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Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Lynn O’Shea, Director of Research for the National Alliance of Families for the Return of America’s Missing Servicemen. FP: Lynn O’Shea, welcome to Frontpage Interview. Tell us what your Alliance is currently working on. O’Shea: Currently, we are working toward the passage of House Resolution 111, calling for the formation of a Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs in the House of Representatives. It is our hope that the House Committee will pick up where the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs ended in 1993. When the Senate Committee published its final report, it contained several...

Thousands of World War II prisoners ended up in mills, farm fields and even dining rooms across the United States In the mid-1940s when Mel Luetchens was a boy on his family’s Murdock, Nebraska, farm where he still lives, he sometimes hung out with his father’s hired hands, “I looked forward to it,” he said. “They played games with us and brought us candy and gum.” The hearty young men who helped his father pick corn or put up hay or build livestock fences were German prisoners of war from a nearby camp. “They were the enemy, of course,” says...

He was a soldier in one of the most fanatical divisions in Hitler's war machine. As a member of the SS, Heinrich Steinmeyer expected little mercy as he surrendered to British troops towards the end of the Second World War. But instead, he says he was treated with humanity by both the troops who captured him and the guards at the Scottish prison camp where he was kept until the end of the war. Sixty-five years later, Mr Steinmeyer has pledged to leave his home and life savings of £430,000 to elderly residents in the village of Comrie, Perthshire, as...

CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C., Aug. 21, 2009 – A senior noncommissioned officer assigned here recently returned from a recovery mission to find the remains of an American pilot in Laos. Air Force Master Sgt. Wesley Housel sifts through dirt while conducting a recovery mission in Houaphan province, Laos. Housel was part of a 10-member recovery team on a deployment to recover the remains of Americans lost during the Vietnam War. DoD photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Air Force Master Sgt. Wesley Housel of the 437th Operations Support Squadron spent a 36-day deployment as a digger assigned to...

The Crowley County veterans affairs officer is disputing claims by military historians that he lied about being a prisoner of war. In a telephone interview Wednesday, Ronald Crumley said he is a former POW and that he will prove it at a meeting next week. "All of the allegations will be answered by two people. One is a four-star Marine general and the other is a former assistant U.S. attorney general," Crumley said. "I see how this has happened to other people and I want to take care of it now," Crumley said. Military historian Doug Sterner of Pueblo and...

WASHINGTON, July 23, 2009 – Nearing the end of his 42-year career in the Navy, Adm. Timothy J. Keating today reflected on those who served alongside him, giving special emphasis to troops whose fates remain unknown. Keating, the commander of U.S. Pacific Command, addressed the National League of POW/MIA Families, a group that strives to account for the more than 1,750 veterans of Vietnam and other wars still missing. “We’re going to do whatever it takes, with appropriate support, to have you reach some sort of conclusion in your minds and in your hearts as to where your loved one...

U.S. Army Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho, is no longer a combatant in the Afghanistan war. Instead, he is now playing a part in an increasingly desperate information war being waged by the Taliban. Pfc. Bergdahl was recently identified in a video distributed by his captors, the Afghan Taliban, a religious-based insurgent group now fighting American, NATO and Afghan government forces under the command of Mullah Omar. Despite the nature of the conflict, Bergdahl is not a prisoner of war - he is a terrorist hostage. The difference is important. The United States government classifies persons held...

Here is a video report on a massive search underway in Afghanistan to try and find captured U.S. Solder Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl. He was captured on June 30, and a videotape released by the Taliban showed him eating and speaking on Sunday. The Pentagon is pouring over the tape for any clues it might give as to his whereabouts. . . . . (Watch Video)

#5 Jim Thompson POW and Legendary Badass Who was he? Jim was just a store clerk, until he decided he could probably impress more girls by telling them he was a Green Beret, which he became. How He Stared Down Death: During the Vietnam War, Jim was captured and held as a prisoner of war, at which time he was beaten and tortured. The time we're speaking of by the way was a period of nine years, giving him a pretty bittersweet record for being held as a POW.

