For a long, long time I thought the people who were promoting public awareness of the POW-MIA matters of the Vietnam and Korean Wars (OK, Conflicts) were folks just refusing to accept that fact that their loved ones had died, and the bodies not found.

However, as those folks persisted, I got uncomfortable just sort of putting down their activities in my head without knowing more. So I researched the issue.

It turns out that some very impressive people, including two former Secretaries of Defense believe the American government knowingly left behind American prisoners.

One source pointed out that no one captured on Cambodia or Laos came back, a number roughly equivalent to those captured in North and South Vietnam.

Apparently Nixon and Kissinger negotiated the return of the prisoners held in North Vietnam along with the complete withdrawal of US forces. The return of the other prisoners was dependent upon Nixon-Kissinger promised aid to rebuild Vietnam.

Nixon got into a world of hurt, the mood of the US public was such that Congress wouldn't even supply ammunition to the South Vietnamese, and aid for rebuilding the country was out of the question.

So, those POWs were left, and it would seem to be too embarrassing to go after them. How could the US actions be justified to the POWs or their families.

And, I recounted what seems to have happened to American pilots in the Korean Conflict who were captured in China or Russia. (Yep, quite a few of them chased the badguys well into their territories.)

So, once again, something I thought absolutely couldn't be correct has more going for it than not. Would be humbling to a lesser man!!

Arf