Operation Just Cause ...for as long as it takes
Sent in by Chuck *Doc* Stewart
As most of you know Chris Rich and Diane Moore are to be married in October. (on the 7th) For those who don't know Chris and Diane, both have dad's who are MIA. While both were in DC in May attending meetings of the National Family Alliance a fire completely destroyed the aparment complex where Chris and Diane resided. They lost everything with the exception of what little they had packed in the suitcases they carried with them. Below is a picture of the aftermath of the fire and the area circled in red designates the location of Chris and Diane's apartment or should I say, what was left of it.
Fellow members of OJC, at the request and help of Timothy Guy, have set up a couple of ways to help Chris and Diane get back on their feet.
First you can go to the following and check to see what they need. (they need most everything as the fire was a total loss)
1) * Choose a Gift Registry
Club Wedd
2) * Choose Registrant
Bride or Groom
3) * Enter First Name
Diane or Chris
4) * Enter Last Name
Moore or Rich
5) * Enter State -
Georgia
6) * Event Month
October
7) Hit the red Go button
Secondly, if you have items or cash to donate, you may send directly to the following which is Chris and Diane's new apartment address:
Chris Rich and Diane Moore
2525 Center West Pkwy
Apt. 10-B
Augusta, Ga 30909
Tel: 706-737-6656
Cindy Lou has graciously donated a Pentium 100 computer but lacks a modem. If anyone has a spare modem you could send that along directly to Chris and Diane. Cindy needed help with the shipping costs. You can email Cindy and ask her if she is still in need of donations for shipping at ghstwarn.juno.com
The staff at OJC hopes that those who are able will help us help Chris and Diane get back on their feet. For those who cannot, please keep them in your prayers.
Chuck *Doc* Stewart
Gecko Country
Sent in by Cindy Lou
We are trying to arrange free transport for the computer, (someone just came up with the possibility that they're looking into from their work) and if that's a no go, then we will ship it.
Folks are already sending in their checks pitching in on the shipping costs.
Sent in by Timothy Guy
Clothing Donations
Chris - XLarge in shirts, and 40/30 in slacks, shoes are 12ee
Diane - Medium - Large in shirts, 16 in slacks. Feet are size 5 1/2 -6
Paramedic Donations
1) Child B/P Cuff
2) Quick Reference PDR
3) Laryngoscope Handle & Blades
4) 4 Hemostats
5) Basic EMS Field Guide
6) Conversion Tables
Uniforms
Size 6 hitch Low Cut Shoes, EMT Golf Shirt Size Large Red or navy, Pants Female navy 18
Here's the info on Dad:
There was no match to the DNA to Dad. so they are going to the site in August.
Send out email to all OJC members to bombard the Joint Task Force for full accounting to make the
case on CMSGT Thomas Moore and CMSGT Samuel Adams and CMSGT Charles G Dusing (refro number 0180) a Go.
He was a POW and some one knows something.
Love,
Diane
Sent in by Timothy Guy
Just talked to Diane and Chris.
They want you all to knew that they are registered at Home Place
Here's how to find them on the web page.
Select Bridal and Gift registry
Month: October
Year: 2000
Bride for Diane
Groom: for Chris
Last Name: enter Moore for Diane
Enter Rich for chris
Select their name when it shows.
How To Order a Wedding Gift from their Registry!
You may inquire on purchasing an item from a Gift or Bridal Registry by simply sending an e-mail to the consultant of your nearest HomePlace Store with your name, phone number, email address and the best time to contact you and they will call you to take a phone order.
She said that they are registering at Penney's this week. Will get that info to you all as soon as I get it.
Tim Guy
Sent in by Timothy Guy
Well, here is some good news from Nora Diane Moore and Chris Rich
Just had a phone call from Diane and Chris.
They wanted me to let you all know that their kitty cat is home form the vet's and doing good. Still has Very short hair form the fire. Is back up to nine pounds and getting around ok. Vet say's she'll be just fine. Will take some time to heal.
Oh Yea!
The real real real good good news!
FLASH!
Diane has asked Jasper N. Page to give her away at the wedding, He said YES. He is standing in for her dad, Thomas Moore who is still MIA (1965). He was the man who escaped and lived to tell their story. Jasper and his beautiful wife are both going to make it to the wedding.
Diane hopes that Samuel Adams Jr. and Charles G. Dusing Jr. both can make it. If anyone lives in or near West Kingston, RI can you contact Samuel and have him call Diane. He has the number
And if anyone lives in or near Los Lunas NM am trying to contact Charles Dusing
Hope to see and meet those of you who can make the wedding on Oct. 7th, 2000
Tim Guy
Here is another way we can help Chris and Diane. This concerns the case involving Diane's Dad. It is an important request for help from them both, followed by the bio/incident report on Thomas Moore. I have included an interview with Diane conducted by Marilyn Grote, that first appeared in the January issue of the OJC Newsletter. Diane needs your help.
Hey folks,
You did it once. Now I am asking for your help again.
We got the word last week that none of the remains, given to the USG in a
box, were related to Diane's Father's Case (0180).
