I wonder just how many "POW / MIA" are actually guys like this who got adopted by a village in Vietnam and never wanted to go backhttp://web.archive.org/web/20130501161943/https://www.digitaljournal.com/article/349167 …
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M Mabeuf Retweeted M Mabeuf
Going to continue to post research / notes about US defectors in Vietnam herehttps://twitter.com/mmabeuf/status/1433595796545581059 …
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Pictured above is Richard Springman, who surrendered to NLF forces in 1970, claiming he was "sick of the killing" and was returned to the US in 1973. He was awarded a Bronze Star for an escape attempt in 1971. https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/27985
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But the NY Times from 1873 tells a different story, of "allegations" against Springman of being AWOL when captured. Was the Army covering up defections with fake stories of valor so people wouldn't realize how widespread the problem was?https://www.nytimes.com/1973/03/11/archives/army-says-it-will-not-punish-p-o-w-captured-while-a-wol.html …
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I mean if you escape alone from a prison deep in the wilderness and get recaptured, who can even validate that story?
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Gus Hasford's novel "The Phantom Blooper" (the sequel to the "Short Timers" which was the basis of the movie "Full Metal Jacket") implies this was exactly what was happening. https://msuweb.montclair.edu/~furrg/Vietnam/blooperall.html …
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Soldiers either allowed themselves to be captured, or POWs became sympathetic to the Vietnamese cause because they were successfully "ideologically remolded" (as were US POWs by the Chinese during the Korean War)
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but when these soldiers were "repatriated" they were given bogus stories of heroic resistance and lots of medals, then dumped somewhere, broke and unemployed. A court martial for collaboration would have only showed how widespread the defection problem was.
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Private Joker's own ideological remolding is dramatized in The Phantom Blooper, which has been out of print since the 1990s but which Gover Furr has kept available online on his personal website. https://msuweb.montclair.edu/~furrg/Vietnam/blooperall.html …
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That was a great read (not done yet) - thanks for the link
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