Freedom, sweet freedom.  Even the air smelled more fragrant, and the sky appeared clearer and bluer.   By the Grace of God, eleven of us made it back to the Free World, but the downside was that our dear friends Alvin Hart, Henry Weese, and Paul Van Voorhis weren't making that "Walk to Freedom" with the rest of the Stardust Four Zero crew.    

John 15:13

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

           We were pretty sure that Hart was killed-in-action as he frantically fired burst after burst at the swarm of enemy MIG's which were swooping in and firing rockets at our virtually stripped-down B-29 bomber.  (He selflessly and courageously laid down his life for ALL his fellow American countrymen.)  In their vicious, violent, and cowardly one-sided attack on Stardust Four Zero, the enemy fighters zeroed in on the tail first in order to knock out the only protection (two fifty caliber tail guns) we had before they ventured to rip apart our now completely unarmed and helpless aircraft.  But where were Weese and Van Voorhis?  Crew members in the back of the burning plane saw them both bailout, and I saw Van Voorhis ALIVE seven months after we had been shot down.

           Most of us take our freedoms for granted, and very seldom does it ever enter our minds of what price in blood and lives it cost our Founding Fathers and the millions of other fellow American patriots and warriors after them who suffered and sacrificed so that we today might live in a free country.  No, my dear fellow Americans, freedom is not attained nor is it kept without a hefty price being paid by someone; it is expensive and is our most prized possession.  But the sad and frightening truth is that few if any of us ever consider what it would be like to be stripped of our freedoms and liberties and be forced to live (no, that would not be living but rather existing) in some totalitarian nation at the mercy of some crack-pot dictator who controls every facet of your existence, even your most basic bodily functions and your most basic hygienic needs.  Your every move, thought, and word (spoken and written) are monitored and controlled!  Do you really and truly believe that our beloved USA is a worse place to live and rear your youngsters than is Red China or some other such "utopian paradise" where personal freedoms are non-existent???  The lamentable facts are that too many of our fellow countrymen are unappreciative, irresponsible, self-indulgent, lazy, anti-anything and anti-everything American, and have adopted the erroneous expectation that the government, their parents, or someone else should take care of their every desire and need!!!  We have become a nation of whiners, takers, and crybabies.  Whenever you think you have it rough and life here seems unfair, just stop and think about Hart, Weese, Van Voorhis, Dumas, and the thousands upon thousands who were betrayed, abandoned, forgotten, and left behind to languish and to endure unthinkable and unimaginable (for the average person's mind to fathom) pain, agony, misery, and hardships in some grossly filthy foreign hell-on-earth; and don't y'all ever forget that these "unfortunate forgotten souls" are doing it for you so that you might have the freedom to be a whining, complaining, unappreciative "taker."  Be advised, my dear fellow Americans, there are no "free lunches."             

         I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD,INDIVISIBLE WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!!!

    But, where are Weese, Van Voorhis, and the thousands of others who were left behind and are to this very day unaccounted for???  

    NO!!!  NO!!!  NO!!!  A THOUSAND TIMES NO!!!  NOT ALL MIAs and POWs WERE RELEASED; NOR WERE ALL MIAs and POWs  BROUGHT HOME!!!

               OLD GLORY

FLYING AT HALF STAFF IN HONOR OF OUR   "STILL MISSING" MIAs and POWs!!!

May God Heal and Save Our Beloved United States of America!!!