the old joke about the brand-new 2LT arriving in Vietnam. He asks the company commander what he should do. The CO tells him, "Well, son, you need to inspire the men. We want you to go out front and draw fire." Well, Colonel, I guess there's still more than a bit of that butterbar left in you! In the Army, I learned that an NCO should always choose the difficult 'right' over the easy 'wrong'. That applies to all soldiers, of course, and it's easy to see that we share the same values. I salute you, and thank you for caring enough to present this site to us all. J.G. (Jeff) Scheffler RVN '65-'67
Name:
Howard N. Paulsen, CWO4, USN, RET.
Email:
Howard Paulsen/NUC/VANCPOWER@VANCPOWER
URL:
Comments
Keep up the good work.
Name:
robert john peters
Email:
URL:
Comments
a lot of bull
Name:
Charles E. Moore
Email:
URL:
Comments
i would like to see proof of what you say is true, if the pows are not alive then where are they? as far as you littlr purposal i think that someone should take it and line the bottom of their cats litterbox you have your opinion and i have mine , and i believe that your is nothing but alot of B.S.
Name:
Ron Woods
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
A great effort. Keep up the good work.
Name:
Karen Mahoney
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I still wear my POW/MIA braclet after all these years and will always. PFC Henry Herrin 1-2-68. As far as I know he is listed as MIA. I don't know him but he has been a part of me for 31 years.
Name:
Ret. MSG
Email:
URL:
Comments
COL, I hope to God your MIA assessment is correct, but it doesn't jive with what I read while at Arlington Hall 77-78.
Name:
MAX
Email:
URL:
Comments
congratulation for the site. Garwood do not deserve to be considered as POW. I talk a few time with an American POW wich Garwood use to beat up in fornt of is VC friends. Thank you again for this site God bless all MIA/POW
Name:
Merle Pribbenow
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Joe: Just ran across your site while web-surfing. I haven't seen anything about POW/MIA since I retired 4 years ago, although I have seen Bob DeStatte a couple of times. Enjoyed your item on Billy Hendon - what a jerk!! Where is he now, anyway? Actually it's probably best not to know - out of sight, out of mind. Also enjoyed your piece on the Mortician, a case I have a little personal knowledge of myself. If you get a chance, you also might do a little work on Chip Beck - he seems to have gone around the bend, running with the crazies now. Bad for our image. Keep up the good work. Merle Pribbenow
Name:
Pat Plumadore
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Dear Joe,
Pounding nails for homes for the poor will not save the soul of one who has pounded the nails into the coffins of our missing loved ones. Only the truth shall set you free.
Name:
Charles Lewis
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Class #37 Keep smoking em out
Name:
James McNeill, Scotland
Email:
URL:
Comments
Very interesting and refreshing to finally get some sense on the PW/MIA issue
Name:
Lao Bong
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
God Bless US POWs and MIAs.
Name:
Tony Mouser
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Name:
WC Telford
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I am a Vietnam vet, have read countless books & articles regarding the entire "war" & most recently a host of material on the POW?MIA issues. My own personal opinion is that our govrernment abandoned many men. The Nviets knew what they had and what they wanted but Nixon and especially the arrogant & selfish Sec'y of State, Henry Kissinger conveniently wrote off these men for political reasons. Treachery is a most common trait of our Washington leadership & the wilfull abandonment of our POW/MIAS does not surprise. There is no doubt in my mind that our government knew that many men were not released at the time of Operation Homecoming. I would also add that the actions & inactions of the DIA are also suspect in this sorry & unforgiveable chapter of American history. With so many of our nations military leaders becoming "policitized" by Washington I question the courage of many of them to be truthful in issues such as the POW/MIA controversy
Name:
William Birdsall
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I enjoyed the site sir.I wear the POW bracelette of Cpt Dean P ST Pierre USAF. It seems few care anymore but us few
Name:
Wife Of A Marine
Email:
URL:
Comments
Shame on all of you!!!!! May someone find it in their heart to forgive you, because it certainly WILL NOT be me!!!!
Name:
Al Kibbe
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
class 108 Thanks for the info/entertainment
Name:
Erik C. Burney, TSgt, USAF
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I'm an AF Life Support troop and was fortunate enough to be a part of JFA 98-6L. We went to central Laos to look for the crew of an A-1F. This experience remains the high point of my career thus far. I hope to go again someday. Call or write your representative to ensure that recovery/accounting efforts are funded until all who can come home, do.
Name:
Jason A. Kaatz
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Joe: This is the first time that I had an opportunity to read your guest book postings. I guess you did not take me seriously when I offered the advise about the fact the the head of the DRV Supreme Court (Peoples Court) had maintained records on each POW held by the Vietnamese communists. However, the point seems to be valid and there is some evidence that such was the case. Back many years ago while Wilford G. Burchett was still alive he wrote a book and inadvertanly refered to the head of the DRV Court as a personal friend and cited a wealth of information about the relationship and his hatred for Americans. The facts at that point came to light with a vivid description of how the "North Vietnamese Commission on War Crimes" had functioned. It appears that there was an investiagtive body that gathered evidence on each American POW. Burchett as you probably know was recruited by the Soviets in l934 in London. He and his wife traveled to North Korea during that conflict and was involved in aiding the North Koreans and Red Chinese interrogate Allied POWs. Angleton was a very interested in Burchett. Shortly after he retired the govt he and a retired AF General asked me to assist an Australian investigator to conduct an investigation into his activities during and after the Korean War and we looked at Vietnam as well. Very revealing. Not only did Burchett have contact with POWs in NK, he also had contact with American POWs in the camps in NVN. On that basis we learned that he also included Dr. Thach as one of his personal friends. Thach and the head of the DRV Court both chaired NVN War Crimes Commission. This, they had established a dossier on each POW. He was also a friend of Kissinger and there was another women in the picture named Cora who had been blackmailing the wives of POWs and withholding mail according to Congressional and Senate Testimony at the time. Jim likewise had stated to me over lunch in the Army-Navy Club in D.C. sometime between l975 and l980 that there was not question in his mind that the Soviets had POWs in their possession. Being the soft spoken man he was and having been a chain smoker -- had several lit at the same time he quitely wispered in my ear that there was no dark secret concerning the fate of POWs. The project mainly related to POWs who were captured in North Korea, However, after learning a lot about Burchett I began to look at his activities during the VN war. He also traveled on a Cuban passport using diplomatic cover of the UN. Other than knowing Kissinger I am not sure that he had ever had been interviewed by the intelligence community. The Soviets like him so well that he was awarded the Stalin prize and given an apartment in a KGB complex in Moscow. He later died in Bulgaria. It seems that he had three wives, perhaps 4 in his life time. Also spent time in Red China between Korea and Vietnam, when Vietnam broke out he showed up in Hanoi and was also a friend of Ho. His last wife was an official in the Bulgarian CP. He also had a son some place. A number of friends in the NY Times and Paris papers and traveled with a man known as Jhon Pic who may have photographed POWs in the camps in NK and NVN. Following the porject the Australian investigator who was also a lawyer returned to Australia where he brought litigation against Burchett for the brutal treatement of Australian POWs. Jim was a friend of the family and I was happy to help and took on the investigative tasks that had to be done without fee.
Early this year I came across 19 pages of notes in an archives up in Canada on a man named P. Martinsen. It seems that he served in the Army and worked for MI at one time, however, aided the North Vietnamese and became friendly Dr. Thach. He had served with the 172nd MI Detachment and worked with the 4th MI Det. He gave the enemy everything he had knowledge of. Due you know if this guy was ever a POW or just a turncoat and where he ended up after the war. He seems to have given the North Vietnamese a hell of a lot of assistance during the war years.
I saw a post which said that you had worked for Jim and Ray Rocca some years back. I had a high regard for Jim and without question he was a serious intellecutal who had developed a wealth of knowledge on Soviet intelligence and the USSR in general. Some years ago when Mike Benge and othere began to focus on the Cubans I began to wonder if they if Phil Agee had played a role in helping the Soviets, Cubans and North Vietnamese -- he was on the run for several years and I recall Stilwell and Jim having been concerned about his activities. He spent several years floating around Germany and Europe. Some say that he was responsible for the murder of an operative in Balkins after his name was published in a newsletter put out by ahndful of radical crackpots in D.C. Since Jims death the old-boy network that dates back to WWII does not seem to be what it use to be.
Mr. Kaatz:
In your message, posted above, you state: "I saw a post which said that you had worked for Jim and Ray Rocca some years back." I do not know anyone named Rocca -- Jim, Ray, Sam, Jack, Jose, or any other person named Rocca. Never worked with, for, under, over, or around anyone named Rocca.