I'm trying to find a source that lists the amounts of people freed by the US military in its various wars and conflicts for a speech; if anyone can point me to one I'd appreciate it, Thank You.

WASHINGTON, July 20, 2009 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said American commanders are “sparing no effort” to locate a U.S. soldier who went missing early this month in Afghanistan. Speaking to reporters today during a Pentagon news conference, Gates also expressed his disgust at the exploitation of Army Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl, who the Defense Department identified as the missing soldier and who is featured in a video apparently released yesterday on the Internet by his captors. “Our commanders are sparing no effort to find this young soldier, and I also would say that my personal reaction was one...

Here is a video report on the Pentagon's announcement confirming the identity of the U.S. Soldier captured and being held by the Taliban in Afghanistan who appeared in a video released last night. The soldier is identified as Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl of Ketchum, Idaho. He was captured on June 30 this report says, after wandering away from his base without his weapon or his body armor. In the tape released, Bergdahl says he is scared he won't be able to return home, and after being prompted by a captor off camera, he appeals to Americans to bring all the troops...

A Taliban commander in southeastern Afghanistan today said that a captured U.S. soldier was being held unharmed by insurgents, but warned he would be killed if efforts were made to find him. The soldier has been missing in Paktika province since late June, just before thousands of U.S. Marines began a major new offensive. The U.S. military has said he was presumed captured. Taliban commander Mawlavi Sangin said the group's leadership would decide the soldier's fate, but accused U.S. soldiers of harassing and arresting Afghans in Paktika and neighbouring Ghazni province. 'They have put pressure on the people in these...

ACCRA, Ghana, July 12 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama said he has ordered a probe of the U.S. response to mass killings of Taliban prisoners of war by forces of an American-backed warlord. In an interview with CNN, Obama said the investigation would focus on reports the Bush administration resisted calls for a probe into the deaths of as many as 2,000 Taliban POWs in 2001, during the early days of the war in Afghanistan. "The indications that this had not been properly investigated just recently was brought to my attention," Obama said during his visit to Ghana. "So what...

MOSCOW: The United States and Russia on Monday agreed to revive a joint commission that investigates the fate of prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action, the White House said. In an exchange of diplomatic notes, Washington and Moscow agreed a framework for the US-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs, the White House said in a statement as President Barack Obama arrived for a summit in Moscow. "This exchange restores in full the important work of the Joint Commission and demonstrates the unwavering commitment both our countries have toward our servicemen and women," it said. It was not immediately clear...

SEGUIN — For some of us, Independence Day is more important than for others. But back in 1942, it all nearly came to naught for the forward observer with the first Texas military unit to ever see combat on foreign soil. One of the very first to see action in World War II and the most decorated military unit in the history of the Lone Star state, Buzzo’s unit, the second battalion of the 131st Field Artillery, was surrendered and captured at Java on March 8, 1942. Of some 900 men taken prisoner at Java, about 670 were shipped to...

WHEN Kim Beazley slipped his feet under the desk as Australia's defence minister in 1984, he took charge of a vast department with a multibillion-dollar budget and gained access to the nation's most valuable military secrets. But even from his position at the apex of Australia's military machine he was unable to find a definitive answer to one of his family's most enduring mysteries: what happened to Uncle Syd. Now, a quarter of a century on, Beazley has put his influence behind a campaign to demand answers to questions surrounding one of the nation's most tragic wartime episodes, the sinking...

Captivity In Print “Tears In The Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath,” by Michael and Elizabeth Norman, is the story of GI/POW artist Ben Steele, a survivor now 91 years old and a professor of art emeritus, illustrated with his recreated sketches from Japanese prison camps, the originals having been lost in the war. Extensively reviewed at the Moderate Voice. An author “op-art” at The New York Times, Memorial of the Mind. Washington Times editorial, Remembering Bataan, Americans Who Know What Torture Really Is. More of the art here. An interview with Steele and more...

