Voice of America Rally Part 1

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Other Media: c031_076.mp3; c031_076_tr_2.txt

Transcription (Scripto): Read Full Text Only (TXT)
Extent (Dublin Core): 1 Hour, 6 Minutes, 52 Seconds
File Name (Dublin Core): c031_076
Title (Dublin Core): Voice of America Rally Part 1
Description (Dublin Core): In this “Voice of America” rally, several congressmen, government officials, and members of the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Action in Southeast Asia met on May Day in 1970 to share their stories and discuss the POW/MIA situation, and to share a resolution commemorating May 1, 1970 as “a day for an appeal for international justice for all the American prisoners of war and servicemen missing in action in Southeast Asia.”
Date (Dublin Core): 1970-05-01
Date Created (Dublin Core): 1970-05-01
Congress (Dublin Core): 91st (1969-1971)
Topics (Dublin Core): See all items with this value Vietnam War, 1961-1975; See all items with this value Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Missing in action--United States; See all items with this value Prisoners of war--United States
Policy Area (Curation): Armed Forces and National Security
Creator (Dublin Core): Dole, Robert J., 1923-2021
Record Type (Dublin Core): radio programs
Names (Dublin Core): See all items with this value National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia; See all items with this value Washington, Walter E., 1915-2003; See all items with this value Elson, Edward L. R. (Edward Lee Roy), 1906-1993; See all items with this value Stockdale, Sybil; See all items with this value Sikes, Robert L. F. (Robert Lee Fulton), 1906-1994; See all items with this value Griffin, Robert P. (Robert Paul), 1923-2015; See all items with this value Teague, Olin E., 1910-1981
Rights (Dublin Core): http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/
Language (Dublin Core): eng
Collection Finding Aid (Dublin Core): https://dolearchivecollections.ku.edu/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=84&q=
Physical Collection (Dublin Core): Collection 031, Box 2
Institution (Dublin Core): Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
Archival Collection (Dublin Core): Dole Audio Reels Collection, 1960-1979
Full Text (Extract Text): (inaudible)
[National Anthem plays]

Unnamed man:
Remain standing. Doctor Edward L.R. Elson, Chaplain, United States Senate, will lead us an invocation.

Dr. Elson:
Let us pray. Almighty God, who has made and preserved us a nation. Unto whom in all ages men have lifted up their hearts in prayer. We thank thee for the hero’s valor. The patriarch’s devotion, the scientist’s skill, the businessman’s acumen, and the toil of hand and brain by which we have become great and strong. Spare us ever from avoiding the hard and the hazardous responsibility. Make us now a people obedient to thy law, spiritually and morally equipped to be a servant people to all mankind. We remember before thee this night our countrymen. Prisoners of war in distant land. Grant that by drawing near to thee, we may be drawn nearer to them in faith, in love, and in the fellowship of suffering. Imbue them with grace and strength to endure separation and privation. Enable them to put their trust in thee whose mercy never failed. Be with their loved ones. To give them comfort, strength and hope, and the assurance that nothing can ever separate them from thy love. Grant, O Lord, that their keepers may be guided by the conventions of Geneva and by the universal laws of humanity. Vouch safe thy presence to us here. That we may be true, as they are true. Loyal as they are loyal. Brave as they are brave. Until the shadows flee away. And the dawn breaks. And reunion comes. In a new and better world of peace and justice. In the Redeemer's name, we pray. Amen.

Senator Bob Dole:
One of the busiest men in America is the Mayor of Washington DC, Walter Washington. We are most pleased that he could find time tonight from a very, very busy schedule, and I can attest to this, to add his presence to this very important occasion and extend a welcome to us at this time. Mayor Washington.
[applause]

