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The faded handwriting on deeply creased, 4-by-8-inch stationery captures his last words home. In the summer of 1950, Pvt. Harold Shepard wrote of what he’d done the day before, the California heat and how getting letters from home would take longer once he left the country. His word choices are a dead giveaway of his Southern roots. He “reckoned” it wouldn’t take more than 14 days to get to Japan. The wind in California was “right hot.” He hoped the tobacco growing on the family farm “makes alright this year.” “Well momma I guess I will close for this time...

WASHINGTON - Thousands of motorcycles rolled down the streets of the nation's capital Sunday in a rally organized by Rolling Thunder, a biker group that supports veterans' rights. The group has been staging the rally on Memorial Day weekend since 1988 to focus attention on POW-MIA issues. Many of the bikers took part in the annual memorial ride from Arlington National Cemetery to the National Vietnam War Memorial before heading to the Lincoln Memorial. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, and his wife joined the thousands of bikers riding through Washington. Later in the day,...

DALLAS - Air Force Reserve Capt. Troy "Gordy" Cope was presumed dead after a fierce firefight Sept. 16, 1952, with six MiG-15s above the Yalu River near the North Korea-China border. The military honored him with a posthumous Purple Heart. His family held a memorial service for him in 1988. But with no body and no aircraft, older brother Carl Cope had held onto slim hope that his brother somehow survived. And why not? Carl Cope, 83, had survived a crash after his C-47 transport plane was shot down in Sicily during World War II. "We had come to the...

US POWs and Spies – Czech Style Hana Catalanova, Vaclav Eminger, Zdenek Valis, PhDr - Journalists reporting from within the secret services should above all answer a question to themselves, whether they do not only serve as instruments of so called intelligence games. An example of this are also the articles in MFDnes daily (Czech newspaper) about the issue of an investigation into the fates of American prisoners of war from the Korean and Vietnam wars which are served to the readers – as an eked out porridge – by Messrs J. Gazdik and L. Navara. The last but one...

The following dembot senators were very active in the check bouncing scandal in 1992 i.e. kiting many checks in the House: (up)Chuck Schumer Barbara (dumb as a) Boxer (rocks) Ron Wyden Dick(head) Durbin Jack Reed Bernie Sanders (for the upcoming election) I have been searching for information about their involvement in this. Hey lets hobble their asses with outside charges like they do us. I know Boxer was in the top 10. Also who other than McCain was involved in Keating 5 PAYBACK TIME

May 19, 1:22 AM (ET) The land crew waits for the arrival of the USS Nimitz into Pearl Harbor, Hawaii May 18, 2005. The... Full Image Google sponsored links Eliminate Your Debt Today - Consolidate Your Loans Into Easy Affordable Payments & Start Saving! www.next-day-loans.com Get out of Debt - Free consultation on your options from professional counselors Preceptfinancial.com By Vicki Allen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans on a U.S. House of Representatives committee retreated from a sweeping ban on women in combat support and service units, and instead put into law the Pentagon's policy barring women from direct ground combat...

Well-meant biker gathering's time has passed By Robert F. Dorr Soon, it will be Memorial Day. On May 30, ceremonies will honor Americans who died in battle. The most important commemoration will take place at Arlington National Cemetery, just across the river from Washington. There will be speeches, hymns and moments of silent reflection. There is a right way to observe Memorial Day. This isn't it. I'm not against bikers. This column has regularly supported military members who choose to ride rather than drive. ("Military puts up too many obstacles for members who ride motorcycles," Army Times, April 29, 2002)....

Over the past couple of days I have read a number of posts from FReepers who insist that john mccain is deserving of our respect ...

POW/MIA Effort Continues Three Decades After Vietnam War By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, April 29, 2005 – The United States and Vietnam are helping heal wounds left by the war that ended 30 years ago by working together to determine the fate of missing servicemembers in Vietnam, including 1,800 from the United States. "As we mark the 30th anniversary of the end of the war, we must not forget those on both sides who made the ultimate sacrifice during the terrible conflict," said U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Michael Marine. "The best way to do this is to...

