K O R E A N W A R M I A A W A R D E D T H E M E D A L O F H O N O R

A F T E R 6 3 Y E A R S I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Korean War MIA Awarded The Medal of Honor After 63 Years

1, 4

Rolling Thunder®-New Hampshire-1

Has a New Presi-dent…Janice Maramaldi

A Letter to the Members

2

Officers Chapter Contact Infor-mation Chapter Meeting Times & Location

3

Former Iraq POW is Guest Speaker At

Nationa POW/MIA Recongtion Ceremonies—Andersonville, GA

5

National POW/MIA Recognition Day Ob-served in NH and VT

6

Families express frustra-tion with JPAC's efforts to recover war missing

7, 8

POW/MIA Flag Re-quirements

Coming Events

9

RTNH-1 Photos 10 & 11

Closing Shots 12

The major function of Rolling Thunder®, Inc. is to publicize the POW/MIA issue:

To educate the public that many American Prisoners of War were left behind af-

ter all previous wars, and to help correct the past and to protect future veterans

from being left behind should they become Prisoners Of War—Missing In Action.

We are also committed to helping American veterans from all wars.

R O L L I N G T H U N D E R ® , I N C . M I S S I O N S T A T E M E N T

On April 11, 2013, President

Barack Obama posthumously

awarded Army Chaplain (Capt.)

Emil J. Kapaun, Headquarters

Company, 8th Cavalry Regiment,

1st Cavalry Division, the Medal of

Honor, the nation's highest mili-

tary honor for acts of gallantry

and intrepidity above and beyond

the call of duty.

In early November 1950, during

the Battle of Unsan in North Ko-

rea, Chinese Communist forces

encircled his element. Kapaun

moved from foxhole to foxhole

under direct enemy fire to com-

fort and reassure the out-

numbered soldiers. He repeated-

ly exposed himself to enemy fire

to drag wounded men to safety.

When he couldn't move them,

Kapaun dug shallow trenches to

shield them from enemy fire. As

Chinese forces closed in, he re-

jected several chances to es-

cape, instead he risked death to

stay behind and care for the

injured. He was captured by the

Chinese on Nov. 2, 1950, and

marched, with other prisoners,

for several days to POW camps.

During that time, Kapaun contin-

ued to care for the wounded and

refused to take a break from

carrying stretchers of the inca-

pacitated. Once inside the dismal

prison camp, Kapaun repeatedly

risked his life by moving around

camp after dark, foraging for

food, caring for the sick, and

encouraging his fellow soldiers to

sustain their faith and humanity.

On several occasions, he was

brutally punished for his actions,

being forced to sit outside in sub-

zero weather without garments.

(Continued on page 4)

THE THUNDER

Rolling Thunder®, Inc. New Hampshire-1

September 2013 : Volume 15 : Issue 05

A Chapter of Rolling Thunder®, Inc., a 501(c) 4 Non-Profit Organization

Captain Emil Joseph Kapaun (April 20, 1916 – May 23, 1951)

Home State: Kansas

THE THUNDER Page 2

Hi ALL !

As the season starts to wind

down, we seem to be all

wound UP ! We have had so

much going on this fall, and

we have had attendance at

all events. Kudos to all of

you!

Going forward, my intention is

to build relationships with

each other and other organi-

zations, in efforts to build

cohesiveness, brotherhood,

and camaraderie within and

outside the Chapter. Support

gets support! This Chapter

has grown and we need to

join forces and inspire each

other. We need to remember

what the true definition of our

mission statement IS. I am

focused and committed to

bringing us all together as a

group and moving toward the

mission statement. This

simply is not about ‘who likes

who’ or about clicks. It IS

about Principles and Mission

over personalities. It’s my job

to remind us all of that fact

on a regular basis. Ask your-

selves the question: “Why

am I here?”

