Welcome home Bobby

May 27th, 2007 at 10:19pm Will Kesler 366

I join with this community, as we come together, today, to honor brave warriors who served and sacrificed for the promise of America. Yet at the same time, as a Viet Nam veteran I endure rage and betrayal. In my last blog I referred to the “absolute corruption” of our government. Here is yet another example.

On Memorial Day, 1998, Robert Garwood stood before 200,000 veterans at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C. As the crowd cheered “We Love You, Bobby” he was unable to speak. Three men came forward, embraced Bobby, and with their support he regained his voice. Each of the three wore the Medal of Honor and in the silence that preceded Bobby’s words a clear voice rang from the crowd, “such men do not embrace traitors.”

Robert Garwood’s odyssey is one of the darkest in American history. In 1979, after fourteen years of brutal imprisonment in Vietnam, he rescued himself and insisted more POWs had been left behind. This created a major dilemma for our government as it had vowed years before that “there are no American POWs left behind and concealed in Vietnam” overruling families, veterans, former POWs and intelligence officials...all who steadfastly claimed evidence to the contrary.

In fact, American soldiers had been left behind. Held as hostages to ensure that the U.S. fulfill a covert pledge to pay $4.5 billion in reparations to North Vietnam. A letter dated 1 Feb.1973, released in 1977, from Nixon to the Prime Minister of North Viet Nam verifies the deal. However, Nixon, unable to obtain the funding he had secretly promised, defaulted on his commitment and abandoned the POWs. By the time Bobby surfaced they had become ghosts and neither side could admit the truth. Therefore, our government crucified Robert Garwood in order to ensure his story would not be credible.

Instead of honored by a grateful nation, Garwood was accused of desertion, indicted for leading troops into combat against American soldiers. During the longest court martial in U.S. history our government produced negligible evidence to substantiate their accusation. Then, forced to admit that Garwood had been a prisoner, not a traitor, they accused him of collaborating with the enemy in ways much more abhorrent than his peers.

Garwood was found guilty of one count of assault on another POW, one count of aiding the enemy by acting as translator, one count of wearing black pajamas and one count of carrying an AK-47 (unloaded) during a patrol. According to the Chief of the Pentagon’s POW unit in 1973, every man who testified against Garwood felt guilty for behaving exactly as he did and in some cases worse. The jury was never informed.

Guilty of assault? Returning from a work detail Garwood discovered his best friend, Russ Grisset, had been beaten to death for stealing and eating the camp commander’s cat. Several other prisoners had joined in the feast. Yet they had allowed Grisset to stand alone, instead of taking punishment as a group. Upon learning the fate of his best friend... Bobby lashed out and struck a single blow.

Taking no chances, our elected officials also conspired to persuade America that Bobby was a pedophile. During his trial tabloids, east to west, proclaimed “Robert Garwood Accused of Child Molestation.” After his court martial and after being dishonorably discharged, Bobby Garwood again stood trail. Uncontested evidence placed him hundreds of miles from the scene of the alleged crime. All charges were dropped, however, the damage done, no headlines proclaimed his innocence.

For over three decades Robert Garwood has struggled to regain his honor, to force our government to admit the truth, to resurrect lost heroes. He is supported by men with impeccable credentials. General Eugene Tighe, former head of the DIA, Red McDaniel, Captain of the aircraft carrier Lexington and former POW, thousands of Vietnam veterans and three heroes wearing the Medal of Honor all supported Bobby.

Three culprits bear the blame for this malicious betrayal. First, our government who deserted those who served, then attempted to concealed their heinous action by crucifying an innocent soldier. Secondly, our supposedly free press who failed to report the truth and, finally, ultimately, each of us who apathetically believe the propaganda our government wants us to believe.... as we slide down the slippery slope.

