This site is dedicated to my Dad World War II

He spent 8 yrs serving his country.

And to all My brothers and sister left in Country and who served there

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• POW/MIA

Doesn't Anybody Care About Me ? .

Hear me, help me, Uncle Sam. I'm a prisoner of

war in Vietnam. I came to serve my blessed land.

Now I'm confused on where I stand. .

They tell me that the war is through.

But I have yet to see the proof.

The man by the door still has a gun.

And I have yet to see the sun. .

I've been here for eighteen years.

My eyes are wet from lonely tears.

I pray someday that I may see My lovely wife and

my family.

Leeches live upon my skin,

Parasites down deep within.

Mosquitoes land upon my face.

I've got to get out of this place! .

Men have died since I've been here.

I feel my number's getting near.

My vision's dim, it's hard to see:

Doesn't anybody care about me?

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the yellow ribbon campaign



operation just cause switchboard   

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Poems That I've been sent Thanks

Forget him not, he died for you, Have God bless him while you pray, Think of him as if you knew, That he is still alive today Forget him not, and give thanks, For men such as this, And now he must join the ranks, Of others that we'll miss Forget him not, remember him well, With his life he paid your fee, Remember him! He died in Hell, So in Heaven he must be

By Dan Sandall

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I died to day my soul is gone.

I often wonder what I did wrong.

My heart cries out with hurt and pain As I look at

my shirt, yes I think this red will leave a stain.

I feel myself rising and lifting above.

As I see the shadow of a beautiful dove.

Then the next thing I know it's a bright sunny day.

At night I know that this dream will come my way.

It's to bad you know that my life is this way.

So now its time to go to my bed And hope the

dream will end in red.

By John Durrant (Warshaw)

Copyright © 1998 John Durrant (Warshaw)

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Name: James Francis Schiele Rank/Branch:

E4/US Army Unit: Company B, 1st Battalion,

12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division

Date of Birth: 11 October 1946 (Davenport IA)

Home City of Record: Granger UT

Date of Loss: 12 Jul 1967

Country of Loss: South Vietnam Loss

Coordinates: 134026N 1073809E (YA850131)

Status (in 1973): Missing In Action



Category: 1 Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground Other Personnel In Incident: Nathan B. Henry; Cordine McMurray; Stanley A. Newell; Martin S. Frank;Richard R. Perricone (all released); James L. Van Bendegom (missing). Held with men from at least two other incidents including: Incident on 18 May 1967: Joe L. DeLong (missing); Incident on 17 Feb 1967: David W. Sooter (released).  

REMARKS: Lets do something write Congress, the House, and all the way to the top. NOW is the time for action

SYNOPSIS: In the spring of 1973, 591 American Prisoners of War were released from prisons and camps in Vietnam. Among them were six of a group of nine U.S. Army 4th Infantry Division personnel captured in and near Pleiku Province, South Vietnam during the year of 1967 whose lives had been intertwined for the past six years. All had belonged to that part of the "Ivy Division" which was assigned to Task Force Oregon conducting border operations called Operation Sam Houston (1 Jan - 5 Apr 67) and Operation Francis Marion (5 APR - 12 Oct 67).

On February 17, 1967, W1 David W. Sooter was the only man captured from a OH23 helicopter downed at the southeastern edge of Kontum Province near the edge of Pleiku Province, and near the Cambodian border.

PFC Joe Lynn DeLong was the machine gunner for his company, on a company-sized patrol in Rotanokiri Province, Cambodia on May 18, 1967. (Note: most records list this loss as in South Vietnam, and coordinates place it in the Ia Drang Valley, Pleiku Province, South Vietnam near the border of Cambodia, but US Army casualty reports state that the loss was in Kotanokiri Province, Cambodia.) While on patrol, his unit was hit by a Viet Cong force of unknown size and cut off from the rest of the company. DeLong's platoon formed a defensive perimeter and attempted to hold their position. Later that day, at about 1830 hours, DeLong's platoon position was overrun. The next morning, another unit reached his position, and was able to account for all platoon members except for DeLong. It was later learned that DeLong had been captured.