You also refer to an individual named "P. Martinsen." The only P. Martinsen I find is an individual who testified before Bertrand Russell's silly "war crimes trials" that were an attempt to indict the U.S. for war crimes during the Vietnam War. Mr. Martinsen claimed that he entered the Army and was trained as a cook. He then claims that he was sent to language school to study Italian, then trained as an interrogator and served as such in Vietnam. He then described how, as an interrogator, he and his fellow interrogators, as a matter of course, applied electric shock and other torture to enemy prisoners in Vietnam. Mr. Martinsen's story has the ring of bullshit. In the first place, the training sequence that he described -- cook, Italian linguist, interrogator -- is highly suspicious; so much so that I doubt that it happened. His descriptions of constant torture of enemy prisoners in Vietnam is nothing but repeated urban legend and nonsense.
I suggest, sir, that you become a bit more discriminating in your use of sources.
Regards,
Joe Schlatter
Name:
Dennis Tabella
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
/www.defendersofanimals.o
Comments
Nice site...clearly written...thanks
Name:
Steven W. Smith
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I'm still digesting the information; I haven't completed all of the pages yet. 9/7/99
Thank you for taking the time to make this public...looks like you've done your homework.
Name:
Jim Hogue
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Damn, Colonel!! Just read your latest stuff. You got those "wannabe" REMFs in a full twist! Keep it up!
Jim Hogue
Name:
Marty Eddy
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
The information that you provide at miafacts.org is always thought-provoking and, at least for me, often leads to further research. While I may not agree with some of what I read on your site, I find the articles and links to be an important resource. It's poor scholarship to research only that which supports your own opinion. Besides, as President of the P.O.W. Committee of Michigan, I have a responsibility to the organization and to the Michigan family members to engage in as much POW/MIA research as possible. On a much wider scale, I'm still an avid collector (and reader) of books and other materials related to the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, representing myriad points of view -- personal, poltical, military and artistic -- about the "before, during, and after." Kind regards, Marty Eddy
Name:
Email:
URL:
Comments
Bad website. Does it matter if they are dead? Didn't they at the very least earn the right to be brought home and buried in American soil instead of some rice paddy in a jungle on the other side of the world?
Thanks to a misguided visit to this site I will fly my "ubiquitous black-and-white POW flag" just a little higher.
Comment from Joe Schlatter: This comment is typical of that made by folks who miss the point. At no time have I ever advocated abandoning our missing men. I advocate a serious approach to accounting for them. And, for the past two decades, the US government has been conducting an effort to recover our missing men, not only from Vietnam, but also from Korea and WW II -- an effort that is unprecedented not only in our own history but in the entire history of warfare. The answer specifically the preceding anonymous comment, they are being "brought home and buried in American soil."
Name:
Mark Hughes
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
http://www.geocities.com/
Comments
I think its high time that the US government play down this subject strictly as it only does harm to the missing mens families.
A British Serviceman
Name:
jim disney
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Great site will use alot in the near future. thanks keep up the good work
Name:
Terry Dixon
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
http://xtn.net/~grunt/vie
Comments
I see you get a lot of hate mail....well not from me.....I do think we left people after 1973 though and I would not trust the Gov as far as I could throw them...Keep up the good work...some times people think with their emotions and not their brain..... Semper Fi
Name:
Pat Plumadore
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Dear Joe,
I read with interest your article concerning deserters. You state that, as in the case of Mateo Sabog, when remains are returned that are associated with an individual the family is notified even if they have not been identified by the USG. As you are aware of the facts in my brothers case, you know that information concerning my brother was intentionally with held from my family concerning remains returned in 1986. You are also aware of the fact the the USG is with holding information from a number of families that the remains they believed to be those of their loved ones that were returned for burial in late 1967 and early 1968 are now known to have been erroneous identifications and theat there is intelligence available that some of these soldiers sent home for burial were actually captured. If the truth were told, instead of the so called lists becoming shorter with all of the bogus identifications being made, the lists would actually be growing by leaps and bounds. I know what Destate and Shiff were up to in my brothers case, so do you, Manning and Mitch Holland. In the near future you will all know what I am up to. I am just waiting to see how far they are willing to hang their asses out on the line this time. So many graves, so few shovels. How many dead men are there walking?
Ms. Plumadore:
Thank you for your comments. As you know, your comments are a seriously inaccurate portrayal of the facts. You know that you were kept fully informed of everything known about your brother's case and the related cases. I am sorry that you are not able to accept facts.
Sincerely, Joe Schlatter
Name:
William O. Freyser
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thanks, Joe, you are providing a much-needed service. Your efforts will contribute no small amount to the truth of the POW/MIA issue.
Name:
Michael Jennison, Col USAFR (ret)
Email:
URL:
Comments
I did not serve in Viet Nam, but my father, my brother, and many friends and colleagues did. I worked briefly with PW issues at DIA in the mid-80s. Thanks for the valuable public service you are performing. I admire your courage and persistance. It tears at my heart to see these so-called activists--a shameful industry--continue to exploit the vulnerable families and gullible public. Like most conspiracy theorists, they greatly overestimate the capabilities of the conspirators. As you note, the US Government has done more to account for its PWs and MIAs than any other in the history of warfare. I have sympathy for those who have been misled by charlatans, but none for determined ignorance of readily available facts. Keep up the good work.
Name:
K. Cline
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thanks for a great site. Intelligent and reasonable people like you are a credit to the country and the services. (And this Bo Gritz character is one of the biggest disgraces to ever come out of this country's armed forces.)
As to those of you who think Mr. Schlatter is full of s**t: At least LOOK at what he's got to say. He's right; all he's advocating is a more sensible approach to accounting for MIA's/POWs. I showed this site to my father - who served in Vietnam and, believe me, is NO lover of our government - and he agreed. Think a little before your mouth runs away on you. (And it's nice to know, from the spelling and grammar I've seen on this site, that such high-caliber and -quality individuals serve in the U-S Armed Forces. Wonder if they were able to read their training manuals - or if they were too busy learning war games.)
Name:
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I belive thawt you Sir are wrong!!! How do you figure that all the MIA's from Nam are back? Ther are hard cold facts that will easily prove your so called "theroy" wrong!!! So the next time you get ready to state some more false facts do some research on MIA and POW's. WE have pleanty of copies of old news papres and things like that where I go to school and those will all to fast prove you WRONG!!!!!!! Thanks for your time.
Name:
Foz
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
You should be censored and booted back to Nam. You talk of "mythology". I agree, your site is so full it, it could be a fairy tail. Lets get to the nut cutting. You say POW/MIA facts facts are crap (being nice so you can't gig me for my mouth like you do others in this form) Lets start with POWNET www.asde.com/~pownet/. Tell me all of that gov. info is wrong, alot is from your old duty stataion, AND about the same time frame? What about "Smoking Guns". If there were no POW/MIAS left after Homecoming, why the did the gov. declare Charles E. Shelton "the last Dead POW?"in 1994? Have you seen "Document 1205", from the us senate? "Subject: Russian Document from Soviet CPSU...Archives reveals 1,205 American POWs were held in North Vietnam in Sept. 1972-5 months before Operation Homecoming returned 591 POWs...." Where is the other 614? Tell my big boy? Get the document and read it, go to POWNET site, Read "Code name Bright Light", "Read kiss The Boys Good bye". THEN E-MAIL ME BACK TELLING ME WHY THIS IS ALL MYTHOLOGY. TAKE ALL THIS AND LET ME KNOW OTHER THAN WELL "I SAID" . DON'T GIVE ME ANY OF THAT BULL SHIT, "WELL I WORKED.." PASSAGES FROM THE BOOKS, ITEAM FROM THE SITE, IT'S TIME TO PUT THE MONEY WHERE THE MOUTH IS, SOMETHING THAT I CAN SEE WHAT WE ARE BOTH LOOKING AT, AND THEN LETS SEE WHERE THE "MYHOLOGY IS" (GIVE ME PAGE NUMBERS, WHAT BOOK OR DOCUMENT, SO WE WILL BE ON THE PAGE.
This is a reply to dianellemmath and Foz who left comments above. From your comments it appears that each of you has read only the opening page of the MIA Facts Site, found at https://miafacts.org/default.htm. There are over 75 articles on this site that answer your questions. For example, the article on "Duck Soup" provides details on COL Charles Shelton; there are articles on the "1205 document" and on "Kiss The Truth Goodbye." I recommend that each of you return to the opening page and scroll down that page to the link to the Table of Contents. On the Table of Contents you will find a summary of each article and a link to each article. Read every word in every article, not just the summaries. That should take you a month or so and you will learn something in the process. By the way, Foz, I have visited the asde site. Yes, they do have material from my old office but they have carefully selected only the items that they want to display and they seriously misrepresent facts -- in no case do they tell the whole story.
-- Joe Schlatter
Name:
tim
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
interseting reading
Name:
Dennis Tabella
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
www.defendersofanimals.or
Comments
http://www.defendersofanimals.org Nice Site.....thanks for the memories
Name:
Casler
Email:
URL:
Comments
Name:
James B. Luther
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I was assigned to the 6994th Detachment that launched Baron52. I was Chief of the Stan Board section and most of the backend crew worked for me. I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE AMS ON THAT FLIGHT.