Realizing there will be some

hesitation and apprehension,

as there always is after new

Leadership takes place, and I

expect no less here. I ask that

you JOIN us at events – wel-

come and inspire people to

join us, get involved! When

we support an event, it’s the

event and the MISSION we

are supporting, not any par-

ticular individual. And it’s not

just about the event itself, it’s

about the lunch or dinner

after the good days we put in

together. We need to walk

our talk, i.e SHOW people

what the patch that you wear

on your back stands for. What

it stands for in my eyes is:

POW/MIA issues, respect,

honor, helping Veterans, gen-

erosity of spirit and time, uni-

ty, brotherhood. And yet, so

much more !

I have made some appoint-

ments that were necessary,

and I will introduce these

people, that came forward in

response to my many re-

quests for help. I feel that

announcing them at our next

meeting, is the best way to

make them visible to you, so

they can help me, help you. I

want information/answers to

be accessible when people

have questions about any-

thing. It's important to me

that this membership can

come to their leaders and

feel heard.

That being said, please con-

tact me via email and phone.

NO Facebook please. I will

post events and such on Fa-

cebook®, but please don’t

Facebook® private message

or inbox me about is-

sues/questions, etc. I simply

do not check my inbox that

often, and your concern will

get overlooked. I am working

hard to make sure your con-

tact info is up to date, and we

all stay informed of the go-

ings-on. I am having some

challenges with some email

servers. If you are not receiv-

ing emails from me, please

send me an email with your

updated address or check

your email filters to ensure

your email server is not block-

ing our emails.

Thank you for your support

and dedication to our Mis-

sion. I look forward to work-

ing with you to promote Roll-

ing Thunder® New Hamp-

shire Chapter I and our Mis-

sion.

Janice Maramaldi

President, Rolling Thunder® NH1

http://www.rolling-thunder-nh1.org

"No man left behind"

R O L L I N G T H U N D E R ® -N E W H A M P S H I R E - 1 H A S A N E W P R E S I D E N T…JA N I C E M A R A M A L D I

A L E T T E R T O T H E M E M B E R S

THE THUNDER Page 3

CHAPTER APPOINTED OFFICERS

PRESIDENT Janice Maramaldi

VICE PRESIDENT Bill “Top” Downs

TREASURER Mike Desjardins

SECRETARY Dee Reagan

PAST PRESIDENT Joe “Pep” Pepin

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD *Scott Suchovsky

BOARD MEMBER Rich Deneka

BOARD MEMBER Dan Pendleton

BOARD MEMBER Robert McGuigan

BOARD MEMBER Tom Bennett

BOARD MEMBER Rick Smith

BOARD MEMBER

1st ALTERNATE Richard Borghi

2nd ALTERNATE

*”Too Tall”

CHAPLAIN Richard Borghi

SGT AT ARMS Tom Bennett

PUBLIC RELATIONS Jeffrey Smith

NEW MEMBER LIAISONS George Thompson

Teresa McGuigan

NEWSLETTER Bruce Garry

FACEBOOK PAGE Bruce Garry

PHOTOGRAPHER Ken Park

WEBMASTER Pat McGhie

EVENTS CHAIRMAN Teresa Parker

ROAD CAPTAINS Scott Suchovsky

Tom Bennett

QUARTERMASTER Jeffrey DiVincenzo

LEGISLATIVE LIASON John Domenicis

Diane Domenicis

POW/MIA OFFICER Bruce Garry

HISTORIAN Vacant

HISTORIAN Vacant

JUNIOR PROGRAM DIR Vacant

ASS’T JUNIOR DIRECTOR Vacant

CHAPTER OFFICERS

CHAPTER BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Rolling Thunder® New Hampshire-1 Chapter Officers

CHAPTER CONTACT

INFORMATION

Rolling Thunder® NH Chapter 1

PO Box 343

Epping, NH 03042

Phone: 978-394-0010

Email to:

PresidentRTNH1@gmail.com

WEB Page:

http://rolling-thunder-nh1.org/

Facebook:

Rolling Thunder Inc. New

Hampshire Chapter 1

Rolling Thunder® New Hampshire-1 Monthly Meetings: First Tuesday of Each Month @ 7:30pm

LOCATION: R.A. Mitchell

American Legion Post 51

232 Calef Highway

Epping, NH

PUBLIC IS ALWAYS WELCOMED!!!

