By Lewis Brackett
June 1, 2023
After the Korean war, hundreds of American POW’s were never seen again. For all intents and purposes, our government had abandoned them in the hands of the enemy.
During the Vietnam war, many Americans who were seen being captured in North Vietnam simply disappeared never to be seen again. This has been the case throughout the cold war.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia opened its files to some extent. However if any central record had ever been filed on these people, very little was found. Except for a very lucky few, most westerners sent to the gulags ever made it back home. In the early 90s I saw an interview with a former Russian intelligence officer. He had been stationed at an interrogation center for Americans captured in Vietnam and sent to Russia. He said that there were always several Americans being interrogated there. After a while they were always sent to the gulags.
As far as we know, none of them ever made it back home again. In his two years at that center at least 200 American POWs came through that place. The KGB always had agents imbedded in North Vietnamese field army units to select POWs to be sent directly to Russia bypassing the Hanoi prison camps. To this day, literally thousands of our people have disappeared into the Russian gulags never to be seen again.
Every year I make calls send letters about them. Every year all I get back is… silence.
I ask that everyone reading this pray for the families of our lost heros, for them to be comforted, reassured that we honor their sacrifice. I also hope that some day our government will take responsibility for their abandonment of our people to a lingering death.
© 2023 Lewis Brackett, USCG veretan, 1966-70 – All Rights Reserved
E-Mail Lewis Brackett: Lewishb@yahoo.com
Important Links
https://www.deseret.com/2001/2/4/19567567/were-u-s-pows-held-in-russia
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1992-11-12-1992317164-story.html
https://communistcrimes.org/en/americans-soviet-prison-camps-narratives-survival
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-07-29-mn-115-story.html