Gen Axon, "Promised" Diane that her Dad's case would be on the AUG. Mission
to re-interview the witnesses and to try and get a better location on
where her Dad and other others were/are possibly buried.
Please get out your pens and write to your congressmen, to JTF to CILHI to
DPMO and even to slick.
You have done wonders on my Dads Case now lets bring another one home.
Thanks,
Facts of my Dad's case:
That the story was 4 were captured and one escaped.
That dad and the other 2 came down on the died in captivity list, but no
remains have ever been repatriated.
That dad and the others were supposedly executed but none of the informants
who gave statements admit to actually doing the capture or execution or
burial.
That 2 were buried in one shallow grave and 1 was buried in a shallow grave
a few meters from the others,
in the area that is in the Binh Son village.
That a south vietnamses police officer who came to America who now resides
in Hawaii gave information of 3 graves that co-rolate to the case , this
information came from another vietnamese person who resides in America but
he can not (or will not) give the name for fear of reprisal.
That my fathers supposed site has never been really searched because the
site is aproximate 100x100 meters
and that is to much, that the JTF needs a pin pointed area not a general
one.
That I was told of remains that were unilaterally repatriated in 1988 and
that some came from the general area, and that the sequening was being done,
this in the recent family meetings in DC.
However last week I was in formed
that the remains did not match my dad.
and when I asked did they match any of the other 2 I was in formed that,
that information did not pertain to my case, however my father and Sgt.
Adams and Sgt Dusing are and were with my dad at all times after the
capture,that if they were killed that they share the same grave or graves,
that some one some where was able to put my father and the others on a died
in captivity list, but the government of Vietnam has NO in formation to make
that fact true.
That informants that give statements are consider crediable,even though that
state " had nothing to do with capture, killing or burial of the men"
And that with out me pushing this issue last year, my father would still be
on a no further pursant.
That it was me asking why the one man who saw my dad and the others had not
been brought back in to the loop,that it took me asking the government to
call him.
That I brought it to the attention of many that this man had not been given
his POW medal.(this too i found out about last year) and still has not from
what I know.
That my father and three other brave Air Force sargents who were taken
captive while trying to return to base after R&R in a leased vehicle because
they could not get a chopper to come and get them ,is "killed off,buried,and
place in a file to be forgot about is not as important as those who have
been MIA due to crash sites, that crash sites get a higher priorty than
ground that according to the head analysists "has changed through out the
years and would most likely yeild nothing" is place on a no further pursant
case for almost 5 years,after the death of a wife, and that the oldest child
has to take the bull by the horns and point out things that the files have
in them ,the files that the agency that is supposed to ,without a shadow of
a doubt, holds a covent,find out what happened to America's blood.
That if I can not get enough push from enough ,concerned citizens, Veteran groups,
family members that this case may end up lost forever.
THAT I can not let happen.
Diane Moore
Thomas Moore
REMARKS: 6512 DIC-ON PRG DIC LIST
Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK.
SYNOPSIS: On October 31, 1965, four U.S. Air Force personnel were captured while traveling by truck from Vung Tau to Saigon. This incident occurred on Route 15 at grid coordinates YS224805, just on the border of Binh Hoa and Gia Dinh Provinces of South Vietnam. The individuals involved in this incident are SSgt. Samuel Adams, SSgt. Charles Dusing, TSgt. Thomas Moore, and TSgt, Jasper Page.
On November 2, 1965, while being taken to a detention camp, Jasper Page,
managed to escape and return to U.S. control. It was reported that Samuel Adams had been shot during the same escape that freed Page, but a defector identified Adams' photo as a prisoner at a later date. CIA's analysis of this identification has been inconclusive. The names of all three appeared on the died in captivity list furnished by the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) in 1973 at the Paris Peace Accords. The list reflected that they had died during December 1965, but no details were given.
When 591 Americans were released at the end of the war in 1973, Adams, Dusing and Moore were not among them; their names were on a list. No bodies were returned to their families, even though the Vietnamese clearly know where to find the three men. Since that time, Vietnam has doled out handfuls of remains as the political atmosphere seemed appropriate, but Adams, Dusing and Moore remain unaccounted for.
The three are among nearly 2500 Americans who remain missing in Indochina. Unlike "MIA's" from other wars, most of these men can be accounted for. Tragically, the U.S. has received over 8000 reports concerning Americans still in Southeast Asia since the end of the war. Experts say that the evidence is overwhelming that Americans were left behind in enemy hands. It's time we brought our men home.
Questions: What was it like to be the daughter of a POW?
It is the one thing that I would not wish on my worst enemy. It is to have had to live a life from 11 years old until now thinking that my dad was to come home at the time the POW's were to be repatriated. Learning that he was not, was very hard. To still be the daughter of a POW / MIA, one who did not return, is a continuing legacy, one of wishes, dreams and hopes, that are and have been shattered. It not only affected me, his oldest child, but also carried on into my children. They know more than most kids do about Prisoners of War, and the torture that both men and families have lived, and know the second and third generation must carry the unknown with them.
How has your family adjusted to your Dad not coming back home from the Vietnam Conflict?