POW/MIA Chair

Gill Stadium

THE THUNDER Page 4

When the Chinese instituted a

mandatory re-education pro-

gram, the chaplain patiently and

politely rejected every theory put

forth by the enemy.

While captive, Kapaun devel-

oped a blood clot in one of his

legs, dysentery, and pneumonia,

weakening him as the months

passed. Eventually he was so

weak that prison guards moved

him to a primitive hospital,

where he died on May 23, 1951.

He was buried near the hospital,

overlooking the Yalu River.

Since 1982, more than 200 U.S.

servicemen who went missing in

North Korea, during the Korean

War, have been accounted for.

Kapaun still remains missing. He

is one of seven chaplains ever

awarded the Medal of Honor.

Kapaun was ordained a Catholic

priest in 1940. In 1944, he en-

tered the Army chaplain corps. In

1993, he was named a "Servant

of God" by the Vatican and is

being considered for sainthood.

Kapaun and other Medal of Hon-

or recipients put their lives at

risk to save hundreds of fellow

Americans. There are 137 Medal

of Honor recipients from the

Korean War. There are 467 from

World War II, 249 from the Vi-

etnam War, 4 from the Iraq War

and 8 from the Afghanistan War

who are Medal of Honor recipi-

ents.

There are 49 MIA’s identified for

the state of New Hampshire

since the Korean War. Of these

49…43 MIA’s are from the Kore-

an War .

(Continued from page 1)

Most of this article is from DPMO’s

newsletter, The Torch, Vol. 7, No.

2...Spring 2013, with some editing

by Bruce Garry, RTNH-1 POW/MIA

Officer.

PHOTOS

National POW/MIA Recognition Day

at Vermont Vietnam Memorial

September 20, 2013

Page 5 THE THUNDER

On the 10th anniversary of the

start of Operation Iraqi Freedom,

former POW Specialist Fourth

Class Shoshana Johnson was a

guest speaker for the National

POW/MIA Recognition Day cere-

monies at the Andersonville Na-

tional Historic Site. As a guest of

the National Park Service SPC

Johnson spoke at two engage-

ments during the day long cere-

monies. SPC Johnson also spoke

as part of the three day Rolling

Thunder® The Ride Home cere-

monies, on the Thursday evening

at the Rylander Theater. She has

spoken at events over the years,

telling her life story before and

after her capture. The Anderson-

ville National Historic Site fea-

tures the National Prisoner of

War Museum, Andersonville Na-

tional Cemetery and the site of

the historic Civil War prison,

Camp Sumter. ­Andersonville

National Historic Site is the only

national park within the National

Park System to serve as a memo-

rial to all American prisoners of

war. Ceremonies are held the

third Friday of September every

year.

SPC Shoshana Johnson is the

first black female that was held

an American Prisoner of War,

born in Panama in 1983. She

was a single mother of a 2 year

old daughter at the time of her

capture on March 23, 2003 in

Nasiriyah, Iraq, five days after her

30th birthday. Before her capture

she had been shot through both

ankles with one shot from oppos-

ing forces and still has physical

disabilities from her wounds and

the mental trauma suffered dur-

ing her 22 days of captivity when

she was rescued by U.S. Marines.

As a cook assigned to the 507th

Maintenance Company, SPC

Johnson, was a member of a

convoy providing support to for-

ward units. The convoy got lost

on the desert roads and took a

wrong turn and ended up in the

city of Nasiriyah, Iraq. As the con-

voy commander attempted to get

the convoy turned around and

out of the city, they were quickly

surrounded by Iraqi units who

happened to be based there.

