POW-MIA Movement and Legacy - St. Louis, MO
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member YoSam.
N 38° 37.743 W 090° 11.995
15S E 743747 N 4279333
Historic marker inside the Soldiers Memorial Museum in St. Louis.
Waymark Code: WM18E3Y
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 07/16/2023
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member Geo Ferret
Views: 0
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County of memorial: St. Louis Independent City
Location of memorial: Chestnut St., Soldiers Memorial Museum, E section, St. Louis
Erected by: Missouri State Historical Society

Marker Text: POW-MIA MOVEMNET AND LEGACY

The first American prisoners held by North Vietnam were captured in 1964. Most wee member of aircrews who fell into enemy hands. Of the 11 North Vietnamese prisons, the most infamous was Hoa Lo prison in Hanoi, known as the "Hanoi Hilton."

As American ground forces withdrew from Vietnam in the spring of 1973, 591 American prisoners of war (POWs) returned to the US in operation Homecoming. Another 2,645 were considered POW or missing in action (MIA) in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and China. With widespread speculation that hundreds more Americans were still held captive in Southeast Asia, veterans, family members, and sympathizers demanded a full accounting and investigation. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has since identified and repatriated more than 1,000 remains, and its work continues.

Web link: [Web Link]

History of Mark:
"The Vietnam War POW/MIA issue concerns the fate of United States servicemen who were reported as missing in action (MIA) during the Vietnam War and associated theaters of operation in Southeast Asia. The term also refers to issues related to the treatment of affected family members by the governments involved in these conflicts. Following the Paris Peace Accords of 1973, 591 U.S. prisoners of war (POWs) were returned during Operation Homecoming. The United States listed about 2,500 Americans as prisoners of war or missing in action but only 1,200 Americans were reported to have been killed in action with no body recovered. Many of these were airmen who were shot down over North Vietnam or Laos. Investigations of these incidents have involved determining whether the men involved survived being shot down. If they did not survive, then the U.S. government considered efforts to recover their remains. POW/MIA activists played a role in pushing the U.S. government to improve its efforts in resolving the fates of these missing service members. Progress in doing so was slow until the mid-1980s when relations between the United States and Vietnam began to improve and more cooperative efforts were undertaken. Normalization of the U.S. relations with Vietnam in the mid-1990s was a culmination of this process.

"Considerable speculation and investigation have been devoted to a hypothesis that a significant number of missing U.S. service members from the Vietnam War were captured as prisoners of war by Communist forces and kept as live prisoners after U.S. involvement in the war concluded in 1973. A vocal group of POW/MIA activists maintains that there has been a concerted conspiracy by the Vietnamese and U.S. governments since then to hide the existence of these prisoners. The U.S. government has steadfastly denied that prisoners were left behind or that any effort has been made to cover up their existence. Popular culture has reflected the "live prisoners" theory, most notably in the 1985 film Rambo: First Blood Part II. Several congressional investigations have looked into the issue, culminating with the largest and most thorough, the United States Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs of 1991–1993 led by Senators John Kerry, Bob Smith, and John McCain (all three of whom had served in Vietnam and one of whom had been a POW). It found "no compelling evidence that proves that any American remains alive in captivity in Southeast Asia."

"The fate of those missing in action has always been one of the most troubling and unsettling consequences of any war. In this case, the issue has been a highly emotional one to those involved, and is considered a depressing, divisive aftereffect of the Vietnam War for the United States." ~ Wikipedia



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