Posted on 10/17/2006 9:25:51 AM PDT by rochester_veteran
Marine's Remains Returned from Vietnam After 39 Years
Chalonda Roberts (Chili, N.Y.) - After 39 years, a Marine from Chili is finally coming home from the Vietnam War.
It isn't the homecoming his family dreamed of, though. His father recently learned his son's remains have been identified and will be flown back to U.S. soil.
James Widener was 18 when his helicopter was shot down in 1967. His father, Jay Widener, never gave up hope that his son would be found.
The elder Widener, now 83, flips through a book filled with pages of letters written over the years asking for help to find his son.
He said, "I wrote to every politician, every person in the world to try to get more on it, and they couldn't help. They tried."
Widener remembers the day his son James joined the Marines. He was 17, right out of high school.
"He watched his brother struggling through college with them tapping on his shoulder all the time and he didn't want that, so he said, ‘Dad I want to go into the service, get the service over with, and then go to college,’" Widener said.
Widener also remembers the day, 39 years ago, he received news that his son's helicopter was shot down.
"I was mowing the grass sitting on the lawn mower...When I saw the car come in, my first instinct was to run, because my brother had been killed in the war," he said.
Widener believes the Vietnamese had his son's remains all this time. He blames them for how the remains were handled and has bitter feelings toward the leaders of the country.
"They probably killed him,” Widener said. “He was probably alive at the time and they killed him, but they buried him in a two-by-four shoe box…chopped up bones and everything else put in. They don't respect anything," he said.
Military personnel took DNA samples from Widener's family, which later proved to be a match.
James' mother died three years ago. Widener said living with the unknown was heartache for him and his wife.
Although Widener, 83, finally has closure, he says he never gave up hope.
"I suffered over a long period of time and to tell you the truth it doesn't make any difference. I'll suffer the rest of my life with it because it's a loss I'll never forget," he said.
James Widener will have a full United States Marine Corps military funeral at Arlington National Cemetery.
His father said the service is scheduled for the end of next month.
bump
Ping.
Welcome home, my brother.
Semper Fidelis,
fontman
“Widener believes the Vietnamese had his son’s remains all this time. He blames them for how the remains were handled and has bitter feelings toward the leaders of the country.”
I understand. But he should also feel bitter towards the kind of souless globalists who look at the modern descendents of the scum who killed his son as trading partners and sources for foreign investment as well as several Administrations which have not followed up with these fiends.
There are probably American P.O.W.s still alive in Viet Nam, North Korea or Red China - maybe even in Putie-land.
Thank you so much for sharing this with me!
I was pretty stunned when I got the envelope. Literally struck speechless for several minutes (which I don’t believe my husband had ever seen happen in the 20 years he’s known me!)
Mr. Widener said my card brought comfort to the family and I’m so very glad.
Thank you for the link, with its many details about Jimmy, his family, and the Dedication Service, and the pictures in your post.
At minimum, the current Vietnamese government has been holding back on the return and/or information of the remains of our fallen brothers. The Widener family suffered through 39 years of wondering about Jimmy. As you've read in the lead article of this thread, Jimmy's father, Jay Widener, harbors resentment towards the Vietnamese for jacking the family around about Jimmy's remains.
I have a friend that I worked with for many years, who's Laotian and fought with the US against the communist agressors. His helicopter was shot down in route to a mission and he was the only survivor from the crash. He still haa alot of connections in Laos and has gotten numerous reports over the years of American POW's that are still alive and being held in Vietnam. Whether or not these sightings are legitimate is up for debate, but my Laotian friend was convinced some of them were the real deal.
I agree with your Laotian Friend.
The Commie Rats who ruined and run Viet Nam want American investment and business. They are looking north to the Red Chinese and salivating at all those Yankee export dollars going for cheap and often dangerous junk.
It would be most “inconvenient” for their business plans if American P.O.W.s appeared and related some of the horrific experiences they encountered in the hands of these fiends.
As for our own government - its shown time and again that the bottom line is the buck and the profit for their internationalist globalist buddies in BOTH political parties.
Watch Lou Dobbs - a Great American.
Thank you so much for the ping. I thank God for every return.
Welcome home, Jimmy Widener. God bless his memory and his family.
Sitting here with tears rolling down my face. My deepest condolences, appreciation, and prayers for the Widener family.
I’m thankful his dad lived to see him finally brought home, and that there have been so many caring people who have honored this Marine and this family. It has to have helped salve the suffering, but I understand what Mr. Widener means about the loss. Eighteen years isn’t nearly enough time, although I know he thanks God for every cherished memory.
I knew that you'd fully appreciate what the Widener family went through during all of those years. I'm not sure if you clicked on the link to the Chili, NY Blog on Jimmy's Memorial dedication. I posted and old article from Memorial Day 1968 about how the Widener family was dealing with it all.
I'm not sure if those who've read this thread realize this, but a Widener son was killed in every US War dating back to the Revolutionary War! If any family has sacrificed for our freedom, it's the Widener's. Jimmy was killed on his mother's birthday. Here's what Jimmy's Dad, Jay Widener had to say about the Vietnam War protestors:
Because the war has become so personal to Jay Widener, he knows exactly how he feels about those people who oppose the war.
"They are just cowards. They are not like my son. He wrote us a letter and said he would throw them in the river if they were still around when he got home. He thought he was doing an awful lot of good over there. And he couldn't understand what the demonstrators hoped to prove. He asked us in a letter: 'What do they expect to get out of this?'
Another hero returns home. Another family will now hopefully close the book on wondering. Their son, a Marine has returned home.
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