I Had No Idea?

[HARDCORE]

For some 4 1/2 years now, and motivated by an aging picture upon a wall, my wife Brenda and I have conducted a campaign to right a long standing wrong!

It all started some years back, in a small little berg in rural North Carolina. On a visit to the Tar Heel State, we journeyed to the backcountry to visit with my wife’s grandmother. Upon a wall, in the hallway, was a picture of a nice-looking kid clad in an army uniform.

It turned out to be a photo of my wife’s uncle Melvin who had perished from starvation in an Infamous North Korean Prisoner of War Camp. This facility, known as “The Tiger Camp” was one of the sites where some of the earliest internees of that “Forgotten War” were housed. And if the figures that we WERE given are correct, some 59% of those imprisoned there died of starvation, disease, exposure, beatings and lack of medical care!

In the beginning of our crusade to attain a “Posthumous Purple Heart Medal” for those who expired in often brutal camps such as this one, we were at fist met with a small degree of unexpected hostility, and even a modicum of apathy! After a while, however, many in government, and the veteran’s groups alike, began to realize that these were indeed our own kids, fathers and uncles who paid the ultimate price after being captured.

After years of labor, the blood, sweat, tears and mortal sacrifices of our fallen comrades are finally being recognized in the form of a “Posthumous Purple Heart Medal!” Thanks to the efforts of patriots, and the incorporation of DoD Directive 1348.33-M, into the Manual of Military Decorations and Awards, the surviving family members of those who died in these “Enemy Hell-Holes”, will now be eligible to apply for the Purple Heart.

Also, I have just learned that the families of these departed service members, whose remains have not been recovered, may be entitled to a “Memorial Marker” at no charge to them, placed in a cemetery of their choosing, public or private, if space is available. For more information on this, you may contact Ms. Vicki Tanner at 1-703-607-8585, or the DVA at 1-800-697-6947, or the ABMC at 1-703-696.5900.

VERITAS (Truth)