Name:
Bethany
Email:
mgtcman @ alo.com
URL:
Comments
I'd just like to say to all of the people who signed the guest book with disrespecting comments to Mr. Schlatter: I'm don't know much about this topic, but I am learning, but one thing I am sure of is that this issue is very CONTRAVERSAL. Everyone has a different view of the subject. Mr. schlatter did no harm in writting is opinion. I find it sickening that I am only a high school student, and I have more understanding to everyone's different views then some of you people who are obviously older than I seeing as how you state in your guest book signings that you were in the war. I'm just trying to help you people who were extremly rude, see that everyone is allowed a difference of opinion. There is no harm in writting back to Mr. Schlatter your views of the issue, but why must you be so vulgar and blinded to the fact that this is a contraversol issue, and his only one opinion of the story. I mean really, how old are you people?
Name:
Mike Poston
Email:
MLPoston @wt.net
URL:
Comments
Just found your site. Am very impressed with the detail. I plan to devour all this information I can.
Name:
Robert Ash
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Just saw a documentary on British TV about the phoney SEAL busters. Sad to think that people can go to such lengths to take what they see as glory from someone elses suffering. A shame it is necessary but may you get them all. I was a young teenager when the Vietnam war ended, and have no experience of anything approaching what was that conflict, and to be honest I hope I never do. But to those that did, and never returned may God care for their souls.
Name:
Pat Plumadore
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Joe,
You know that the government most certainly did with hold information from my family concerning my brother starting in 1967 and continuing to this day. You were even an accomplice in this. There are seven mortuary records from the Kingfisher incident where the dental ID does not match the the servicemans antemortem dental records (not even close). There are two more that are questionable. Whatever was sent home in those caskets was not what the families believed them to be. They were in such a hurry to clear these guys off the books that they even attached a name to" about twenty pounds of maggot infested flesh". That was what was sent home for burial, from an incident involving possible capture. Like so many other incidents where there was evidence of capture, the government sent anything or nothing home for burial rather than admit these soldiers were taken prisoner. There was more than one Marine captured off the battlefield the day of my brother incident. In their hast to account for these Marines they even took the remains from a crashed aircraft and labled them with the names of the Marines who had been captured. There is so much more heartbreak ahead. All because of lies, then and now. How can you ship home a little rotted flesh with no Id media and put someones name on it as if you had really accounted for him. How many families think they have their loved one buried when in fact they were abondoned like so many others. As I said the list could grow very much larger. Time will tell. Pat Plumadore
Name:
Kristine Sturdivant
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Sir, this site is refreshing, mostly due to its well researched and documented content. Especially after reading "Spite House", with no bibliography. Prior to "Spite House" I had never heard of Garwood, however, I smelled a rat and began to do a little research of my own, just to get a more objective picture of the Garwood situation. Personally, there is nothing more frustrating than reading a highly inflammatory and biased book, when the book is supposed to be non-fiction. I found "Honor Bound, American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973" to be very well documented. Perhaps the only suggestion (reminder, really)I would make, sir, is with this highly emotional issue, POW/MIA's, the term "cult" may be a little strong. Anyway, I feel like I discovered a goldmine of facts in your site, thank you and keep up the good work.
Name:
Rocky Kemp
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Having watched for a while, I am impressed with McCain and will support his run at the presidency. Best Regards Semper Fi Rocky Kemp USMC 1953-61
Name:
Chief petty officier French navy Mounard roger
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thank you for all you are doing in Vietnam my native land.i'm French but born in V.N and lives there during the war at Saigon city.Speaking vietnamese i have a lot of U.S soldiers for friends specially Choppers Pilots and naturally Vietnamese soldiers .Salute all brave soldiers dying for our liberty.Hope to have news all of you.I have a lot of letter from P.O KIET and continue to have conversation together.Promise to answer to all of you and me be next year in state.Chief petty officier french navy Mounard roger.Best regards.
Name:
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
REad my new mail
Name:
CHUCK SANTARLAS
Email:
[email protected] B'ham al.
URL:
Comments
I think Carol Bates's idea was great. I didn't know who started the braclets. Think GOD sombody did. Keep up the good work and bring them home.PS. Vietnam Vet
Name:
Kim Carnal
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
This site is really compelling and even though I was not born in that era I still believe it is a great symbol and reminder. I am also currently looking for a way to obtain one of those braclets.
Name:
Steven L. Waterman
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Great job, Joe. If you piss people off, it's probably the phonies. By the way, just for your information. ANYBODY claiming to be a SEAL and a former POW is a liar in both respects. All SEALs know there have never been any SEAL POWs. Any time you need any of these hokey bastards checked out, let me know. If I can't help you, I sure as hell can hook you up with somebody who can. Thanks for joining the web ring. Hopefully a fake PTSD claims page will pop up soon on here and then the money going to these assholes can be used to help REAL combat vets. My website would not fit in the little box. Here it is http://www.midcoast.com/~waterman/fakevets.html
Name:
SFC-R R.W. Williamson
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Haven't looked thru it fully - yet! Am impressed with what I have seen so far.
Vietnam Vet - 330th RRCo (both times at Pleiku and Nha Trang with a lot of TDY...) Aug 66 - Aug 67 Aug 69 - Mar 71
Name:
John H. Davis Jr----sgt usmc nam 67-68-69
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Good site great to bring back memorys, especialy those of Bobby Garwood / Nuyen Chien Dau
Name:
Brenda M. Montgomery
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Have a drink on Joe !! Tis the Season ...
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/8961/joesgin.htm
Name:
Erminia Aflague
Email:
URL:
Comments
Name:
Daniel A. Curran
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thanks for the use of your site to research the status of some of my classmates.
Name:
Karen Bender
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Wonderful history of the MIA bracelets. I was trying to find out whether or not my bracelet or should I say the name on my bracelet remains were ever found.
Name:
Minh Thai
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thank you to not denied us. A vietnamese Marines Corp
Name:
Bob Hermann
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Your site is refreshing in the vast void of the internet. It brings a sense of reasonableness and calm to patriotic emotions. I briefly scanned your Guestbook. One of my favorites was the diatribe by "Southwest Asian Service Medal Awardee." It was coherent for a while there, but in the end his pants fell down. We know what he thinks of Clinton. I wonder how he feels about the service done by Quayle or Bush?
Anyway, I was just surfing around, found your site and thought it was great.
Keep up the good work.
Bob Hermann - Vietnam Veteran, 101st Airborne Division - 1968 to 1969
Name:
Paddy Riley
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Dear Mr Schlatter: As a Veteran I am thoroughly disgusted by the lies and deceit in your web page. You are an affront to all veterans who served in Vietnam. Not only have YOU abandoned your brothers, you try to incite others to abandon them also. It is no secret that captured US servicemen ended up in other countries such as Russia, China. EWOs were a real prize back then. You should be ashamed of yourself for writing such unadulterated BS. I bet your men in Vietnam just loved you. Did anyone ever try to frag your sorry ass back then?.
Name:
Liam
Email:
URL:
Comments
On reading your web page it is obvious that you are trying to destroy any sliver of HOPE that we have of ever seeing our loved one again. There is so much evidence that all our men were not returned to us after that war, yet you try to rationalize EVERY claim as bogus or a figament of someone's imagination. You are truly an evil man Mr Schlatter and I thank God that my father did not serve under the likes of you in that war or I may not have been here to write this.
Name:
Bob
Email:
URL:
Comments
I agree with Paddy and Liam.
Name:
John L. Ioven Jr.
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I think the site is very good. I am sorry that not enough people realize what the servicemen have gone through. I missed the draft by 2 years, and have always been pro veterans. My thoughts and prayers are always with you. john
Name:
Paddy, Liam and Bob
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
There you go lying again schlater. These messages were posted from the same computer from a work location by three (3) different people who share the same opinion. These messages were posted two or three days apart and not minutes. You remind me of a leader we have, can't stop lying.
Name: Joe Schlatter
Comment: Dear "paddy / liam / bob:" Fell for it, did you? I wouldn't say "lying" -- it's that you were "spoofed." Look up the word -- the effect was to flush you out -- too bad you can't just be flushed.
Name:
Paddy
Email:
URL:
Comments
Spoofed. I don't think so schlatter. You wouldn't use the word lying but most of your web page is built with lies. You sure are one sorry man and I am very glad that I did not have the misfortune to serve under you. You sir, are opinionated and deceitful. (sound like one of your fitness reports) Have a nice day Joe.
Name:
Caron Lingel Richardson
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Great site. After all these years and loosing touch with the daughter of an MIA, I found the information I was seeking. Now, if I can find the daughter, Sue Engelhard, again?
Name:
Jeff W Ashenfelter
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
members.aol.com/arcticash
Comments
Enjoyed the site, no B.S. you put a lot of effort into it/ and it shows
Name:
Thomas Collins
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Good work! I can personally attest to much of the info you publish and have personally observed many of the frauds you expose prey on the families and honest people interested in veterans It is ironic that these frauds continue to stir an interest in the MIA issue and hopefully this interest will lead to many finding your site as well as others which accurately tell the MIA story.