Oh. Before we begin today's "Bashing Barack," remember that on Wednesday I invited you to create your own Catchy Caption to the photo of Michelle Obama and France's First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. I am sad to report that an overwhelming number had the "B" word involved and, therefore, cannot be repeated here. The best usable caption was: "I'm just glad she's not looking at me." On to the really amusing stuff: An article in the Weekly Standard maintains that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is being given a broader role in interrogating prisoners taken during raids on terrorist dens in...

Rolling Thunder not expecting Obama greeting By Jennifer Harper Friday, May 22, 2009 The last time Rolling Thunder roared into Washington, the president welcomed the riders in the White House driveway with a smile on his face and heartfelt personal greeting. This year, maybe not. "We initially got a call this year saying the president wasn't going to greet us," said Artie Muller, founder of the group that is marking its 22nd annual patriotic motorcycle ride through Washington to draw attention to policy issues influencing veterans, active-duty military, prisoners of war and those still missing in action. But a second...

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Newt Heisley, the designer of the POW/MIA flag adopted by Congress in 1990 as a symbol of the nation's concern for those missing during military actions in Southeast Asia, died. He was 88. [snip]

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors. He is Pfc. David Woodruff, U.S. Army, of Poplar Bluff, Mo. He will be buried on April 22 in St. Louis, Mo. Representatives from the Army’s Mortuary Office met with Woodruff’s next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process on behalf of the Secretary of the Army. Woodruff was assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 9th Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. In...

Sunday morning at the Hanoi Hilton was church time. To gather our “congregation,” the Senior Ranking Officer (SRO) tapped “cc,” quietly on his wall. Each cell in turn tapped “cc,” and soon all have been alerted to Church Call. The service was a prayer and a reciting of Bible verses. If I was lucky, I was in a cell with one or two other POWs, and we could pool our knowledge of the Bible. A failed rescue attempt led to the most memorable of our church experiences. It happened on November 20, 1970, when U.S. Special Forces staged a mission...

Prisoners of war suffer in ways most veterans don't, enduring humiliating forced marches, torture or other trauma that may haunt them long afterward. In partial recompense, the government extends them special benefits, from free parking and tax breaks to priority in medical treatment. Trouble is, some of the much-admired recipients of these benefits apparently don't deserve them. There are only 21 surviving POWs from the first Gulf War in 1991, the Department of Defense says. Yet the Department of Veterans Affairs is paying disability benefits to 286 service members it says were taken prisoner during that conflict, according to data...

April 10, 1942 Bataan Death March begins The day after the surrender of the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese, the 75,000 Filipino and American troops captured on the Bataan Peninsula begin a forced march to a prison camp near Cabanatuan. During this infamous trek, known as the "Bataan Death March," the prisoners were forced to march 85 miles in six days, with only one meal of rice during the entire journey. By the end of the march, which was punctuated with atrocities committed by the Japanese guards, hundreds of Americans and many more Filipinos had died. The...

April 9, 2009, Juneau, Alaska – Governor Sarah Palin today signed a proclamation declaring April 9, 2009, as Former Prisoners of War Recognition Day. The governor has ordered POW/MIA flags to be flown in honor and memory of American men and women who have placed themselves in harm’s way and faced the horrors of combat. “The price paid by POW/MIA soldiers in defense of liberty is worthy of our highest gratitude and most solemn remembrance,” Governor Palin said. “On this day and always, they are in our thoughts and prayers. We will never forget them or their service.” Governor Palin,...

LAS CRUCES, N.M., April 2, 2009 – The resounding boom of cannon fire broke the sound of thousands of participants talking as they waited in anticipation March 29 for the start of the 2009 Bataan Memorial Death March. This year, the 26.2-mile event at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., included more than 5,300 participants from 50 states and eight countries, including the Philippines, Germany, Canada and the United Kingdom. While individuals marched for their own reasons, they all came together for the same purpose: to honor the soldiers, who were part of the Bataan Death March during World War II....

by Gina L. DiorioNot long ago, I was walking through a large chain bookstore when a book displayed at the end of an aisle caught my eye. I reached over and picked it up – Surviving Hell: A POW’s Journey by Leo Thorsness (Encounter Books, 2008, 132 pages). After flipping through the pages for a few seconds, I replaced the volume on its appointed ledge, not because I was uninterested. Far from it. Rather, I replaced the book because I had just finished reading my own copy not long before. Why, then, did I pick it up in the store...

