November - Rolling Thunder NH 1

Rolling Thunder®
NH-1 Newsletter
WE RIDE FOR THOSE WHO CAN’T
November 2012, Volume 12, Issue 9
1ST IN THE NFL
P O W / M I A C H A I R AT G I L L E T T E S T A D I U M
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
O
POW/MIA Chair
(Continued)
Officers
Mission Statement
Who are
DPMO&JPAC
2&3
4
4&8
Presidents Corner
Got Books
5
POW/MIA
GENERAL INFO
Patriotic Night
6
MSG Robert Joseph
Sullivan
SGT. Bowe Bergdahl Story (Repeat)
7
8&9
Who are dpmo(cont)
Hampton Christmas
Parade
POW/MIA Stats
Vigils
9&10
The Closing Shot
12
11
U R
T
H A N K S
T O
J
O E
D’E
N T R E M O N T
—R
O L L I N G
T
H U N D E R
®
M
A
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H A P T E R
1
Page 2
R o l l in g T hu n de r®
NH Chapter 1 Participants
Robert Kraft (center) Joe D’Entremont (Right)
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R o l l in g T hu n de r®
POW/MIA Chair and table at Chop Shop Pub. This
chair has been in place for 3 years. Thanks Bill
Niland NH Chap 1 and the Chop Shop Pub
R o l l in g T hu n de r®
Page 4
ROLLING THUNDER® NH CHAPTER
1 OFFICERS
PRESIDENT
VICE PRESIDENT
Joe Pepin
Bill Downs
SGT AT ARMS
NEWSLETTER
Tom Bennett
Steve Cantelli
TREASURER
SECRETARY
Janice Jolly
Robin Cavallaro
PHOTOGRAPHER
WEBMASTER
Ken Park
Pat McGhie
CHAIMAN OF THE BOARD
BOARD MEMBER
Scott Suchovsky
Rich Deneka
EVENTS CHAIRMAN
ROAD CAPTAINS
Michelle Gosselin
Scott Suchovsky
BOARD MEMBER
BOARD MEMBER
BOARD MEMBER
Mike Desjardins
Robert McGuigan
Tom Bennett
QUARTERMASTER
LEGISLATIVE LIASON
Jay Robicheau
Steve Cantelli
Mark Willer
BOARD MEMBER
1st ALTERNATE
Patti Connolly
Richard Borghi
POW/MIA OFFICER
Marsha Bailey
Bruce Garry
2nd ALTERNATE
CHAPLAIN
Rick Smith
Richard Borghi
HISTORIAN
JUNIOR PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Kyrra Robicheau
ASS’T JUNIOR DIRECTOR
ROLLING THUNDER®, INC. MISSION STATEMENT
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 after 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.
Who Are
Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO)
And
Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) by Bruce Garry
Through pressure applied by the work of
The National League of POW/MIA Families and other organizations like Rolling
Thunder, by direction of the US Senate,
the Department of Defense established a
single office to oversee and manage all
POW/MIA issues. In 1993 the Defense
POW/MIA Personnel Office (DPMO) was
established. Today DPMO is a team off
civilian and military experts numbering
about 100 people. Their span of operations is worldwide covering all conflicts
going back to World War II.
for at the conclusion of hostilities, the
DOD accounting community becomes the
responsible agent for determining the
fate of the missing and where possible,
recovering them alive or recovering and
identifying the remains of the dead.
“When American personnel remain captive, missing, or otherwise unaccounted-
To accomplish this goal, DPMO develops
and recommends policy guidance on
For those killed-in-action, the accounting
community is charged with locating,
recovering and identifying their remains.
More than 83,000 Americans remain
missing from World War II, the Korean
War, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War.
personnel accounting, oversees the
implementation of existing policies and
provides the accounting community with
oversight and coordination. DPMO also
conducts research, analyzes information
and investigates the cases of missing
personnel.” (From DPMO WEB page)
In lessons learned it was decided that an
“operational” organization of field experts were need to conduct search,
recovery, and laboratory tasks. So on
Pag e 5
R o l l in g T hu n de r®
PRESIDENTS CORNER
Hello Everyone,
Well Patriot Night was
another success great way
to end 2012.
