What PODs would be required for a significant Missing in Action lobby to emerge to lobby for the families of missing US servicemen, prior to Vietnam ? There were significant nos. of MIAs as far back as the Allied pro-White intervention in Russia post-WWI, and the Korean War, so how could the MIA movement have possibly mushroomed into a greater force at 1 of these ket points ?
Earlier MIA movement ?
- Thread starter Melvin Loh
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There were cases of US soldiers taken by the Soviets and sent to the gulags. Eisenhower refused to deal with that b/c he feared it could lead to a nuclear war.
Perhaps word gets out more about that and lots of people get annoyed at this back-stabbing (in addition to the whole Polish independance thing) by our former ally.
Perhaps word gets out more about that and lots of people get annoyed at this back-stabbing (in addition to the whole Polish independance thing) by our former ally.
Eh... My impression is that the MIA movement was made up for Vietnam largely as an excuse to avoid paying them reparations (or whatever you want to call it).
, who is going to force the US to pay reparations?But that's what I'm saying. Vietnam is the first time we lost, so it stands out as an exception, so we demand they find all our missing soldiers before they get a dime, so they never get anything.
Eh... My impression is that the MIA movement was made up for Vietnam largely as an excuse to avoid paying them reparations (or whatever you want to call it).
No, there were plenty of US military personnel who were MIA in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam and may have ended up being prisoners for life in various communist countries. I believe that there were several thousand total unaccounted for. Through most of the Cold War period the US government played down the issue.
No, there were plenty of US military personnel who were MIA in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam and may have ended up being prisoners for life in various communist countries. I believe that there were several thousand total unaccounted for. Through most of the Cold War period the US government played down the issue.
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Paul Spring said:
Most likely they were all (or almost all) dead and not found. It happens in every war. I see little reason in keeping Americans held in secret for years. They can know nothing important and consist of nothing but risk for the country holding them.
"They can know nothing important and consist of nothing but risk for the country holding them."
I think when Stalin got hold of some US soldiers (some were liberated from German camps, while others were seized in Berlin and elsewhere), he was going to use them as bargaining chips to force the US to turn over fleeing dissidents, Nazi collaborators, and other "persons of interest" to his regime.
Besides, US prisoners might make useful targets for a frustrated despot to take his frustrations out on...mad at America? Torture some US POWs.
I think when Stalin got hold of some US soldiers (some were liberated from German camps, while others were seized in Berlin and elsewhere), he was going to use them as bargaining chips to force the US to turn over fleeing dissidents, Nazi collaborators, and other "persons of interest" to his regime.
Besides, US prisoners might make useful targets for a frustrated despot to take his frustrations out on...mad at America? Torture some US POWs.
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Matt Quinn said:
Unlikely, too damn risky for just letting your frustrations out on. Every war on this planet has had MIAs most of which were probably dead soldiers that were never found and rotted away.
"Every war on this planet has had MIAs most of which were probably dead soldiers that were never found and rotted away."
That's probably true of most of them, but I've heard plenty of twisted stuff about US folks being prisoners in Soviet or North Korean gulags to think that there might be more than a little truth to the matter...
A few years back, Clinton and Putin had some sort of conference on US POWs from Korea who were taken to the USSR and mistreated.
That's probably true of most of them, but I've heard plenty of twisted stuff about US folks being prisoners in Soviet or North Korean gulags to think that there might be more than a little truth to the matter...
A few years back, Clinton and Putin had some sort of conference on US POWs from Korea who were taken to the USSR and mistreated.