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Euphoria over the Taliban's release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was quickly tempered by media reports that Bergdahl had abandoned his post and that his father made comments opposing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bergdahl's father tweeted, "I am still working to free all Guantanamo prisoners. God will repay for the death of every Afghan child." Does that include those children killed while being used as human shields by the Taliban? Where is Bergdahl's concern for women who die from "honor killings" and for girls who are denied an education? The up-front cost of this "prisoner exchange" is the...

n goods. When Jerry Denton died the other day, at age 89, the obituaries led with graphic accounts of how he defied his North Vietnamese captors in a TV interview intended as anti-U.S. propaganda. He blinked his eyes: each blink a Morse Code signal. The message: "T-O-R-T-U-R-E." The enemies were torturing their American prisoners. The world needed to know. Denton reckoned correctly the price for spilling the beans so publicly: torture, beatings, more of the same. In his postwar memoir of captivity, "When Hell Was in Session," Jerry Denton described one Vietnamese technique of persuasion. He would sit on a...

On March 14 Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told members of the House Armed Services committee that there was no war on religious liberty. “The single biggest frustration I’ve had in this job is the perception that somehow there is religious persecution inside the United States Air Force,” the general told lawmakers. “It is not true.” Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) told me the Air Force seems to be the worst offender when it comes to attacks on religious liberty. If that’s true, perhaps Gen. Welsh could explain why a Bible was removed from a POW/MIA Missing Man...

Buried for more than 40 years inside the plane they were flying when they were shot down over Laos in 1969, Major James Sizemore and his navigator Major Howard Andre made their final journey home Monday to Arlington National Cemetery, where they were laid to rest just the way they flew: side by side. A single bugler played TAPS as the families of the airmen gathered and two horse drawn caissons made their way through the cemetery. Overhead, eight civilian pilots performed a tribute flyover at their own expense after the Air Force said it couldn’t perform a traditional flyover...

When one American is not worth the effort to be found, we as Americans have lost. – Rolling Thunder Motto. War is an ugly endeavor fought by brave warriors at the behest of national leaders. In the heat of battle soldiers are killed, wounded, captured or go missing. Prisoners captured during battle are at the mercy of the enemy. Despite laws created by gentleman’s agreement in an international forum, history has shown that combatant nations have abused, tortured and killed prisoners captured on the battlefield. After World War II, Russia would declare a Prisoner of War (POW) a war criminal...

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ National POW/MIA Recognition Day, 2011 ~ Thus saith the Lord, Refrain thy voice from weeping and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy, And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border. Jeremiah 31: 16-17 Canteen Mission Statement Showing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies' militaryand family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. The table is round...

Prime Minister Netanyahu's Remarks 26 June 2011 Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser June 25th, 2011, was the fifth anniversary of Gilad ShalitÂ’s Abduction. He is being held by a brutal enemy, Hamas, which refuses to uphold either the minimal demands of the international treaties or humanitarian conditions. It has refused to allow him even one visit by the International Committee of the Red Cross. It is holding him in harsh conditions and we know how his family is suffering. I think that the entire nation and all fair and just people in the world are incensed at what...

Holding a tattered POW/MIA flag in his hands, Korean War veteran Bob Dumas can not hide the disgust at the vandals who damaged it. "Desecrating a flag that represents so much to the families is unbelievable," said Dumas, 81, of Canterbury. For years, the POW/MIA flag flew on the flag pole outside the Plainfield Post Office, until vandals got a hold of it. "This happened sometime during the night Tuesday night into Wednesday," said Plainfield Deputy Police Chief Michael Surprenant. Vandals removed the flag, cut deliberate holes in it with a knife and then ran it back up the flag...

(VOV) - The fine relationship between the US and Vietnam plays an important role in maintaining peace and stability in the region, said US Republican senator, John McCain at a meeting with Vietnamese ambassador to the US, Le Cong Phung in Phoenix, Arizona. Senator McCain said that the US-Vietnam relationship has made significant progress, especially in economics, defence and education in recent years. He said he is proud of being able to contribute to accelerating normalizing the relationship between the two countries and emphasized the need to develop the relationship into a strategic partnership.

