POW/MIA CHAIR Presentation in The South Carolina House of Representatives Building on September 20, 2019.

This was written by John j. Melloy, Jr. Executive Director of RELEASE FOUNDATION, November, 1985.

This was read by Al Guest, President of Rolling Thunder South Carolina Chapter 1, at the POW/Mia CHAIR Presentation in The South Carolina House of Representatives Building on September 20, 2019.

WHAT ABOUT ME?

The Viet Nam War ended for the United States on January 27, 1973. It did not end for me.

Over 58,000 Americans died, 300,000 were wounded and 591 of these  known to have been prisoners of a North Vietnamese were returned home . What about me?

I served my country faithfully-risking life and limb everyday- as a grunt, a pilot, a river rat, a Lrrp, but my country neglected me.

In 1975 Cambodia and South Vietnam, abandoned by USA, fell to the North Vietnamese Communists – My freedom 2 years overdue. What about me?

The “Rose Garden” President Jimmy Carter, in 1967 granted amnesty to the deserters and to the draft dodgers who refused to answer their Country’s call. What about me?

The Woodcock and Montgomery Commissions declared that the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam held no living Americans – and Jimmy Carter declared all these missing men dead. What about me?

New light began to be shed on my predicament by the Boat People and other refugees. My fellow prisoner Bobby Garwood, returned home in 1979 giving evidence that I was still alive. What about me?

The House Task Force on POW-MIA’s was created to investigate reports about me. With no budget and little incentive to cover up the tracks of their negligent predecessors – – Did they really care about me?

Every day I must suffer the insults and derision of the enemy – Sharing my tears with the Almighty – hoping my flesh will not rot under alien soil – my being begging for freedom, death or just retribution. What about me?

I know that some at home care – family members, fellow vets…but as years go by and the dread of being forgotten grows – will I never see my native soil or my family?  My parents may have died without knowing what happened to me.

I hear my captors laugh about the Iranian Hostage Crisis, the Beirut bombing, the invasion of Grenada. They say America is flexing her muscles. Cuban, Czech and Angolan communists come to the camp and ridicule me. Come on America., flex your muscles for me.

Rumors reach me about the Wall, the monument in Washington D.C. and the parades in New York City and Chicago welcoming the Viet Nam Veterans home. They say it is over. What about me?

I am still serving, slowing weakening, quickly aging – young insensitive guards harass me daily, my malaria goes untreated. How long can a man exist under these conditions?  Am I forgotten? What about me?

The Vietnamese told me of Bo Gritz, Mark Smith, Col. Howard and Melvin McIntire’s attempt to release me. I praised these men and pray that others will come and perhaps succeed. Before too long I may prefer the security of captivity rather than risk death for freedom. Come on America. What about me?

Complacency and indifference will cause my mental demise before I die physically. How long must I wait, How much must I hurt, How many tears must I shed, how long must I pray before I am rescued or dead? Will blood not be shed for me? How long will my personal tragedy continue? Do not forsake me!

(There are certain excerpts left out of this article due to the wishes of the presenter.)

For more pictures of this event go to The Gallery 2019