Hi, Come in and share thoughts of a time when life was simple, or at least understandable. We honored parents, our country, & had a sense of belonging. Trust in each other was the norm back then. How do you explain to this generation how this life worked for us? When there were no strangers, only friends we hadn't met. I lived it and can't tell you exactly when this changed for us. I do know what caused the change...a lost innocence. Mine, along with many living in small town America, lost this innocence slowly.

This "conflict" touched all of us at home, in ways no other war did. They called it the TV War, it was covered on TV every step of the way. We watched in horror, disbelief, and at times anger. It was a difficult thing to accept. People you loved were in danger 24 hours a day and you couldn't be there to help them! Frustrating & a rude awakening for the youth of America. We were torn in many directions. One thing everyone agreed on: It needed to end!

I can remember watching the news reports & being afraid that one of my friends would not come home alive. When you are a teen, your thoughts were to get past the war & all would be well again. You could go back to everyone laughing & having a good time together, at the local hangout. Bob could come home & in my mind, we would go back to having the life we should have had. Darrell could come home and get married and have the family he always talked about. Dale could help Buddy build the hot rod they always talked about. It seemed so simple then. Once over, all would be back to "normal". I really believed that, so did much of America!

The day of "the end" finally came alright. Not soon enough to bring back Darrell or Tom or George or others we knew & loved. You walked anywhere & saw unshed tears finally fall. Loved ones were coming home at last. We could look to the future & families could be together again. We had faith that those held prisoner in Vietnam would be returned & we planned for their return. Women (girls) that married before their GI left for Vietnam were happy beyond belief! Many Servicemen had never seen their baby, born after they shipped out. Special thoughts for those (POW) families were in everyones' mind & heart.

Weeks went by that turned into months, that turned into years! You kept hearing EVERY Pow/Mia would be accounted for & the US Government would not give up until that took place. Did not happen...not then, not now. Up until that time the words "love it or leave it" stood for something. You took pride in the USA & in the fact Americans took care of their own! Now, I think the meaning has tarnished with age. You are still proud of living in a country that has a democracy, of our Veterans that fought all wars to give us this freedom. You can no longer say "we take care of our own" anymore...not the way we used to!

Many that served in Vietnam came home but without the fanfare that WWII Vets were given. No ticker tape parades, nor the respect shown to Vets of other wars, until much much later. The Vietnam Memorial Wall did alot towards healing those that served in Vietnam. A place they can share the sadness with others that could understand their grief openly.

There are still living Pow's with no hope for tomorrow. Just more of the same "life" they have had for over 20 years now. Waiting, praying, wondering "why" people have forgotten them! Most of all just surviving. This is the worst thought...you & I are to blame, not just "Uncle Sam". We let the government bury the Pow's in red tape! Easy to say "I can't change the system" or "they say there is not enough evidence to justify further steps be taken". This government of ours will not work for us, unless we make it work for us. Which political party you belong to makes no difference here - public outcry still makes things happen!

I am ashamed of myself for letting time make this issue seem distant & for me drifting away from the Pow/Mia issue. I was wrong! I gave "Uncle Sam" the right to handle the situation for me...just by sitting back and doing nothing.

I found Marys' Widows Web page & through her page, found Gunny. Gunny has organized pages like this one into a Pow Mia Webring. You can adopt a Pow Mia and make a webpage for him; to show he is not forgotten! I have an article that tells how-to make a webpage free ~ for people (like me) that has never made a webpage. You can do it!! Please visit Gunny and adopt a Pow/Mia and make a webpage for your adopted Pow/Mia.

VISIT GUNNY & MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Thanks to Gunny for helping me get started on this webpage. Mostly, I want to thank him for showing me what is still important in life... Thanks Gunny! Also, Thanks To "Doc" Bronson For His Corpsmen & Medics Page: a "Doc" or anyone that loves a "Doc" can find help & understanding here! Crystal Jensen

Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports have been recieved relating to Americans missing in S.E. Asia...

June 10, 1989 The Washington Post reports a Japanese monk released after 13
years in a Vietnamese prison had American POW cellmates
who nursed him to health.

June, 1992 Just outside of Dong Vai prison in North Vietnam NSA spy
satellites picked up "72TA88" and above this number were the
letters "S-E-R-E-X". 72TA88 was the authenticator belonging to
pilot Henry Serex who had been shot down on April 2, 1972 during the "Bat21" incident.

A hundred yards from the Serex authenticator, also in June
1992, another escape and evade code took shape.
GX2527 was detected. Both of these finds were given
"100% certainty" evaluations by NSA experts, which is unheard of in
the world of cover your backside Washington. 
The GX2527 code corresponded to that of Lt. Peter Matthes.

The Department of Defense Pow/Mia Office declared with a
straight face that both codes were "shadows or anomolies or
natural phenomenons". Even the code that had Serex's name
above it and which translated exactly to Henry Serex.