After the 90 minute battle 11

members of the 507th were

killed and 5 were captured. Be-

cause the convoy only had sol-

diers that were in support posi-

tions and not combat ready al-

most all of the M-16’s jammed or

failed as the weapons were not

properly maintained. Despite

their inexperience, unprepared-

ness, and failed weapons the

soldiers can be proud of the fight

they put up holding off a far supe-

rior force for so long. The rear

part of the convoy that was on

the outskirts of the city was able

to escape and made it to a U.S.

Armored unit.

This engagement made world-

wide news in 2003 because one

of the five soldiers captured was

PFC Jessica Lynch. The Pentagon

and the Media played up the

story of PFC Lynch and made her

into a national war hero. Later

when the truth came out, PFC

Jessica Lynch did not participate

in the battle as she was knocked

unconscious when the vehicle

she was riding in crashed into the

rear of a truck in the convoy. PFC

Jessica Lynch was seriously in-

jured and incapacitated so the

Iraqi soldiers brought her to a

Nasiriyah city hospital for medical

treatment.

SPC Johnson did participate in

the battle and fired her M-16,

though she does not believe she

hit any of the Iraqi soldiers. When

the more experienced Sgt. James

Riley’s M-16 jammed SPC John-

son gave him her M-16. Soon

after SPC Johnson was shot

through both ankles and fell to

the ground. She then crawled

under one of the convoy trucks

for cover but was later dragged

out by her wounded ankles by the

Iraqi soldiers. The 5 captured

were taken to the northern Iraq

city of Samarra.

On April 1, 2003, PFC Jessica

Lynch was rescued from Saddam

Hospital in Nasiriyah, as well as

the bodies of some of the 507th

members that were killed during

the battle, as well as some other

Americans soldiers were recov-

ered. On April 13, 2003, the U.S.

Marines, during a house to house

search in Samarra, rescued the 5

POWs from the 507th as well as

2 Helicopter pilots that were be-

ing held in the same location.

Today Shoshana Johnson resides

in El Paso, TX with her now 12

year old daughter. She received a

medical retirement from the U.S.

Army and is still receiving treat-

ment from the Veterans Hospital.

She still attends therapy sessions

trying to cope with her PTSD.

Shoshana completed a college

culinary course and hopes work

as a cook in her area in the near

future. Three of her U.S. Army

medals are the Bronze Star, Pur-

ple Heart and the Prisoner of War

Medal.

F O R M E R I R A Q POW I S G U E S T S P E A K E R A T

N A T I O NA POW/MIA R E C O N G T I O N C E R E M O N I E S—A N D E R S O N V I L L E , GA

Page 6 THE THUNDER

For an updated list of those recovered in

2013 and 2012

please visit our POW/MIA section on our

WEB Page

http://www.rolling-thunder-nh1.org

Until They All

Come Home

As observances were held

around the world on National

POW/MIA Recognition Day, cere-

monies were held locally. Rolling

Thunder® New Hampshire Chap-

ters 1 and 2 as well as Vermont

Chapter 1 gathered to remember

and reflect on those who still

have not come home, on Friday,

September 20, 2013.

They gathered in the morning at

the New Hampshire State Veter-

ans cemetery at the New Hamp-

shire Vietnam Memorial for a

ceremony. They all then gathered

together and rode to Lebanon to

have lunch and comradery on

this solemn day. They then rode

to the Vermont Vietnam Memori-

al in Sharon, VT. This monument

is at the Rest Stop on the North

Bound lane of Interstate 89. It is

recognized as one of the most

impressive memorials in the en-

tire United States. Another cere-

mony was held to remember and

reflect on those who still missing.

It was a small but dedicated

group that participated. There

was short notice and arrange-

ments made on the fly, so it was

difficult for those who work or

already had commitments to

attend. Hopefully with more plan-

ning and earlier announcements

this event can grow in the future.

It was a great idea that should

continue. We’ll see.

