yeah .. that's it ... killem' and then live with'em. next ...
On Apr 30, 9:27 am, Bear Bear <[email protected]> wrote: > Has U.S. Army veteran been found living in Vietnam village 44 YEARS after > being shot down and presumed dead? Green Beret 'cannot remember the names > of his family or even how to speak English' > > - Sgt. John Hartley Robertson is believed to have died in 1968 over Laos > during a special ops mission during the Vietnam War > - A new documentary claims to have found him - aged 76 - still living > there > - This man, who remarried, has never contacted the American wife and two > children who have believed him dead for 44 years > - Doubts remain over his identity but his sister, who is filmed being > reunited with him in the documentary, said she knows it is him > > By James > Nye<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=James++Nye> > > Sgt. John Hartley Robertson's name is etched along with 60,000 others onto > Washington D.C.'s poignant Vietnam memorial - no doubt visited many times > by the wife and two children he left behind. > > But what if Robertson didn't die during a classified special ops mission > over Laos in 1968 as military records show but is still alive and well? > > That is the jaw dropping question posed by a new documentary which claims > to have tracked down the one-time Green Beret to south-central Vietnam - > where the 76-year-old is unable to remember his birthday, his American > children’s names, or how to speak English. > > Scroll Down for Video > [image: Special Forces Green Beret Master Sgt. John Hartley Robertson is > the subject of a new documentary which claims to have found him alive - > 44-years after he was supposed to have died in Vietnam] > > Special Forces Green Beret Master Sgt. John Hartley Robertson is the > subject of a new documentary which claims to have found him alive - > 44-years after he was supposed to have died in Vietnam > [image: Mystery: A trailer for the documentary shows the man who was found > living in Vietnam under another identity] > > Mystery: A trailer for the documentary shows the man who was found living > in Vietnam under another identity > > The makers of 'Unclaimed' say that the wiry, forgetful man could very well > be a missing POW from the distressing conflict, but that his fellow > servicemen could very well 'lose their minds' when they hear the story of > how he never returned home. > > 'Sgt. Robertson' has told Emmy-award winning filmmaker Michael Jorgensen > that when his flaming helicopter crashed to the ground during a firefight > on a Laos mountaintop.he was captured immediately by North Vietnamese > soldiers. > > More... > > - From directing Charlie Sheen in Wall Street to hanging out with Fidel > Castro: Oliver Stone on his life and career in > photographs<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/event/article-2314097/Oliver-Stone-Fr...> > - Vietnam veteran 'turned drug smuggler left for dead after swallowing > 87 cocaine pellets' during Jamaica cruise and one > burst<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2306317/Vietnam-veteran-turne...> > > 'They locked me up, high in the forest, in a cage,' he says. 'I was in and > out of consciousness from torture and starvation. The North Vietnamese > soldier hit me on the head with a stick, shouting, ‘American!’ > > 'Then he would hit me even harder; I thought I would die. I never said > anything, though they beat and tortured me.' > > Mr Robertson says he escaped after four years, hid in the woods and was > found in a field by a woman who nursed him back to health and then became > his wife. > [image: Is it him? Robertson, a former U.S. Army Green Beret and member > of an elite MACV-SOG unit, was listed as Missing In Action in 1968. But a > fellow Vietnam vet claims he has met a man claiming to be him] > > Is it him? Robertson, a former U.S. Army Green Beret and member of an elite > MACV-SOG unit, was listed as Missing In Action in 1968. But a fellow > Vietnam vet claims he has met a man claiming to be him > Stunning story of a Vietnam vet shot down in 1968. See the... > > He said he borrowed his wife's late husband’s surname and birthdate and was > registered as a French-Vietnamese resident named Dan Tan Ngoc, > > The couple then had children but no recorded attempt was made to contact > his wife or children back home in America. > > However, despite the inconsistencies that suggest either serious brain > injury at the hands of his captors or at worse a deep callousness, many > believe that the old man is indeed Robertson. > > The documentary follows the quest of Vietnam veteran Tom Faunce as he seeks > to prove that the man he first heard about in 2008 while on a humanitarian > mission was indeed a fellow serviceman. > > Fonce contacted Jorgensen to see if the filmmaker would follow his story to > establish that Robertson was still alive and at first the director was > cautious. > [image: Vietnam veteran Tom Faunce has become obsessed with proving that > the 76-year-old man he has found in Vietnam is indeed Sgt. John Hartley > Robertson] > > Search: Vietnam veteran and humanitarian Tom Faunce, pictured, has become > obsessed with proving that the 76-year-old man he has found in Vietnam is > indeed Sgt. John Hartley Robertson > > 'The MIA story was pretty unbelievable, pretty grandiose,' he said to the > Globe > and > Mail<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/chronicling-the-strange-stor...>, > 'and I was very skeptical.' > > However, what struck Jorgensen above the idea a Vietnam veteran could have > stayed undetected for 44-years was Faunce's journey as a soldier, alcoholic > and victim of child abuse. > > To, 'go all the way in helping someone he didn't even know.' And that 'no > matter how the story turned out with John, I knew there was just a great > 'once upon a time' with Tom.' > > So, to Vietnam, where Faunce tracked down the man who local legend had to > be a former American Green Beret who had never returned home. > > 'Tom went to meet him (Robertson) and was very skeptical, grilled this guy > up and down trying to get him to break, to say, ‘Oh, no, I’m just making it > up.’ And he was adamant he was that guy,' said Jorgensen to The Toronto > Star.<http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2013/04/25/hot_docs_premi...> > > As Jorgensen delved further into the story, he discovered unusual evidence > for Robertson's claims. > [image: At work: Cinematographer Allan Leader and filmmaker Michael > Jorgensen in Vietnam in 2012] > > At work: Cinematographer Allan Leader and filmmaker Michael Jorgensen in > Vietnam in 2012 > [image: Questions: Faunce walks along the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall > in Washington D.C.] > > Questions: Faunce walks along the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in > Washington D.C. > > He found that reports existed as early as 1982 of Robertson's alleged > survival, leading him to question why his family were not contacted to help > provide proof. > POWS IN VIETNAM: COULD THERE STILL BE U.S. PRISONERS? > > - There has been considerable speculation and investigation by private > sources and government bodies into this issue since the United States > exited the country in 1973 > - Many vocal groups led by family members of those MIA in Vietnam > contend that there has been a conspiracy to cover-up the fact there are > still prisoners in the South East Asian Country. > - The U.S. government has always denied that any man was left behind. > - There have been several congressional investigations into the issue - > culminating in the United States Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs > in 1991-93. > - This was led by Senators John Kerry, Bob Smith and John McCain - who > himself was a POW during the conflict. > - They found, 'no compelling evidence that proves that any American > remains alive in captivity in Southeast Asia.' > > 'Why did the Americans leave him there for all those years?' said Jorgensen > to The Globe and > Mail<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/chronicling-the-strange-stor...>. > Are there other John Hartley Robertson's in Vietnam? > > Jorgensen answers his own question to say 'a highly placed source has told > him there are and it's not because the Vietnamese won't let them go, it's > more the U.S. Military doesn't want them to come home.' > > Indeed, Faunce and Jorgensen discovered that in 2010 Robertson was > fingerprinted at the U.S. Embassy. > > Faunce was reportedly told that there was not enough proof to confirm this > was John Hartley Robertson. To which they replied that there was not enough > evidence to suggest he wasn't. > > As the film proceeds, stronger personal reunions add to the case that the > elderly man who seems to suffer from dementia is indeed the American > special forces solider. > > There is a tearful reunion with a soldier who Robertson trained in 1960 - > who claims he knew it was him on sight. > > And there is a moving moment when the man is brought back together with > 80-year-old Jean Robertson Holly at her home in Canada - who would have > been Sgt. Robertson's only surviving sister. > > 'Jean says … ‘There’s no question. I was certain it was him in the video, > but when I held his head in my hands and looked in his eyes, there was no > question that was my brother,’ says Jorgensen to the Toronto > Star.<http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2013/04/25/hot_docs_premi...> > [image: Convinced: His sister, Jean Robertson Holley, said she will not > have a DNA test as she knows it's him] > > Convinced: His sister, Jean Robertson Holley, said she will not have a DNA > test as she knows it's him > > Of course this would all be cleared up if Robertson-Holly agreed to DNA > testing, but she says she doesn't need to do that to know. > > Sadly, Robertson’s American wife and two children, initially said they > would like to participate in DNA testing. > > However, they changed their minds about being involved during the > production last year, says Jorgensen. > > 'Somebody suggested to me maybe that’s (because) the daughters don’t want > to know if it’s him. It’s kind of like, that was an ugly war,' said > Jorgensen to the Toronto Star. > > 'It was a long time ago. We just want it to go away,' says Jorgensen. 'I > don’t know. What would compel you not to want to know if this person is > your biological father?' > > Jorgensen recruited a Vietnamese speaking police officer from Edmonton to > act as a translator. > > Hugh Tran said that he spoke just like a Vietnamese native with no trace of > an American accent - leading him to become very suspicious. > [image: Heroes: Small American flags stand at the base of a statue of > American Soldiers of the Vietnam War. Washington, D.C., USA] > > Heroes: Small American flags stand at the base of a statue of American > Soldiers of the Vietnam War. Washington, D.C., USA > > 'I still didn’t believe . . . until I saw the family reunion,' said Tran > about the emotional meeting with his sister. > > Some moments that didn't even make the film led Jorgensen to wonder if this > man was he who said he was. > > Telling of the moment he met his sister, Robertson also met her husband, > Henry, telling him that he remembers him working in a drugstore. > > Henry worked for 50-years as a pharmacist. > > Above everything, Jorgensen believes that no matter what viewers take away > from the film which opens this week at the Toronto Hot Docs festival, the > man who claims to Robertson fulfilled his wish: to see some of his American > family before he dies. > > Hot Docs director Chris McDonald, said he had never seen an audience react > with so much emotion after seeing the film of Mr Robertson's life. > > He said: 'Afterwards, everyone was wobbly and teary—and curious. If this > individual is a legitimate MIA left behind, as the family and filmmakers > believe, it’s hard to overestimate what the impact might be.' -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
