As the aircraft passed over the coast of North Vietnam, I was summoned to the crew compartment by the aircraft's captain. He told me that Admiral Noal Gaylor (CINCPAF) and Ambassador Henry Byroade desired to speak to me on the radio. I was informed that we were among those captured about whom very little or nothing was known. Several of us had been declared killed in action and one, a Marine, had actually been buried. The Admiral and Ambassador asked me, as the Senior Ranking Officer of the group, if I would say a few words on our arrival a Clark.

With these thoughts in mind, I said the following upon landing:

"FOR MANY, MANY YEARS WE HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT OUR DIGNITY, OUR HONOR, AND OUR LOVE OF OUR COUNTRY. TODAY WE ARE HOME WITH OUR DIGNITY, HONOR AND LOVE OF COUNTRY BECAUSE OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU WHO ALSO LOVE YOUR COUNTRY VERY, VERY, MUCH."

Until the summer of 1990, I firmly believed that we were the last of the POWs captured during the Vietnam War to come home. My beliefs were that all those captured and alive had been released and that the rest of the missing were dead. No one else was coming home. During the fall of 1990, for a number of reasons, I changed my mind drastically--180 degrees worth.

Over the next several years, bits and pieces of information from various archives and congressional hearings revealed that men were left behind (abandoned) and confirmations repeatedly surfaced that men were alive after 1975. Enough evidence was available that convinced me that there was a good possibility that some could still be alive today.

Today, I believe that many were left behind and there is a strong possibility that some still wait who continue to think about their dignity, their honor and their love of their country.

Because they continue to love their country, don't you think they are wondering why they remain behind?