Some are still alive
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reno_man40 — 20 years ago(July 21, 2005 01:33 PM)
You might be thinking of the movie Missing in Action with Chuck Norris. I saw Uncommom Valor and the only ending I remember is the meeting scene with the guys on crutches, but all an all, there are more their and our government just hung them out to dry. Period!!!
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isnam7 — 22 years ago(March 01, 2004 12:58 PM)
i think there r or were still pow's in southeast asia. alot of evidence supports this. remains of U.S. soldiers, actual sightings from refugees, numbers from shot down and crashed aircraft carved into rice paddies so seen from the sky. but as my history teacher (who was in vietnam) says, under the conditions and the time they have been locked up it is probably unlikely that there are pow's still alive, but there r certainly a great number of them still unaccounted for. as for the film,i think it is the most realistic portrayel of what an actual pow rescue in nam would be like i've seen (except for the 2nd to last episode of tour of duty "the raid"). therefore apretty nice breath of fresh air compared to missing in action and rambo 2 even though those r classics among themselves.
"for every minute i have to work, i need a minute of play"- autograph -
robocopperus — 22 years ago(March 09, 2004 08:54 PM)
I sincerely hope that no American soldier is still alive over there. Survival after 30 years of those living conditions is extremely doubtful, but if they were still alive - the pain, the hopelessness, resignation, and trauma that would exist after living like that for 3 decades is completely unfathomable - it would be such a living hell.
I always liked this movie, Rambo II, and Missing in Action. Those movies always caused such a stir in me, and to some extent, at the box-office as well. It's a shame that so many people in this country watched and enjoyed these films, and imagined how wonderful it would be for P.O.W.'s to finally make it out alive, and what an act of justice it would be to go and rescue them.and then our county still does nothing. I've always felt so bad for those guys being abandoned like that. I love America and what it stands for. But, I've got to admit, if that happened to me, I would come back "gunning" for somebody. -
doobienick — 21 years ago(December 07, 2004 02:43 PM)
The Vietnamese held French POWs for 25 years or more. It is entirely possible tha some Americans are still alive and being held in SE Asia, most likely in the N. Vietnam/Laos border region.
The Vietnamese are barbaric in their treatment of prisoners ( they learned well from the Japanese in WWll ). Since the War in Vietnam was never a declared war, then by definition, the rules of conduct in wartime, the Genenva Convention, do not apply, according to the Vietnamese.
It's been nearly 30 years since the fall of Saigon, so some of these prisoners could only be in their late 40's, early 50's. It's very possible, though we will never find out. There are far too many profitable business enterprises waiting there for our government to be concerned with a few POW's. -
foster1234 — 20 years ago(January 01, 2006 08:20 PM)
Keep in mind that there were some US servicemen that Missing. Could be desserters. They'd be around. probably doing well as linguists.
Those who hate you don't win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself. -
tedboss2 — 20 years ago(February 19, 2006 02:05 PM)
do you have any evidence that there still prisoners there. there is no evidence that the us government has concluding that there are. there were once over 3,000 reports of MIA/POWs in indochina. the us government had files proving that over half of those were either not prisoners, that is they were confirmed dead (someone saw them shot and killed) or their bodies were completely COMPLETELY destroyed or vaporized from explosions, that takes about half the number down. just because they are termed POWs doesnt mean they are prisoners..duhits means the most logical explanantion of their dissappearence is due to their body never being found. you have any idea how quickly a human body decays in the indochina climate. the government has absolutely no evidence that there are still prisoners. i take that back, as of 1993 the government had no eveidence that there were still prisoners. where are you getting your evidence, dude?
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tedboss2 — 20 years ago(February 21, 2006 10:47 PM)
do you have nay idea how many mothers ares till grieving over sons that they think are still being held prisoner? -mothers whos sons have been reported KIA/slaughtered beyond the point of recognition by the U.S. army, but by fault of the system still fall into the catagory of POW? people lead them on by believeing they are still alive. let them rest in peace, and i pray to god their mothers find peace as well.
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ragreen259 — 20 years ago(February 26, 2006 11:46 AM)
Not likely. You actually think that people can live in a damp cell with no medical attention for 35 years? And if it was confirmed in 1989, this is certainly the first I've heard of it of course, I'm sure you won't mind supplying s cite for that "fact," if you ever come back here after all this time.
