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UPDATE:
December 1, 2009
AMERICANS
RECOVERED: 1,727 Americans are still listed
by Defense POW/MIA Office (DPMO) as missing and unaccounted for from the
Vietnam War. The Defense POW/MIA Office (DPMO) recently posted the name
of Chief Master Sergeant Calvin C. Glover, USAF, of Ohio,
as accounted for. He was listed MIA on May 22, 1968 in South Vietnam.
His remains were part of a larger recovery on May 29, 2002, and identified
March 13, 2009. The number of Americans accounted for since the end of
the Vietnam War in 1975 is now 856, though another 63
US personnel were recovered post-incident and identified before the end of
the war, bringing the total to 919. In recent months, DPMO has released
the names of ten Vietnam War Veterans as now accounted for. To the family
and friends, the League offers understanding and the hope that these
concrete answers bring long-awaited peace of mind. Of the 1,727
unreturned veterans still missing and unaccounted for,
90% were lost in Vietnam or in areas of Laos and Cambodia under Vietnam’s
wartime control.
Since the League’s 40th Anniversary Annual Meeting in
July, DPMO has released the names of the following personnel as now
accounted for:
E4 Lawrence L. Aldrich, USA, SVN, MIA 5/5/68, RR 4/4/09, ID 5/4/09
WO2 Jesse D. Phelps, USA, ID, KIA/BNR 12/28-65, RR 4/4/09, ID 6/1/09
E5 Donald C. Grella, USA, NE, KIA/BNR, SVN, 12/28/65, RR 4/4/09, ID 6/1/09
E4 Thomas Rice, Jr., USA, SC, KIA/BNR 12//28/65, SVN, RR 4/4/09, ID 6/1/09
WO2 Kenneth L. Stancil, USA, TN, KIA/BNR, SVN, 12/28/65, RE 4/5/09, ID
6-1-09
CMSGT Melvin D. Rash, USAF, VA, MIA, SVN, 5/22/68, RR 5/29/02, ID 3/13/09
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-
 POW/MIA Christmas Candlelight Service
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December 5th, 2009 - 7pm Lindenwold Moose Lodge, 2454 White Horse Pike,
Lindenwold, NJ 08021. In Honor Of Our Deployed Troops, Prisioners of
War, Missing in Action and Veterans From All Wars...read
more
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To view photo album from the Candlelight
Service, click on photos below
September 19, 2009
Former POWs honor the missing at breakfast
By CAROL COMEGNO
Courier-Post Staff
Six men
in different military uniforms marched to a table, circled it and then
stood at attention as bagpipes played a somber "Amazing Grace."
They
never sat down
but instead placed a service hat on the black place settings in front of
them with the chairs remaining
empty.
The
table and the hats served
as memorials for members of the five U.S. branches of the service and also
for civilians who became either prisoners
of war or were declared missing in action in various wars or conflicts.....click
here for full story.
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"History of the POW/MIA Flag"
In 1971, Mrs. Michael Hoff, an
MIA wife and member of the National League of Families, recognized the
need for a symbol of our POW/MIAs. Prompted by an article in the
Jacksonville, Florida Times-Union, Mrs. Hoff contacted Norman Rivkees,
Vice President of Annin & Company which had made a banner for the newest
member of the United Nations, the People's Republic of China, as a part of
their policy to provide flags to all United Nations members states. Mrs.
Hoff found Mr. Rivkees very sympathetic to the POW/MIA issue, and he,
along with Annin's advertising agency, designed a flag to represent our
missing men. Following League approval, the flags were manufactured for
distribution.
On March 9, 1989, an official
League flag, which flew over the White House on 1988 National POW/MIA
Recognition Day, was installed in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda as a result of
legislation passed overwhelmingly during the 100th Congress. In a
demonstration of bipartisan Congressional support, the leadership of both
Houses hosted the installation ceremony.
The League's POW/MIA flag is
the only flag ever displayed in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda where it will
stand as a powerful symbol of national commitment to America's POW/MIAs
until the fullest possible accounting has been achieved for U.S. personnel
still missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
On August 10, 1990, the 101st
Congress passed U.S. Public Law 101-355, which recognized the League's
POW/MIA flag and designated it "as the symbol of our Nation's concern and
commitment to resolving as fully as possible the fates of Americans still
prisoner, missing and unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, thus ending the
uncertainty for their families and the Nation".
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