He disappeared 18 years ago on the first night of the Gulf War. The Navy has changed his status from KIA to MIA four times. Family - and Navy stalwarts - haven't forgotten him or let up on their efforts to find out what happened to the fighter pilot, and father of two.

Lest anyone doubt the significance that veterans and the armed forces place upon the medals they earn, for the second time in as many weeks a local veteran will receive recognition for bravery in wars decades ago.This Thursday is 87-year-old Joseph Moser's turn. The Whatcom County resident will receive the Distinguished Flying Cross at McChord Air Force Base on Thursday for his actions 65 years ago over Germany. Joe Moser, 2008. Photo by Gabriel Rodriguez, courtesy of Gerald Baron. Moser, originally a farm kid from Ferndale, on July 30, 1944 – more than three weeks after the Normandy invasion...

As the only prisoner of war held on U.S. soil, inmate No. 38699-079 gets annual visits from the Red Cross and can wear his military uniform and insignia when he goes to court.

Skillfully crafted from tin cans, matchsticks and off cuts, one can only imagine the satisfaction a prisoner of war derived from finishing this stunning model aircraft as he languished in Stalag Luft III. Constructed almost perfectly to scale, his detailed version of a Lancaster Bomber like the one he flew before his capture even bears what appears to be the skull and crossbones logo of RAF 100 Squadron, famous for its night-time raids.Little is known about its maker, other than that he was an airman named E Taylor.     The model was found during a clearance sale at house...

The little-known story of US citizens trying to escape the Depression Mountainous Kolyma, only a few hundred miles west of the Bering Strait, is the coldest inhabited area on earth. During Stalin’s rule, some 2 million prisoners were sent there to mine the rich deposits of gold that lie beneath the rocky, frozen soil. In 1991, when researching a book about how Russians were coming to terms with the Stalin era, I travelled to the region to see some of the old camps of Kolyma, legendary as the most deadly part of the gulag, some of whose survivors I had...

Some interesting background on the first time McCain was shot down by a socialist. From Russian news agency Novosti MOSCOW, November 17 - An ex-Soviet officer who claims to have shot down U.S. Senator John McCain's plane over Vietnam in 1967 has said he is happy the ex-navy pilot lost his bid for the White House, a Russian paper said on Monday. McCain was shot down over Hanoi while on a bombing mission on October 26, 1967, and taken captive by the North Vietnamese. He spent five and a half years in a POW camp, and claims that he was...

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors. He is Cpl. Librado Luna, U.S. Army, of Taylor, Texas. He will be buried on Nov. 25 in Taylor. Representatives from the Army's Mortuary Office met with Luna’s next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process, and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army. In late November 1950, Luna was assigned to the 8th...

LOMA LINDA, California (CNN) -- Anthony Acevedo thumbs through the worn, yellowed pages of his diary emblazoned with the words "A Wartime Log" on its cover. It's a catalog of deaths and atrocities he says were carried out on U.S. soldiers held by Nazis at a slave labor camp during World War II -- a largely forgotten legacy of the war. Anthony Acevedo served as a medic during World War II. He was captured and sent into a Nazi forced labor camp. 1 of 3 more photos » Acevedo pauses when he comes across a soldier with the last name...

This Man Should Be President

~snip~ Where the accounts differ most starkly is in the period of Mr McCain’s long incarceration as a PoW – first at the prison known as the Hanoi Hilton, then at The Plantation. Tran Trong Duyet, the former prison director who now surrounds himself with caged birds in a house in Hai Phong, first met Mr McCain a year after he had been shot down. He recalls a defiant rule-breaker, the patriotic son of an admiral and a fervent believer in the war. What he does not recall, however, is a victim of torture or violence. “I never tortured or...