Big thanks to all the MC /
Origination's our DJ and
the Legion who have supported us through the
years we couldn't have
done it without you.
Lets not forget those
amazing quilts donated .thank you
RTNH-1 the true credit
and thanks goes to all of
you for your hard work
making Patriotic night a
success through the years.
more opportunity's for us
to help our Vets and Support those in need.
January 1st Attendance
will be review for the
year of 2012 and enforced , so please contact
me if your not in good
standing .
Happy Holidays to Everyone and a Happy Safe
New Year.
Sincerely Yours
Joe Pepin
President
RTNH-1
2013 will be an exciting
year for RTNH-1 some
changes on the way and
GOT BOOKS
“GOT BOOKS” continues to be
an easy and great fund raiser.
What is “GOT BOOKS”? It is
an easy way for Rolling Thunder® NH Chapter 1 to make
easy money to support the
mission statement.
We need your help finding
another location (possibly in
Epping or Lee). We have filled
our 10th container this year.
BY
STEVE CANTELLI
GREAT NEWS: We have to
thank Jesse Wright, the owner of ECSI. He is giving us
space for a second box at the
ECSI location to handle overload.
We need your help now! Help
us to get more books and
help us to get another container site. If you have questions please call
Steve Cantelli at 603-9186071 or e-mail at [email protected]….We
NEED your help. Our current
Container is at ECSI Route
125 Kingston, NH (across
from Reynolds RV). The new
site must be at least two
miles away from our box.
Thanks
Boob, Wrench, Jon (taking picture) and Steve pick up books in Methuen
R o l l in g T hu n de r®
Pag e 6
P OW / M I A F E D E R A L L AW F L AG
R E QU I R E M E N TS
Federal law requires the POW/MIA flag to be flown
on the following days:
 Armed Forces Day, May 16
 Memorial Day, May 25
 Flag Day, June 14
 Independence Day, July 4
 POW/MIA Day, 3rd Friday of September
 Veterans Day, Nov. 11
Patriotic Night
Our New Shirt Design...Thanks to Lindsey Larson
R o l l in g T hu n de r®
Pag e 7
MSG Robert Joseph Sullivan (US ARMY) story by Bruce Garry
Robert J. Sullivan was born in Fall
River, MA on November 19, 1936
to John Joseph and Jeannette M.
(Corriveau) Sullivan. Robert was
the youngest of four children,
having three older brothers and a
sister. His father worked in the
Cotton Mill in Fall River while his
mother took care of the home.
At the age of 20, in 1956, he
joined the US Army serving in the
Infantry. A year later he would
marry and he and his wife would
have three children, two girls and
a boy. He and his family established East Alstead, NH as their
home of record, though being
stationed at various Army bases,
especially Fort Bragg, NC. Robert
became a member of the highly
trained US Army Special Forces.
In May 1967 he was sent to Vietnam with the 5th Special Forces
Groups. His unit was assigned to
Military Assistance Command,
Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG). They
conducted highly classified unconventional warfare operations deep
in North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Conventional US Military
forces were not allowed to operate
officially in Laos and Cambodia
per the Geneva Convention Accords as both countries declared
neutrality. However, much of North
Vietnam’s supply line to their
southern elements, known as the
Ho Chi Minh Trail, was in both of
these countries. To give the Vietnam Military Command deniability, SOG took it orders directly from
the Pentagon and the President.
SOG units also worked very closely
with the CIA.
An operation team was normally
made up of 2-3 Special Forces
men and 6-12 Nungs (Vietnamese
of ethnic Chinese descent). In the
early morning hours of July 10,
1967, Spike Team Georgia consisting of SFC Samuel Almendariz
(Team Leader), SFC Harry D.
