|
|
|
Project Homecoming - Part 1 To: AFWA58C The time was now January 1973. Amazingly, I had been home from my combat tour in Vietnam for almost five years. I was near the end of my tour at Headquarters Strategic Air Command (SAC), Offutt AFB, Omaha, Nebraska. It had been almost sixteen years since my experiences in survival training in the Sierra Nevadas, but all those memories were about to come crashing home to me. My job at SAC had been extremely interesting to me. For almost five years I had been involved in strategic force studies in SAC/Plans. The Directorate of Future Force Structure Studies and Evaluations (DPLR). Daily, we developed the wargaming models and studies that were providing the core analyses used in the SAC input to the Joint Strategic Objectives Plan (JSOP). It was a budgeting process that went year-round. Based on our "number-crunching", SAC could point logically to needed weapons systems development over the next 20 years or so and we put into action the weapons procurement program that made it happen. During this process, I personally briefed most of the VIPs from Washington that came to talk to the Commander in Chief, SAC (CINCSAC). We always played, "what the Major means is..." This was a "game" that we laughingly said was played because CINCSAC would chime in on our presentations with that sort of statement to explain in detail why SAC needed this bomber or that missile, etc. It was a grand time and a wonderful assignment. All that exposure to VIPs and personal endorsements on my effectiveness ratings by four-star CINCSAC didn't hurt a bit. And I always enjoyed the red-carpet treatment we junior Majors received while traveling with the four-star boss. It really doesn't get much better than that! But I digress... In the midst of my great SAC assignment, late in December of 1972, I was notified of a special duty that I was qualified for. Now serving as a Lt. Colonel, and after 16 years of service, I had learned the dangers of volunteering for anything! But as soon as they told me what this was about, I jumped at the chance. They had enough information to know that a large number, perhaps all, of the American POWs were to be released from North Vietnam prisons. Many of these guys had been in Vietnamese captivity almost eight years! After the brain-washing given our guys who were POWs in Korea, we were expecting some really bad cases that would require the utmost care in restoring them to useful life again. On top of that, we urgently needed to glean all of the useful intelligence that we could from them about the details of other missing POWs. The qualifications required were that you had served in Vietnam and that you were of the same age/rank/background as the POW you were to be matched up with. Every returning POW was to be assigned their own debriefer who would not only do the expected official things, but would also be a friend during a very difficult time and serve as a daily escort to assist him and his family return to normal life. About mid-February, 1973, all volunteer debriefers assigned to Operation Homecoming were pre-positioned at Norton AFB, California. It was the site where returning American POWs first set foot on the American continent. (They had already had a brief one-week stopover in Guam for immediate medical treatment, delousing, etc. It was there that they also got much needed dental work, new uniforms and other such things. They also made their first calls home from there and made arrangements to meet their families at Norton AFB (where we debriefers also awaited.) My POW was LTC Alex Bowman (not his real name). Watching those guys come off the plane was a sight that I'll never forget. You may remember seeing the video as true American heroes paused briefly on reaching the ground to pop a snappy salute to the senior officer who stood there to greet them. And only moments later, emotion reached incredible highs as each returning POW caught a wife and sometimes children who leaped into his arms to welcome him home after almost eight years of separation. Families suffered through many of those years without even knowing if their loved one was living or dead. It was a heart-warming experience. I felt very good to see Alex Bowman finally come down the ladder for his own warm welcome! Now my job could really begin! That first night "home" for our POWs was all theirs to enjoy with their families. On Norton AFB, they had sufficient family quarters reserved for each one of them and they were given one "free" day and evening before we got started. While they very much needed their families and we didn't want to keep them separated any more than was absolutely necessary, it was critical that we glean all of the useful knowledge we could about the whereabouts of any missing GI's. The next morning, Alex and I met in a typical debriefing room with a table and a couple of chairs and lots of coffee. We went through the usual get-acquainted niceties to begin building the friendship that would be needed to carry us through this difficult process. Later that evening, I would meet his wife, Helen. Though I didn't go to the evening meal with them every night, we had several evenings when we enjoyed a good dinner together. Following the official guidelines, after getting to know Alex and a lot of family data that isn't in the usual Air Force records file, we started at the top with a request for him to tell as many facts as he could recall about his shoot-down and capture. * * * * * * * Next time... Shoot-Down * * * |
|
If you are looking for Burch Associates insurance prelicensing classes click on -->> http://www.jtburch.org |