N A T I O NA L POW/MIA R E C O G N I T I O N DA Y OB S E RV E D I N NH A N D VT

THE THUNDER Page 7

F A M I L I E S E X P R E S S F R U S T R A T I O N W I T H JPAC ' S E F F O R T S T O R E C OV E R W A R

M I S S I N G

On June 12, 1966, Marine Corps

radioman Cpl. Gregory Harris and

a contingent of South Vietnam-

ese marines were ambushed and

overrun in Quang Ngai province.

When friendly forces retook the

area the next day and recovered

the dead, Harris was nowhere to

be found.

His family’s nightmare was just

beginning. They watched as Har-

ris was first listed as missing,

then declared dead. Months

turned into decades of waiting in

vain.

They say dealing with the mili-

tary’s accounting agencies for the

missing — known today as the

Joint POW/MIA Accounting Com-

mand and Defense POW/Missing

Personnel Office — has been

nearly as painful as the loss it-

self. They claim the agencies

have withheld information and

kept important documents out of

Harris’ file. Credible leads weren’t

followed, they say. potential

gravesites weren’t excavated and

important witnesses weren’t in-

terviewed.

The family believes that Harris

was prematurely declared dead

and unrecoverable.

His family members aren’t the

only ones dissatisfied with the

Defense Department’s handling

of the search for remains. Other

families of the missing contacted

by Stars and Stripes accused the

agencies of incompetence, lying,

withholding information, secrecy

about recovered remains and

DNA testing, placing foreign poli-

cy over the return of the missing

and not responding to family

members’ questions.

Many say there is a lack of ac-

countability at the two agencies,

a claim backed by recent reports.

In July, The Associated Press

exposed an internal review writ-

ten by a management consultant

that chronicled turf wars and

questionable recovery results

that the JPAC brass had covered

up. A Government Accountability

Office report mirrored those find-

ings.

In the wake of the scathing re-

ports, hearings were held on

Capitol Hill in August. But the

families of the missing were not

invited, and no more hearings are

scheduled. As a result, the fami-

lies say they fear no real changes

will come to an operation that the

review labeled as “acutely dys-

functional.”

“They really need to allow fami-

lies to tell their stories,” said

Harris’ cousin, Mary Ann Reitano.

“I’ve been on my cousin’s case

for 10 years, and they’ve done

nothing but railroad us and throw

up every kind of roadblock you

can imagine.”

JPAC and DPMO officials declined

to comment on specific accusa-

tions, saying they cannot discuss

individual cases or DNA analysis,

instead referring questions to the

service branch casualty offices.

“Repatriation of American POWs

and resolution of live sighting

reports has always been one of

this nation’s highest priorities,”

said Maj. Carie Parker, director

for public affairs at DPMO.

There are 83,345 Americans

missing in action: 73,661 from

World War II; 7,907 from the

Korean War; 126 from the Cold

War; 1,645 from the Vietnam

War; and six from Iraq and other

conflicts, according to DPMO. The

number includes Defense Depart-

ment contractors.

JPAC conducts field investiga-

tions, interviews, recoveries and

identifications. It funnels the

information to DPMO, which de-

velops policy, oversees imple-

mentation, provides oversight

and is responsible for much of

the case analysis, according to

the DPMO website and families

of the missing.

More than 1,000 active case files

are under investigation at any

given time, and this year, there

were 40 on-site missions in six

By Matthew M. Burke

Stars and Stripes

Published: September 23, 2013

THE THUNDER Page 8

F A M I L I E S E X P R E S S F R U S T R A T I O N W I T H JPAC

countries, ranging from Vietnam

to Germany.

The fieldwork often requires hard

labor.

A dig in steamy Vietnam can in-

volve laying out a large grid of

land with stakes and string, then

digging up each section and sift-

ing it through a screen for bone

fragments or other evidence

while braving snakes and possi-

ble unexploded ordnance. Plane

crash sites on the sides of rugged

mountains present their own

challenges, as do underwater

excavations in rivers, lakes and

even the Mediterranean Sea.