Brown, SFC Robert J. Sullivan, and
8 Nungs flew into Laos by Huey
helicopters. They took a position
along the Ho Chi Minh Trail at a
point where they could observe
what activity was moving towards
the Ashau Valley. On July 11, 1967
the team moved on where they
came upon a telephone wire. They
cut the wire and decided to follow
it the next day in daylight to see
where it would take them.
As they were following the phone
wire mid-morning on July 12,
1967, the Team was attacked by
at least a platoon size force with
small arms and grenades. Two of
the Nungs were killed but the rest
of the Team was able to evade the
attack and had moved over 50
yards from the spot of attack. SFC
Almendariz was attempting to
make contact for air support but
was unsuccessful when the Team
had been flanked and attacked
again. At this point both SFC Almendariz and SFC Sullivan were
wounded; SFC Brown was still able
to return fire though he was slightly wounded. The 6 remaining
Nungs had run off.
SFC Brown was eventually able to
make contact for air support and
helicopter extraction. He also
bandaged SFC Sullivan’s thigh
wound and Sullivan was able to
return fire. SFC Almendariz was
seriously wounded in the groan
and back and the bleeding couldn’t be stopped. SFC Almendariz did
manage to return fire in his grave
situation until he was shot in the
head and killed. In another burst
of enemy fire SFC Sullivan was
killed and SFC Brown was wound-
ed again but survived. An H-34
helicopter flew out of Khe Sanh
and under heavy fire was able to
extract SFC Brown but could not
stay long enough to pick up the
bodies of SFC Almendariz and SFC
Sullivan. Flights were sent back on
July 13 and 14, 1967 to recover
the bodies but were unsuccessful
in finding them. To date neither
body has been recovered.
Robert J Sullivan was posthumously promoted to Master Sergeant.
His name is on the Courts of the
Missing at the Honolulu Memorial,
Hawaii and Panel 23E, Row 63 of
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial,
Washington, DC.
Pag e 8
R o l l in g T hu n de r®
Sgt. Bowe R. Bergdahl Story
At 0900 on the Tuesday morning of
June 30, 2009, at Outpost Mest, in the
Yahya Khail District of Paktika Province, Afghanistan, Company B, 1st
Battalion, 501st Infantry (Airborne)
Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team
(BCT), 25th Infantry Division (ID) conducted their Morning Roll Call for
100% accountability. It was at this Roll
Call that Company B Commander
discovered Private First Class Bergdahl
was missing. An immediate search of
all areas in Outpost Mest was conducted without locating the missing soldier. The next higher command Blackfoot Tactical Operations Command
(TOC) was notified of the missing
soldier. Blackfoot TOC then reported
the situation to the 4th BCT command
at Geronimo TOC.
The command issued a mandatory
100% accountably of all camps and
launched a search for PFC Bergdahl.
Military Dogs and a Pathfinder unit
were dispatched to the rugged mountainous area, twelve miles from the
Pakistan border, and had boots on the
ground within few hours. A Drone and
aviation assets were tasked and expedited to the area of search. Blocking
Positions were deployed on area roads
and known paths of travel checking all
traffic. A more detailed search of all
vehicles, latrines, bunkers, and other
Personnel Facilities was ordered for
Outpost Mest and nearby Outpost
Sharan. All of these efforts did not
result in finding PFC Bergdahl.
On July 2, 2009 it was reported the
Outpost Mest Commander met with
the local Elders to seek information
and request their assistance in recovery and learning the wellbeing of PCF
Bergdahl. The Taliban had asked the
Elders to be the go between the Taliban and the U.S. Military to work a
trade. The Elders assured the Commander that PFC Bergdahl was alive
and not being harmed. The Taliban
wanted 15 of their own held in American prisons to be released and an
unspecified amount of money in exchange for PFC Bergdahl. The Commander offered to request resources
to help the Elders defend themselves
if they would help get PFC Bergdahl
back from the Taliban. The Elders said
they would try, and they even attempted to contact the Taliban so that the
Commander could speak to Bergdahl
by Bruce Garry
but the communications network was
down so the call did not go through.