Mayor Walter Washington:
Thank you, Senator Dole, members of the Senate, members of the House of Representatives, members of the Congress all, honored clergy, and most of all, friends, families, children, wives, and the prisoners of war. Mine is but a simple task. And that would be to say, welcome. Welcome to your nation's capital. What I would like for you all to think that I say more than that to you tonight, if there are words that can be said. I would like for you to know that you are not alone. I would like to say that all of us, as we join together in a communion within America have a special meaning for anyone who may find himself or herself in trouble. I would like to think that we build this nation, and that I try to symbolize it tonight to you, by saying welcome, in something that has kept us together all of these years in a common purpose. Where when one is in trouble, the other seeks to help. And that is out of our mutual faith in each other, our mutual faith in America, and all of its principles and doctrines that speak from the very earth from which we all imparted. I would like to think that, for those mothers and children, we would say that we all have faith in the Lord, who, after all of the earthly things have – and brought to bear is one that we must fall on our knees and seek to bring our men back home, where they should be, beside their families and in their communities and their neighborhoods and their schoolyards and their churches and their lodges. And if we look to this kind of faith, it is my belief that they will be back, and soon. There are those who would divide us and those who would separate us and those that would tell us that our institutions are not long enduring, but I say, as I said to the Daughters of the American Revolution two weeks ago in this hall, as we looked at each other, we must reaffirm our faith in each other and in our America and in our Lord. And I say that tonight, because there is no better message of communion than that message. And so it is, when you're here to help focus worldwide attention on the fate of the men who are prisoners at this time, I am hopeful that this drive will ensure that, at least at this moment, they are treated humanely. And you must know that this district, which is your nation's capital, joins you and the citizens. Hold out their hands through me as a symbol and say to you we are with you because you are of us, you are one of us. And we must be together and this city offers its warmest welcome to you, the relatives and friends of these servicemen. Men of goodwill everywhere should reflect tonight as we commune on man's inhumanity to man, and this is a force that transcends anything that we could talk about in worldly terms. If I could say something to you and hope that it would reach you tonight and aid in despair and aid in discomfort and aid in trouble, I would say it. Most of all, I would hope that you would draw strength from this mission to your nation's capital. Strength that will permit all of us to go on with this issue, which is our issue. It does not belong alone to the women and the families. It belongs to America because that's what we're about. A nation united. So that we move as one, at all times, in the interest of all. This is what America means to me. I would hope that those of us who sit quietly by and see others carrying the burden would be moved tonight to join with those who have been on the firing line. Because it is not their battle alone, my friends. [Applause]. Since I was a little boy, I've believed in this nation and I've believed that when we unite and come together, nothing is impossible. I want to continue to dream that way and I want to continue to have all of our young people dream that way about America. And it can be done if we move in unity and togetherness. And it is in that backgrounds, my friend, that background that I appear here tonight, symbolically, to say that you shall never walk alone. America is with you, your nation's capital symbolically holds its hand out. We are with you. We offer our prayers that our men will return safely to their families at the earliest possible moment. And carry with you the thought that in America, no one should have to carry the cudgel by himself. We march, and we travel our roads and streams and highways and byways together, as a people and as a nation, so that those of you that are here, that have wounds in your heart tonight must know that you are not alone. This is the message of welcome that I bring from your nation's capital. [Applause]

Dole:
I think it might be well at this time if the mothers, fathers, wives and children of brave Americans missing in action or prisoners of war in Southeast Asia might rise, so we would know who we honor tonight. [Applause]. I might also announce at this time that we have many distinguished guests. They'll be introduced at a later time. We have two United States senators who must leave early to catch airplanes. We're most pleased to have Senator Clifford Case, New Jersey, with us tonight, Senator Case. [Applause]. And somewhere out there is Senator William Proxmire from Wisconsin, who must leave at 8:30. [Applause]. We're very fortunate in our nation's capital from time to time to have special talent. And we wanted some special talent for this program. We found an outstanding young man who is now appearing at the Shoreham, Jack Jones. He graciously agreed to appear if he might do so at about 8:30. Because he does have an engagement at the Shoreham at 9:30. So we're changing the program slightly. At this time, it's my pleasure to introduce Jack Jones.
[Applause]

Jones:
I address all of you. First of all, distinguished guests, and especially you beautifully dedicated people, I submit to you a song which by no means suggests that we are dreaming, or that anything we dedicated Americans set out to do is impossible. It's a song that I've been doing a long time and it means a lot to me, and I’m sure it means a lot to you.
[Music; Jones singing] To dream the impossible dream. To fight the unbeatable foe. To bear with unbearable sorrow. To run where the brave dare not go. To right the unrightable wrong. To be better, far, than you are. To try when your arms are too weary. To reach the unreachable star. This is my quest. To follow that star, no matter how hopeless. No matter how far. To be willing to give when there's no more to give. To be willing to die so that honor and justice may live. And I know if I'll only be true to this glorious quest, that my heart will lie peaceful and calm when I'm laid to my rest. And the world will be better for this. That one man, scorned and covered with scars, still strove, with his last ounce of courage, to reach the unreachable star.
[Applause]

