Today hundreds of Vietnam veterans and their families gathered in the Missouri State Capitol, where they were honored by members of the House as well as Governor Mike Parson and Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe.
Hundreds of Vietnam veterans gathered in the Missouri Capitol for a ceremony to honor them during the ongoing 50th anniversary commemoration of the Vietnam War. (photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
The ceremony was part of the continuing commemoration of the 50th anniversary of that conflict.
Andrews spearheaded the ceremony, which continues an annual tradition started by former state representative Pat Conway (D-St. Joseph) who left the legislature due to term limits.
Vietnam War veterans and their families gathered in the Missouri State Capitol rotunda for a ceremony honoring them during the ongoing commemoration of the 50th anniversary of that conflict. (photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Governor Parson, who served 6 years in the Army, said it wasn’t until he wore the uniform that he understood the importance of the U.S. flag and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Parson said he also wanted to thank another group, “that normally don’t get to be recognized and sometimes we take them for granted.”
Missouri House members wait during a ceremony to honor Vietnam War veterans to present those veterans with pins commemorating their service and the 50th anniversary of that conflict. (photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
All the veterans who attended were pinned with a lapel pin proclaiming the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. The pins were meant to recognize, thank, and honor those who served in that conflict. The pins were presented by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and several House members.
A state representative has been “frustrated” in his effort to speed up a determination of what happened to 15 Missourians in the Vietnam War. The federal government, meanwhile, is looking for DNA from the families of two of those men.
The Missouri House honors Vietnam Veterans with resolutions and a standing ovation, on March 31, 2017. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
The legislature in May passed House Concurrent Resolution 35, which asked the federal government to make it a priority to determine what happened to 15 Missouri men presumed killed in that war. This week Missouri House members received a response to that Resolution from Fern Sumpter Winbush, the Acting Director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).
In a letter Mrs. Winbush summarized the Agency’s efforts to account for the 15 men named in HCR 35 and described the process that goes into learning the final disposition of missing U.S. military personnel. She also noted that the Department has DNA for 13 of those 15 Missourians, to which it can compare DNA from unidentified human remains, but it has no DNA samples for Lieutenant Commander Charles Weldon Marik of Oakland and Captain Dwight Gray Rickman of Joplin.
Read more about Lt. Commander Marik and Capt. Rickman at the bottom of this article
Representative Tom Hurst offered HCR 35 after hearing the story of the family of Private First Class Paul Alfred Hasenbeck, and their effort to find out what happened to him in Vietnam. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Hurst said he is learning what impact efforts such as this resolution actually have when they reach Washington D.C. In this case he said he has received one letter basically acknowledging that HCR 35 has been received.
Hurst said he will look for other avenues to push for resolution in the cases of these 15 men and that could include asking Governor Eric Greitens (R), himself a former Navy SEAL, to get involved.
Hurst said much of that difficulty lies not with the U.S. Government but with the government in Vietnam, where there could be roadblocks to locating remains or belongings or to retrieving some believed to already have been located.
Representative Pat Conway (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Meanwhile Conway, Hurst, and other legislators are hopeful that relatives of Captain Rickman and Lieutenant Commander Marik can be found and put in touch with the Marine or Navy casualty offices that could potentially secure a DNA sample from them. Anyone in those families or who knows of them could contact the Missouri House Communications Office, attention Mike Lear, for help.
The other 12 men listed in HCR 35 who fought in Vietnam and are presumed dead are: Private First Class Paul Alfred Hasenbeck, First Lieutenant Steven Neil Bezold, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Donald Martin Cramer, First Lieutenant William R. Edmondson, Private First Class Dickey W. Finley, First Lieutenant Frederick William Hess Jr., Major Carl D. Miller, First Lieutenant Bernard Herbert Plassmeyer, Lieutenant Colonel Dayton William Ragland, Captain Robert Page Rosenbach, Captain John W. Seuell, First Lieutenant George Craig Smith, and Sergeant Randolph Bothwell Suber.
Captain Dwight Gray Rickman
On Christmas Day, 1972, Marine First Lieutenant Dwight Gray Rickman was the observer on an observation plane on a reconnaissance mission over southern Vietnam. During the flight radio contact with the plane was lost and it never returned to base. Search and rescue efforts failed to find the plane or its crew. Years later Rickman was promoted to Captain.
The Department of Defense investigated the case seven times in Vietnam, including the excavation of two possible burial sites, but Rickman’s remains have not been found and he remains unaccounted for.
Lieutenant Commander Charles Weldon Marik
On June 25, 1966, Navy Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Charles Weldon Marik was the bombardier/navigator on a fighter jet flying a combat mission over northern Vietnam. The plane was hit by enemy fire and both Marik and the pilot ejected over the South China Sea. The pilot was recovered but Marik was never found. He was later promoted to Lieutenant Commander.
In the 1990s, Department of Defense teams met with residents of coastal villages in case anyone remembered Lieutenant Commander Marik’s remains washing ashore. No evidence to that end was found and he is believed to have been lost at sea.
HCR 35 would ask the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) to prioritize resolution of the cases of those 15 men.
“This is a country that should honor and revere its heroes. This should not be a nation that forgets those that have given their lives in services, and we should not be a people who abandon those who have fought and died for our freedoms,” said Hurst.
Hurst shared on the House floor the story of Private First Class Paul Alfred Hasenbeck of Freeburg, who disappeared while returning from a patrol in Vietnam. His sister, Jeanie, is still looking for information on what happened to him.
St. Joseph Democrat Pat Conway is a Vietnam Veteran. He said people who fought for this country should not be left behind, and their families should not be left with questions.
Besides Hasenbeck, the Resolution lists the other 14 Missourians who fought in Vietnam and are presumed dead: First Lieutenant Steven Neil Bezold, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Donald Martin Cramer, First Lieutenant William R. Edmondson, Private First Class Dickey W. Finley, First Lieutenant Frederick William Hess Jr., Lieutenant Junior Grade Charles Weldon Marik, Major Carl D. Miller, First Lieutenant Bernard Herbert Plassmeyer, Lieutenant Colonel Dayton William Ragland, First Lieutenant Dwight G. Rickman, Captain Robert Page Rosenbach, Captain John W. Seuell, First Lieutenant George Craig Smith, and Sergeant Randolph Bothwell Suber.
The resolution has been sent to the Senate for its consideration.