HANOI, Vietnam - It's been 30 years since the end of the Vietnam War; 40 years since the first American combat troops, one battalion of Marines, landed at Danang in the northern part of South Vietnam. It's as good a time as any to take a look at where we stand on the search for the 1,399 Americans who are still listed as missing in action in Vietnam, and no better place to do that than here at the offices of Detachment Two of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC). The small detachment permanently stationed in the capital of Vietnam...

Jane Fonda talks about how she is 'riveted' by faith and why feminism is what Jesus taughtFrom her longtime political activism to her Oscar-winning acting, Jane Fonda has never done anything halfheartedly, and she brings this characteristic intensity to her faith. When she talks about "feeling the presence of the Almighty," her view of Jesus, and the way she prays, her voice wells from deep within her chest. You may know this voice from her films (among dozens of others: Barbarella, Klute, On Golden Pond, and currently in theaters, Monster-in-Law), or from her aerobics videos ("feel the burn!"), or from...

Dear Everyone, We were able just today to get the itinerary for Jane Fonda's book signing tour. We are encouraging all Vietnam Veterans and their family, as well as all concerned Americans, to protest her signings. This is Operation Street Corner, now used for another traitor, Jane Fonda. Watch the Operation Street Corner website for pictures and information about our protests (http://operationstreetcorner.com/). There is nothing posted yet, as we are getting the word out first to our email listservers. Thank you so much for your time and help! I will be sending out additional information about Jane soon. See Hanoi...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Police said they arrested a man for spitting on Academy Award winning actress Jana Fonda during a book-signing stop in Kansas City Tuesday night.Fonda, 67, spoke at Unity Temple, in The Plaza shopping district, about her new book, "My Life So Far" and her new movie with Jennifer Lopez called "Monster-In-Law."At about 9 p.m., police said a man who had been waiting in line for about 90 minutes, passed a book to Fonda and then spit a large amount of tobacco juice into her face. Michael A. Smith Thy said the man then ran away and...

Jane Fonda regrets her visit to a North Vietnamese gun site in 1972, the actress and fitness guru said in an interview with CBS television show "60 Minutes" to be aired on Sunday. The actress defended her trip to Vietnam in 1972, which won her the nickname "Hanoi Jane." But she said her visit to a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun site used to shoot down U.S. pilots was a "betrayal" of the U.S. military. "The image of Jane Fonda, Barbarella, Henry Fonda's daughter ... sitting on an enemy aircraft gun was a betrayal," she said, calling the act, "The largest...

Senior officials from Laos and the U.S. concluded talks this week reaffirming close cooperation in the mission to account for missing Americans from the Vietnam War. Director, Europe-Americas Department of Laos’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs Southam Sakonhninhom opened and closed the discussions with officials from the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO). He stated that he considered the U.S. and Laos to be one team with the same vision, working to carry out the same mission. The discussion began a two-day visit to assess Lao cooperation, address the efforts of the Lao government in an archival research initiative begun last year,...

HANOI, Vietnam - The suspected remains of an American soldier killed during the Vietnam War were flown home on Thursday, four decades after U.S. troops first landed in the country to fight. Under rainy skies, a U.S. military honor guard loaded a flag-draped aluminum coffin onto an Air Force C-130 at Danang International Airport, in central Vietnam, before it headed off to a forensics laboratory in Hawaii for further identification. "We want to continue the commitment" to account for all the missing in action from the war, said Lt. Col. Lentfort Mitchell, commander of the office for missing U.S. servicemen...