Dole:
That was great. We appreciate it very much. In ancient Greece, a philosopher was once asked, “When will justice come to Athens?” He replied, “Justice will never come to Athens until those who are not injured start to become as indignant as those who are injured.” Today we say that international justice will never come to Southeast Asia unless we who do not have loved ones missing or listed as prisoners of war start to become as indignant as those who do. So, we have assembled here tonight to represent American indignation at the moral and legal enormity of the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong cruelty. And we call upon other nations to register their active protests, too. For today, May 1 is law day. A time when we honor our belief and the rule of law. A time when we honor the common law here in America, and also the law of nations in the world. Treaties and conventions are primary sources of international law. And the Geneva Convention of 1949 defines a proper treatment of prisoners of war. But the North Vietnamese and the National Liberation Front are callously violating this international law. They are mocking the treaty, which they and 123 other nations signed. They refused to identify all American prisoners of war. They refused prisoners the right to exchange mail with their families. They refused to give prisoners proper food. They refused to give minimal medical treatment. And to repatriate the seriously ill and wounded. But this is more than legal cause. It is the cause of humanity. It is not merely the rights of America, but the rights of mankind. Where every man who was unidentified has a wife, a child, or a parent frantically concerned with his fate. Every man who was denied the chance to write a letter has a despairing family. Every man who was denied proper medical care has a potential widow or orphan. We sense the anguish of these families in the repetition of the wives’ question to the North Vietnamese in Paris: am I a wife or a widow? Humanitarians, even in Communist-run countries, must sympathize with these families. But Americans? Americans must do more than sympathize. We must organize to demonstrate continuing American concern for captured and missing American servicemen. We must mobilize the court of world opinion against these atrocities. As patriots, as Americans, we owe these 1500 soldiers our hands as well as our hearts. We shall more than harken to their needs. We shall answer them. We shall act. Daniel Webster once wrote, “Heroes are the common property of all the nation.” Tonight, those of us here claim these brave men for all America. As they have shown their devotion, let us show our resolution. As they have stood ready to give their lives and security in support of us, the least we can do is stand ready to give our voice and petition to support them. And they have fought the good fight. Let us keep the faith. Let us see to it that through our indignation and our voices that international justice does come to Southeast Asia. In the words of a newspaper editor who more than a century ago spoke out against the abuses against humanity of slavery: “We are in earnest. We will not excuse. We will not equivocate. We shall not retreat a single inch. And we shall be heard.”
[Applause]

Congresswoman May:
In the spring of 1969, a rather remarkable woman from Coronado, California, founded an organization which became known as the National League of Families of American Prisoners in Southeast Asia. Mrs. Stockdale is now a full-time national coordinator of that league, which has 2800 members, all families of the more than 1500 servicemen listed as captured and missing in Southeast Asia. By way of background on Mrs. Stockdale, her husband left this country from San Diego on April 5th, 1965, As commander of the Naval Air Wing aboard the USS Oriskany. While on mission over North Vietnam, Commander Stockdale was shot down September 9th, 1965. He was listed as missing in action for seven months. Then Mrs. Stockdale received 2 letters from him confirming the fact that he was being held prisoner in North Vietnam. Commander Stockdale has since been promoted to the rank of Captain and is the highest ranking naval official who is being held in North Vietnam. And since Captain Stockdale's capture, his fine wife, on behalf not only of herself and their four sons, but for all families of American prisoners, has been working toward the goal of persuading North Vietnam to accord the men listed as captured and missing the dignity and the protection of the Geneva Convention. Mrs. Stockdale and all League members have been devoting time and effort to the cause of letting the peoples of this world know about the desperate plight of our men being held in North Vietnam and their violation of the minimum standards of decent and humane treatment as recognized and applied elsewhere by all civilized nations. Their cause has been, as ours is tonight, support for these brave Americans and the ideals of justice under law between nations. And it was obviously fitting that Mrs. James B. Stockdale, wife of Captain James B. Stockdale, United States Navy, be the honorary co-chairman of this appeal for international justice rally that we hold tonight. I am deeply honored to have the privilege of introducing to all of you, Mrs. Stockdale.
[Applause]