The video portrays the Republican as a hero but the message may be tarnished as he is filmed smoking a cigarette. In the footage an emotional and shirtless McCain passes a message to his wife saying he will get well and loves her. He also describes being shot down over Hanoi in 1967, and parachuting into a lake. At times, when speaking of his family, McCain's lower lip trembles and his voice breaks. "I was on a flight over the city (Hanoi) ... and I was bombing and I was hit by a missile or anti-aircraft fire, I'm not sure...

McCain in captivity in Vietnam. You haven't seen this. The campaign played a tiny portion in an ad, but you have not seen this tape. Watch it to the end. It is a show-stopper.

A while back, France release a small snip of a video of John McCain taken while he was a POW. Now they've released the entire video. It's pretty long (and fascinating) but the McCain part starts a little over half way through.

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VIDEO HERE

Click on the link, then click on LISTEN NOW link to hear Marine pilot who was shot down 1 year before McCain http://www.wticam.com/

I just added my donation, so I don't feel so guilty cluttering up the boards with yet another vanity. Go donate and write a vanity! Here's why I think we should ignore the polls and continue with our efforts to elect McPalin: 1) I think some of FR's gloom and doomers just might be shills. With the kind of crooked dough that Obama's amassing, ACORN, and Soros has bought in the past, it's not so far fetched that the #1 conservative site would get "seminar callers." That they have senior dates on their page doesn't mean they're not seminar callers--it...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8, 2008 – A policy change to expand eligibility for the Purple Heart award to prisoners of war who died in captivity represents the right decision that recognizes their sacrifice, a senior defense official told American Forces Press Service. The Pentagon announced the new policy earlier this week that will extend criteria for receiving Purple Hearts to prisoners of war who have died in captivity since the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. “The Purple Heart is an award worn with great pride and recognizes that the servicemember has been wounded or killed as a...

Mishaps mark John McCain's record as naval aviator By Ralph Vartabedian and Richard A. Serrano, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers October 6, 2008 The 23-year-old junior lieutenant wasn't paying attention and erred in using "a power setting too low to maintain level flight in a turn," investigators concluded. As a presidential candidate, McCain has cited his military service -- particularly his 5 1/2 years as a POW. But he has been less forthcoming about his mistakes in the cockpit. The Times interviewed men who served with McCain and located once-confidential 1960s-era accident reports and formerly classified evaluations of his squadrons...

ARLINGTON, VA -- Today, U.S. Senator John McCain issued the following statement on National POW/MIA Recognition Day: "Today, we mark National POW/MIA Recognition Day, and I salute my comrades who served their country in unusual circumstances, and remember those who never returned. "During my time in Hanoi, I was witness to a thousand acts of kindness, courage, and love by some of the finest Americans I've ever had the privilege to know. They, like thousands of others before and since, served our nation proudly and with honor. They would all agree, though, that the real heroes are those who never...

Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James E. Cartwright, U.S. Marine Corps, will host the Pentagon ceremony for National POW/MIA Recognition Day at the River Entrance Parade Field on Friday, Sept. 19, 2008, at 11 a.m. EDT. Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Congressman Ike Skelton will be the guest speaker. Observances of National POW/MIA Recognition Day are held across the country on military installations, ships at sea, state capitols, schools and veterans' facilities. This observance is one of six days throughout the year that Congress has mandated the...

Please help me track something down I find despicable.Today I heard Rush say that an Obama supporter is calling John McCain "unfit" to lead because he "broke" when a POW. By "broke", that is - he gave confidential information to his captors or admitted his "guilt" as a war terrorist.I've read many books on the POW's in captivity both during Vietnam, Korea and WW2. Most - if not all - "break" under torture at some point usually later than sooner. And all who come home carry this huge feeling of guilt for letting their fellow POW's, service, country and family...