Canterbury hosts viewing of POW film
By LARRY JAMES GREENE
For the Norwich Bulletin
CANTERBURY -- Robert Dumas has been telling his story about his search for his missing brother ever since he returned from the Korean War more than 50 years ago.
Now he is getting help promoting his cause thanks to a documentary his nephew produced titled, "Missing, Presumed Dead: The Search for America's POWs."
Dumas presented the video Friday night to approximately 120 people crowded into the Canterbury Town Hall. People found the presentation credible.
"I don't understand why they didn't go get them," said Joe Buonaccoris of Glocester, R.I. "I'd expect more from this country."
Dumas said his brother, Roger, was captured by the North Koreans in Nov. 4, 1950. The U.S. government listed his brother as missing in action and presumed dead.
But Dumas believed his brother was still alive and eventually convinced the government to change his status to prisoner of war.
Tom Wright of Woodstock said he better understands the challenges Dumas faces in finding his brother.
"It's the embarrassment of being proved wrong and not standing up for what's right," he said of government leaders. "McCain surprised me," he said, referring to U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, and former POW in Vietnam.
Dumas blames McCain for ending key Congressional investigations into POWs being left behind.
Dumas said he is trying to get U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-2nd District, to convince the Armed Services Committee to hold a hearing on the POW issue.
"He's all shook up over this," said Dumas about Simmons' reaction to the DVD.
The video contains footage of former U.S. Sen. Robert Smith, a Republican from New Hampshire, lending credibility to Dumas' case.
"North Korea did not return a large number of Americans after the war," Smith says in the documentary.
Another segment shows Army Colonel Phillip Corso testifying before Congress that President Dwight Eisenhower approved the recommendation to leave POWs behind in World War II.
Dumas and others estimate as many as 8,000 POWs were left behind after the Korean War ended and that POWs were left behind after the Vietnam War.
Copies of the DVD recently were distributed to every member of Congress.
ON THE WEB
For more informationon the documentary, "Missing, Presumed Dead: The Search for America's POWs," or how to order it, visit www.Missing PresumedDead.com
For other informationabout the issue of prisoners of war, go to All POW-MIA's Web site at www.aiipowmia.com
©2006 Norwich Bulletin