Adjustment came from strong family support from my mother who passed away 4 years ago. She taught me to face the real world when I was small. Although the process of dealing with my dad's incident was hard because, as I stated, we thought he was coming home. We had never been lead to believe anything other than that, because he was last seen alive being detained in the jungles by the South Vietcong. As I grew older the adjustment was hard; to watch friends with dads, and granddads with children. After mine were born it has been as tough to adjust to. It is just not something I thing I adjusted to, it is more like a toleration of days passing, years passing and lost time.
How did you get involved in trying to bring your Dad back home?
In the beginning I was active as a young child when we, as families, first started with the petition signing for the POW's and the writing of letters during the Vietnam War. I can remember going with my mother to some of the first league meetings way back when it first was founded by the wives, and meeting Donnie Collins, wife of Thomas Collins, who was from Mississippi where we lived. I learned from mother and Donnie. As I inherited the Primary Next of Kin when mother passed away, I got daddy's files and studied them. The more I read the deeper I was pulled into learning that my dad actually was last seen alive, and that it was only by hear-say that he was killed in captivity. Some things just keep on popping up and I am going to do my best to correct them.
What is the current status for your Dad and what information can you share that is not included in the bio/incident report?
My father is currently listed as POW/MIA/KIA, body not recovered. He was placed in a no further pursuit in 1995, along with others. It was not until last year when I asked for updated files that I found a letter from a former South Vietnamese police officer (who now resides in Hawaii and is a American Citizen) that there are possible grave sites that correlate with dads case site. However there were no follow-up interviews. The man in my dad's incident who escaped has never been re-interviewed since his initial debriefing after his successful escape attempt.
Hopefully, I have had dad's case placed back in a further pursuit status. Our government has told me that the information is to be requested. However it is unknown when. I have asked that Jasper Page be brought back into the circle to see if there is any help he may be able to provide. I keep my fingers crossed that the government is not leading me on again.
Can you give any advice to the other children of the POW/MIA(s) that are waiting for their Dad to come back home?
Hang in there; we can be as strong as we can be if we stick together. Never say never. If you need to breath take a step back, re think, re evaluate and re attack. We all may not get our wishes to get our dads home, but if one dad of one child comes home then it is sort of like getting our own dad back. To the MIA child, we all still have that child-like innocence of hope in us all, and that is ok, they are still our dads, and it is ok to want them home.
Any comments you want to share with the readers about your Dad or the return of the other POW/MIA(s)?
My father, Cmsgt. Thomas Moore, was a wonderful daddy, I am lucky to have been able to have him for the time I did. I have more memories than some because of being a whole whopping 11 years old when he left. Yet memories fade. But what I remember was his smile, and his gentleness, his love of the Air Force and his faith in his country. I remember him taking me to work with him sometimes, and going to flight lines to watch jets, and large cargo planes. He believed in what he did, it was his job, and he was quite professional at it.
My Dad was awarded 18 medals including the Soldiers Medal for Valor, 2 purple hearts of course the POW MIA medal and numerous others.
I am proud to be his daughter, I am proud to be born an Air Force child, and I still love to watch the planes and jets he taught me about. I think I have as much of him with me as any one can. He is my guardian angel.
As for the POW's who came home, I have read many of the books that have been written by them. I have cried and gotten angry at what they were put through. I thank them all for being the greatest men of my time, and for sharing their stories. I can think of no better group of men, and would love to meet them all, to give them a hug and a thank you, from the daughter of one who knows in her heart the fear, the terror, and the pain that they had to endure. To think about my own father as a POW makes me hurt deep into my soul. To think of the ordeals that they went through and to come out to a world that had changed so much and having to adapt again, POW's from Viet Nam are heroes to me. NO one will ever change that in my eyes.
Do I have any wishes or expectations for the year 2000?
YES, revived hope, to have 6 feet of space in Arlington but I wish more to have my dad alive and returned home. I would wish the years that Dad has been away, that we were robbed of, returned to me. If my Dad is not alive then I want him to rest in America, not in Southeast Asia…
I wish for the other children of MIA's to have peace in their hearts, as I wish for in my own heart. I wish for those whose remains have been found and waiting for identification to be positively ID'd and for those families to have peace. I wish for my daughter who is soon to have my fathers first great grandchild to be able to teach the next generation about the man she calls her grandfather, and how he was the hero she knows him as…
I wish for the strength to be able to carry on with this fight… for it surely has gone on too long. For some, the Vietnam War has not ended. The forgotten ones are the children of the forgotten. Ours is a war that we battle every day, inside our minds, inside our hearts, inside our souls, outwardly we carry our heads high, yet we are tired.
Chris
Proud Daughter of
CMSGT Thomas Moore
USAF 6250th Civil Eng.Tan Son Nhut
POW-MIA South Vietnam,Bien Son rt.15
Rank/Branch: E6/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 09 December 1929
Home City of Record: Baton Rouge LA
Date of Loss: 31 October 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 10400N 1070000E (YS224805)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ford Truck
Other Personnel in Incident: Charles Dusing; Samuel Adams (both POW), Jasper Page, escapee.