CAMP LESTER, Okinawa — U.S. Navy Hospital Okinawa personnel said a final goodbye Wednesday to three fallen comrades who went missing during the Vietnam War. The hospital’s honor guard removed the pictures of three hospital corpsmen from their POW/MIA wall after their remains recently were identified. Corpsmen James Patrick McGrath, Ronald James Manning and Bernard Gause Jr. all died during or immediately after attacks on their air transport, according to Navy records. Even after 30 years or more of waiting, it’s a relief to families when POW/MIAs are found, said retired Lt. Cmdr. Lawrence Alsop, a veteran of World War...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2005 U.S. Airforce pilot Troy "Gordie" Cope is seen with his F-86 Sabre fighter sometime before he was shot down by a Russian flying a MiG-15 on Feb. 26, 2005. (Photo: AP (file)) (AP) Closing a curious chapter of Korean War history, the Pentagon announced Friday it had identified the remains of an Air Force pilot whose jet crashed on Chinese territory after being shot down during a dogfight with a Russian flying for North Korea. The case puts a spotlight on a Russian role in the 1950-53 Korean War that was kept quiet for decades and helped feed...

By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Feb. 25, 2005 -- More than a half-century after North Korean fighter jets shot down U.S. Air Force Capt. Troy "Gordie" Cope's F-86 Sabre Jet over Danong, China, his family finally has official word of what happened to him and is preparing to bury him this May. Air Force Capt. Troy "Gordie" Cope poses on the wing of his F-86 Sabre Jet some time before the September 1952 Korean War mission on which he was last heard from. His wife's name, "Rosie." is painted on the side. Courtesy photo (Click photo...

WASHINGTON - Closing a curious chapter of Korean War history, the Pentagon announced Friday it had identified the remains of an Air Force pilot whose jet crashed on Chinese territory after being shot down during a dogfight with a Russian flying for North Korea. The case puts a spotlight on a Russian role in the 1950-53 Korean War that was kept quiet for decades and helped feed speculation inside the American government that the Russians had attempted - and perhaps managed - to capture U.S. pilots to exploit them for intelligence purposes. Capt. Troy "Gordie" Cope, of Norfork, Ark., was...

A senior DoD delegation has concluded talks in China about additional cooperation on POW and MIA cases. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs Jerry D. Jennings led a delegation to China this week to explore opportunities with Chinese officials. His two days of talks included discussions with officials from the Chinese government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense. Additionally, the delegation met with officials of the Chinese Red Cross to discuss matters relating to the POW camps which the Chinese managed during the Korean War. The Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office has policy oversight...

A Pentagon report released earlier this month concludes that many American servicemen were imprisoned in the former Soviet Union during the Cold War. The "Gulag Study" was compiled by researchers for the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs, who have been investigating reports of Americans held in the vast network of Soviet forced labor camps. "I personally would be comfortable saying that the number [of Americans in the gulags] was in the hundreds," Norman Kass, executive secretary of the commission's U.S. section, said when the report was released. For more than a decade, researchers have investigated sightings of Americans in Soviet...

PLANO – James Neil Tycz died a hero May 10, 1967, when a hand grenade exploded near his face in Khe Sanh, Vietnam. Of his seven-member reconnaissance patrol team, only three Marines survived the early-morning firefight with the North Vietnamese army, according to military records. The others were buried under elephant grass on Hill 665, unrecovered but not forgotten. On Wednesday, over a kitchen table in Plano, Sgt. Tycz's family heard the news they've waited 38 years for: The sergeant's remains – three teeth – had been located in Vietnam and positively identified. He was coming home. "It was a...

THE WASHINGTON TIMES Leaders of a group that long has sought the return of U.S. POWs and MIAs say they feel vindicated by a new Pentagon report that concludes that many Americans, including U.S. servicemen, were imprisoned in the former Soviet Union during the Cold War. The National Alliance of Families (NAF) hailed the report -- "The Gulag Study," which was compiled by the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office's Joint Commission Support Directorate (JCSD) -- as the "definitive work confirming that prisoners of war" from World War II and the Korean conflict "were transferred to the former Soviet Union"...

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon (news - web sites) is turning up the heat on the Russian government for ignoring pleas to cooperate in verifying an expanding body of anecdotal evidence that American servicemen from World War II and the Korean War were secretly held in prison camps in Siberia. Russian inaction has made the effort to confirm information about the presence of Americans in the gulag — the network of penal camps that stretched across the former Soviet Union — "a distinctly unilateral U.S. pursuit," Norman Kass, a leader of the Pentagon project, wrote in the introduction to a new...

