Unit: Company D, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 11 July 1945
Home City of Record: St. Paul MN
Date of Loss: 19 October 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165400N 1071100E (YD344698)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Michael J. Burke, L.J. Lewandowski (both
missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II Project.
...The Burke family spoke with a member of the 1st Marines who was part of
a search
party for the three. They were told that the unit tracked their son for
three
months as the Viet Cong moved him from village to village.
...The Mishuk family was told by Marine officials that it was "unusual to
find no
bodies at all if all three drowned."
...When American prisoners were released 6 1/2 years later, the Burke,
Lewandowski
and Mishuk families were heartbroken that their sons were not among them.
Military
authorities at the time were shocked that hundreds known or suspected
prisoners
of war were not released.
...No information ever surfaced on the fates of Burke, Lewandowski and
Mishuk.
By 1980, the U.S. declared them dead based on the fact that there was no
specific evidence that they were still alive. Disturbing testimony was
given to
Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese "stockpiled" the remains of
Americans to
return at politically advantageous times. The same source indicated that
he had
also seen five Americans in captivity after the war ended. This source
was
considered to be highly credible.
...Even more disturbing are the over 10,000 reports received by the U.S.
relating
to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities who have
examined this
information (largely classified), have reluctantly come to the
conclusion that
many Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia.
...As long as reports continue to be received which indicate Americans are
still
alive in Indochina, we can only regard the return of remains as a
politically
expedient way to show "progress" on accounting for American POW/MIAs. As
long as
reports continue to be received, we must wonder how many are alive.
...Whether the three Marines lost near Dong Ha on October 19, 1966 could be
among
those thought to be still alive is not known. What is certain, however
is that
as long as even one American remains alive, held against his will, we
must do
everything possible to bring him home -- alive.
...I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to keep pushing this
issue inside the Beltway...
The need to get specific answers is more important now than ever before.
If still alive, some MIAs are now in their 70s...They don't have much
time left. We have to demand the answers from the bureaucrats and keep
standing on their necks (figuratively speaking) until they get the
message that THEY work for US and that we are serious about getting
these long overdue responses. Diplomatic considerations aside...
We can no longer allow questionable protocols established by
pseudo-aristocratic armchair strategists, to determine or influence the
fate of the men who were in the trenches while the diplomats were
sharing sherry and canapes and talking about "Their Plans" for the
future of SE Asia.
