At first it was just a fad - a status symbol.
But after a while, I found myself paying attention to the news stories
involving the peace talks, and watching magazines and newspapers for
articles on the POWs. When news of their impending release was made public,
I watched the paper every day to see if my POW was coming home. He did.
Lieutenant Colonel Carlysle Harris, USAF returned home in the second wave
of names to hit the press.
I'm now a 16 year Air Force Major, involved over the years in five
contingency operations and two peace keeping actions. Surfing the web about
a year and a half ago, I stumbled across the POW webring, and started
reading through it. I signed up to sponsor a POW/MIA that very day.
I was
surprised to find that the name they sent me was of a man who had been shot
down on the same mission as that POW I had sponsored do many years ago.
Lieutenant Colonel Dayton Ragland, USAF was lost attacking the same bridge
in the same week as Carlysle Harris. I've been more politically active ever
since. When I was still in elementary school, my two older sisters were involved
with a group of folks that were pressuring the American government to
pursue POW/MIA issues in Viet Nam. Part of the drill was wearing bracelets
with the name of a POW/MIA, and the date of their loss engraved on it.
Wanting to be just like my big sisters, I sent in an application, and
received a bracelet as well.
