A Heroic Connection (Charlie James)

It took her 44 years, but Morreen O’Reilly-Mersberger finally tracked down the prisoner of war whose name was on a bracelet that she purchased in college and kept to this day.

The 62-year-old Plymouth resident bought the item for $2 in the fall of 1970 from a student group on the University of Wisconsin-River Falls campus that was selling bracelets to commemorate Vietnam POWs. The bracelet listed the name of Cmdr. Charlie James Jr. and the date of his capture, May 18, 1968.

The bracelets were meant to encourage people to remember and honor those fighting for the U.S. during the Vietnam War despite the controversy surrounding the conflict, said O’Reilly-Mersberger.

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Other Publications You Might Be Interested In

Silver Star Recipient, Vietnam POW Speaks to Online History Class (Franke, Doremus)

When a CM junior found out his great-grandmother wrote to American POWs in Vietnam, he shared the discovery with Mr. Bradley. West Roxbury, Mass.– As Catholic Memorial School junior Kevin Pumphret held the letter in his hands and read the words of Navy captain Bill Franke, his mind returned to a discussion from his American War in Vietnam course – the experience of prisoners of war.

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James Lollar, Together We Served

Jim Lollar was born on August 23, 1945, in Kilmichael, Mississippi. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on March 26, 1967, and was trained in Weapons Maintenance. He served a double-tour at Phan Rang AB, South Vietnam, first in aircraft armament, and then as a door-gunner from August 1967

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Wellfleet general was Vietnam POW (Kenneth North)

In the last few months of his life, as Alzheimer’s gradually crept over his orderly mind, retired Air Force Gen. Kenneth Walter North began to recall vividly his years spent as a prisoner of war, a time that exemplified his devotion and service to his country. It started gradually. A

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