Name:
Coleen Ann Karten
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
It's wonderful to read the history of the bracelet. I've never found out what happened to my man; thanks to this site, maybe I'll finally know. What an inspiration these kids were/are.
Name:
ron kovar
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
well joe read the info.i'm not some phony vet. served oct.68 till dec.71.and only did six months out of country,since i was a shorttimer,don;t have any chest full of medals,and did not bayonet anyone,or take any skulls home with me.just a good growing exp.i do not understand all of this phony b.s. everybody spews,the only syndrome i suffer,and not agent orange,or combat fatigue,is not being able at the time to have done more,i guess it was simple enlist, do the three years,and get out, and go on with life,i don't have nightmares,and cold sweats.but i guess to some of these wack -job phonies,that makes the story.keep up the work!!! and i will buy and read the book stolen valor.i guess my platoon book would not be too interesting,since 90% came back and got on with life.a former marine.a not too interesting military file but then again the gov.keeps it that way.now getting on with life 32 years latter. everyday a stuggle,but thanking God i made it,and did'nt come back like these phonie a-holes,my words to them [get a life]and to those who served thank you once again.semper -fi. in these times that sometimes is all we have.faith.
Name:
Bush, Larry E.
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Great idea, I'm glad someone is think about the scrafices soldiers made in VietNam.
Name:
R. Besal
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thanks. Most interesting site.
Name:
Ken Thomas
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Although I am impressed by your careful, unemotional apprroach, I am too shocked to comment usefully on the issues raised; I am the badly served protagonist of "First Blood", M. Evans &co.,1972. The author (David Morrell) never even heard of Bo Gritz prir to publication. I kept my mouth shut because I believed- and believe -Gritz to be atrue American hero. ...time to reassess. K.T.
Name:
Jennifer Martinez
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
This is the work of the US Government trying to manipulate people's minds. Someone who is not knowledgeable on the subject of US Military men abandoned to the fates of their communist captors would come to believe, after spending time at the Good Colonel's web site, that there are in fact no live POWs. The truth will prevail, it always does. The men were left there and some still live. On a more basic level, this is a matter of good vs. evil. Can you guess who is evil here?
Name:
Clive Rae
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Sincere appreciation and gratitude to all the Real Americans who have made it possible to raise our children in this 21st Century.
Name:
Alan R Cleasby
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Very interesting for someone who has only just become interested in the subject.Just read a book "Code-Name Bright Light" by George J. Veith, does not conclude that all POWs returned.
Best Regards.
Name:
Paddy, Liam and Bob
Email:
URL:
Comments
Give up Schlatter nobody of any importance is buying your shit. You are just obviously opening your BIG MOUH and lettig your belly rumble. Have a nice day Joey.
Name:
Eileen M. McDonald
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thank you so much! I have looked and looked for information on the bracelets.Ihave finally located my soldier after 30 years. THANKS!
Name:
Michael Maxey
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I have reasons to believe and known fact that there are 50 american pow's still alive in vietnam being held captive and as and american it is my dutie to believe that we should go get them and bring them home. I am c/pfc Michael Maxey of the United States Army Junior Reserve Officers Training Corp. But as a soldier I've taken to silence of what I'm about to do and so I'm asking you for your help to bring those men home once and for all. If I have to I'll go into vietnam myself and rescue and bring them home for their right as americans to live freely without tortcher.
Name:
Darlene
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thanks so much for all the information. I found just what I was looking for.
Name:
Barb
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
For someone who's just beginning to research the Vietnam war POW/MIA issue, this site is a wonderfully cold splash of no-nonsense reality. Thank you.
Name:
Bob Besal
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thanks, Joe. I've been a frequent visitor for some time. I appreciate your balance and perspective Please continue with your candor. REB
Name:
Carol Felthauser
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thank-you for your site. I felt you gave a lot of factual information. Can you help me find some information about the memorial wall. I would like to know how many names are on the wall and who are the first names and the last names on the wall. I belong to Toastmasters International. I want to give a speech about the wall and the war. I was a child of the sixtes. You know sex, drugs and rock and roll. Any eference material you could suggest would be greatly appreciated.
Name:
Bert Krages, Major USMC(re)
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Good work, please continue your effort. Maybe someday the American public will know the truth about the Vietnam war.
Name:
Amanda White
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
WEll I THOUGHT THIS SIGHT IS REALLY GREAT I AM DOING MY TERM PAPER OVER MIAs/POWs THIS HAS HELPED SINCERELY AMANDA
Name:
Jamie Soles(USMC)
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
This is a wonderful site for M.I.A.info.I would like to thank you for not forgetting these men and fighting to make sure their families get the entire truth they deserve.
Name:
Larry J. O'Daniel
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
2d visit to site. Too bad your rendition of Baron 52 doesn't square with the facts laid out by the people who originally reconned the site in '73. Their classified rendition is 180 degrees from yours. Was researcher on Garwood for his original attorney. Wrong on him too. ROWE was my source. Much better than yours. Also, you know Gritz was part of Nhom Marrott raid information base in the flesh. Sorry your site is wrong on Sejna too. Declassifieds back him up. Too bad so many are falling for your "facts." You know who I am as I know who you are. My job in VN was to find these guys and the VCI who held them.
Mr. O'Daniel:
Too bad your rendition of the matters at hand bears no relationship to reality.
1. The article on Baron 52 was written by Bob Destatte, who spent several years researching the matter, including talking at length with everyone who ever touched that site. I stand by Bob's conclusions.
2. Sorry that you wasted your time defending Garwood. The article on Garwood is a reproduction of the ASD/C3I review of the official record. How would Nick Rowe have been a source on Garwood? Rowe was captured in November 63 and escaped in December 68. He was held for his entire captivity in the Delta. Garwood disappeared in September 65, mucked about in I Corps for a few years with PAVN then went to North Vietnam in 1969/70. Rowe and Garwood never had any contact at all as they were separated by a few hundred miles.
3. Gritz's participation in the "Nhom Marrott raid" was in his mind. Gritz is a fraud and most folks know it.
4. Sejna was a tired old man who saw his usefulness slipping away. Encouraged by a small-time writer, Sejna fabricated a story.
5. I have no idea who you are, other than just another one who has fallen for the mythology and nonsense.
Have a nice day.
Joe Schlatter
Name:
walter m. fuqua
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I really enjoyed this sight very interesting. I've heard a lot of stories about garwood. Now at least i got read the whole story thank you. former us.marine w.m.fuqua
Name:
Doc Rock
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thanks for posting a good and informative site for vets.
Name:
Jeff McIntyre
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
your a sick man Joe.. and a lier
Name:
Jeffery E. Reschetz
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Great site, well written, thoughtful all the tools you need to form a decision on fact not fantasay. Also, an excellent reminder of how we have let or country slip into today's sorry economic, social and moral state
Name:
Larry J. O'Daniel
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Col. Schlatter, at least be honest enough to say that Mark Smith has a link from his site to yours even though you trash him all through your site. I stand by my observation that the rendition of Baron 52 lacks the details of the classified briefing on it. Also interesting you didn't challenge assertion Gritz crossed in 1979. You do have some interesting points on your site, though.
TO: Mr. O'Daniel
FROM: Joe Schlatter
SUBJECT: Your sloppy research
In the immediately preceding comment, you state: "Col. Schlatter, at least be honest enough to say that Mark Smith has a link from his site to yours even though you trash him all through your site."
I invite your attention to https://miafacts.org/challenge.htm Scroll to the bottom of the page where you will find an entry that I made on 12 June 1999 acknowledging the fact that Mark Smith's site has a link to mine. The research you have done on my site is as shoddy as the research applied to your attempt at a book. What is your next dumb question?
Name:
Larry J. O'Daniel
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
COL (and I use the term loosely) Like you, I missed the part about Zippo and I apologize. What I do not, however, apologize for is the reply you post here and the inane reply you sent to me. For those who disagree with you, call call the most base names. For your information, I am a former officer and to be called the names you called me in your reply is offensive to the uniform you say you proudly wore. Those who don't link to your site are very right to do so. RTFP yourself and see why your reply was out of order, SIR!
Name:
Denise Mason
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Name:
Paddy
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Joe: You sure are one sorry assed airhead of a human being. I just bet all of your men loved you. You are a hero and a legend in your own mind that cannot stand to have anyone have a differece of opinion from yours. On reading your guest book it is quite evident that some people actually buy your horse shit. Hopefully they visit some other website after visiting yours where they can get the real MIA FACTS and not the gospel according to Schlatter. You are a disgrace and a disappointment to all these fine men who were left in Vietnam after the war. A lot of them are probably dead now because of the stall tactics of the Government and people like you who will not acknowledge them. I believe as a lot of others that there are still living breathing Americans in Vietnam or in one of the bordering countries. LETS CUT THE CRAP AND GET THEM OUT NOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW.
Name:
Cliff Coppens
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
With an election coming up,it is nice to find a source of information on Mr Mc Cain other than the typical media garbage! Thank you!
