It is nearly the end of January 2008, a month that marks a special anniversary for me. It was in January 1998, while a student at the University of North Texas, that I first became aware of the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action issue. Much has changed in the past ten years, but my devotion to the cause remains strong.

When I first became involved in the POW/MIA issue, I did not know anything about it. I became involved mostly by accident. I was surfing the internet one evening when I came upon a webpage devoted to a young man listed as unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. Two things struck me right away – the man's age (he was 19 years old) and the fact that he was missing. I was 20 years old when I came upon this page, and it hurt me to know I had, in essence, outlived this guy. The fact that he was missing struck me as odd. How could we have a person missing from a war? When I learned how many were listed as unaccounted for at the end of the Vietnam War, I knew I had to do something.

There was a link to a website on that page. I followed the link to Operation Just Cause (http://www.ojc.org), where I began to learn more about this important issue. I saw on the site where people could "adopt" their own POW or MIA. The purpose of the adoptions was to build pages, like the one I had previously visited, to get the word out. Considering I had taught myself the basics of web design a few months earlier, it was a no-brainer to adopt my own POW or MIA. I sent off my request, and the next day, received a name: James Arthur Harwood.

While reading the information provided on Harwood, I noticed that he was lost in an ambush. I noted that there was another person also lost in the ambush, Gerald Francis Kinsman. Kinsman was presumed killed, but his body has not been recovered. I asked for information on Kinsman, and as soon as I received it, built a special page on my personal website for the two men. I researched their information periodically, hoping to find photos and more information about my two guys. I talked about them to others, but it was not until a year later that my involvement in the POW/MIA issue really took root.

I often wondered if there were any women missing from the Vietnam War, and in January 1999, sent my query to OJC. They responded with the name of the only female listed as POW in the Vietnam War, a civilian surgeon by the name of Eleanor Ardel Vietti. Upon receiving the information, I decided that, since I had two Army men and one civilian, that I should adopt a POW or MIA from the other branches of the military as well. In response, I was sent the names of John William Armstrong (Air Force), Jack Columbus Rittichier (Coast Guard), Ronald Wayne Forrester (Marine Corps), and Frank Clifford Green, Jr. (Navy). With these seven names, I felt complete. I now had seven adopted warriors, seven men and women whose stories I would soon memorize, whose lives and names became intertwined with mine.

Within a month, I had created a whole new website devoted to these seven persons. I had pages for each person, added graphics and poems, and joined web rings, which connect similar sites to each other. Now, I was on a mission. I read all I could on these seven. I searched the internet for information on them, often finding other sites dedicated to them. It was in 2000 when I learned that Rittichier was the only Coastie still listed as unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. I immediately contact the US Coast Guard Historical Department, which in turn asked for my address. It was no time later that I was sent a thick package, containing more information than I ever dreamt of having on any of my adoptees. I had photocopies of all his medal citations, a photocopy of his Purple Heart cover, information about searches for his crash site, and, best of all, a photograph of him with one of his good friends. It was seeing a face for the first time that made this issue all the more real to me.

Armed with this information, I set about creating a section of my website just for Rittichier. Two years later, it was found by his family and a fellow wearer of a POW bracelet for Rittichier. One year after that, in October of 2003, my fellow bracelet wearer and I had the honor of attending the funeral for Rittichier, and I had the honor of presenting my bracelet to one of his brothers. I only hoped that one day, that I could talk to the family of my adoptees. I prayed that one day, they would all come home, never dreaming that one would, and that I would be at the funeral. I cannot begin to describe the emotions involved in participating in the welcoming home of a hero who had been a part of your life for nearly five years.

In the early years, I had little support in my work. The only people who seemed to care were my fellow College Republicans, for which I am still grateful. Now, I am thankful to have a large support group, people who care, people who help me to get the word out. They are the most understanding people of all: Vietnam veterans. I moved to Texarkana in February 2001; it was Memorial Day that year that I first met members of the local Vietnam Veterans of America chapter. They immediately latched on to me, and a year later, I became an active, adopted (now also associate) member of the chapter. Their support has meant the world to me.

Through the chapter, I have been able to do so much more with this cause. I have been able to reach out to more people as well. We had the Moving Wall in town in September 2002, and I volunteered at it. I read names two nights and worked the computers all week-end long. The men and women I met that week-end touched me, inspired me. My involvement in the issue has never been about me, never will be. It is about my doing what I can as a young woman, to reach out to veterans, to be their friend, to reach out to the families of our POW/MIAs, to let them know that they are not alone, that their loved ones have not been forgotten. The greatest reward in all of this began that week-end in September, and continues now. The greatest reward to me is the friendship and the communication between myself and veterans.

Veterans have opened up to me, shared stories with me they normally don't share. I have hugged them, cried with them, laughed with them, and thanked them. Knowing that the veterans see how much I care, and are willing to share with me, makes me shed tears of happiness. There is no better way to be told "thanks" than to have earned their trust. The same can be said with the families of our POW/MIAs. I am still in contact with the Rittichier family. His widow and the man she remarried flew from California to attend my wedding in 2006. The family of my adopted Marine, Ronald Forrester, has been in contact with me. It is through Forrester's high school best friend and also his twin and younger brother that I know so much about Forrester, as though I grew up with the family. It is undoubtedly painful for the family to talk about Forrester, who has been missing since 27 December 1972, so their opening up to me is deeply appreciated.

Now, it is ten years later, and the passion still burns deep. When asked by a lady at Operation Homecoming USA in 2005, if I could still see myself doing "this" ten years from now, I replied that as long as I had breath in me, as long as we had men and women still unaccounted for, that I would keep doing what I am doing. I meant every word of it. In July of this year, my husband and I will welcome our first child. I know I will not have as much time to devote to the POW/MIA issue as before, but I won't abandon the issue altogether. I plan on speaking Labor Day week-end at Texarkana's annual POW/MIA Vigil, like I have done every year since 2003. I plan on remaining active in the veterans group and helping out as I can. This child will be raised to love God, country, and veterans, in addition to self and family. Our child will know of the sacrifices made by those who have gone before, so that we all can have the freedoms we enjoy.

I thank you all for taking the time to read this, and I thank all of you who have been supportive of me these past ten years. I really could not have been as involved as I have been had it not been for so many of you. To my veteran friends, thank you, and God bless.

With love and respect,

Stacey N. Binning
---| visit my POW/MIA-Veterans site at http://www.faraway-soclose.org/ | --

Stacey some things just seem to come later rather than sooner. But persistence is the key word along with encouragement. Good works my dear friend.

Bro

Stacey,

Thank you for writing this post! Your efforts are amazing, and your work very inspiring.