<p>A document from Russian archives lists American servicemen in Soviet custody in May 1945.</p> <p>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. military service members may have been imprisoned and died in Soviet forced-labor camps during the 20th century, according to a Pentagon report to be released Friday.</p>

Official says hundreds of U.S. citizens likely died in gulags Friday, February 11, 2005 Posted: 9:36 AM EST (1436 GMT) WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. military service members may have been imprisoned and died in Soviet forced-labor camps during the 20th century, according to a Pentagon report to be released Friday. Researchers for the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs have been investigating unconfirmed reports of Americans who were held prisoner in the so-called gulags. "I personally would be comfortable saying that the number [of Americans held in the gulags during the Cold War and Korean War] is in the hundreds," said...

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Pvt. Odell Sharpe, killed during World War II, is finally coming home. The remains of Sharpe — presumed slain on Christmas Day 1944 when he as only 19 — were recently identified from a skeleton found in a foxhole near the Belgian-German border. . . . READ MORE AT www.foxnews.com

EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP) — More than 60 years after his plane disappeared during World War II on a mission to raid a Japanese base, an Army Air Corps soldier’s remains are coming home. First Lt. James Walter Carver will be buried with full military honors Saturday at the foot of his mother’s grave in Eagle Pass, the family said. Carver’s remains were identified through DNA testing using a blood sample taken from his niece, Kathryn Cunningham, whose mother, June Carver Hansen, 86, is Carver’s only remaining sibling. "When I told her he’d been found, my mom had a look...

Congress on Wednesday designated Riverside National Cemetery's Prisoner of War/Missing in Action memorial a national memorial. In an announcement, Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona) said, "Many of our national monuments and memorials are located east of the Mississippi, making them extremely inaccessible to people who live out on the West Coast." The cemetery is expected to become the largest in the system in less than five years, with 1.4 million honored veterans, surpassing the better known Arlington National Cemetery.

CLEVELAND (AP) - The Browns will pay tribute Sunday to a former player who died in the Vietnam War and has gone unrecognized by the NFL for decades. It has long been reported that Bob Kalsu, a Buffalo Bills lineman, was the only former NFL player killed while serving in Vietnam. But it recently came to the attention of the Pro Football Hall of Fame that Air Force Maj. Don Steinbrunner, a rookie offensive tackle with the Browns in 1953, died in Vietnam in 1967. Steinbrunner, who joined the Air Force ROTC while at Washington State University, was called to...

WASHINGTON — The Navy dismissed a broadcast report Friday that American forces in Iraq have recovered human remains believed to be those of missing Navy pilot Scott Speicher. “There’s nothing to substantiate the story, and we’ve communicated that to the Speicher family,” said Cdr. Conrad Chun, a Navy spokesman. First Coast News, which serves a pair of Jacksonville, Fla., television stations, reported that remains thought to be Speicher’s had been recovered in an undisclosed location in Iraq and were being tested to verify their identity. The report also was broadcast on Hampton Roads television Friday evening. Speicher has been missing...

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- First Coast News has learned a body has been found in Iraq and DNA testing is underway. Multiple sources tell First Coast News Captain Scott Speicher's family has been notified. They will not disclose the details of why they believe these are his remains only to say they have reason to feel confident these are his remains. Test results are expected within weeks. When I sat down with Buddy Harris, who was Speicher's best friend and is now married to Speicher's widow, he told me the family would never give up until they found what happened to...

Carolyn Maupin prays that out of sight doesn’t mean out of mind for her soldier son, taken hostage in Iraq this spring. Courtesy of the Maupin family A poster of Spc. Keith “Matt” Maupin is posted “almost everywhere they will let us put one up,” according to Matt’s dad, Keith Maupin. Despite rumors that Spc. Keith “Matt” Maupin might have been shot to death by insurgents, the Army assures the Batavia, Ohio, family that troops in Iraq continue their search for the captured 20-year-old truck driver and Army Reservist. Keith Maupin believes his son was not executed. “My son is...

