Roque Matagulay, Vietnam POW

Roque Matagulay born 3 Oct 1931 in Guam.  He was an E-8, USA. He was
captured 7/23/62 while on a mission for SVN forces in the south.  He was
exchanged for politcal prisoners 12/24/62.  He and his wife had 6 children,
2 daughters and 4 sons. He was held by the Japanese on Guam as a child in
WWII, He was an “Atomic Vet” and was also exposed to Agent Orange in
Vietnam.  He spent 20+ years in the Army and then 19 years in the postal
service.  His last Army tour was as the NCOIC of a training academy in the
Korean DMZ when the Pueblo crew was released. He was the first Army POW to
go to Pensacola for medical care. Despite multiple medical problems he was a
happy and cheerful man.  He passed away December 29, 1999. He was buried at
Arlington January 12, 2000.

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I’ll Always Be There (Dennis Thompson)

It’s been nearly 50 years since Dennis Thompson was captured by North Vietnamese forces as a prisoner of war. But he still sees the black enclosed room with no light where they kept him. For five years — he counted 1,864 days — the Vietnamese imprisoned him, 850 days of

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For weeks the returned P.O.W.s had been stepping from “freedom birds” onto the television screens—most of them saluting crisply, walking smartly, looking physically fit and acting mentally alert. As the nation’s early apprehensions faded, a new idea set in: perhaps the P.O.W.s had been humanely treated after all. That illusion

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