In the 1960's I was in high school and to young to do my part in the war effort. I was envolved in everything that a normal teen-ager does at that age. Viet Nam was something that my parents watched on the evening news, but I couldn't really be bothered with it. Little did I know that daily boys, not much older than I was then would be going to Viet Nam and would never be heard from again. And worst of all our govenment would also forget about them.
By the late 60's and early 70's I had to many other things on my mind to pay attention to what was happening. I had gotten married and was raising two sons of my own. Money was tight, children were my total interest and again I didn't pay any attention to what was happening in Viet Nam. After all, it was a long way away and really didn't have any affect on my life.
So, this many years later, as happens so often, now a grandmother I am finally doing my small part for the POW-MIA's. I just pray it is not to late.
Today this grandma has a son in the Air Force who has been there 12 yrs. What if this was to happen again? A war with so many forgotten men. Would my son be one of them? What if in a few years one of my grandson's was to have this happen to them? Would they be forgotten?
This Operation Just Cause Web Ring site is owned by DEBBY |
Name: Hallie William Smith
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Tan Son Nhut Airbase
Date of Birth: 16 October, 1941
Home City of Record: Portland OR
Date of Loss: 08 January 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 145500N 1075400E (ZB125515)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C
Other Personnel in Incident: Charles L. Bifolchi (missing)
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: Capt. Hallie W. Smith was the pilot and 1Lt. Charles L. Bifolchi the navigator aboard an RF4C Phantom reconnaissance jet from the 16th Tactical Recon Squadron at Than Son Nhut Airbase, South Vietnam. On January 8, 1968, Smith and Bifolchi were assigned a reconnaissance mission and were en route to the target when radar and radio contact was lost in Kontum Province, South Vietnam, about 15 miles north of the city of Dak To.
Neither the aircraft nor the crew was ever located, despite search efforts. Because of circumstances surrounding the incident, both men were classified Missing in Action, and there is a strong probability that the enemy knows their fates - dead or alive.
When the last American troops left Southeast Asia in 1975, some 2500 Americans were unaccounted for. Reports received by the U.S. Government since that time build a strong case for belief that hundreds of these "unaccounted for" Americans are still alive and in captivity.
Henry Kissinger has said that the problem of unrecoverable Prisoners is an "unfortunate" byproduct of limited political engagements. This does not seem to be consistent with the high value we, as a nation, place on individual human lives. Men like Smith and Bifolchi, who went to Vietnam because their country asked it of them are too precious to the future of this nation to write them off as expendable.
Whether Smith and Bifolchi survived the downing of their aircraft to be captured is unknown. Whether they are among those said to be alive is uncertain. What seems clear, however, is that as long as even one man remains alive, held against his will, we owe him our very best efforts to bring him home.
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to keep pushing this issue inside the Beltway... The need to get specific answers is more important now than ever before.
If still alive, some MIAs are now in their 70s...They don't have much time left. We have to demand the answers from the bureaucrats and keep standing on their necks (figuratively speaking) until they get the message that THEY work for US and that we are serious about getting these long overdue responses. Diplomatic considerations aside... We can no longer allow questionable protocols established by pseudo-aristocratic armchair strategists, to determine or influence the fate of the men who were in the trenches while the diplomats were sharing sherry and canapes and talking about "Their Plans" for the future of SE Asia.
If you'd like to see what some others are doing in addition to writing their congressmen, senators and the Whitehouse, check out some of these sites.
Another remarkable site is by an 11 year old angel who never even set foot on American soil...She not only put up a page...she started a major project for an organization of Kids on the Net called KeyPals International. Also, don't miss her Bring Grandpa Home page. If you come away from that site without a lump in your throat, then you just weren't paying attention.
