News-Info-Alerts

Re: Woman Keeps POW Bracelet 30 Years - Flies to Ex-POW to Deliver It

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: May 14, 2003

"A $1 POW bracelet, a priceless thank-you

Woman keeps 30-year promise to herself, gives band to vet named on it

By FRANK TREJO / The Dallas Morning News

A promise she made more than 30 years ago to herself and to a man she had never met was fulfilled Wednesday for Jeanette Kronick in Dallas.

That's when the New Jersey resident finally got to hand over a Vietnam prisoner of war bracelet to retired Air Force Col. Ken Cordier, whose name is engraved on the piece of copper she bought in New York City.

"It was a commitment I made to myself that morning when I bought the bracelet," said Ms. Kronick, who recalled paying about $1 for the item. "I knew that someday, I was going to give this to the man whose name was on it, or at least to his family."

The promise was so important to Ms. Kronick that she flew from home just for the day Wednesday to deliver the bracelet.

Col. Cordier, held captive by the North Vietnamese for more than six years, said he has received almost 100 MIA-POW bracelets bearing his name since he was released in 1973. But, he added, this is the first time anyone has made a special trip to deliver one.

"It is always heartwarming when someone looks you up to give one of these to you, but I've never had anyone do what she has done," Col. Cordier said.

Ms. Kronick said she had worn the bracelet for many years after she bought it, and often wondered what had happened to the serviceman. But after a while, she said, the bracelet ended up in a jewelry drawer.


FOR MORE INFORMATION
POW-MIA bracelets remain popular more than 30 years after a group of college students made the items to remember soldiers who fought in Southeast Asia and were listed as missing in action or were prisoners of war. For more information on the bracelets and how to return them, go to www.pownetwork.org or www.pow-miafamilies.org. "It's where I put things that I am never going to get rid of," she said.

Through the years, she had tried to make inquiries about Col. Cordier but never got far.

Then this spring, after hearing the news about the rescue of Pfc. Jessica Lynch in Iraq, Ms. Kronick decided to start her search again. This time, she went to the Internet, and within a few hours she not only found Col. Cordier, but how to contact him.

Col. Cordier and his wife live in Dallas, where Ms. Kronick was born and spent the first few years of her life.

And Col. Cordier, who often speaks to groups about his POW experiences, was being interviewed by a New York City station the day Ms. Kronick first spoke to him.

"I just sat there in front of my screen, halfway elated and halfway feeling like a fool because I had not gone on the Net sooner," Ms. Kronick said.

Ms. Kronick said her commitment to deliver the bracelet to Col. Cordier is a way of showing appreciation for what members of the military have done.

"I don't think anyone should ever take it lightly when someone goes out and puts their life on the line for you," she said.

E-mail ftrejo@dallasnews.com "