Name:
Suzanne Brooks
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I still have my original nickel-plated POW bracelet from 1970 with Maj Donavan Lyon's name on it. In the past year, I've ordered a new one (also with his name) so the old one would stay intact in a safe place. My daughter also wears Don's bracelet. I wear two bracelets -- Don's, and Clarence Aki's from Korea...the father of my friend Tom Aki, a Vietnam Vet. The bracelet program gets attention -- people ask and comment on mine daily.
Name:
RONNIE PIEPER
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I wish everyone would read your article about Sen.John McCain. I would like to kick the ass of anyone who talks negative about his war record. HE IS A TRUE HERO!
Name:
Patricia Sauvageot
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
You've made it easier to teach high school students about this vital issue. Sometimes adolescents want to believe rumors, especially third hand rumors, instead of loking at the credible evidence. For our lost ones we grieve, but we won't allow charlatans to use them so unrepentanly for their own gain.
Name:
thomas ingraham
Email:
URL:
Comments
very inrformative,interesting,information i enjoyed reading it all .
Name:
ThomasIngraham(USMC 1970 )
Email:
URL:
Comments
IM trying to figure out truth from fiction.Some things here just dont make sense.GOD BLESS ALL VETERANS!
Name:
kevin carey
Email:
rkmolly
URL:
@aol
Comments
Recently read Col. Hackworths artical on J. McCains POW activity. Watched some T.V comments by people who never served and their task was to spread doubt. Sat here in relative comfort and felt a slow burn inside. Haven't felt that empty or different since returning from Viet Nam in 68. I guess they have never paid a price for anything so pride and honor are cheap verbal commodities. Thanks for the site.
Name:
Paddy
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Received your email Joey. Maybe you could repeat the offer you made to me on email. Maybe somebody that is physically able would take you up on it. I would if I was able. Schlatter stated to me that if somebody mounted a mission and could bring a live breathing American MIA out of Vietnam, he would personally pay all the expenses incurred. Do you still stand by that statement Schlatter or were you just spouting bullshit as usual ?.
Name:
Paddy
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Anyone looking for the true facts on the MIA issue should read Major Mark Smiths website which is linked to this site. It was very informative and factual. I couldn't find a guest book to leave Mark a message so I will just use yours Schlatter. Hope you don't mind. "Great website Major. Keep it up. Nice to hear the facts from a real combat Vet and somebody who was actually a POW. Not like some Artillery officer who was in the rear with the gear (No names)
Name:
Fred B. Kremer
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
As a Nam Vet I really appreciate your site. "DOC"
Name:
Yancey P. Harbin
Email:
yancey75@aol
URL:
Comments
You people are doing a great job.Keep up the wonderful work!
Name:
Patric Nissen
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Col,
Nice to see someone with a clear grasp on the MIA issue. I served as the NCOIC, Operations at Detachment Two, Hanoi from June 1995 - June 1996. I served under Col (sel) Tim Bosse (now stationed at Fort Benning). Appreciate the breath of fresh air!
Name:
Amanda Y. Kidd
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Dear Joe~
I'd like to present you with the following "MIA Facts" to add to your collection. Additionally, I'm interested in hearing your input regarding how you would rate them in your general classification of "Fiction and Fairy Tales." This input will be welcomed, as I am not only the author, but a relative of one of the men in question. Please read on.
Amanda Y. Kidd Freelance Journalist
FULL ACCOUNTING~ OR~ FORCED ACCEPTANCE?
The Truth Behind The POW/MIA Accounting Effort Of America's Missing Servicemen In Southeast Asia By:
Amanda Y. Kidd
Slowly since the war's end in 1973, and now more rapidly in recent years, America's missing servicemen of the Vietnam War are finally coming home. Or so it would appear to those who have not yet learned the sad truth behind the POW/MIA accounting effort.
The long-awaited dream of "closure" that the families of many of our nation's missing servicemen cling to with unyielding hope is being increasingly dashed by tragic inconclusiveness that leaves more questions than answers and proves to be severely counter-productive to the originally intended purpose of the U.S. Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO)~ (the sub-branch of the U.S. Department of Defense responsible for missing service personnel).
"I think it's possible" states Kathie Preston Johnson, daughter of U.S. Air Force CMSgt. James Arthur Preston when asked if her father may still be alive.
Preston, a relative of this author as well, was declared Missing In Action along with a crew of seven other members of U.S. Air Force personnel when their AC-47D gunship, "Spooky 10" was lost to enemy fire over Laos on May 15, 1966.
Others aboard the aircraft were" Col. George W. Jensen; pilot, Capt. Marshall L. Tapp; co-pilot, Col. Lavern Ge. Reilly, observer, SMSgt. George W. Thompson, navigator, CMSgt. James E. Williams; flight engineer, and CMSgt. William L. Madison and SMSgt. Kenneth D. McKenney; door gunners.
Despite extensive search and rescue efforts immediately following the aircraft's loss, no trace of wreckage or any of the crew was ever located.
Thirty-three agonizing years of waiting proved fruitless, not only for the Prestons, but for other families of the crew as well.
Joanne Reilly, wife of Col. Lavern Reilly, observer, has traveled to Laos in previous years with other MIA wives in search of the truth that the U.S. government has blatantly refused to provide.
Preston's son Terry is very matter-of-fact in his expression of disappointment toward the handling of his father's case. "I either want to see him walk through the door alive...Or I want someone to show me a body that will prove to me that he isn't."
Neither the Preston family nor the families of the seven others who were lost with him have been given either such means of closure."
In May 1999, the U.S. government presented each family with a highly inconclusive report signed by Dr. Thomas D. Holland, Scientific Director of the Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii, which claims that 23 small, non-mt-DNA-tested bone fragments "may" be those of one or all of the crew members.
The remains were highly-fragmented, rendering individual assessment impossible.
Ironically, closer evaluation of the written excavation report provided by Joint Task Force~ Full Accounting reveals repeated statements that no mass graves of the crew were ever located although three were claimed to have been dug by former members of the North Vietnamese ground troops who were directly responsible for the shootdown of the aircraft. Only once were soil disturbances noted which are reported to be associated with a single grave of one individual.
Nonetheless, on December 13, 1999, despite the inconclusiveness of the "group identification" and the lack of mass graves, the Pentagon released its official, public announcement that all members of this crew of U.S. military service personnel are now "accounted for".
Evidence of possible survival of several crew members have been met with apathetic disinterest from those within DPMO. Live sighting reports, captivity photographs, and accounts of the name "Preston" having been heard by several returned POWs while still in captivity have not deterred the agencies from their adament decision.
A full-military memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery is scheduled for May 15, 2000~ The 34th anniversary of the crew's loss date. Sadly, the coffins will be virtually empty of human remains while questions persist regarding the true fate of the eight men aboard the ill-fated gunship, "Spooky 10".
Despite the years of agonized waiting, closure has evaded the families of those who have yet to return to American soil. The despair in the voice of Melinda Preston Wood, the youngest of Preston's three now-adult children, reflects the equally helpless sentiments of numerous other families who have suffered similar tragedies of the government's "empty coffin, group burials" in the past. "But what can we do about it?" she wonders. Sadly, it appears that very little can be done unless massive policy changes occur in Washington, D.C.
The blatant refusal to consider the feelings of MIA families has become the primary fatal flaw among those within the United States' national POW/MIA accounting agencies.
"They're going to have the ceremony whether we go or not" states James Preston's daughter, Kathie Johnson.
Tragically, Johnson's words well-summarize the practice of "forced acceptance" that has already buried numerous empty coffins in Arlington National Cemetery. Now, yet another such burial will attempt to silence her father.
Without a complete overhaul of accounting policies at a national level by political leaders who remain sympathetic to the POW/MIA issue, it leaves one with no choice but to shudder at the thought of whose voices will be wrongfully silenced next.
NOTE: Amanda Y. Kidd is a Georgie freelance journalist and a relative of CMSgt. James Arthur Preston~ Missing In Action~ Laos. Comments regarding the above article are welcomed and the author can be reached through the following contact information:
Telephone: (770) 258-9585 E-mail: [email protected]
Relative of CMSgt. James A. Preston~ USAF~ MIA~ Laos
Name:
Email:
URL:
Comments
I see that a lot of people have nothing good to say about this site and you but we must remember that as the song says 'SOME GAVE ALL' let us NEVER forget that price that was paid. Thank you
Name:
Donald L. (Don) Martin
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thank you, Sir, and welcome Home! A fellow combat-wounded Vietnam veteran. Don Martin, Crocodile Six, 119th AHC, RVN, Laos, Cambodia, 1967-68, USA (retired).
Name:
diana jeffers
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
GREAT SITE!!! I met a man at a party one night that had MS, but he claimed to have been wounded in Vietnam. I finally recognized him from my old neighborhood and remembered he wouldn't have been old enough to have served in Vietnam. When I blew his cover, he didn't stick around too long after that. I apologize to the people with Multiple Sclerosis on his behalf!!
