WWII wife finally learns the fate of her husband

[frogmarch]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57447896/for-wwii-soldiers-widow-a-60-year-mystery-finally-solved/

snips:

Peggy Harris of Vernon, Tex. never got a knock at the door, never got a telegram, never got anything definitive explaining what happened to her husband Billie during World War II. And so, in the absence of answers, she has remained dutiful to this day.

...

At first Billie he was reported as missing. Then he was reported as alive and coming home. Then Peggy got a letter saying actually he'd been killed and buried at one cemetery -- then another letter saying he was buried at a different cemetery. Then she was told maybe those aren't his remains at all.


Peggy was very frustrated. She waited. Months turned into years -- "and still no answer." Years turned to decades. So she wrote her congressman.


Wrote repeatedly, in fact, asking for any information about the fate of her husband. The last letter, in 2005, was directed to Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas, who also happens to be vice-chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.


In his reply, Thornberry said Billie was "still listed as 'missing in action' in the National Archives."

...

So why then, as late as 2005, was Peggy's congressman still telling her that her husband was missing in action? Turns out, there are no records of Rep. Thornberry ever even checking with the National Archives. And if he had, as CBS News did, he would have seen it says right there - KIA: killed in action.

More at the link.

It came as no surprise to me to learn that Rep. Thornberry is a republican.

[yurbud]

1. Republicans ALWAYS support the troops...right to die in wars of big business's choosing.

After that they and their families are on their own apart from supportive flag lapel pins and yellow ribbon bumper stickers.

[AzDar]

2. Well-said.

[HopeHoops]

6. The best way to support the troops is to bring them home alive.

Fuck the yellow ribbon magnets and flag pins. The military industrial complex is going strong and just as dangerous as Eisenhower warned. It's all about scamming money and scamming natural resources. They sell it as ideology and patriotism but it is neither. WWII was the last example we have of a war with a legitimate reason and yet we avoided engaging directly until late in the conflict.

Today's Republicans don't support the troops. They just talk about it.

[Gold Metal Flake]

3. Well, you know CBS has a liberal bias.

Where is that sarcasm smilie?

[Wilms]

4. At least he's consistant...

Congressman Thornberry, along with Democratic Congressman Adam Smith of Washington State, co-sponsored an amendment to the fiscal 2013 defense spending bill reversing a ban on the dissemination of propaganda produced by the State Department and the Defense Department within the United States, neutralizing the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 and the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 1987, which were to protect U.S. audiences from government misinformation programs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_Thornberry#Positions

[kestrel91316]

5. This is what's known in republifascist circles as "supporting the troops".

[MADem]

7. What an ASSHOLE and I will TELL YOU WHY.

Rep Thornberry--or any damn congressman--does not have to do a fucking thing to do the work this woman requested. All he had to do (or some piglet on his shiftless and indolent staff) was put the goddamned request from the woman on a transmittal sheet and send it to OLA--the Office of Legislative Affairs. OLA will then ride herd on it--they will do all the checking--not just with the stupid "National Archives" -- but with the service-specific POW/MIA office (who will be the ones doing all the heavy lifting). No stone would be left unturned--the Services do this shit ALL THE TIME. It just takes putting a piece of correspondence on a 'tracker' or 'tickler' or 'transmittal'--depending on your office's jargon--and doing your follow up with the action agency periodically. It is NOT rocket science.

This congressman is a JERK with a LAZY staff and they should all be FIRED. Disgraceful! Incompetent, stupid buffoon!

[queenjane]

8. Seriously, my first thought was he HAD to be a Rethug

It's relatively easy to access service records, especially for next of kin. All these decades, and no one did a thing to help that woman learn her husband's fate. Disgusting.

[MADem]

12. The Service will do the work--every Congressional office knows this.

The request goes to the Congressman/Senator, and then it goes to OLA, and thence to the Service in question. All Services have personnel arms that specialize in the beans, butts and bullets stuff--and all Services have a POW/MIA shop. They have people who liaise with the NMPRC (that's National Military Personnel Records Center, where the service records are stored-- they are in St. Louis) every damn day, to the point where they have "phone friendships" with the people they deal with on the other end of the line.

There is no reason this woman had to wonder all those years. There was a fire in St. Louis many, many years ago, and many records were lost, but the ones that survived were re-catalogued, and many were re-constructed from other records that were out in the field or stored in other localities. This guy's records, plainly, did not burn. There's just no fucking excuse for what happened to this woman. She was ill-treated.

I can't help but wonder if she was tagged as a crank early on, and they just kept giving her lip service and never even going to the trouble of asking on her behalf. I'd love to crack into the OLA files to see if they ever even got a request from a Congressman on her behalf. I'm thinking they didn't.

The hardest thing in the world to do is to leave no stone unturned even if you think you're not going to get any results from your effort, particularly if you're already overworked (or lazy, as I suspect this congressman's staff was). It's important for people in public office, and who work in any capacity--in uniform or not--as "servants of the people" to remember what their damn duty is. You're there to SERVE, not to lord it over others.

Be nice if more would make that connection.

[renate]

9. thank you for that explanation

It really does make him and his staff look pathetic.

[malaise]

14. Typical fucking RETHUG

Dems must learn to target these scumbags

[dmr]

10. Mac Thornberry is a liar. He dishonors an honorable job. n/t

[LiberalCatholic]

11. So sad...

it brought tears to my eyes. I hope this lady finds acceptance...

[queenjane]

13. There was a follow-up on CBS last night

The lady has been visiting her husband's grave in Normandy annually since learning his fate. Turns out a nearby village has been honoring him for heroism since his death. Though grievously wounded, he managed to pilot his plane AWAY from the village before crashing, thus saving many lives.

Just so sad and unconscionable that she didn't know this for so many decades. So much for our "public servants". Only thing most of them serve is their bank accounts and egos.

[frogmarch]

15. Thanks for the update. It's ironic that

his heroic deed is honored in France, yet he was brushed off as MIA by some in his homeland who couldn't be bothered to check.