Back from the dead? Vietnam vet found, 44 years on

reply to post by spartaocean


That's not just the spirit of a soldier, that's the spirit of a human being. It never ceases to amaze me about the humanity and bravery of many of our armed service people.

It really goes against what they teach about human nature and "self-preservation". The fact that humans are willing to put their lives on the line and oftentimes die so that another may be out of harm's way tells me there is something far deeper and greater going on than self-preservation.

reply to post by Murgatroid


I had never seen that video before...I do remember when the airbase was attacked but I had no idea it was a special ops team that did the deed. Funny how bits and pieces of some of his stories have come out over the years but they were always labeled some sort of conspiracy nut job and a complete fabrication of the truth.

If everything he said was true what a sorry sorry picture is painted. Thanks for the video

reply to post by daaskapital

Unclaimed follows the story of a 76-year-old American man who can only speak Vietnamese...

If he was an American soldier, with an English name, how is it that he only speaks Vietnamese? Yes, it's possible that his English is rusty; that's normal when one speaks in a foreign tongue more than the native tongue. But you don't ever forget your first language!

Originally posted by spartaocean
reply to post by MrJohnSmith

 

I would go back for any of my brothers. To the gates of hell and back. Again, again, and again.

If only our gov't shared that sentiment.

They were guys of my generation. In fact, I'd almost been drafted myself. I forget what the classification was, but they sent me home and said I'd be called for another physical in a year. One of the officers at Louisville made it clear as I was leaving that they always get you second time on that one. Then on our wedding night, Nixon came on TV and announced the end of the draft... Helluva wedding present, in a way.

I don't know anyone my age that didn't lose a buddy over there. The guys that managed to make it back were so changed that it was almost impossible to strike up old friendships. They'd seen too much to go back to the old life. At times it really depresses me the way that our military men and women are disrespected today. I'm really tired of hearing, "Why should I feel sorry for someone that volunteered to go over there?"

Originally posted by octotom
reply to post by daaskapital

 

Unclaimed follows the story of a 76-year-old American man who can only speak Vietnamese...

If he was an American soldier, with an English name, how is it that he only speaks Vietnamese? Yes, it's possible that his English is rusty; that's normal when one speaks in a foreign tongue more than the native tongue. But you don't ever forget your first language!

Your statement is inaccurate . My work colleague is a native of Croatia . He has been in the UK for 18 years and can no longer speak his native tongue .

reply to post by Gideon70


How old is he? If he left Croatia when he was still learning to talk, then it wasn't really his native tongue.

My father-in-law has been in Germany for some 40 years now and hardly ever speaks English (even with me); yet he still can speak English if needed, albeit with some obvious rustiness.

I just posted a thread about this sry I did not see yours

SnF

Originally posted by 727Sky


There used to be a retired Army Col. who went back and forth to S.E. Asia that swore he had proof of POWs were still alive.
I was told there were 1700 that were held back because the Vietnamese wanted 4 Billion in war damages from the USA.

Amongst the community, the tale is told that there were in fact about 1700 POWs. Nixon was supposedly in secret negotiations over the damages to be paid to get them back. Then he got axed out of office. Ford was unable to complete the negotiations. When Carter got into office, he said something like 'screw that, they can keep them' and that was the end of it.

It's one reason there was so much tension between Carter and SOC.

reply to post by daaskapital
How very sad for him and his family
I doubt he's the only one left and forgotten.

Do you know when the documentary is being released?

Originally posted by TWILITE22
reply to post by daaskapital

 

How very sad for him and his family
I doubt he's the only one left and forgotten.

Do you know when the documentary is being released?

today at the Toronto film festival

reply to post by octotom


In a sane world I would agree with you: however he was butchered and beat for a year and no one knows what kind of head trauma he suffered.

You can take a grown man who is full of muscle and attitude and have him crying for his momma in less than 10 minutes and never leave a mark. The Vietnamese were not so considerate about marks, blood, or removing very important pieces of your body. One year in those circumstances and I would rather have died in the crash. Poor Poor man

It says he was on a super secret mission; I assume he was a LERP pilot (long range patrol). He would fly the recon team into an area single ship repel or drop the 7 man team off and then hall a** out of the area. That mission sucked for many reasons but the whole thing about, "we are not in that country" floats right up to the top as far as search and rescue if you are shot down.

You might want to take a stroll through a head trauma unit someday and you will see people who can not remember 2 seconds ago much less a prior life; some can not speak at all yet it appears all the plumbing is there except for a bullet or shrapnel went through the soft ware.

He has lived and only spoken Vietnamese for 40+ years and none of us know the kind of shape he was in when the nurse..... his future wife took pity on him. Hell of a story!

Originally posted by andy1972

If hope they can DNA him, bring him home, and take his name off the wall.