Name:
John Silva
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
www.heroartist.com
Comments
A very interesting site. I liked it because it does a great job to unmask these phonies. I paint portraits of the real guys, and read citations. People who try to impersonate these "Real Heroes" should be dealt with serverly. Thanks. John Silva/TSgt, USAF Ret. Portrait Artist/Medal of Honor & Tuskegee Airmen.
Name:
Betty J. Talanges, Cpht
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
excellent info. I'm new to the site, but very interested.Husband was wounded in Vietnam, combat would like more info on mia's
Name:
C.V. Morgan
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I'm a Viet-Vet, A early member of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. A bracelet wearer from the early '70's, believer and chaser of Bobby Garwood (I Corps - Salt & Pepper ) with 6 yrs USMC and 16yrs USSF. Keeping the canel in the window.
Name:
Jerry
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
none
Comments
Thank you for this web site. I was taken in by Sampley and the crowd around the vigil booth -- I even worked at the booth on and off. Met Mark Smith. Later, I began to catch on -- the whole crowd is a bunch of fakes and phonies who are ripping off unsuspecting people.
Name:
Bill Gilchrist (LCDR, USN Ret)
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
??
Comments
Name:
N.L.P.
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Very informative.
Name:
Gerry Canevaro
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thank you for your site. It is obvious that you have invested many hours of your life both in setting up this site. It is unfortunate that there are so many ad hominem attacks of your work and so few thoughtful posts supporting disagreement with facts. Of course, one could infer that your facts are well researched and supported leaving only the personal attack avenue. In any event, reasonable people may certainly disagree about things. It would appear, however, that many who disagree with you are not reasonable people. I hope you have the energy to keep up the good work for a long time. Thank you for all of your efforts.
Name:
Paddy Riley
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Hey Schlatter I'm back. Had problems with my system but I am back on line. During my down time I read the book "Spite House" Good reading. Whether you think it is BS or not, I think that Bobby Garwood got the shitty end of the stick. Maybe he eventually did collaborate after being tortured for years on end in a stinking jungle camp. Maybe he just lost all sense of hope and felt he was abandoned which HE WAS. Too bad you were not with him in the camp. You would have shown everyone how a U.S. serviceman should act, just like your buddy John Mccain. Far as I am concerned NOBODY has the right to chuck shit at Bobby Garwood. We were not there. We did not suffer the torture and deprivation he did. As the Indians say " Never judge a man till you walk a mile in his moccasins." something that you and Mccain should remember
Name:
Bob Besal
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I enjoy "tuning in" to your guest book a couple of times a week to see what's new. " 'Tis easier to be a critic than an author" is so brilliantly illustrated by comments such as above. Thanks for maintaining an even keel in all this. REB
Name:
James T Belcher
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
The site is great. You're doing a wonderful job. Thanks.
Name:
Paddy Riley
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Re: Spite House Book ************************* I know you think this book is a bunch of BS, however, there must be a ring of truth to it in some parts. My question is this: Were there really assasination squads who took out U.S. deserters? If so how many were taken out? Were the ones that were taken out still classified as MIA or are they listed as KIA? Are their names on the Vietnam memorial? In the book, one marine named Womack states that his squad took out 32 deserters and there were numerous other squads operating there too. If this is true, maybe we don't have as many guys running around over there as we thought we did.
Response to "Paddyriley"
The story about assassination squads searching for US deserters is nonsense. When Spite House was first published, the Marines responded to McKenney's claims by pointing out that there were NO squads, teams, assassination squads, or any other units hunting down deserters. In the first place, no one knows if a man is a deserter until he is returned to US control and undergoes an Article 32 investigation, followed by a court-martial if charges are brought. If a court-martial determines that the man deserted, then he is a deserter. Why hunt down men who have never been tried and convicted for anything. In the second place, "Womack" claims "that his squad took out 32 deserters." Impossible. There are only 19 deserters listed in the official list of missing. Of those 19, two deserted in Cambodia and one was captured and killed in an escape attempt. Thus, there were only 16 possible deserters -- half the number that "Womack" claims to have "taken out" -- and half of those were in parts of Vietnam outside I Corps where the Marines were; there were not 32 men for "Womack" to hunt down. That part and the rest of Spite House are indeed BS.
Joe Schlatter
Name:
Steve Batty
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
http://www.buffalocommons
Comments
Thank you for having this site. I have linked to it from a story I wrote about a childhood friend who I lost in the war in SEA. I am presently wearing his MIA bracelet but will soon place it in a memorial in his name. Go to the mentioned web site and then to the Storybook/menu2 and read how this bracelet came home.
Name:
Lynnette Spratley
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Very nice, informative site. I got my POW/MIA bracelet in 1971.
Name:
Gary Hansen
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Excellent, well presented and informative site. I served on Sen McCain's father's staff. I have read the Senator's book and it rings true to me. My politics are not always in agreement, but I admire his style. The establishment, voiced most frequently by the Wall Street Journal, is frightened to death by McCain. They have for so long had their say in the way government is run. It is time for a candidate to represent all of the people. There are two viable candidates theat offer some hope, McCain and Bradley. Bradley has not run a good campaign and has really no chance, so I think it is up to McCain to get this country back on track. Genuine campaign reform that would take the elections out of the hands of wealthy individuals and corporations would be a first start. We need a massive reorganization of the tax code. As it now exists, all the incentives favor massive profits. There must be some way of puting our prosperity to work for the benefit of the all citizens, not just big stockholders.
I apologize for getting away from the subject, but money is behind all of these attacks on an honorable man, from the MIA parasites to those who just want to make as much money as they can and keep all of it. Remember when a politician asked us not to ask what our country can do for us, but what we can do for our country? We can turn away from the selfish and embrace those who care about the common man.
Name:
Marcus R. Egge
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thank you for the simple history lesson. I could never have gotten better information elsewhere. Glad I waited.
Name:
J Rollin
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I was one of many teens in the 70's to purchase a bracelet. I wore it for some years, but ended up in my jewelry box. From time to time, I have taken it out and wondered if Maj Warren Lilly, lost 11/6/68, had ever been found. I am going to address my letter the Defense Dept and request this info. Thanks.
Name:
Warren Warner
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Great site. I will be interested in finding out what the high ranking ARVN officers, who were recently released from "re-education" camps, have to say about Bobby Garwood. 3/12/00
Name:
Debra Johnson
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Looking for the family of George Andrews Howes, MIA in 1970, I have been wearing his braclet since they first came out in 1970, I am now 45 years old, I have not forgotten him. He will forever be in my memories, would like to locate his family. Thankyou
Name:
dean r. collamer
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Name:
Frederick F. Welch
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
From an X squid(SF3,U.S.N.1996-1971). Keep the faith, We must never let them be forgotten!!!!!
Name:
Denis O'Brien, PhD/Esq
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Joe, Was Garwood a trigger-man for the VC? Was he the nortorious "white VC" that was shot while running point for a VC patrol in 1968?
These are some of the most salient questions of the Bobby Garwood story, which has never been fully developed so far as I am aware. Maybe you can straighten me out if I've missed something over the years.
I was a radio humper with the USMC's 1st Force Recon in the summer of '68 when one of our teams, 'Dublin City,' got hit by a VC patrol led by a "white VC." I heard the incident because I was on a radio relay outpost that relayed the traffic back to Phu Bai. The white bastard was almost certainly hit, but no body was ever found by the grunts who went back in on a "body snatch." Garwood was reported to have scars consistent with gunshot wounds -- scars that he claimed he received in a firefight when he was captured.
Two recon members were killed in the initial shoot out with the white VC and his VC patrol. The white VC definitely opened up on the recon team. Was he responsible for one or both deaths?
Survivors of the firefight identified the white VC as Garwood. Nevertheless, Garwood's active participation as a trigger man for the VC was never an issue during the court-marshal. If found guilty, he could have (should have) been executed. Is this the reason Garwood and his lawyers were so obsessed about immunity?
I would be grateful to hear from any members of 'Dublin City' or 'Veal Stew,' or any of the other recon teams running out of Phu Bai in 1968. Or anyone else, for that matter, who might have data regarding this incident or ideas why the military buried it.
The idea that a bunch of politicians and lawyers have been trying for years to get Garwood his $150,000 (+interest) back-pay for the time he was running patrols for the VC is a galling insult to every man who fought in VN and to the families and loved ones of every man who's name is on the Wall, including those two brave members of 'Dublin City.'
Name:
Jon Heyworth
Email:
URL:
Comments
Very well written, imformative, interesting and rational. An excellent and valuable site.
Name:
Greg Stock
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Name:
Ken Lambert
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Your proposal confirms what I have felt for many years. There is still a need, but the need is for healing of the emotional and spiritual.
Name:
Michael R. Butler
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thank you! USAFSOF.
Name:
Vance Gerkovich
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thanks Joe! Sorry for those who want to believe Mr. Garwood was all he said he was. Sgt Hyp, who was mentioned in the book, was made out to have believed Garwoods story. Although I was never able to talk to him about the case as he passed away before Spite House was written, I do know he questioned Garwood extensively and found him to be a very good liar. He was NOT a Garwood supporter. Sgt. Hyp was a very proud Marine. His wife is my cousin and Bob treated me as his own flesh and blood - a decent,caring man. He certainly would have wanted to believe his story - but couldn't! We certainly can't believe everything the author wrote simply because we all hope for the safe return of MIA's or at least answers. My uncle was MIA in Korea and heard of the anguish my family endured for over a year until his body was recovered. I certainly pray for those who have relatives that are MIA and would hope for their safe return. Thank you.