Video at link.

SIERRA VISTA — Wednesday will be a special day for Lindsey Botkin. In a short ceremony outside the state Capitol in Phoenix, Republican Gov. Jan Brewer will raise the POW/MIA flag. The action will signify that the black and white banner with a silhouette of a captured man is to be forever flown on the Capitol complex’s main flagpole. Not only will Botkin be at the special flag-raising ceremony in Phoenix, but so will a number of veterans, including a contingent from San Diego. Botkin is hoping a large contingent from Cochise County will attend the 8 a.m. event. The...

By the time I was ten years old I already hated the government. When I was eight, they almost killed E.T. When I was nine, they wouldn’t let Kevin Bacon dance. At ten, I watched Rambo attempt to bring home prisoners of war from Vietnam only to be refused and left for dead by government bureaucrats. Long after outgrowing my concern for aliens and dancing rights, the cheesy, over-the-top 1985 “Rambo” movie still stuck with me because the plot was at least plausible. Would our government knowingly leave POWs behind? Did they? In the introduction to a symposium in the...

1/12/2010 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Officials with the Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced Jan. 12 that the remains of an Air Force pilot, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial. Maj. Russell C. Goodman of Salt Lake City, Utah, will be honored at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., home of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbird demonstration team. At the time he was lost, Major Goodman was assigned to the Thunderbirds and was flying with the U.S. Navy on an exchange program. He will be buried in...

More than 88,000 service members, from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and a plethora of "quiet combat" action, who gave the final measure, remain missing. National POW/MIA Recognition Day is September 18, to honor prisoners of war and those who remain at last, with our missing in action. Visit the FAQ at USA.gov for more information. The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) is a task force whose mission is to account for all U.S. POW and MIA service members from all past wars. Their specialists conduct field investigations and analyze wartime records and archives in support of their mission....

<p>WASHINGTON (Aug. 2) - Navy pilot Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher was shot down over the Iraq desert on the first night of the Gulf War in 1991 and it was there he apparently was buried by Bedouins, hidden in the sand from the world's mightiest military all these years.</p>

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...

FRIDAY, MAY 22, 2009 9:00 pm - Candlelight Vigil, Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, "The Wall" SATURDAY, MAY 23, 2009 9:00 am - 11:00 pm - Thunder Alley Open YOU CAN PURCHASE YOUR RAFFLE TICKETS ON THE ALLEY SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 OFFICIAL 22ND ANNIVERSARY OF ROLLING THUNDER® 9:00 am - 11:00 pm- Thunder Alley Open Noon - Rolling Thunder XXII to Washington DC from Pentagon Parking MONDAY, MAY 25, 2009 9:00 am - 5:00 pm - Thunder Alley 3:05 pmRaffle Drawing, Thunder Alley (you need not be present to win)

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]

National and local political activist, decorated veteran, POW advocate, businessman and master potter Ted Sampley passed away Tuesday. He was 62. Sampley, who was recovering from heart surgery a week earlier, was experiencing difficulties from the surgery at the Veteran's Hospital in Durham on Tuesday. He died while being rushed to surgery. His sudden passing surprised many in Kinston. "This is a shock to me," said master shipbuilder Alton Stapleford, the architect of the CSS Neuse II, which Sampley helped bring to fruition. "It's really hard to comprehend right now." Sampley served several tours of duty in Vietnam in the...

SOLDIERS MISSING IN ACTION FROM THE KOREAN WAR ARE IDENTIFIEDThe Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of four U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors. They are Cpl. Samuel C. Harris, Jr., of Rogersville, Tenn; Cpl. Lloyd D. Stidham, of Beattyville, Ky.; Cpl. Robert G. Schoening, of Blaine, Wash; and one serviceman whose name is being withheld pending a briefing to his family. All men were U.S. Army. Harris will be buried April 10 in Arlington National...