The Honorable Benjamin
Gilman
2449 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3220
29 July 2000
Representative
Gilman,
Before I come to the purpose of
this letter, I must say that, although you are not a
representative of mine, I find it a great honour to have a
distinguished person such as yourself serving in the United
States House of Representatives. Now, onto why I am writing a
letter to you ... last year, the POW/MIA cause became very dear
to my heart, and I am doing what I can to gain an accounting for
those left behind. I have adopted several missing heroes, one of
them being Ronald Wayne Forrester, a 1Lt in the Marine Corps who
has been MIA in Vietnam since 27 December 1972.
Forrester was co-pilot to pilot
Captain Ralph Chipman on a mission over Vietnam on 27 Dec. They
were flying a Grumman A6 Intruder, and for some unknown reason,
the plane never returned from the mission. The last contact made
with the men was over the target area, and since that day, no one
(on the American side, at least) has heard from either man.
Forrester was thirty-five when he went missing, and he left
behind a wife and children. I know that I am not alone in saying
that we, as American citizens, must do all we can to obtain an
accounting for those men and women who did not tear up their
draft cards, who went and fought in our most controversial war,
those men and women who deserve to be back on American soil,
alive or dead.
I realize that you have done so
much humanitarian work, and have seen to it personally that
American hostages in different countries have been released.
Perhaps once again you will be willing to use your impressive
reputation, your influence, your good heart, and you role as
Chair of the House International Relations Committee to help me
and countless others in our quest to return heroes such as
Forrester back where they belong -- on American soil. Their
families and friends deserve an answer, and I won't give up until
they do. Thank you for reading this, and God bless.
Respectfully,
Stacey N. Jones
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