[ Home | Contents | Search | Post | Reply | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Amy Klucharits
T1: Amynbry@sprintmail.com
Date: 10/6/97
Time: 3:43:17 PM
Remote Name: 206.133.36.39
Amy Klucharits Vietnam and Am. Culture October 7,1999
One of the most interesting things that I found after reading MIA or Mythmaking In America, by H. Bruce Franklin, is the fact that the POW/MIA issue has had such an impact on lives of Americans. I have noticed POW/MIA flags and stickers on cars but I never fully realized their meaning or what they stood for or how strongly, according to Franklin, some people in America have taken this issue. Not only do American believe in the "existence, suffering and betrayal" of POW’s, according to Franklin, but some have taken it to a level that has "all the intensity of a religion"(p. 7). Now this may not be such a bad cause to believe in except for the fact that the book tries to prove that there is no "creditable evidence" that any prisoners are being held in Indochina. Another thing that shocked me after reading this book was some of the comparisons that Franklin makes between the Vietnam war and other wars in American history. He claims that over 78,750 men are still unaccountable from World War II compared to the 2,255 missing from the Vietnam War. Franklin goes on to say that this number of 2,255 is quite misleading(p.13). 1,095 of those categorized as POW/MIA are actually known to be dead however their remains have not been recovered. Is this just another example of how the government has distorted the facts of this war? In my opinion, it would seem that no man would be able to surrive to this day under the conditions that these prisoners are thought to have had to live under. However this is really not the issue at hand. If the government knew that almost 2,000 of these men were suposedly killed, why wouldn't this fact be reported to their families and to the American public in general? It is almost as if the U.S. government is trying to creat hostility towards Indochina.