The last reported physical sighting of
PFC Bergdahl was on July 4, 2009
where he had a bag over his head,
wearing dark khaki apparel being
transported in a black Toyota Corrolla
escorted by motorcycles. Between
December 2009 and May 2011 the
Taliban have released five videos of
Bergdahl but there has not been
anything for thirteen months now.
There are reports that negotiations
have been ongoing for an exchange
W H O A R E D P M O & J PAC ( C O N T . )
October 1, 2003 the Joint POW/MIA
Accounting Command (JPAC) began
operations. JPAC has four permanent
detachments to conduct field investigations, searches, recovery, and laboratory
analysis: (Detachment #1) is located in
Bangkok and Thailand; (Detachment #2)
is located in Hanoi, Vietnam;
(Detachment #3) is located in Vientiane,
Laos; and (Detachment #4) is located in
Honolulu, Hawaii.
Southeast Asia. In 1976 the Central Identification Laboratory (CIL) in Thailand was
closed and moved to Hickam Air Force
Base in Honolulu, Hawaii (CILHI) to search
for, recover, and identify missing Americans from all previous conflicts. In 1992,
Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA)
was established to focus on achieving the
fullest possible accounting of Americans
missing as a result of the Vietnam War. In
2002 DoD determined that POW/MIA
accounting efforts would be best served
The roots of JPAC began in 1973 when
by combining JTF-FA and CILHI, thus
the Central Identification Laboratory (CIL), effective Oct. 1, 2003: JTF-FA and CILHI
Thailand (CIL-THAI) was established to
joined together to form JPAC. Today
focus on the Americans still missing in
JPAC’s CIL is the largest and most diverse
forensic skeletal laboratory in the world.
JPAC reports its results to DPMO and will
receive information for investigations
from DPMO.
Through the efforts of DPMO and JPAC,
16 servicemen have been accounted from
January 1 - April 4 2012:
World War II: 2
Korea:
11
Vietnam/Laos: 2
Iraq:
1
Pag e 9
R o l l in g T hu n de r®
HAMPTON CHRISTMAS PARADE—TOYS FOR TOTS -The major function of
Rolling Thunder®, Inc. is to publicize the POW/MIA issue. Photos by Kim Hebert
SGT. BOWE R. BERGDAHL STORY (CONT )
and a fairly reliable source that Bergdahl is still alive.
PFC Bergdahl was last seen at his
firing position performing guard duty
on Outpost Mest. There has been
much speculation in how he disappeared in the press. Though the Defense Department has not officially
reported anything on this subject,
there was reported intercepted radio
traffic of the Taliban bragging and the
added insult how they captured Bergdahl with his pants down in a latrine. If
this is true, it would explain why he
didn’t have his personal weapon with
him at the time of his capture, as its
common practice to ask a buddy to
watch your weapon when they go to
the latrine. We may not find out the
actual circumstances of his capture
until the situation is resolved.Bowe R.
Bergdahl’s was born March 28, 1986
in Sun Valley, Idaho. His home town is
Hailey, Idaho where his father Robert
and mother Jani live, along with his
older sister Sky. Robert Bergdahl is a
United Parcel Service (UPS) driver and
works the family 40 acre farm in the
town of 6,000. Bowe was home
schooled and earned a high school
equivalency and then traveled a lot
which included a three month hitch on
a commercial fishing boat off the coast
of Alaska. He was into dirt bike riding
and ballet dancing. At the age of 25 he
joined the active U.S. Army and did not
tell his parents until after the fact.
After his training, Bowe was assigned
to Co. B, 1st Bn, 501st Infantry Regt.,
4th BCT, 25th ID stationed at Fort
Richardson, just outside Anchorage,
Alaska. His unit deployed to eastern
Afghanistan in February 2009. In May
2009 his Company B was assigned to
Outpost Mest. The next month he was
taken prisoner.