Something tells me he is home. Think about it......how old was he when he got shot down. 20? 25? How old is he now? 65? 70? He's been acclimated into Vietnamese culture for 40+ years now, he's a senior citizen and he can't even remember the English language ( Which is very bizarre IMO). What good would come out of bringing him to the States? I'm sure if his blood family wants to see him that they're in better shape physically, mentally and financially to go to him.

Take his name off the wall, by all means, and compensate him financially........but let the man be. He's been through enough.

Originally posted by TWILITE22
reply to post by daaskapital

 

How very sad for him and his family
I doubt he's the only one left and forgotten.

Do you know when the documentary is being released?

Hi OP,

FYI this story is bogus and a proven fraud (first exposed back in 2002). The "missing vet" in question is a French Vietnamese citizen, and not a missing US service member.

The person who has made this claim has made previous - and also untrue - claims of missing vets found in the jungle, remote villages, etc.

See this PDF file: DPMO memo: History of reporting related John Hartley Robertson

See also: THE FORGOTTEN SOLDIER

The second link goes into much more detail of the fraud being perpetrated here.

This link is from FakeWarriors: (PDF file)

JohnHartleyRobertsonEdition.pdf

So while it's an entertaining tale, it's just that - a tale.

reply to post by daaskapital


People like Chuck Norris were so adamant with regard to making this publicly known that they made major films depicting it as possible just to get the discussion flowing back into the public domain. It was obvious and the government just would not address the cover-ups of men being left behind. It was a very heated subject of discussion among many veterans in the 80's but nothing ever came of it. I know many POWs who were blessed with making it home but knew of so many who did not. Sad state of affairs.

"“It's not that the Vietnamese won't let him go; it's that our government doesn't want him."

Apparently he's much better off in Vietnam. Kudos to him for not speaking English, even!

So much for 'serving' America!

Originally posted by Blackmarketeer
Hi OP,

FYI this story is bogus and a proven fraud (first exposed back in 2002). The "missing vet" in question is a French Vietnamese citizen, and not a missing US service member.

The person who has made this claim has made previous - and also untrue - claims of missing vets found in the jungle, remote villages, etc.

See this PDF file: DPMO memo: History of reporting related John Hartley Robertson

See also: THE FORGOTTEN SOLDIER

The second link goes into much more detail of the fraud being perpetrated here.

This link is from FakeWarriors: (PDF file)

JohnHartleyRobertsonEdition.pdf

So while it's an entertaining tale, it's just that - a tale.

Nice find Black.

I thought I heard about this before.

Originally posted by Taupin Desciple

Originally posted by andy1972

If hope they can DNA him, bring him home, and take his name off the wall.

Something tells me he is home. Think about it......how old was he when he got shot down. 20? 25? How old is he now? 65? 70? He's been acclimated into Vietnamese culture for 40+ years now, he's a senior citizen and he can't even remember the English language ( Which is very bizarre IMO). What good would come out of bringing him to the States? I'm sure if his blood family wants to see him that they're in better shape physically, mentally and financially to go to him.

Take his name off the wall, by all means, and compensate him financially........but let the man be. He's been through enough.

You know what, your right, LET IT BE

He is home.

And the funny thing is, although he's alive, he, the man, everything he was, died in combat.
Now he's someone else.

How many more men came home from Vietnam alive, but only on the outside.

Just take his name of the wall so future generations of his family dont have to run a finger across kilometeres of black marble looking for a name amongst 58,000 more, as thousands of son's and daughter's have done over the years.

But, if it's all a crock, and it's not him, i cant imagine how his family must feel.
A cruel, cruel trick.

reply to post by goou111

hey thanks hopefully I'll get a chance to see it
I've always been interested in the Vietnam war
I think it did so much more damage to our country/men/women compared
to all of the world wars put together.

Originally posted by Blackmarketeer
Hi OP,

FYI this story is bogus and a proven fraud (first exposed back in 2002). The "missing vet" in question is a French Vietnamese citizen, and not a missing US service member.

The person who has made this claim has made previous - and also untrue - claims of missing vets found in the jungle, remote villages, etc.

See this PDF file: DPMO memo: History of reporting related John Hartley Robertson

See also: THE FORGOTTEN SOLDIER

The second link goes into much more detail of the fraud being perpetrated here.

This link is from FakeWarriors: (PDF file)

JohnHartleyRobertsonEdition.pdf

So while it's an entertaining tale, it's just that - a tale.

Well it should be an entertaining film at least, in the Fiction category.

I guess when personal information is inaccurate and fingerprints don't match and the guy in question admits to faking it all, then its pretty safe to throw the BS flag.

Why would the guy make a film about it, if a little research would've shown this guy to have faked this before?