There are tricky negotiations with

sometimes-hostile regimes like

North Korea, witnesses whose

memories have faded and those

who will say anything if they can

find a way to profit. But some-

where between the field agents

and JPAC/DPMO management

and the families of the missing,

there have been disconnects that

are hard for the families to swal-

low.

Information and misinformation

Like so many others from Vi-

etnam, the Harris case is com-

plex.

He was spotted by South Viet-

namese marines being dragged

alive into the jungle by enemy

fighters. Informants later claimed

he was being held at a training

camp with plans to move him to

Cambodia, but family members

say those reports were discount-

ed as not credible.

Several individuals claimed they

found and killed an American on

the banks of the nearby Song Ve

River after the battle. Others said

a body lay in the river before they

pushed it downstream toward a

South Vietnamese outpost or

built a raft to carry it there. The

body reportedly caught on a

sandbar, where it was buried.

JPAC investigators recommended

excavating the sandbar. Yet the

work was never completed, and

officials eventually told the family

that Harris’ body probably had

been washed away over time. His

case was placed in the “no fur-

ther pursuit category” in 1993.

Nevertheless, family members

continued to attend DPMO and

JPAC annual update meetings,

hoping for the information that

would lead to him, dead or alive.

DPMO case workers told the fam-

ily they would not pursue leads

“off the sandbar” because there

was no credible information to

suggest he might be elsewhere.

In 2006, Harris’ family was morti-

fied after memos surfaced in the

Texas Tech University archives,

saying Vietnam had admitted that

Harris and others had survived

and been taken captive. The

memos were prepared in 1992

by a Senate Select Committee on

POW/MIA Affairs investigator. No

other information about his sta-

tus was given.

Reitano, Harris’ cousin, said

DPMO did not explain why it with-

held the document from Harris’

family and sought to discredit the

investigator.

The family then found a Defense

Department report that cited the

memoirs of a former Viet Cong

officer and veteran of the battle

as saying an American was cap-

tured that day. DPMO refused to

sanction an interview with the

man, claiming he “probably” did-

n’t know anything, according to

Reitano.

She believes the agencies have

cherry-picked information that

supports Harris being dead and

gone. The Vietnamese govern-

ment has never officially spoken

about Harris, instead telling fami-

ly members that “according to

U.S investigators,” no prisoners

were taken during the battle.

'Sad chapter'

Dissatisfaction with JPAC’s work

has been going on for years. In

2010, Congress mandated that

the agency increase its annual

recovery numbers from 70 to

more than 200 by 2015. The

agencies were given $500 million

in the past five years to increase

recoveries, but the numbers have

changed very little.

Page 9 THE THUNDER

UPCOMING EVENTS 2013

SEPTEMBER 29 Gold Star Mother’s Day

OCTOBER 1 7:30 pm Monthly Meeting Epping American Legion

OCTOBER 6 11:00 am—2:00 pm Veterans Event—Currier Museum, Manchester

OCTOBER 13 US Navy Birthday (10/13/1775)

OCTOBER 31-NOV 3 Rolling Thunder® Inc. National Conference

NOVEMBER 3 Fall Clean-Up, Veterans Cemetery, Boscawen

NOVEMBER 9 7:00 pm Patriotic Night, Epping American Legion

NOVEMBER 5 7:30 pm Monthly Meeting Epping American Legion

NOVEMBER 10 US Marine Corps Birthday (11/10/1775)

Federal law requires the POW/MIA flag to be flown on the following days 2013:

Armed Forces Day: Saturday, May 16th Memorial Day: Monday, May 27th Flag Day: Friday, June 14th Independence Day: Thursday, July 4th POW/MIA Day: Saturday, September 21th Veterans Day: Monday, November 11th

POW/MIA FEDERAL LAW FLAG REQUIREMENTS

WHEN ONE AMERICAN IS NOT

WORTH THE EFFORT TO BE FOUND,

WE AS

AMERICAN'S

HAVE LOST!

Page 10 THE THUNDER

Page 11 THE THUNDER

THE THUNDER Page 12

CLOSING SHOTS