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Re: Exhibit Celebrates POWs Scarifices

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: June 28, 2003

"Exhibit celebrates POWs' sacrifices
Nixon Library display kicks off reunion of 146 ex-prisoners of war.

By GREG HARDESTY The Orange County Register

YORBA LINDA -- Everywhere they turned in the banquet room, there was another flash of recognition. Then came the hugs and the backslapping.

"Now that guy," the typical remark went, "he's a real hero."

One hundred and forty-six men, former "roommates" in cells the size of walk-in closets, gathered for a reunion Friday at the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace.

They ate, they drank. They viewed a new exhibit – "Open Doors: Vietnam POWs 30 Years Later" – that told their stories in pictures and words.

They are getting older, sure. But they are as enthusiastic as kids, showing off their wives, girlfriends, children and grandchildren.

"It's unbelievable, just fabulous, to be a part of this," said Joan Pollard, who spent 2 1/2 years not knowing whether her husband, Ben, was alive or dead after the Air Force pilot's plane was shot down over North Vietnam on May 15, 1967.

"When our husbands returned from Vietnam, we discovered a whole new life," Joan Pollard said. "Every day has been Christmas. It's been a gift."

Ben Pollard, 71, spent six years as a POW. He suffered from internal bleeding and a broken back after being shot down.

Those injuries later led to seven heart-bypass surgeries, two major heart attacks, arthritis and a bout with colitis that left him without his lower intestine.

As the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Pollard sipped wine and chatted with a fellow POW, Ed Martin, 72, of Coronado, he said he doesn't feel any animosity toward the Vietnamese.

"Just the way we were treated by the guards," Pollard said.

Said Martin: "Every one of us wakes up in the morning and says a prayer of thanks. Thanks for living in this country, and enjoying the freedom and the rights that we have.

"So many Americans take this for granted and only look at the ills of society and not the good and the wonderful things we have. But we in this group do."

The reception was part of a three-day reunion that includes a black-tie dinner in Anaheim tonight and a service at the Crystal Cathedral on Sunday.

"These men and women, the POWs and their families, are the living backbone of the Nixon legacy because Vietnam was the central event of the Nixon years," said John Taylor, the library's executive director.

POWs are in strong demand as speakers at schools and before a variety of groups, said Mike McGrath, 63, a retired Navy captain and chairman of the Nam-POWs' 30th anniversary reunion.

Why the interest? Maybe because the POWs have dramatic stories to tell, McGrath said. And maybe because they represent character in a cynical world.

"You look around today, and who's going to represent you? A businessman? A politician?" McGrath said. "They look to us for integrity and character."

While in captivity, McGrath honed his sketching skills by using paint made from the pus and blood that oozed from the boils covering his body. He used the cell wall as a canvas.

"We all have injuries you can't see beneath our coats," he said. "But we put our lives back together and went on.

"None of us here are sitting on a street corner in a flak jacket asking for help. We are not bitter people – we are loyal, proud Americans with kids and grandkids."

A total of 725 POWs were held prisoner by communist governments or forces in North and South Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and China. About 95 percent of them were tortured to extract information, and about 20 percent died by execution, torture, malnutrition or lack of medical care.

Today, 592 American POWs remain alive, McGrath said. POWs returned home in February 1973.

Although no POWs live in Orange County, according to McGrath, one – Larry Writer – was adopted by the city of Anaheim in a lottery as its own POW, because there were none from the area in 1973.

Friday night, Writer strolled through an exhibit of POW items, including handmade rosaries and canvas prisoner uniforms, with his sister, Kathie DeChatesa.

"See these cigarettes?" he asked her. "The tobacco over there was coarse. You'd inhale, and it'd be like gunpowder."

Writer, who lives near Seattle, spent five years as a POW after his plane was shot down. He said the reunion was a fun way to catch up with old, dear friends.

"You form a close relationship with the guys," he said.

Said McGrath: "You share a room with a guy and live in your underwear for six years with him, and you become best friends."

The "Open Doors" exhibit, which continues through July 6, was created by Jamie Howren Quinn, a photographer from Rancho Santa Margarita, and writer Taylor Baldwin Kiland.

"I think this celebrates what has happened since they were released," Kiland said. "I think it offers hope, even for people who are dealing with the aftermath of Sept. 11 and the war in Iraq.

"When you talk to them, you can't help but being inspired by their spirit."

CONTACT US: (714) 796-2286 or ghardesty@ocregister.com

Copyright 2003 The Orange County Register"