The Hanoi government twice declined to accept them for a proper burial in Vietnam. And because these were not American citizens or soldiers, there was no clear way for them to be buried and properly honored in the United States. They are unknown soldiers, and have indeed become “Men Without a Country,” after having given their lives on behalf of a country that no longer exists.
Shot down in a U.S. military C-123 during the Vietnam War, the remains of our allied MIA soldiers were without a country. I knew I had to act.
How do we as a society remember our dead, including those who lost their lives alongside us in our nation’s wars? William
Gladstone, a British prime minister during the 19th century, offered a
timeless formula: “Show me the manner in which a nation or community
cares for its dead, and I will measure with mathematical exactness the
tender sympathies of its people, their respect for the law of the land
and their loyalty to high ideals.”
On
Friday, a U.S. Air Force aircraft will carry the commingled remains of
81 airborne soldiers of the former South Vietnamese Army from Hawaii,
where they have been stored in a military facility for more than 33
years, to California. On Oct. 26, there will be a full military ceremony
honoring their service in Westminster, often known as Little Saigon,
where tens of thousands of Vietnamese Americans now live.
More @ USA Today
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