Free Republic

HAMBURG, N.Y. — The removal of a POW/MIA flag in the Town of Hamburg has created a stir. The timeline of events began Friday, when the town's Coalition for Equity and Inclusion held a flag-raising at the town hall to recognize Pride Month. "Prior to the ceremony, it became apparent that the POW/MIA flag was frayed and tattered and in need of replacement," the Town of Hamburg Supervisor said Sunday afternoon in a statement. "The damaged flag was removed and immediately delivered to the Town Clerk for proper disposal and swift replacement. The Town had no intention of removing the...

Under President Biden’s leadership, the Pentagon rejected a permit for the annual Rolling to Remember motorcycle ride held in Washington, DC, each Memorial Day to honor POW/MIA veterans. The event is organized by AMVETS, a veterans group, which submitted permit requests and petitions for the event to multiple federal agencies. According to Rep. Darrell Issa, “AMVETS received approval from the Department of Transportation, the Department of Interior, and multiple other state and local authorities.” Originally, the Pentagon granted a permit to AMVETS for the event in March, however it was later rescinded without explanation. “There are no options with as...

Multiple Democratic lawmakers this week replaced POW/MIA flags outside their Capitol Hill offices with a Transgender Equality flag to commemorate “Trans Visibility Week,” photos show. The move reportedly came at the behest of the “National Center for Transgender Equality.” The group tweeted Tuesday that it had delivered the flags to every member of Congress – even Republicans – with the request that they be flown outside their offices. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., tweeted a photo of his office with the transgender flag displayed, writing: "Discrimination has no place in our society. I am proud to display this flag as a...

The key issues cited by the group are costs and communication problems with the Pentagon Police Department. WASHINGTON — One of the nation’s most iconic displays of support for military veterans, those missing in action and prisoners of war is coming to an end. The annual Rolling Thunder ride — which has brought thousands of bikers to the D.C. area for decades — is putting the brakes on. They won’t be riding after their May 2019 run, group officials confirmed to WTOP. The key issues cited by the group are costs and communication problems with the Pentagon Police Department. “We...

~ 2018 National POW/MIA Day ~ 21 September 2018 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 flying of the National League of Families' POW/MIA flag. The others are Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day and Veterans Day. The flag is to be flown at major military installations, national cemeteries, all post offices, VA medical facilities, the World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, the...

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence picked up two family members of American soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War as he traveled to Hawaii to attend a ceremony marking the return of U.S. troops' alleged remains. Pence stopped in California en route to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, where a ceremony will be held 2 p.m. Wednesday (local time) following the repatriation of 55 sets of remains from North Korea last week. "As we travel to @JointBasePHH, Karen & I are honored to be joined by Diana Brown Sanfilippo & her husband Robert," Pence tweeted early Wednesday. "Diana lost her...

The United States did not give money to North Korea in exchange for the recovery and return of the remains of US soldiers, killed during the Korean War of 1950-1953, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said. "US code grants the secretary of defense the authority to reimburse the DPRK, or any other country, for expenses associated with the recovery and storage of remains. In this instance, North Korea did not ask for money and no money was exchanged," US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told the CNN broadcaster. On Friday, a US airplane carried the remains of US soldiers...

One of the most important results of President Trump’s negotiations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is the return of the remains of American troops who perished during the Korean War half a century ago. The remains of over fifty U.S. servicemen arrived in South Korea in accordance with an agreement made between Trump and Kim Jong Un last month. The remains were transported from North Korea to Osan Air Base at Pyeongtaek, South Korea, where a formal acceptance ceremony for the remains was performed. U.N. honor guards carried the boxes containing the still unconfirmed remains of U.S. servicemen...

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis spoke before press on Friday after the remains of 55 troops believed to be U.S. service members were returned to U.S. custody by North Korea. He said that efforts to retrieve additional remains will continue, including the possibility of the U.S. entering North Korea for assistance.Outside the Pentagon, a reporter asked Mattis if there were plans for U.S. military personnel to enter North Korea for search missions to find additional U.S. troops’ remains.“That is certainly under consideration. Absolutely,” Mattis replied, according to Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin, who posted to Twitter.

OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea (CNN)An American military jet has left North Korea Friday after taking possession of what is believed to be the remains of US troops killed during the Korean War some 65 years ago, the White House said. North Korean officials handed over the probable remains on the anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the conflict, which claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Americans, over 600,000 Chinese, 600,000 Korean soldiers and over a million Korean civilians

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea is expected to hand over the remains of a number of U.S. service members who were killed during the Korean War on Friday, the 65th anniversary of the armistice that ended the fighting, according to reports in South Korean media. If the exchange happens, it would mean that one part of the agreement reached between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12 had been partially fulfilled - albeit at a slower time frame than many had anticipated. Yonhap News agency reported on Thursday that North Korea...

Personnel Missing - Korea (PMKOR) (Reported for ALL Unaccounted For)

In a moving interview, Amy Shively Hawk discusses her new book, Six Years In The Hanoi Hilton (featuring a foreword by Sen. John McCain), about her father’s time as a POW in a Hanoi prison during the Vietnam War. Learn about the courage and bravery of one of America’s finest soldiers. In 1967, U.S. Air Force fighter pilot James Shively was shot down over North Vietnam. After ejecting from his F-105 Thunderchief aircraft, he landed in a rice paddy and was captured by the North Vietnamese Army. For the next six years, Shively endured brutal treatment at the hands of...

SEMBACH, Germany, September 18, 2015 — September 1 marked the 76th anniversary of the German invasion of Poland, which led Britain and France to declare war against Germany, setting off World War II. During the period from 1939 to 1945, approximately 400,000 U.S. service members lost their lives. Many of those troops were brought home to be buried in the United States, but more than 73,000 Americans missing from the war still remain unaccounted for and are considered missing in action. Streamlining Recovery Efforts After the war ended in 1945, the U.S. government began an effort to recover those MIA’s...

“An essay published in Newsweek, The Washington Spectator and at least one other website argues that a flag honoring U.S. troops who have been captured or gone missing is actually ‘racist’ and deserves to be treated with the same hostility as the Confederate flag. ‘You know that racist flag?’ writes Rick Perlstein. ‘The one that supposedly honors history but actually spreads a pernicious myth? And is useful only to venal right-wing politicians who wish to exploit hatred by calling it heritage? It’s past time to pull it down.’ No, Perlstein isn’t talking about the Confederate flag, but actually the POW/MIA...

You know that racist flag? The one that supposedly honors history but actually spreads a pernicious myth? And is useful only to venal right-wing politicians who wish to exploit hatred by calling it heritage? It’s past time to pull it down. Oh, wait. You thought I was referring to the Confederate flag. Actually, I’m talking about the POW/MIA flag.

You know that racist flag? The one that supposedly honors history but actually spreads a pernicious myth? And is useful only to venal right-wing politicians who wish to exploit hatred by calling it heritage? It’s past time to pull it down.Oh, wait. You thought I was referring to the Confederate flag. Actually, I’m talking about the POW/MIA flag.I told the story in the first chapter of my 2014 book The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan: how Richard Nixon invented the cult of the “POW/MIA” in order to justify the carnage in Vietnam in a...

Would the fact that John–anti-war activist with pal Hanoi Jane Fonda–Kerry has a daughter married to an Iranian make any difference in this heated debate over getting Barack Obama’s nuke deal shoved through Congress? Kerry greeted the Iranian people on the occasion of Nowruz, the traditional New Year, by revealing “his daughter has married an Iranian-American who has KERRY SALUTE EXTENSIVE FAMILY TIES to Iran!” Kerry told those listening: “I am proud of the Iranian-Americans in my own family and grateful for how they have enriched my life.” Kerry went on to say he was strongly committed to resolving differences...

“None of that is true!. . .I used to meet with him (McCain) in my office at the end of the day and debate with him. . .we debated quite fiercely but there was never any personal prejudice between us; the debate was between two men in a manly style. But after that we were quite friendly. We didn’t take it personally,” said Tran Trong Duyet, McCain’s jailer, in 2008 when Duyet was aged 75. But after his release from the Hanoi Hilton (Hoa Lo Prison), John Sidney McCain, Navy pilot and son of Adm. John McCain, Jr., commander of...

PARIS -- U.S. President Barack Obama recently agreed to the release of five Taliban leaders from Guantanamo Bay prison in exchange for an alleged U.S. military deserter. It's great trade for the soldier, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who will be reunited with his loved ones back in America. Nonetheless, it's a bad precedent for America. Obama said he expressed his personal gratitude to Qatar for having negotiated the Bergdahl swap. What could possibly be in this deal for Qatar? In June 2013, Qatar hosted talks between the U.S. and a Taliban delegation that also represented the Haqqani network, which was holding...