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In this case, that soldier was on an island, isolated and cut off from everyone else.
In Vietnam, there were not only base camps everywhere, there were major cities everywhere, also.
It is just not possible a soldier could have missed being either grabbed up by the VC/NVA or being swept up in the civilian/ARVN retreat to the south in '75.
If this guy really exists, he exists because he deliberately chose to remain behind.
And yes, there were incidents of deserters in the 'Nam who chose to either run with the g....ks or just hang out in the ville.
Vietnam is quite picturesque, assuming you ignore the zillion of bomb craters...
Paul
RVN Jul '70 - Dec '71
25th ID
101st ABN DIV (Airmobile)
One of my coworkers who retired said that one of the things he wanted to do was travel back to Vietnam and see the country now. He served there in the 1960s. He said it was a beautiful place if there hadn't been a war going on--talked about the symmetry of the way the rice fields were planted and some of the scenery. I don't know if he made that trip or not.
Wait, didn't they find some Japanese guy who was on some island in the Pacific unaware that the war had ended, years and years after the war? Or it was a few guys...can't remember full details, been awhile.
I'm sorry I don't have links to a story, I just remember hearing or reading about it some years ago. The dude (or dudes), was found in some lush forestey type area on some island and was unaware the war had ended. It had been like 20 something years after. Surely I'm not the only one who heard/read this story?
Isn't it possible that this could happen?
Yep. He was the last holdout and surrendered in 1974....30 years later....he, along with 2 other Japanese soldiers evaded capture and surrender...the other 2 died along the way. He is a hero in his country....perhaps, rightfully so.
different time period, different culture adherence to orders above all by class and training. including kamikaze, lack of information to the contrary. So yes the Japanese soldiers did (I remember one anyway) did stay in caves/forest until found and didn't believe the war was over or that Japan would not have won.
now do you think an American soldier of the 60s would unknowingly stay in NVietnam without trying to do something? different from the Japanese example.
It is my understanding that during vietnam era, some american soldiers were held captive in villages and almost treated like gods for their technological ability. which helped the village prosper.
and i hear from my green beret husband of vietnam era that soldiers (such as green berets) who had to immerse themselves with the indigenous personnel sometimes became so immersed that they couldn't leave their new lives and just "stayed".
So for this story, something smells about it. But wherever and whoever this man is I hope is happy, well, and content.
Ah, Green Berets (Special Forces) didn't become that immersed that they couldn't leave their "new lives" and just stay. Those are tall tales and usually are extrapolated from a single reference in a book that described a single experience which even then didn't end up with the soldier just staying. Then there was the movie Apocalypse Now and from that more stories. The number of US troops that went "native" is so small but the stories about it so big. Sorry, didn't happen that way.
American soldiers held in captivity were not treated like gods or anything close to that. More stories. While in some instances the seemingly advanced technology available to US soldiers were far above anything available to the Viets, there was no mistaking that US soldiers were men just like any other men.
As for an American soldier remaining in Vietnam and not trying to get out on their own and applying some greater power of reasoning and so on to say it couldn't happen, that too doesn't make a lot of sense. I guess we're forgetting who did the bulk of the fighting in Vietnam, it wasn't the highly trained Special Forces or other units but the more typical draftee who didn't want to be there, had little more than basic training and perhaps some light advanced infantry training before being shipped out. These guys were 18 years old so think about that for just a minute.
Haven't we seen people right here in the USA brainwashed to the point where they are part of a cult and believe things no rational person would dream of? Yes we have. Why didn't they leave when opportunities were abundant? How did Jim Jones manage to persuade hundreds of people to move out of the USA to a jungle camp and then drink poison laced koolaide? It can be and has been done.
While the story needs verification, the basis for it is plausible.
From the article:
"...Robertson, 76, living in a rural Vietnam village stooped with age, unable to speak English, remember his birthday, or names of the children he left behind in the U.S."
From the article:
"...Robertson, 76, living in a rural Vietnam village stooped with age, unable to speak English, remember his birthday, or names of the children he left behind in the U.S."
Got something to back that up assertion? The definition of 'missing in action' does not include 'alive but we disavow them'.
I spent a very rewarding tour searching for and recovering MIAs in Southeast Asia. I do not, for one second, still think anybody is still there in Vietnam being held against his will.
Disavow? That not the same thing as refusing to talk about them or the possibility they exist.
As to being held against their will. How much will do you think they they would have left after a long term in captivity??
Disavow? That not the same thing as refusing to talk about them or the possibility they exist.
As to being held against their will. How much will do you think they they would have left after a long term in captivity??
You're trying to divert. Where is your evidence there actually are POWs? That you *feel* there should be? That's...uh...special.
There's an entire organization devoted entirely to searching for any evidence of POWs, MIAs, and remains. I've been in the organization. There is absolutely no evidence of current, existing POWs-live men, held against their will-in Vietnam, and bluntly: it's not THAT big of a country. Such evidence or rumor would have turned up by now. There's plenty of evidence of human remains, and they are busting a** to recover those remains.
I'll take the word of the professional organization looking for those remains, asking questions about any live Americans and finding 0 evidence, over Grandpa Pipes or the Internet Tin Foil Hat brigade any day, because I simply don't believe there's a conspiracy here.
Anyone blocking a DNA test automatically makes this invalid IMO.
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