Sister of LCPL Kenneth Plumadore - MIA
February 10, 1994
Committee Members,
Thank you for this opportunity to speak before you today.
I believe I know how my brother felt when he was left behind the first time in 1967.
Having first put my hopes into a committee that never even followed through with its own recommendations and secondly, placing my faith in a president who has broken his promise. I feel abandoned and betrayed. How much more so the men we left behind again?
I was not aware of the circumstances surrounding my brothers loss until 1992. I will not go into my feelings towards the Marine Corps and the Pentagon for having forgotten to pass on to my family the information they had about my brother. However, I will tell you I do not accept their apology or their explanation.
That aside, my purpose for appearing before you today is, hopefully, to show you what I believe to be Vietnam's lack of cooperation in resolving the fate of my brother.
My brother, L/CPL. Kennety L. Plumadore USMC was left behind on the battle field along with 14 other Marines on September 21st., 1967. He was declared KIA/BNR. Nineteen days later his unit returned to the area and recovered the remains of 14 Marines. Kenny was still KIA/BNR.
In April 1986 Vietnam returned a set of remains that they stated were the remains of a soldier they had captured on September 21st., 1967, who subsequently died seven days later in a prison hospital at Vin Linh.
When I was made aware of this information on June 1992, the first question I asked the casualty officer was "What is the likelihood that the remains recovered in 1967 were misidentified and my brother was buried in someone else's grave?"
The reply from CIL-HI was that was not very likely. The returned remains did not correlate to any of the 15 Marines left on the battlefield.
I have some very straight forward questions I want Vietnam to answer.
What records did they use in 1986 to associate the returned remains of the soldier they said they captured in 1967 to the Con Thien incident?
Where are the personal effects - I.D., jewelry etc., taken from the POW in 1967?
Where were the remains kept from 1967 till 1986?
The statements provided by Vietnamese witnesses to the September 21st., 1967 battle and subsequent capture are not consistent with our own Intelligence data at that time.
Witnesses stated the prisoner was placed by a culvert which sustained a direct hit by artillery or bomb. Our Intelligence said the prisoner had arrived at the DMZ ALIVE!
One would think that my brother being a priority case for investigation, that at least some information would have been obtained during the 1993 JTFFA investigations.
However, I was told there was no new information in Kenny's file for all of 1993. Either our Government did not ask questions or the Vietnamese refused to answer. Something is terribly wrong here.
I have dreams of my brother turned old and crippled from torture and captivity. I have dreams of sneaking into graveyards, digging up the graves of other Marines looking for my brother.
Will I ever know what Vietnam knows about my brother? Will my questions ever be answered or an explanation be given as to why they cannot be? Until then the nightmare continues
Patricia Plumadore
Sister---POW/MIA Kenneth Plumadore
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS CONERNING L/CPL KENNETH PLUMADORE USMC
JTFFA CASE # 0839 POW/MIA 9/21/67
9/27/67 Family notified CPL. Plumadore KIA, body not recovered
10/10/67 2nd BN 4th Mar Regt. launches recovery OP-Plumadore still KIA/BNR
7/16/68 Peter Hurkos tells Mrs. Plumadore her son is alive and prisoner in China
7/28/68 Friends of family write Senator Javits & Congressman Hanley
8/20/68 Reply to Congressional Inquiry States Plumadore not on POW list
2/26/86 Casualty Officer visits Plumadore home. States facts are same as in 1967
1988 Sister begins searching for former 2/4 members who knew Ken
4/3/91 Sister recieves reply from former 2/4 Commander Col. Hammond. Sister subsequently learns CPL. Plumadore was the only MIA from action on 9/21/67 - NOT ONE OF SEVERAL.
7/1/91 Sister asks Congressman Walsh and Senator D'Amato for assistance
7/23/91 Congressman Walsh receives reply from stating CPL Plumadore was never POW/MIA - Senator receives same
8/28/92 USMC sends sister JTFFA case narrative - Ken Plumadore had been captured ALIVE!
6/92 USMC tells sister they are sorry they forgot to inform her family of the information they had about L/CPL Plumadore
12/3/92 Sister testifies before Senate Select Committee
7/8/93 USMC tells family that Plumadore's Case has been assigned to a priority Investigation Team (POIT)
12/20/93 After several inquiries, sister is told that there was no new information received in ALL of 1993
The Plumadore family and DIA formulated several questions conerning L/CPL Plumadore.
Either the questions were NOT asked by our Government or the Vietnamese REFUSED to answer them.