Welcome to Log Entries by Tracy D. Connors
No One Left Behind—Except in Korea
No one left behind!
A silent promise that creates unspoken bonds between American soldiers and shipmates, airmen and leathernecks. A core value in our military regardless of the branch of service. A silent promise between our band of brothers and sisters in the military, that is also publicly stated national policy. [http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/strategy.pdf]
The Marines brought their brothers back from “Frozen Chosen” on the hoods of their trucks. The Air Force and Army brought its dead back from Vietnam, and after “Blackhawk Down.”
The silent promise and a national commitment that no one is left behind has been upheld on all our hallowed battlefields, and the countless other locations around the world where American service men and women have defended Freedom.
Until now!
Search teams from the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (JPAC) that reports to the Pacific Command in Hawaii, are active in Europe, in the Middle East and in Southeast Asia, working with host countries to locate and repatriate the remains of Americans killed in the line of duty.
Admiral Timothy J. Keating, USN, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, praised JPAC and explained, “they have hundreds of people deployed throughout not just the Pacific Command AOR [Area of Responsibility], but around the world. They are engaged in Germany and France for World War Two remains…The work they do is of monumental consequence.”
From 1996 through 2005, JPAC search locations even included North Korea. During periods of intense hostility between the governments of the two countries, 33 Joint Field Activities were conducted that brought home over 225 sets of remains for a dignified burial by grateful families.
“You can imagine how important it is for families who have not heard anything about their loved ones in decades,” Admiral Keating explained. “It is an unfortunate ‘knock on the door’ but no less meaningful for them to learn: here are the disposition [remains] of your father or grandfather.”
Yet, on June 25, 2005, the U.S. Department of Defense was ordered by “leadership,” to halt searches in North Korea. The only “explanation” by a low level spokesperson was for the safety of U.S. personnel “behind enemy lines” in North Korea—an assessment not shared by the four-star military commander for the region, Admiral Keating.
“I don’t know the reasons that led to that policy decision,” he said recently, therefore totally discrediting any supportable claim that the suspension was due to valid security concerns.
What no other enemy or foreign nation could do--force America’s proud military to leave their brothers or sisters behind--the current Administration has forced the Department of Defense to do for over three years in Korea.
America’s military has been forced by unnamed government “leadership” to adopt a “don’t ask, don’t search” policy in North Korea.
“No one left behind—except in Korea”—is the new reading of the silent “promise.” Not even sacred promises are safe in the hands of bureaucrats who hide their shameful decisions behind an ironic curtain of hypocrisy.
Keating, clearly “out of the loop” on the decision to halt searches in North Korea, tried to assure the audience that the “don’t ask, don’t search” policy is “currently being reconsidered…I think that the opportunity is better today than it was a year ago for resuming the search and recovery operations in North Korea, although we are not engaged in those today.”
Meanwhile, the months and years slip by for the families of Korean War heroes killed and missing in action. Not only have we left their loved ones behind, we have left their families behind, as well.
“At least while they were searching in North Korea, we had hope,” one family member told me, “now we have nothing. The war took our loved ones, and now our own government has taken away our hope.”
You can help restore hope to the families of Korean War killed and missing in action.
Forward this information to your friends and family that support our present and past military Veterans.
Send this email to your Senator and Congressional Representative. Ask them when this shameful policy is going to be changed. Ask them to take the leash off Admiral Keating and JPAC so they can continue to fulfill America’s promise that, in truth, no one is left behind.
http://www3.capwiz.com/c-span/dbq/officials/directory/directory.dbq?command=congdir
https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml
The Korean War is sometimes called the “Forgotten War,” despite the fact that those who fought and died there gave hope and a bountiful future to nearly 50 million South Korean people.
The sacrifices of our Korean War Veterans and the enormous debt we owe them for saving South Korea from tyranny deserve to be remembered and recognized.
We should remember the Korean War is not forgotten to the South Koreans who gained a new future thanks to Korean War Veterans. The Korean War is not forgotten to the many thousands of Veterans and their families whose lives were changed forever as a result of their service and sacrifices while reversing aggression and tyranny. And, the Korean War should not be forgotten by any American since it proved, once again, that the price of peace is eternal vigilance—and a willingness to defend Freedom—ours and our Allies.
Our Korean War Veterans saved a nation from a future of unimaginable bleakness, restored an Ally, and stopped Communist aggression. They did so not for glory or national grandeur. They defended Freedom, protected Freedom, and preserved Freedom in Korea because the United States of America, asked them to do so. That is worth remembering and respecting.
We should remember—and honor—our nation’s pledge to bring them home again, if at all possible.
I know you share my deeply held belief that we not leave our Veterans who died in the line of duty defending Freedom…or our national honor…behind.
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