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robin-lange — 20 years ago(March 12, 2006 11:51 PM)
Hi, just wanted you guys know that, while there may not have been any actual confirmation on them being alive in 1989, there certainly were indications that men were held after the war in Laos and Vietnam. Years later, there were still reports about them from refugees and relief aid workers working around the confused boarder regions of Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. Some reports were taken very seriously by the Regan adnminstration, serious enough to prepare an airborne invasion to free those men from a prison camp in Nommorath (sp?). This was in the early '80s. The plans were not carried out because someone warned Reagan about the consequences to his presidency should the rescue attempt fail like it did (then recently) with Carter's attempt to resuce the Iranian hostages.
Also, do check out a documentary done by the British, "We Can Keep You Forever", and books like "Kiss The Boys Goodbye" by Monica Jensen Stevenson.
What a tragedy. -
RugGuy — 16 years ago(December 05, 2009 10:32 AM)
This may be what the poster was referring to about being POWs still in Viet Nam was confirmed in 1989. He/she wasn't exactly correct, but close.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/trenches/mia.html -
willasmith38 — 19 years ago(October 09, 2006 03:40 PM)
I remember all through out the 1980
s and possibly beyond the Vietnamese government would release remains of US Service men, at regular intervals. They would be bones, meticulously cleaned and scraped of any matter. The U S Navy had- maybe still has a facility in Hawaii that had the task of Identifying the remains. The popular belief was that the remains were sent from Vietnam to the U.S whenever the unofficial POW- offically MIA died in prison. Why didnt our government do anything about itits politics.politics isnt about the truth or doing the right thing kids! Vietnam did it to the French too. North Korea also kept POWs from that war forevertill their death and beyond. Thats another dark secret. During the 1980s there were several attempts by a few different groups that actually entered Vietnam to try and find/rescue POW`s. One, who I think has been criticized as being a headline grabber is ex Green Beret Col Bo Gritz. I think he made two trys at it, ended up in a Vietnam jail on one trip.
With all this in mind, this movie had one hell of a powerful message when it was released in theaters.
Just my 2 cents from memorymaybe there is some info on the web too. -
OttoGaddin — 19 years ago(October 10, 2006 06:13 PM)
Yes and the Korean War which was only 3 years has the most MIA's/(POW's?) than any other War the U.S.has had in the 20th century (Poor Souls).From what I've read in the past, Vietnam released the French POW's only after certain repreations("behind doors") were made.As for those search and rescue missions in Vietnam for "possible"MIA/POW's it was rumored on at least on one of those missions some financial aid was provided from a well known actor at that time. Even though it was denied by that person/actor of any type participation in such a venture? does anybody else recall this rumor?(no names pls)..ButIMO in this matter since both sides are starting open the doors to dialogue and possible trade in the future Vietnam should give the U.S. and Especially THOSE families that have been effected by this Political SNAFU (mia/pow's) some type of closure of thier loved ones.They answered to the call wether they liked it or not. It's the least the U.S. and we as a whole could do to honor their Sacrafice as well as to their memory
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robin-lange — 19 years ago(October 19, 2006 10:30 PM)
Hi guys. Okay, there is a rumour going around that some men were returned to the US during the mid-80s and possibly into the '90s. These men were under what some call "secret returnee program", and, judging by what I have read, they were taken out/released from Vietnam and Laos as part of a secret arrangement and held in a secure Asian facilty. More likely this was started under the Reagan Administration. A third country was involved to signal to Vietnam that the US was ready and willing to bargain, something that they had never done before. The POWs (those left alive then) were airflown to this secret location: many were in bad shape, some died, some recovered and returned to Vietnam, most remain in hospitals to this day, and nearly all cannot speak a full English sentence.
In return for these POWs, the US agreed on trade priveleges and such, and maybe even agreed to normalise relationships with their former enemy. But whatever the case may be, if you keenly follow the Vietnam-US relationship from the war right up to the present, you will see a sudden jump in the "friendship" between the two nations (circa mid-90s), like as if something in the shadows took place and helped heal the wounds of war. I'll put my money on the fact that they did get at least some of their men back, and there were real efforts (not the PR stunts of digging up crash sites to appease the public nonsense) to find out the fate of those known to be alive in enemy hands at the end of the war, primarily in Laos.