In loving memory of Sgt. Robert Hyp
Name:
Vance Gerkovich
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
In loving memory of Sgt. Robert Hyp. Thanks for everything. Miss you.
Name:
Marty Eddy
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thanks for posting the DPMO MAA TOR article.
Name:
Judy Hyp
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Name:
Donald W Pennington
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
http://www.avtt.org
Comments
This is a most interesting site. No matter who you really are or what your real beliefs may be, you have to know one thing. Americans where left in Southeast Asia alive. They may not be alive today but how much would it cost to really find out the truth? An American official goes to Vietnam for some reason and then miracously the Vietnamese find several sets of remains. How convientant. Re; Bobby Garwood, if Col. Ted Guy can look Garwood in the eye and say 'Welcome Home, Marine', that means more to me than any unverified claims that you make. If these defamation law suits against Bobby were being activated, why don't we see them on the media or "60 Minutes" or some other credible news source such as yours. No sense in going any further with this. You have your opinion and I have mine. For me the War is over. Peace, don
Name:
Paddy Riley
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
A lot of people think Bobby Garwood got a raw deal from the Government and why shouldn't he. After all he was an embarassment to the U.S. Government and to a President that stated that all MIAs had been accounted for. Then comes Garwood out of the woodwork. Rather than look stupid or admit that they made a mistake (God forbid) they decided to frame him. What better way out of it. With the help of the media the Government put it right to Garwood. The man didn't have a chance. Was Garwood ever offered a Polygraph test from an independent source that would not manipulate the results. Maybe our Canadian neighbours to the North would step in and administer the test out of country. Would Garwood submit to it. It wouldn't cost nearly as much as the $150,000 that the Government has stolen from Garwood. The man deserves a fair and impartial trial. There were no doubt "White men" running around over there leading commie patrols but they were more than likely Russian advisors. I heard from a reliable source that Russian and Chinese advisors were moved around camouflaged as POW. That may account for all the "White VC" . One other thing Joe. What was operation "Cherry" Your Pal. Paddy
Name:
David Bower
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Name:
vietman vet manuel j griffin
Email:
big griff web tv dot con
URL:
Comments
i thank it the worst'thing you can do to a veterans famiely lies to them about their love ones just to cover up for the goverment it make me sick alot of soliders dies for this so call great country we live in it hurt to much to talk about it thank you from a vietman vet 68 69 chulai i60th enger det
Name:
DANNY R. PRATT Jr.
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Thanks for what you are doing.
Name:
Danny R. Pratt Jr.
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
AFTER REALLY READING YOUR SUGAR COATED FALSE STATEMENTS, (REDLEG,DO YOU KNOW THE CIA ADMITTED KNOWLEDGE OF AMERICAN PRISONERS BEING SENT TO RUSSIA DURING THE KOREAN WAR)I AGREE WITH MR. DOSS,YOU ARE DOING A GREAT DISSERVICE TO YOUR COUNTRY AND FELLOW MAN.FUCK YOU!!(WITH NO DUE RESPECT).
Name:
A. Churchill Ettinger
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Superb piece of work! Also appreciate "In Honor of ARVN" and hope that it will be expanded. Altogether too little written by and about our erstwhile allies.
Name:
Paul Hartranft
Email:
URL:
Comments
Great job I wish all of our POW-MIA people were accounted for. I lost several friends in Vietnam. I served in the Army 1966-1968. Help me pray for their return or finding their remains.
Name:
Carl L. Moore
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Hello Joe, Do you know of any ARVN (forner member) sites on the web? Looking for former members of the 1st Inf., 7th Armor/Tanks, and Artillery (two 105mm crews that were on A-2...just below the DMZ on Rt 1...N of Dong Ha, Quang Tri Prov. I was there Ap69-Oct70 THANKS fm,Carl [email protected]
Name:
charlenemaherjennings
Email:
mahergjennings@webtvnet
URL:
Comments
You did a great job very interesting.chrlene maherg jennings
Name:
Jack Stockton
Email:
URL:
Comments
Quite an interesting site. Read all the remarks carefully, and am still equivicating about the issues. With much more study and research, I will probably come down on one side or the other . . . or perhaps somewhere in between.
Name:
Phyllis Paden
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Name:
David E Beeman
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
None
Comments
I though i new something, about MIA'S TheVA.Etc. I have A Lot to Learn! Keep up the good work!
Name:
Brad Thompson
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Name:
Mark Jackson
Email:
URL:
Comments
Very interesting and informative.
Name:
Hell Bender
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
http://yallsorry.net
Comments
I like this website, very neat. All those ignorant and SELFISH people who call u stupid and wrong are stupid themselves. How the hell do they know anything? They live in this freaking good country where no one's being oppressive to them. That offends a lot of people. Keep up the good work.
Name:
Amanda Y. Kidd
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Some true MIA Facts for you Joe. http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Camp/9276/missionofhope.html
Excavation photos of my cousin's crash site and the only "evidence" that our family was given that 10 men will never again stand alive on American soil. The most recent example of our accounting agencies at work to dispose of the POW/MIA issue once and for all~ As quickly as possible~ With as little evidence as they can possibly get away with. A note to the individual above who refers to the "stupid" people of this issue~ Please access this site regarding the group burial at Arlington that is about to silence 10 men (8 Americans and 2 South Vietnamese)~ Then please let me know if your reference to "stupidity" includes family members of these men as well. If not, I would like to know your definition. If so, I'm interested in knowing what you feel you have gained by your verbal cruelty? There are 2,028 families across this nation who desperately need to be provided truthful answers regarding our loved ones. Mine is one of them. If you want to help, then refrain from your cruelty (Joe, you too). If you can't, then please step aside so that we can sensibly move on with our search for the Truth without being hindered by nonsense. This issue is not a joke. Within less than 2 weeks, 10 men, including my cousin James Preston, who were aboard "Spooky 10" will be "silenced" at Arlington in yet another "empty coffin" group burial without the evidence of human remains. Joe, in the time that it takes you to make fun of the sincere efforts of those who truly care, my family could have had truthful answers if only your loyalty and attention were on something other than foolishness. I hope you're satisfied. Amanda Y. Kidd Relative of CMSgt. James A. Preston~ MIA~ Laos
Name:
phillip a rogers
Email:
URL:
Comments
I want to personnally thank you for veterns everywhere. I am a vietnam vet US NAVY attack squadern 76 USS Enterprise 1965-66
Name:
Paddy Riley
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Hell Bender is obviously an under educated fool who has been sucked in by the B.S. on your site. Given his brain capacity that would not be hard to do. These men that are still missing deserve to be accounted for whether they are alive or dead. Unfortunately with the leader we have now, that is not going to happen. Next thing he will be going over to Vietnam and apologizing to the Vietnamese for the war. The only people he has to apologize to have their name written on a wall in Washington. And, of course their families. Sorry that he is not doing enough to account for the missing and sorry for not supporting them during the war. Sorry that he did not do his part.
Name:
Paul E. Rifenberg
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Are you the same Joe Schlatter who once "explained" a photo of American POWs in captivity in Laos as "not being Americans, but Albino Laotions ?" People who read your so-called objective and factual reports are missing the big picture. You were paid very well for many years to do whatever it took to EXPLAIN away live POWs. It was your MISSION to de-bunk ANY live-sighting report, and if possible, discredit the SOURCE of information if you couldn't disprove the information itself. You made a comment earlier in response to an opinion that I would like to use on you. "Just because you believe something is true does not in itself MAKE it true." And Colonel, just for the record. . . .just because you have been typing up official government position papers for the past twenty years telling everyone that no live POWs were left behind DOES NOT MAKE IT TRUE.
Marion Shelton, the now deceased wife of Colonel Charles Shelton, POW in Laos, was a good friend of mine. She had a great story she used to tell people that summed up the way the U.S. government treated this issue. There was a man who came home at 4 in the morning, all disheveled and with lipstick on his collar. His wife wanted to know where he had been, and he told her that he had fallen asleep in the hammock in the back yard about 10 o'clock. . .that he had really been home all evening. The wife promptly told her husband that she had taken the hammock down five months earlier. The husband hesitated only briefly before responding. . ."I stick by my story. I slept on the hammock last night."
Marion used to laugh at that. She said that people like you and all the other paid liars in the Pentagon could be caught totally red-handed in the middle of the biggest lie yet they would issue some totally ludicrous explanation and then just walk away laughing. That was YOU, Colonel Schlatter. YOU were the guy in the hammock.
You're retired now. Why don't you just go fishing and stop regurgitating the same tired propaganda. Your pension isn't contingent on continuing with this crap, is it ?
