Bring him home
mailto:asullivan00@comcast.net
Dear general:
I realize that it has been a long time since the end of the war in which my husband fought and that every year that passes makes finding a missing soldier that much more difficult.
Maybe I have been a bit of a pain over those years persistently trying to find news of my husband.
I know others deserve as much of your attention as my husband does.
When your department first brought me news of my husband’s status, I was extremely grateful for your kindness. You and the other officers make me feel as if the armed service really was a brotherhood of people who cared about one another.
It helped eased the pain and uncertainty of my loss.
Indeed, I put great faith in you that everything was being done to find my husband.
But as the years went on I received no word about him.
In fact after a while, the only attention I got came after my many attempts to contact you.
I felt as if nothing was being done – not just to bring home my husband, but to find out whether he was alive for dead.
After all, hearing all of those rumors of prisoners of war in the jungle and torture only made the situation worse. I could only imagine the pain my husband must be in.
This does not excuse my previous angry letters.
But I need to make it clear to you that we still do care about our loved ones even if we have not seen them in many years.
I supposed I should have sought help elsewhere sooner, and not become so frustrated with you. I do understand how boggled down any government office can become and you could lose focus with some many political pressures pushing you to find easy answers.
When I did seek help elsewhere I had no intention of embarrassing you or your department.
I simply saw the advertisements in the magazines and they were too compelling to ignore.
With no news from you – well, you know how it is.
The organization I consulted was very kind. The people there told me up front – as you did – that it would be no easy matter to locate my husband or even find news of him. They said while the government kept many records of its activities during the war, some activities were not publicly acceptable and often, those records were classified or destroyed.
They told me they would have to do some preliminary investigation before they decided to take on my case. They said they did not waste my time or money on what might prove impossible.
I did not feel good about the possibility of losing my husband forever. But I needed some way of settling the issue so I could go on with my life. Even news that I might never know was more than you were giving me and I could accept it better than perpetually hanging on.
Fortunately, the reports came back more positive than that. While my husband’s case, they said, was a difficult one, it was not impossible. The real problem for me would be the cost. Hiring people to seek news in such places where he fought would not come cheaply. They quoted a price that nearly made me faint. But they left the choice complete up to me. Such things should not be done lightly, even with the possibility of recovery.
General, I love my husband, and I would do anything to get him back. So I hired them. I mortgaged my home, cold my car, gave over every cent of savings I had. Even that which I had put aside for my children’s college costs. I felt they could no more live with the uncertainty than I could.
Nor was this wasted faith.
The organization did more in six months than you did in 15 years. Not only did they say my husband is alive, but they gave me a photograph to prove it.
I enclose a copy of the photograph. I know it is a bit fuzzy and may not match exactly those which you have on record. But it as been 15 years and he’s bound to have gotten older.
The report said he is still a prisoner and I want you do to something about it.
Bring my husband home, NOW!