Nearly two months later, on July 12, 1967, SP4 Martin S. Frank, PFC Nathan B. Henry, Sgt. Cordine McMurray, PFC Stanley A. Newell, PFC Richard R. Perricone, SP4 James F. Schiele and PFC James L. Van Bendegom, all members of Company B, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, were conducting a search and destroy mission along the Cambodian border when their position was overrun by the Viet Cong. With the exception of Schiele, all the men were captured. The US Army notes that Schiele and Van Bendegom were captured by the North Vietnamese, while the others, apparently, were captured by Viet Cong.  

PFC Schiele was seen by his platoon leader as his unit was forced to withdraw, leaving him behind. He had been hit a number of times by automatic weapons fire in the legs and chest and was thought to be dead. PFC Perricone stated in his debrief upon return to the US that the enemy camp commander of Camp 102 told him that SP4 Schiele had died of wounds received in the fire fight. However, since there was no positive proof of death, the US government placed Schiele in a Missing in Action category. Classified information given to the Vietnamese by Gen. John Vessey in 1987, however, states that both Schiele and Van Bendegom were captured by the North Vietnamese.

PFC Vanbendegom was also wounded in the engagement, and was seen alive by other Americans captured in the same battle about one week after his capture at a communist field hospital in Cambodia, not far from his capture location. One of the released Americans was later told by the commanding North Vietnamese officer at his prison camp in Cambodia that SP4 Vanbendegom had died of his wounds. Vanbendegom was categorized as a Prisoner of War.

The other seven Americans were held in prison camps on the Vietnam/Cambodia border for several months. According to the debriefs of releases Sooter and Perricone, they and DeLong had attempted to escape from a border camp in Cambodia on November 6, 1967, but were recaptured the same day. Two days later, Sooter and Perricone were shown DeLong's bullet-ridden and blood-soaked trousers and were told that DeLong had been killed resisting recapture. The Vietnamese included DeLong's name on a list of prisoners who had died in captivity (saying he died in November 1967), did not return his remains, and did not offer any explanation.

Sooter, Frank, Henry, Perricone, McMurray and Newell were all released by the PRG in 1973. Frank was never known to be a prisoner by the US Henry was injured, and maintains a permanent disability today. The US is certain the Vietnamese also know the fates of DeLong, Schiele and Vanbendegom, but the Vietnamese continue to remain silent.

Since the end of the war, only a few score of the many remains the Vietnamese could provide have been returned to US control. Each return of remains signals some political move by the Vietnamese. Strong moves towards normalization of relations began in the mid-80's, which most Americans would not oppose. As evidence mounts that hundreds of Americans are still held captive by these same governments the US is rushing to befriend, many concerned Americans believe that in our rush to leave Indochina, we abandoned our best men. And that in our rush to return, we will sign their death warrants. 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 White house.

Guestbook

Write a letter to the following only YOU can HELP 

President & V. President- http://www.white house.gov/WH/EOP/html/principals.html

Senators-http://www.rnc.org/ post/senate-email.html

Congressmen-http://www.rnc.or g/post/house-email.html

Link's to other MIA pages, if you wish to add a reciprocal link than e-mail me or if you wish to post a link to my link page click here

To a very good friend, Sunny's MIA/POW Page

Martin's home Page http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6355/

Craigs MIA site http://home.pacbell.net/cijvcart/POW_MIA.html

http://www.g eocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/1314/powmia.html

http://whitetail.nji.com/~gfallon/& amp; lt; /A>

http://www.geoc ities.com/MotorCity/Downs/1472/mia.html

Helping Hands Military Spouse Support

ROLLING THUNDER®,INC. VIRGINIA

USS Enterprise, In Memory of Capt. Richard Rich, XO VF96.

Designed by John Durrant (Warshaw)

I will not quit writing, Emailing or praying until all are HOME John