Entry Filed under: Politics, Foreign Policy

5 Comments Add your own

1. mgman | June 1st, 2007 at 7:07 am

Thanks Will,
This story hurts deeply, especially because it shows how little our leaders and our government have changed in so many years. My father was a Vietam vet (surgeon), and for all my life he had a deep, well concealed, frustration and anger at the hypocracies that continued from our government. In the weeks before he died, at the hospital, the number and depth of the flashbacks that he shared with us was astounding. I bring this up because my father was a staunch conservative who loved this country, with all its faults. He wasn't the kind of man that gave up on the good things about this country. But, what I read in your story is something that it seems only a Vietnam vet that still loves this country can have; a certain anger that most of us can't begin to understand. Even today, the same kind of B.S. is going on with respect to our veterans. No expense should be spared for our fighting men and women when they are serving and when they return home, but it is. Even one story about a poorly equiped soldier, or a veteran struggling to get care, is too many. Not to mention that our government invented the smear campaign. I can still hear my father's advice on government that he gave me as a young man: "We get a government directly proportional to the effort we put into it."
Respectfully,
mgman
2. roncharest | September 25th, 2007 at 9:46 am

I'm sorry to tell you this, but Bobby Garwood is no hero, and certainly does not deserve accolades due to a real hero.

Robert Garwood became my neighbor in Gautier, Mississippi in April 2000. When he moved in I knew nothing about him other than he was a neighbor, new widower, and had once served in the Marines. I welcomed him and treated him as a friend. Within two years, Robert would destroy my marriage, spead the most vile lies about me beyond anything I could have once imagined possible, and turned my life upside down. He continued to torment me via proxy for four more years, until I finally moved away in Sept 2006.

My full story about this creature is posted at:

http://www.charest.net/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=12&GallerySession=392ad6f91463e4e84ed3bfeee19e3d4d

I hope anyone who still thinks Garwood is a hero will take the time to read my version of truth.

Thank You,
Ron
3. Will Kesler | September 26th, 2007 at 8:49 am

Ron,

Apart from your personnal issues with Garwood I wonder if you can refute any of the facts presented in my blog.

Reqards, Will
4. Trainman95630 | August 12th, 2008 at 9:22 pm

Interesting post on PFC Garwood. I see from the net he has is supporters so I remain open minded about his story. However your post seems to imply that the government only
charged him with crimes due to the embarassment of him turning up in '79. I am quite certain that between '73 and '78 I read books and articles about the actions of PFC Garwood in captivity along with the assertion that he had refused repatriation. The knowledge of PFC Garwood's conduct in captivity came from returning POWs - whether the government was justified in charging him is another story - however I don't think the government made up the charges out of whole cloth to CYA - they were under the belief from the intel they had gathered that he was a turncoat who stayed behind.
5. pernell | November 10th, 2008 at 9:51 am

I have been reading as much as I possibly can about Mr Garwood.
At first I must admit I felt he was getting the shaft! Although today, I am starting to wonder if he didn't "cross-over", even if it was only to survive.
Every POW that spent time with him, that is alive, is saying the same thing? Right down to the Ho Chi Min pin. It doesn't make sense, if some of them said it, and others claimed not to remember, but all of them?
Ok, maybe they have some guilt, or something to hide, or the government "made" them say it. What about the Germans that were prisoners with them? I read an exert from their book, called "we came to help" (I have the book on order) and they claim Bobby was clearly not a POW, his pockets were stuffed with explosives, tobacco and drugs among other things. What would they have to gain by lying? they were civilians they have no guilt to bear.
Also, the spite house, was a good read, but the author was sued and lost for slander or something along those lines for what she wrote about Dr Kusner, from what I understand Bobby wouldn't even back up what he told her. Why lie about other POW'S?
I read Ron's story awhile back, and while yes it is sad, and Bobby looks like a low life, it doesn't prove he wasn't a POW, although lying about what happened and who you are could set a precedent for a pattern.
I believe the government left men behind, I believe that there are some possibly still there, did Bobby see them? I don't know, it is written no where in his book, "conversations with the enemy" he actually makes a point to say he didn't see any other Americans.
Should he have been charged? Probably not, no one else was so why him, did he cross-over, I think he did, but not because he was sympathetic, more because he was alienated from the other POW's, he was desperate to survive. In saying that I could be wrong, and if I am, then I apologize to Bobby. But things just don't add up.
Michael