Name:
Larry Stewart
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Interesting site. I served inVietnam 4/69 - 3/70, USMC, MACS4, MAG18, 1st MAW at Monkey Mt. QUESTION: Black Clap - we were told of an island in S. Vietnam where soldier's who had acquired a particularly virulant form of gonorrhea or tuberculosis were quarantined to. That they were not allowed to return to the US, that they were doomed to death, and signed waivers, that stated that they had bee KIA/BNR, I realize that this is probably a myth to keep us out of the villes. BUT - was there any truth to this - and, if so, what happened to them?
Name:
Ray J Sonnier
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Joe, I have visited some of your other sites'but this one really got my attention. I for one do beleive that some of our MIA are actualy deserters. I personaly know of one that deserted from my unit.I am not saying that he is being counted as one of our MIA's but I do beleive that not all the MIA's are actualy MIA. A blot on our true MIA's. Like most I beleive that we did leave some live P.O.W.'s in Nam, byt at the same time I don't like some people, beleibe that they are still alive. Tahnk you for your informative Page and as I can see you are not letting the likes of Patty Riley deter you. Ray J Sonnier Ex 75th Ranger Viet Nam
Name:
Jim Spier
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Like you site and only confirms what has been my own opinion for many years. I was a AC-130 Gunner 1968-72 and was stationed with the AC-130s 16th SOS when 5 of the 6 AC-130 were lost during the Viet Nam war. Too many people who were not there have twisted the facts and continue to do so. The aircraft that was shot down Dec 1972 had only 2 survivors, one of which is a close friend of mine. I will not post his name for he has been hounded enough. I talked to him on 1/4/2000 about the subject and he stated he is positive no one else but he and one more got out. He was blown out the back of the aircraft with the other survivor who was sitting next to him and watched the aircraft go straight in below him with no other chutes spotted. His biggest fear while going down was that he was going to land in the fire and exploding wreakage. I lost other close friends on that aircraft and would love to think they survived and were eventually coming home, buts the facts show that is not possible. What was done to Mrs. McDonald in Mexico is horrible. The people that keep fabricating stories they know are not true will pay the supreme price one day. Your facts on (TH 1?73) are write on. Sure there has never been much but a few bone fragments and dental remains recovered from any of the AC-130 site, but look at what was on board our aircraft. Most carried over 3000 rds of 20MM HEI, over 400 rds of 40MM HEI, and some over 100 rds of 105 MM HEI, plus flares and the tremendous fuel load of the C-130. We were a flying giant bomb if hit in the right spot! I have witnessed some of our aircraft come back after taking damage that was just unbelieveable, which tells me the ones with few survivors suffered unbelieveable damage. If I felt or had proof that I believed any of my friends were alive over there I would spend every dime of my meager funds and would not rest until they were back. My heart lies with the families which I have met many. The U.S. govt still needs to keep striving to account for as many as possible to bring closure to this families. Keep up the good work on setting the record straight. I admire Maj Mark Smith, he is a brave man. I flew support missions for him prior to his capture.
Name:
shane
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
www.cyberport.com/~beanie
Comments
I was real intrested to read your web site. I sent the link to my friend who was given a medal by Bo about a year ago. www.cyberport.com/~beanie/bo.htm
Name:
robert g. wilson,sr
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
the one thing americans have fought for is the right to voice your opinion regardless how bad or wrong it may be..you sir are a prime example..I am a long standing member of "heart of illinois pow/mia association",past member of vietnow ,the lost patrol. presently 2nd year commander of vfw post 11463..i strongly believe that our government has furthered their own agenda by disputing.hiding,and outright liying concerning our missing in action from wwii/korea/vietnam & other actions since.i am proud of the service i gave to my country.i love my country ,but cannot trust my government..fly the flag in distress mode..
Name:
Karla Harmon
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Good facts and your right on all. Good job
Name:
kali
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
sucks. Billy and Bo are personal friends of mine and i resent what is being said about them. If a person is a stranger that is one thing. When you know them and have known them for years that is quite another thing.
Your lies have ruined many lives. Many people gave up because of the MIA fact book and because of our "dear" friend Ann Mills griffith. The hearings on the POW issue were also a farce. We had so much evidence that the men are still there it is pathetic. But then again with good ole mccain on the panel what else would one expect. This upsets me to no end. as i see it does many others. These people Billy Bo Capt. McDaniels beth Stewart Senetor Bob Smith, former congressman bob durnam have all tried to help. Are you going to call all of them liars. All of them who have the same story and met under different circumstances. I did a tv series in 1986 about this issue. Ann Mills Griffith was contacted. She asked who was going to be on my show as if it was any of her business. I recieved a packet in the mail soon after discrediting all the above and then some. Give it up. Your the one who sounds like a fool not them.
Name:
kali
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I hope this is acceptable to sign this twice...but what the hell. I wrote this some years ago when i first met Bo. I would like to share it with your readers.
LT. COL JAMES "BO" GRITZ "BO GRITZ MISSION" He walks among us With a message to give Listen when he speaks If you wish to live
By ignoring what he says And paying no heed To look forward to life There will be no need
He has been to war Serving more than his time One of our greatest heros Who served on the line
Now he moves on to tell others They also must know the story Only trying to save us Never for his own glory
He knows the whole story The Government won't tell If the real truth were known It would make quite a smell
Thehigher ups tried to silence him But he is a man of pride he has many fibers of strength No one could ever hide. This is our hero Bo Gritz
Ms. Gentile (AKA [email protected]):
Your doggerel verse about "Bo's Mission" is as silly as Bo himself. Bo's sole mission -- as it has been for years -- is to convince air-headed females half his age that he still has what it takes. Bo is a bad joke.
So your heroes are Bo Gritz, Billy Hendon, Bob Smith, and Bob Dornan? Now that's just peachy. And, if that makes you happy, it just tickles me to death. (By the way, the former Congressman's name is "Bob D o r n a n," not "Durnam" as you have it.)
Allow me to ask one question. I'll even be nice enough to give you the answer. Ready? Here is the question. Considering Bo, Billy, Bob Smith and Bob Dornan: What is the total number of missing Americans that these heroes have accounted for? Include any American, military or civilian, missing from any war anytime, anywhere in the world. "Accounted for" means returned alive, returned dead, skeleton returned, single tooth returned, even a bone fragment returned.
Don't know? I'm not surprised because, you see, this is a fact that none of your heroes wishes to have broadcast. They have returned zero. Not one. Not alive. Not dead. Not remains. Not a single tooth. Not a bone fragment. Makes you wonder what Bo and Billy do with all the money they raise.
Name:
Catherine Baker
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
Every aspect of this website is fantastic. I was particularly interested in everything written about Viet Nam...the Wall in Washington DC holds the name of a family friend who was killed in Viet Nam. His name is also on a Memorial Wall in Buffalo NY on the Lake Erie waterfront. My husband (a Viet Nam Vet) died in 1994 due to complications from exposure to Agent Orange, he was 46 years old at the time of his death and suffered for 15 years with spinal tumors. Thank you for this wonderful web site. I will recommend it to family and friends.
Name:
Email:
URL:
Comments
DECADES AGO, I WORE A POW-MIA BRACELET....UNFORTUNATELY, IT HAS LONG SINCE BEEN LOST...BUT THE NAME ENGRAVED ON IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN PERMANENTLY ETCHED IN BOTH MY HEART AND MIND......SO NOW I WEAR ANOTHER BRACELET...A NOSTALGIC STEAL AT 50 CENTS FROM A LOCAL THRIFT STORE FOR ME SEVERAL YEARS AGO....YET IT CONTINUES TO SADDEN ME TO THINK OF THE PRICE THE YOUNG MAN WHOSE NAME APPEARS ON IT HAD TO PAY....SO 25 YEARS LATER., I ONCE AGAIN FIELD DOZENS OF QUESTIONS FROM PEOPLE WHO WONDER WHAT IT IS...AND WHY I WEAR IT AFTER ALL THIS TIME......BUT THE MOST DIFFICULT ONES TO ADDRESS ARE ALWAYS FROM THE CHILDREN..ESPECIALLY MY OWN 10 YEAR OLD SON...AND I AM REMINDED OF HOW ENORMOUSLY IMPORTANT IT IT THAT WE NEVER FORGET OUR HISTORY...LEST WE BE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT...PEACE. P.S IF ANYONE HAS ANY INFORMATION ON CAPT. DENNIS EILERS 12-24-65...PLEASE E-MAIL ME [email protected]
Name:
Brian Schlatter
Email:
URL:
Comments
Name:
Loretta Brechbiel
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
this is a very nice site.........I am glad it was sent to me to view...i really enjoyed it and learned alot from it.
Name:
Rebecca Parrott
Email:
[email protected]
URL:
Comments
I've worn a braclet for MAJ Horace Higley Fleming III USMC for 4 years. I have not taken it off during that time except for USMC boot camp. I am now trying to plan a trip to Vietnam to try to locate his remains. I am truly thankful to all the men who served in Vietnam. GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU! -Cpl Parrott, R.D./USMC