thedrifter
10-26-08, 07:37 AM
Veteran urges return of POW-MIA flag
Kartman says item was stolen from American Legion Club
BY CRAIG D. REBER TH STAFF WRITER
It's gone, he's irate and he wants it returned -- ASAP.
Louis Kartman took serious offense when the POW-MIA flag disappeared Tuesday afternoon from the Veterans Memorial Plaza exhibit trailer parked in the American Legion Club on the corner of Delhi Street and University Avenue in Dubuque.
"If they had taken the American flag, I wouldn't have felt so bad about it," he said. "The kid stole it, took it home and put it up in his bedroom."
The POW-MIA flag is special to Kartman, a truck driver who served with the 1st Marine Division (B Company, Motor Transport Battalion) in Korea and famed Battle of the Chosin Reservoir, Nov. 27-Dec. 6, 1950. The Marines consider it to be one of the proudest parts of their history. The Marines mauled the Chinese divisions so badly that the Chinese forces had to be withdrawn from the front. The Marines then marched out in an orderly fashion and intact.
"That flag means a lot to all veterans," Kartman said. "Some of those left POW/MIA flag origin
In 1970, Mary Hoff, an MIA wife and member of the National League of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, recognized the need for a symbol of American POW/MIAs. Prompted by an article in the Jacksonville (Fla.) Times-Union, Hoff contacted Norman Rivkees, vice president of Annin & Co., which had made a banner for the newest member of the United Nations, the People's Republic of China. Hoff found Rivkees sympathetic to the POW/MIA issue, and he, along with Annin's advertising agency, designed a flag to represent America's missing men. behind have been found, and others not. These countries (Vietnam and North Korea) have our troops; their bodies have never been returned."
In Korea, 8,176 military personnel are unaccounted for (bodies not identified/bodies not recovered), including 4,245 MIAs and 2,045 POWs. Kartman, who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, remembers atrocities committed by the Chinese against the Americans during the battle.
"They were tortured, their bodies never recovered," he said. "In my mind, there has to be human remains. Maybe if I went back to the reservoir I'd personally search for the remains. Maybe I'd find some."
Kartman hasn't been back to Korea, but occasionally the memories surface.
"I've kind of gotten over mine over the years," he said.
It was easy when he was working; his mind was occupied. Now he's retired and has more time.
"You have the good days," Kartman said, "then there's still the bad. And don't ever mention China to me."
After Chosin, Kartman was sent to South Korea "and more battles," he said. "It was total chaos the way we were operating. And it was the same crap in Vietnam. I'm no better than any other veteran, but the POW-MIA flag carries a special significance. And there's no reason for anyone to take that flag."
Kartman is offering a $50 reward, out of his own pocket, for the flag's return.
"Return it to the American Legion and nothing will be said."
POW/MIA flag origin
In 1970, Mary Hoff, an MIA wife and member of the National League of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, recognized the need for a symbol of American POW/MIAs. Prompted by an article in the Jacksonville (Fla.) Times-Union, Hoff contacted Norman Rivkees, vice president of Annin & Co., which had made a banner for the newest member of the United Nations, the People's Republic of China. Hoff found Rivkees sympathetic to the POW/MIA issue, and he, along with Annin's advertising agency, designed a flag to represent America's missing men. Source: www.annin.com/ about_powmia.asp
Ellie
Kartman says item was stolen from American Legion Club
BY CRAIG D. REBER TH STAFF WRITER
It's gone, he's irate and he wants it returned -- ASAP.
Louis Kartman took serious offense when the POW-MIA flag disappeared Tuesday afternoon from the Veterans Memorial Plaza exhibit trailer parked in the American Legion Club on the corner of Delhi Street and University Avenue in Dubuque.
"If they had taken the American flag, I wouldn't have felt so bad about it," he said. "The kid stole it, took it home and put it up in his bedroom."
The POW-MIA flag is special to Kartman, a truck driver who served with the 1st Marine Division (B Company, Motor Transport Battalion) in Korea and famed Battle of the Chosin Reservoir, Nov. 27-Dec. 6, 1950. The Marines consider it to be one of the proudest parts of their history. The Marines mauled the Chinese divisions so badly that the Chinese forces had to be withdrawn from the front. The Marines then marched out in an orderly fashion and intact.
"That flag means a lot to all veterans," Kartman said. "Some of those left POW/MIA flag origin
In 1970, Mary Hoff, an MIA wife and member of the National League of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, recognized the need for a symbol of American POW/MIAs. Prompted by an article in the Jacksonville (Fla.) Times-Union, Hoff contacted Norman Rivkees, vice president of Annin & Co., which had made a banner for the newest member of the United Nations, the People's Republic of China. Hoff found Rivkees sympathetic to the POW/MIA issue, and he, along with Annin's advertising agency, designed a flag to represent America's missing men. behind have been found, and others not. These countries (Vietnam and North Korea) have our troops; their bodies have never been returned."
In Korea, 8,176 military personnel are unaccounted for (bodies not identified/bodies not recovered), including 4,245 MIAs and 2,045 POWs. Kartman, who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, remembers atrocities committed by the Chinese against the Americans during the battle.
"They were tortured, their bodies never recovered," he said. "In my mind, there has to be human remains. Maybe if I went back to the reservoir I'd personally search for the remains. Maybe I'd find some."
Kartman hasn't been back to Korea, but occasionally the memories surface.
"I've kind of gotten over mine over the years," he said.
It was easy when he was working; his mind was occupied. Now he's retired and has more time.
"You have the good days," Kartman said, "then there's still the bad. And don't ever mention China to me."
After Chosin, Kartman was sent to South Korea "and more battles," he said. "It was total chaos the way we were operating. And it was the same crap in Vietnam. I'm no better than any other veteran, but the POW-MIA flag carries a special significance. And there's no reason for anyone to take that flag."
Kartman is offering a $50 reward, out of his own pocket, for the flag's return.
"Return it to the American Legion and nothing will be said."
POW/MIA flag origin
In 1970, Mary Hoff, an MIA wife and member of the National League of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, recognized the need for a symbol of American POW/MIAs. Prompted by an article in the Jacksonville (Fla.) Times-Union, Hoff contacted Norman Rivkees, vice president of Annin & Co., which had made a banner for the newest member of the United Nations, the People's Republic of China. Hoff found Rivkees sympathetic to the POW/MIA issue, and he, along with Annin's advertising agency, designed a flag to represent America's missing men. Source: www.annin.com/ about_powmia.asp
Ellie