Since Bowe has been in captivity, the
U.S. Army has promoted him twice. In
June 2010 he was promoted to Specialist Fourth Class (E-4) and in June
2011 he was promoted to Sergeant (E5). If Bowe R. Bergdahl’s disappearance was suspicious to the Army it is
highly unlikely the Army would have
promoted him while in captivity.
Pag e 1 0
R o l l in g T hu n de r®
R o l l in g T hu n de r®
Page 11
DEFENSE PRISONER OF WAR / MISSING PERSONNEL OFFICE (DPMO)
Official DPMO Count as of November 28, 2012*
Unaccounted For
Rolling Thunder® NH Chapter 1
PO Box 343
Epping, NH 03042
Phone—603-370-0691
mailto:[email protected]
Total MIA
WWII
73,677
83,403
Korean War Cold War
7,939
126
Vietnam War Gulf War
1,655
Iraq
2
Other Operations
3
Total
1
* NOTE: The Count for the Unaccounted is constantly changing as investigations are opened or completed. This count is for only completed conflicts
so anyone missing in Afghanistan, like Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, is still under the Jurisdiction of that military branch. Accountability for Iraq was turned
over to DPMO on December 1, 2011. DPMO also accounts DOD Civilians and DOD Contractors. The 3 missing in Iraq are DOD Contractors.
The remains of three service members were recovered since our last report:
Pvt. William Yawney, U.S. Army, D Company, 1st Battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment, was lost on July 7, 1944, on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands. He was accounted for on Oct. 29, 2012.
Sgt. Willard F. Williams, U.S. Army, E Company, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, was lost on Nov. 28, 1950, just south of Unsan,
North Korea. He was accounted for on Oct. 23, 2012.
Sgt. Stanley W. Bear, U.S. Army, F Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, was lost on Sept. 4, 1950, near Haman,
South Korea. He was accounted for on Oct. 15, 2012.
http://rollingthunder-nh1.org/
Total MIA
WWII
13
Korean War
30
Cold War
0
Total Accounted For in 2012
Vietnam War
Gulf War Iraq
20
0
1
Other Operations
Total
0
64
WEEKLY POW/MIA VIGIL - MEREDITH NH
Every Thursday evening starting at 7:00 p.m. people gather in Hesky Park, located in Meredith, New Hampshire The Thursday evening Vigils started in August of 1989 in an effort to raise awareness about the abandonment of Prisoners of War and those Missing in Action. The first Vigil lasted 15 minutes; one minute to
symbolize each year since the US State Department declared, "There are no more prisoners in Southeast
Asia. They are all dead." The vigil now spans 32 minutes.
The Meredith POW/MIA Vigil is believed to be the longest consecutively-held vigil in the United States.
There has never been a Thursday night Vigil unattended since its inception. Vigil goers have weathered
MONTHLY POW/MIA VIGIL - MANCHESTER NH
Just want to let everyone know that there is a monthly POW/MIA Vigil held in Manchester NH on the 1st Wednesday
of every month. This is usually the day after our meeting. It is held at Veterans Park on Elm Street. Currently it's a
small group.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
2012
DECEMBER 42013
JANUARY 8FEBRUARY 5MARCH 5 APRIL 2MAY 7JUNE 4JULY 2AUGUST 6
SEPTEMBER 3OCTOBER 1-
7:30pm Monthly Meeting & Christmas Party & Yankee Swap
7:30 pm Monthly Meeting Epping American Legion
7:30 pm Monthly Meeting Epping American Legion
7:30 pm Monthly Meeting Epping American Legion
7:30 pm Monthly Meeting Epping American Legion
7:30 pm Monthly Meeting Epping American Legion
7:30 pm Monthly Meeting Epping American Legion
7:30 pm Monthly Meeting Epping American Legion
7:30 pm Monthly Meeting Epping American Legion
7:30 pm Monthly Meeting Epping American Legion
7:30 pm Monthly Meeting Epping American Legion
R o l l in g T hu n de r®
Page 12
THE CLOSING SHOT
When does Summer Come Back?
Who is this mystery person?
E-mail [email protected] to see if you know!
NEVER
FORGET