Kiss the boys goodbye!

[Swimmer]

The story of how our government left stranded numerous POW's in Vietnam and surrounding countries. I have read many other stories about this, but not a book specifically written for and about what took place. I am sick and I'm only about 130 pages in. I wonder why Viet vets didn't take it upon themselves and shoot some of the participants in the lies and coverups. When I finish the book I am sure I'll be posting more, but I had to vent this. Even the Garwood story the bureaucrats offered up about him seems to be total poop.

[JohnR]

What is the story?

[PaulS]

I'm sure its possible for our govern to knowingly have left a few behind but if they did I'm sure someone would have let out the secret. If it did happen, I can't see that would have been kept alive very long.

[Nebe]

I am sure that in some cases, they would have to leave someone behind to save the lives of many more.. right?

[mosholu]

here is a link to a NYT story regarding Kissinger's testimony to the Senate about whether the US gov't knew of POWs not accounted for by N. Vietnam.


http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...5AC0A964958260

[HESH2]

read inside delta force by eric hanley command sgt major usa.he was an army ranger who became delta force.during his years he heard the story from vietnam rangers as war was winding down nixon got assurances from north vietnam all pow in vietnam would be returned.but some pow where in laos,etc and were held for future bargaining chip with nixon.when nixon was thrown out of office the chip was'nt there anymore and pow's were slaughtered.

[Nebe]

wow.

[Swimmer]

These left behind POW's were called "pearls" by thier captors. They seemed to be used for all kinds of things. Naturally labor, but I assume they were bought sold and traded amongst village chiefs out in the boonies. In the story so far the author has written of not only prisoners inside Vietnam, but also Laos Thailand, Cambodia, and so on where all the "dirty little secret wars" were going on, and of those secret wars being financed by the CIA through arms and drugs sales. Air America, remember that airline. Pilots have said they were told to fly here and there and never question what the cargo was. It seems there have been or more likely now it should be said "were" sightings of many live POW's for years after we left Vietnam in 1975. Garwood said he went by one group working in paddies somewhere that total 26 POW's. This book has been out for years and I just didn't want to get into it and now I know why. To say that there was just a few men left behind is ridiculous. Up to twenty years after the French left Vietnam they were secretly buying soldiers back for huge money. The Vietnamese governments has a bank of American bones it trades every so often to get something from us. The mortician who originally stack and stored these remanins now lives in this country.

[HESH2]

korean war we have 8,000 unaccounted servicemen not accounted for.china had entered the war after we were kicking a--.the chinese held alot of are pow's.in all wars some of our people get blown up etc.but not 8,000.don't forget in vietnam we lost over 58,000 young servicemen,so the politicians wanted out in a hurry.so what if they had to leave a few pow's behind.i watch blackhawn down several times and we kicked tail and all our people were accounted for.be proud of our military,it's the politicans we gotta worry about.

[PaulS]

If Garwood saw 26, why no pictures? If your moving soldiers around to tend different fields or go to different sites, wouldn't it require enough guards so that it wouldn't be worth it for the amount of work their capable of doing in their weakened state. I also think at least one would have escaped. I agree they trade the bones for $ every once and a while. Maybe some of those bones are from guys they killed right after the end of the war instead of giving them back to us???

[Swimmer]

Paul, Garwood was a prisoner himself. Hence no photos. He was being transported form one place to another when he saw those prisoners.

Hesh2 did you really mean to say so what if we left a few prisoners behind? If thats what you meant to say............... that is whacked. Tell me is Jane Fonda a cousin of yours?

It has been documented that upwards of 380 were left behind alive in Vietnam.

[GattaFish]

First of all from the title I thought someone was getting snipped,,,,

Now I wish it was only that easy,,,, I could not imagine what they went through,,,,scary chit,,,

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by Swimmer

Hesh2 did you really mean to say so what if we left a few prisoners behind? If thats what you meant to say............... that is whacked. Tell me is Jane Fonda a cousin of yours?

Frank - you read his response wrong - read it again now after some coffee and you'll get it


It is those guys in the field that pay most for the incompetence of the civilians that get them into the trouble in the first place and then the incompetence of the civilians when they try to pull them out.

What changed in history? That decades ago we had (relatively) competent leadership and the past generation nosomuch? Is it just that history represents itself once a couple decades have gone past?

There is no excuse to abandoning our service people - ever

[HESH2]

swimmer no one should ever be left behind.the politicians wanted out so they wrote off our people.right now in iraq the marines early in the war had sadr and his milita in a firefight,we had them and the politicans let them walk out to end up fighting and killing our people today.if your going to war kill them all.for those who hav'ent read LONE SURVIVOR read it.about a navy seal who is only survivor in afaganistan mission,alot of political statements made by an american hero.

[Backbeach Jake]

There is no excuse to abandoning our service people - ever

That sums it up for me, too, Boss. This story makes me sick, but doesn't surprise me at all.

[Swimmer]

Yes, I did, but that is why I put a question at the end and not a period making my reply a statement. I didn't think Hesh meant it that way. Looking for clarification. And thank you for that.

This book is an extraordinary written indicment of intra-agency cooperation (which never occurred before and never will again) to negate any evidence that POW's ever existed in Vietnam. Like I said I avoided this book for years, because my generation got caught up in this whether you were in the service or not, and I listen to a dear friend many mornings at coffee talk about his group and single meetings at the VA, (Sepcial Forces helicopter crew chief), so I stopped following my literary interests in this era awhile ago. But like my brother will tell you I am a history buff, so I dropped my guard and now I have a renewed interest again. I sometimes become obsessed with different eras or writers like my interest in Kerouac. I read everything even remotely attributed to him, sometimes twice.

It is one thing if it is impossible to follow up on POW's, but it is an entirely different when so many people purposely led the American people away from what appears to be incontrovertable truth that American pow's were alive at least into the late 1980's.

[afterhours]

Totally inexcusable to leave ANY of our pow's ANYWHERE, ANYTIME..

[HESH2]

like you swimmer retired history buff.get totally pissed off over our rules of engagement in these conflicks.don't shoot at the ememy unless they shoot first,don't stop the arms coming in on camels because the guy leading them does'nt have a gun.our leaders gotta wake up.read the lone survivor i mentioned previous post about a heroic navy seal in afganistan.not that i'm wealthy but have given to interpid fallen heroes fund,check it out.

[Swimmer]

Thank you I will.

[likwid]

Originally Posted by afterhours

Totally inexcusable to leave ANY of our pow's ANYWHERE, ANYTIME..

Tell that to not only the civilian leadership but the brass.

Two words: Expendable Assets.

[The Iceman 6]

Lone Survivor was the best book I've ever read, it was written by Marcus Latrell. His buddy Lt. Murphy from Long Island received the CMH from his actions in the mission. Inside Delta Force wasn't a bad book either!

Ice