Missing POW/MIA'S page

When the Marine unit finally was able to break contact and return to
base, they were forced to leave their dead behind. It was several days
before they could attempt to recover the dead because of heavy enemy
activity. When they were finally able to get back into the area, the
Marines found that repeated harassment and interdiction fire had badly
scrambled the remains of their fellow Marines. They recovered what they
had thought were the remains of nine dead Marines, none of whom could be
individually identified. Among them, according to the government
forensics experts, were Brellenthin and Ridgeway.

Those sets of remains were combined with the remains of nine Navy men
who had died in a separate incident and were interred
in a mass grave in St. Louis.

On January 28, 1973, PFC Ronald Ridgeway, one of those 18 "dead" and
buried servicemen, was released from a POW camp in Hanoi. Ridgeway had
been held in South Vietnam with known POWs such as Harvey Brande,
William G. McMurray, and Dennis L. Thompson. The U.S. had no idea any
of these men were POWs until they were released. Ridgeway had come back
from the dead, much to the chagrin of the U.S. Government.

Although the relatives of seven of the Marines believed buried in St.
Louis found little hope in Ridgeway's return, Brellenthin's wife, Ruth,
thought it entirely possible that her husband might have escaped with
Ridgeway. How many others, she wondered, had been captured without the
U.S. finding out?

For five years the government refused to give Mrs. Brellenthin
information about Ridgeway's whereabouts so she could question him about
the incident. When she finally found him on her own, it was 1978, 10
years after the ambush. Ridgeway told her he had not seen Michael
Brellenthin during or after the ambush.

But an intelligence report obtained by Mrs. Brellenthin indicated that
in late February, 1968, approximately 20-30 American POWs were sighted
near Khe Sanh. According to the report, "Source observed several of the
PWs wearing 'strange caps.' He described this cap as olive drab in color
and made of cloth. The caps described resemble the USMC fatigue cap."

The U.S. Government continued to state unequivocally that LCPL Michael
Brellenthin had been killed in action because Mrs. Brellenthin could not
produce proof otherwise. Although the government lacked positive
evidence that Michael was dead, its assumption that he was dead
overruled Mrs. Brellenthin's assumption that he might be alive. The
Marine Corps has admitted that some of those "buried" men could have
been captured, but that it is doubtful. Even though considerable doubt
surrounds the identification of the Marines buried in St. Louis, and,
indeed, some of them might have survived, official status change
was denied.

Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports of Americans prisoner, missing
or unaccounted for have been received by the U.S. Government. It would
not be erroneous to speculate that if the U.S. received a first-hand
live sighting report on Michael Brellenthin, that report would be
debunked because "Michael Brellenthin is dead."

Although many experts who have reviewed the largely-classified
information relating to Americans still missing in Southeast Asia have
concluded that hundreds of them are still alive in captivity, the USG
cannot seem to make up its mind.

Meanwhile, how many wait for their country to come for them? Who will
look for men like Michael Brellenthin?

Michael Brellenthin was married only two weeks prior to his going to
Vietnam. His wife, who has recently remarried, is still actively
pursuing information as to her husband's fate. Ronald Ridgeway was
hastily promoted to the rank of Sergeant, in keeping with military
procedure relating POWs, upon his release.

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