trb@drutx.UUCP (BuckleyTR) (04/15/84)
...
Note: This article appeared in the Letters to the Editor section
of the Denver Rocky Mountain News on Friday, April 13, 1984. It
was written by Rick Blumenthal, who is a very good friend of mine.
Rick belongs to the Forget-Me-Not Association, an organization
devoted to pressing for resolution of the MIA issue. - TRB
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David Hrdlicka was unable to walk his daughter down the
aisle at her wedding March 3. David's absence has become a
way of life for the Hrdlicka family. In May of 1965, while
serving his country as a fighter pilot, David was shot down
by communist guns over northern Laos.
David was seen by his wing men safely ejecting, landing,
rolling up his parachute, then surrounded and taken
prisoner. One year later the Soviet newspaper Pravda ran a
picture of David and his captors. David's brother, Leo
(also from Colorado), discovered this same picture in a
Chinese daily newspaper while he was stationed in Taiwan.
With all the information and photos on David, the Hrdlicka
family expected David's eight-year imprisonment to end soon
after the Paris Peace Accord was signed on Jan 27, 1973.
However, a serious problem arose. The United States was
told there was no evidence of, or information on David
Hrdlicka. Our government, knowing that communists never
lie, accepted their word. How do I know they accepted it?
Because they have done nothing to prove differently.
While President, Jimmy Carter did little to help David's
situation. Carter had David's personnel file stamped KIA:
Killed in Action. Simple patriotism unveils the turncoat
philosophy that ambassadors from Hanoi may walk freely on
American soil under the banner of the United Nations, while
their government tramples underfoot America's best. Common
sense reveals the insanity that through the International
Monetary Fund our tax dollars refurbish the soil of a
country that continues to claim our sons' bodies.
Our government annually pumps tax dollars into UNESCO, which
is "devoted to serving culture." What kind of culture
continues to hold David and 2,500 more like him? The same
money would be better spent educating Americans on the
culture we have become; a culture that forsakes its very
own.
The POW/MIA issue is not settled. Our government may have
stamped the files KIA, but a stamp settles nothing in the
minds of families and concerned citizens. A barrage of
letters is urgently needed. Our elected officials need to
be bombarded with reams of paper concerning this issue.
This is election year and our officials must get the message
that they shall not return to their jobs if these men remain
unaccounted for.
Action must be taken to force our government to rectify such
a corrupt manipulation of human lives.
Mayor Federico Pena recently scored a victory at election
time. I ask, Where is David Hrdlicka's victory? Gov.
Richard Lamm has enjoyed more than nine years in the
governor's mansion, but what enjoyment has Hrdlicka
experienced in the past nine years? Sen. Gary Hart has the
freedom to move about this country campaigning, yet what
freedom does David have and for what would his campaign
stand? President Ronald Reagan recently said the "long
vigil was over." I ask, When did it end?
Col. Hrdlicka was unable to hear the bells of his daughter's
wedding, but if Americans do their part, he shall hear the
bells of freedom ringing.
Hrdlicka turned 52 on Dec. 30. God bless him if he is dead,
but God help us if he is alive and we do nothing.
Rick Blumenthal
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Tom Buckley AT&T Information Systems, Denver, CO
ihnp4!drutx!trb