A third, newly discovered Vietnamese war document presents further indication Hanoi orchestrated John Kerry's promotion of the communist regime's 1971 plan calling for virtual U.S. surrender. As WorldNetDaily reported Tuesday, two documents found in a U.S. archive over the weekend provide the first concrete evidence that Vietnamese communists were directing Kerry's antiwar group Vietnam Veterans Against the War. The New York Times covered of John Kerry's Washington press conference in 1971 One of the two documents, a "circular" captured by the U.S. in 1971 and later translated, indicates the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese delegations to the Paris peace talks...

One of Kerry’s most extraordinary attacks came over the weekend in Colorado, where he told a Pueblo audience, “With the same energy . . . I put into going after the Viet Cong and trying to win for our country, I pledge to you I will hunt down and capture or kill the terrorists before they harm us.”

MJB Posted on Mon Oct 25, 2004 12:12 pm  Your help is urgently needed – over on the Swift Vets message board there’s a thread that trying to unravel the financial dealings of John Kerry and a number of his key money people. There are some incredible people on this board – NavyChief, who did the leg work leading to Thomas Lipscomb’s recent article that Kerry was the only possible author of the after action report that led to his own Bronze Star medal; Navy Wife – who has helped to compile and post a treasure trove of documents relating...

Reports indicate that Democratic nominee, Senator John Kerry, committed official misconduct in 1994, abusing his position as Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA by suppressing evidence of live prisoners of war in Vietnam to give his cousin's company a billion dollar deal. As Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA in the early 1990s, Senator Kerry lobbied zealously for normalized relations with Vietnam.  As a result, his cousin, C. Stewart Forbes, was able to broker a billion dollar deal between Hanoi and Colliers International, a large company based in Kerry's home state of Massachusetts.   Further, according to the...

VOICE In Focus Election 2004George W. BushIraq War article search home features citystatelettersmachine agenationny mirror horoscopehot spot voice choicesmovieclockbest of nyceats art booksdance filmmusictheater classifiedsreal estateemploymentautostravel merchandisemusicbulletin board personals nyc user's guidebandwidthhalloween partysiren corrections most popular today most emailed rss feeds images this week newsletter signup get the paper work at the voice about us advertising VOICE Giveaways Film Screenings Callas Forever Nightlife Win a Night on the Town prize package click links to win! Sponsored Links One Stop Voice Shop Payday Advance Payday Loans $$Cash Advance Bad Credit Loans Discount Hotels features Senator covered up evidence of P.O.W.'s...

Welcome to FIGHTBACK! http://www.soft-vision.com/fightback NEWS UPDATE: Anti-Kerry documentary available for free Washington, DC, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- The controversial documentary on Sen. John Kerry's anti-Vietnam War activities will be made available free to the public, it's producer said Friday. ( CLICK HERE ) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Sherman Stephen To: Joe Oliver To: Joe Jordan I have gotten permission to post the video Stolen Honor at http://www.ButtonDePress.com There will be an "official" website to show it (also free) on Monday. But if you want to pass this information around so people can see the video this weekend, you are welcome to do...

POW/MIAs – VIETNAM WAR: According to DOD announcements, there are still 1,849 Americans listed by the Defense Department as missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War, 1,410 in Vietnam, 377 in Laos, 55 in Cambodia and 7 in PRC territorial waters. The Service Casualty Offices and DPMO are again behind in paperwork and announcing the names of five additional Americans previously unaccounted for in Vietnam, all identified recently, that will reduce the number to 1,842. AP REPORTS VIETNAM WAR REMAINS RETURNED: on October 18th, an AP release out of Hanoi stated, “The remains of five Americans killed during the...

