POW/MIA
Recognition Day: September 21, 2007
Missing in Iraq: Spc. Jimenez and Pvt. Fouty
By
U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson
On
May 12th of this year, insurgents abducted three U.S. soldiers
from the 10th Mountain Division's 31st Infantry Regiment
during an ambush in Iraq. Iraqi police found the body of Army
Pfc. Joseph J. Anzack Jr., 20, in the Euphrates River south of
Baghdad and turned it over to American officials for identification.
The exhausting search continues for Spc. Alex R. Jimenez, 25,
of Lawrence, Mass., and Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford,
Mich., the two other missing soldiers.
They've
been missing since May 12th, yet their uncertain fate barely rates
a regular news update. Why is that?
It
breaks my heart to wonder what terror and trials these patriots
are enduring. Would you please pray for Spc. Jimenez and Pvt.
Fouty – as well as for their loved ones?
There
are the only two missing servicemen in Iraq, yet other wars do
not share the same statistic. Believe it or not, there are still
1,750+ missing and unaccounted for from Vietnam.
I
spent nearly seven years as a Prisoner of War in Vietnam, more
than half of that time in solitary confinement. In an odd way
I consider myself lucky. I came home. To my loved ones. I wish
that I could say that about each of our brave men and women classified
as a Prisoner of War (POW) or Missing in Action (MIA).
It
is with mixed emotion that I write to commemorate National POW
and MIA Recognition Day. While it does not garner as much attention
as Memorial Day or Independence Day, each year on the third Friday
in September, our nation pauses to observe National Prisoner of
War (POW) and Missing In Action Recognition (MIA) Day.
Under
a special order by the President, on Friday, September 21st, the
flag of the National League of Families of American Prisoners
of War and Missing in Southeast Asia, a black and white banner
representing America's missing service members and our firm resolve
to determine their fate, will be flown over the White House, the
U.S. Capitol, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Korean War Veterans
Memorial, national cemeteries, and other locations across our
country.
This
black and white flag billowing next to Old Glory is a powerful
reminder to the world that Americans will keep faith with those
who so faithfully serve in our armed forces…and they will
never be forgotten.
As
a former Prisoner of War, I know enduring torture and ongoing
starvation can quickly mangle your body and slowly destroy your
soul. It is only by the grace of God, His provision, my family,
my faith, and my former POWs who became my family that I survived
what could only be described as hell on earth.
That
seven years of downright misery propelled me to rise above that
dark time in my life and change that negative into a positive.
It's an honor to serve on the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission
on POWs and MIAs. I've made it my own personal crusade to
account for and find each one of my fellow Americans who did not
come home from Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos…the 1750+ still
unaccounted for…as well as Spc. Jimenez and Pvt. Fouty,
the two American soldiers missing in Iraq.
I
wish Americans heard more about their missing comrades –
or at least the search for them.
While
in captivity, I found inspiration in a quote scrawled on a prison
wall by someone who "lived"; in the filthy, tiny cell
before I did. He wrote, "Freedom has a taste to those who
fight and nearly die for it that the protected will never know.";
Our
missing country men want, need, and deserve their freedom and
your prayers. We must and we will bring them home.
God
bless you and God bless America.
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Johnson
represents portions of Dallas and Collin Counties.
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