Please check out Gecko's Page for more facts about Pow/ Mia Sightings.
These men are there so you & I can have freedom, we owe
them a few min. of our time!! Keep sending E-Mails to
Washington demanding they investigate the Pow/Mia sightings.
You can make a difference...

THE WAR'S TERRIBLE TOLL Americans killed: 58,183 Americans wounded: 153,303 North Vietnamese killed: 500,000 to 600,000 Estimated Vietnamese casualties: 15 million Americans who served in the war: 3,403,100 America's cost: $179 billion

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 October 1990 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.

Last name: LAWS

First name: DELMER LEE

Home of Record (official): MINERAL POINT

State (official): MISSOURI

Date of Birth: Wednesday, August 7, 1935

Sex: Male

Race: Caucasian

Marital Status: Married


--- Military ---
Branch: Army

Rank: SFC

Serial Number: 492365749

Component: Regular

Pay grade: E7
MOS (Military Occupational Specialty code): 11C4S

--- Action ---
Start of Tour: Friday, July 29, 1966
Date of Casualty: Sunday, July 30, 1967
Age at time of loss: 31
Casualty type: (A3) Hostile, died while missing
Reason: Unknown / Not reported (Ground casualty)
Country: Laos
Province: Unknown/Not Reported
The Wall: Panel 09E - Row 087
                     
                            Length of service 14 years.
                  

                             Body was not recovered

SSgt. Delmer Laws was part of a Special Forces reconnaissance team which consisted of three U.S. and seven ARVN military personnel conducting a recon mission just inside Laos and southwest of Khe Sanh, South Vietnam. The team was operating in Savannakhet Province at grid coordinates XD 709 269.

As the unit stopped by a small stream, they were ambushed by an enemy force of unknown size. The team dispersed along a trail, and survivors state that Laws was last seen in a crouched position. He communicated by hand signal with the team leader that he had heard something in the rear of the patrol, and at that time the unit was fired upon at the rear and flank positions by automatic weapons. During the action, two ARVN and one of the three Americans were killed immediately. The team leader rallied the remaining team members, but was unable to locate Laws. The unit then moved north to evade capture. Laws had not been seen hit and was not seen again.

On July 31, a recovery team recovered the remains of one U.S. and one ARVN from the site of the ambush. Other remains were seen but could not be recovered or identified because of the proximity of the enemy. Evidence obtained by this particular patrol at the scene indicated that everyone caught in the killing zone had been killed instantly.

In July 1987, one of the recovery team met quite by accident with Delmer Laws' sister. Although his complete after-action report had never been included in Laws' file, the team member was certain and was able to substantiate to both Laws' sister and the Army that Laws had died the day his unit was ambushed.

For many years, Delmer Laws' family wondered if he was dead or alive. Years of senseless torment were caused by haphazard recordkeeping. Considering that many files of the missing are still classified, one wonders how many other families are being needlessly tormented.

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.

Thanks To: Pow Mia Network For Keeping Us Informed!

Over the years the famous cry of the Pentagon pundits has been, among other things, that disclosure of certain information to family members presented a "National Security Risk". That family members of Pow Mias may infer the technology used to gather certain information.

As stated previously, we know of no family member that is interested in inferring anything other than the truth about their unaccounted-for loved ones.

February, 1991: Colonel Millard Peck, Chief of the Pentagon's Special Office for Prisoners of War and Missing in Action, resigns in protest of being ordered by policy makers in the Pow/Mia Inter-Agency Group NOT to investigate live-sighting reports of American Pow's. See more hard evidence on Gecko's page it will make you think!

You can make a difference. Letters to politicians at least keeps the Pow Mia issue open. Like anything else, "out of sight out of mind". You are needed to write an E-Mail for those left in Vietnam. They can't fight for themselves ~ YOU can do it for them!

If it were your son or husband left in Vietnam you would want him home again one way or the other. Please take 5 min. out of your day to write...If not for our Veterans, we would not be living the free life we have now. Thank You for your help!

E-Mail Washington To Make A Difference

White House ~ President Bush Oval Office Public E-Mail Service Find & E-Mail Your State Reps Here Enter Zip Code & Fill Out Form

December 22, 1998
The remains of three American servicemen previously unaccounted-for from the war in Southeast Asia have been identified and are being returned to the United States for burial. Two are identified as Capt. Thaddeus E. Williams Jr., Mobile, Ala., and Spc. 4 James P. Schimberg, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, both U. S. Army. The name of the third, a U.S. Navy officer lost in North Vietnam in 1965, is being withheld at the request of his family.

I've been asked for my other "Off the Wall" articles. I have one on my Country Life... page.

Darrell Mallory Born July 14, 1949 ~ Died Dec. 8, 1968 Vietnam

My Lifelong Friend~ Navy Vet: Robert Eugene Nickles~ Dec 3, 1946, died June 14, 2000

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