Hanoi - The remains of five Americans killed during the Vietnam War were handed over to US authorities on Monday for repatriation and identification, the US embassy in Vietnam said. A formal ceremony was held at Hanoi's Noi Bai airport and the remains were then loaded onto a US Air Force C-141B Starlifter cargo airplane. Remnants of the decomposed bodies were recovered between June 25 and July 27 by members of the US Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and Vietnam's missing personnel office. The remains were to be flown to JPAC's Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii for forensic testing and identification,...

I found this article in searching for info on Stuart Forbes, Kerry's cousin. It's not a pretty picture http://www.usvetdsp.com/billbell.htm

In the early 1990s, Kerry headed a Senate committee that was supposed to determine whatever became of American troops in the Vietnam War whose whereabouts were not recorded. Under his leadership, the panel concluded there was “no evidence” that any Americans left behind in Vietnam were still alive. Shortly after Kerry declared to the world, “President Bush should reward Vietnam within a month for its increased cooperation in accounting for American MIAs.” Hanoi then announced that it had awarded a fat contract to Boston real estate firm Colliers International, then headed by the senator’s cousin Stuart Forbes. Colliers International was...

This is an excerpt from the book Unfit for Command, copyright 2004 by John O'Neill and Jerome Corsi. The excerpt begins on page 117 at the subtitle of "Skid Row." "Skid Row" Marine First Lieutenant Jim Warner had had a rough time, even for a POW in the gulag of North Vietnam in the spring of 1969. Having been interrogated and tortured for four months by the North Vietnamese, who threatened to hold him after the war for trial as a war criminal, Warner (once the proud backseat navigator of a Phantom jet) had just been transferred by the...

Kerry/Vietnam/Bob Smith/POW-MIA's Fellow FReepers, I know this is technically a vanity, but my friend is the Chairman of the American Legion POW/MIA committee in our home state, and an associate FReeper at heart. He asked me to put this up for your consideration, and I know this subject has been disected here on FR: Thursday night, during the debate, Sen. Kerry said he visited Mr. Putin in the former Soviet Union along with Sen. Bob Smith of New Hampshire. This needs to be investigated as it leads into the most disgraceful events of Sen. Kerry's career. In 1992, Mr. Kerry...

Today was POW/MIA Remembrance Day - a day reserved for the preservation of hope for the men who fought alongside us but were denied a return to their loved ones. It is also a day that, among all other days, and especially during this election year, someone needs to speak . . . anyone needs to speak . . . alright, I will speak . . . of betrayal. The betrayal of these men, our brothers . . . our blood brothers . . . by someone walking on their graves as he seeks to lead our Nation as its...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2004 – The U.S. government will never forget about its missing personnel and won't stop trying to bring them home to their loved ones, said the Defense Department's top prisoner of war and missing personnel official. "That's a commitment that the United States government has demonstrated over the years that you might say is the gold standard for the world," said Jerry D. Jennings, deputy assistant secretary of defense for prisoner of war/missing personnel affairs, during a Sept. 10 interview with the Pentagon Channel. "Since it's a worldwide mission, I have the opportunity to talk to leaders...

Just wondering: Matthews' Hardball segment on 9/9/04 suggested in part that Kerry's testimony didn't really affect the fate of currently held POWs. Even tho that appears to some (like Matthews) as debatable, I'm not so sure it can't be proved that Kerry's testimony did affect their treatment and did affect Nixon's plans to get them home earlier than '73. The National Advertising Council agreed to create and distribute print and radio ads entitled "Send a letter to Hanoi" some time in '71. The idea was to highlight the request of the families, the government and the International Committee of the...

1. Prior to “Dewey Canyon III” Mike Thelan East Coast Coordinator for the VVAW tells a gathering of possible attendants that the VVAW’s official position is not to encourage anyone to commit acts of violence, but that VVAW activists are not “discouraging someone from “doing it”. VVAW activists are not “discouraging someone from committing acts of violence, pg 4 2. FBI files indicate that “VVAW is under active investigation in view of indications of communist and other subversive infiltration”. indications of communist and other subversive infiltration, pg 24 3. Speaker at VVAW antiwar rally Carl Moore makes following statements, “President...