Sybil Stockdale:
Thank you very much. I want to begin by expressing, on behalf of all the wives and families of captured and missing American servicemen, gratitude to Senator Dole and his committee and all those who have worked so hard to make it possible for all of us to pay tribute here tonight to our men. We also thank all of you who have come here in person to show us that you do care and to demonstrate to the North Vietnamese that the American people do not condone their inhumane treatment of our loved ones. I think there may be some questions in the minds of many about why the wives and families of American prisoners of war and Americans listed as missing in action remained silent for so long about the desperate plight of our men, and then suddenly began to let the people of America and the free world know the truth about their circumstances. Many of our men have been listed as captured and missing for four, five, and six years now. For the major portion of that time, it was government policy to counsel the wives and families that they felt it was in the best interests of the men for us to remain quiet about their situation, hoping in that way to soften the treatment our men were receiving at the hands of the Communists. Throughout that period of time, Hanoi repeatedly said that our men were being well treated and because of the nature of their closed society, it has taken years for evidence to the contrary to be accumulated. I, however, began accumulating my own evidence about the cruel and inhumane treatment of our loved ones more than four years ago. I am one of the very fortunate few who has ever heard from her husband, and therefore I am not representative of the majority of the wives and families, more than 1100 of whom do not know tonight, and have not known for years, whether their husbands and sons are alive or dead. My husband was shot down over North Vietnam on September 9, 1965 and listed as missing in action. On April 15, 1966, I received two long, 4-page letters from him, one written in December 1965 and the other in February 1966. He told me that he would like to report on other acquaintances in his straits, but that he had never seen another American since he was shot down. He told me he was injured, needed further medical treatment, had lost 30 to 40 pounds because it took energy to keep warm, and of ways he tried to occupy his mind while he was alone. He also said he had been told that he could expect to be given one letter a month from me and perhaps could write as often. In the subsequent total of his 15 letters and notes he has reported that all was the same with him, and in his most recent note, which I received only a few days ago, he was either only physically able to complete 4 lines of a 7 line form, a total of 38 words, or was only allowed to write that much. To the best of my knowledge, he has only been given 5 or 6 of the hundreds of letters I have sent to him. I know that the wives of many of our- I knew that the wives of many of our men were suffering dreadful daily torment because our men were not being accorded the basic standards of human decency in a civilized society. As a group of wives in similar circumstances in the San Diego area, we formed a local organization in 1967 to try to help our men. Several of us concluded that North Vietnam had demonstrated that it wanted to be regarded as a respectable and civilized society in the world community because of their oft-repeated claims that our men were being well treated. We knew that the North Vietnamese were violating even the most basic standards of human decency, and we felt that America and the people of the free world should know the truth about what was happening to our men. We began to speak out in the press in 1968 and were grateful when the United States government publicly expressed concern for our men in 1969. Through chain letter and word of mouth, we have joined together across the nation and the world in our efforts to make the world aware of the desperate plight of our men. We have tried to act with a dignity which reflects that which we seek for our loved ones. We have often asked U.S. government officials for counsel and advice, but we have then made our own decisions independently. We have been appealing to people throughout the world by letter and in person to help us correct the deplorable situation imposed on our men and their families by the Communists. We have often paid our own expenses, and in some cases have been sponsored in our efforts by civic groups and concerned citizens who wanted to help in this way. We are far from professional in our efforts because most of us have several young children and our time and resources are severely limited. We feel that recently, the North Vietnamese have begun to respond to pressure from world opinion, but the progress is painfully slow for so many who have waited so long. No one person alone can move the North Vietnamese, but through our combined efforts, hopefully the North Vietnamese will soon see the short sightedness of incurring world disrespect for the sake of using our men as political pawns in this conflict. We hope that you will want to help, and that you will write letters and encourage others to do the same. A vigorous letter writing campaign can be crucial in getting help to our men. We ask those who have written before to write again and again, and those who have not yet written to add their voices to those who have helped produce the progress that has been made thus far. We ask every citizen of America and the free world to let the leaders of North Vietnam know how they feel. When you ask yourself whether you have the time to do this and whether it is worthy of your effort, please remember that there may be as many as 1500 United States servicemen who have plenty of time to spare as they languish in solitary confinement in communist lands and who are desperately dependent on your help. Thank you.
[Applause]

Senator Robert Griffin:
Honored guests, ladies and gentlemen, you are about to meet a wonderful woman who is a study in quiet heroism who is an inspiring example of and to many brave wives of American prisoners of war. She is the wife of Major Bruce Johnson, missing in action since June of 1965. Mrs. Johnson has not seen her husband in six years. One of their three children, a 7 year old, cannot remember her daddy at all, the other two recall him only vaguely. Mrs. Johnson has just returned from her second trip to Europe, where she has been seeking information from the North Vietnamese at Paris. While her odysseys of agony have not produced the desired information, they have helped to focus world attention and opinion on the unbelievable inhumanity practiced by the communist enemy. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm very privileged to present a very articulate and exceedingly brave and courageous woman who was listed on the program as being from Kansas, but who happens to be from Michigan, Mrs. Bruce Johnson.

Johnson:
Thank you. It is indeed a privilege and an honor to share with each of you here tonight this time of tribute to America's finest men, the missing in action and prisoners of war of Southeast Asia. As a wife of one of those missing men, I am deeply grateful to the senators and representatives who have, out of their deep concern for the plight of our men, made tonight's tribute a reality. I share with each other wife, mother, father, and child of these our men, our American men, a deep gratitude also to each one of you here, who has demonstrated by your presence that they must not, and they will not, be forgotten. Those missing in action and those prisoners of war. I hope and I pray that this tribute tonight will serve as an effective reminder to the North Vietnamese, to the National Liberation Front, and to the Pathet Lao that on the issue of prisoners of war and missing in action, the hearts, the minds, and the resolve of the American people will remain united until the full accords of the Geneva Convention are properly respected and until each prisoner is home again. I am deeply convinced that until that day, the terrible fate of our men must remain a matter of top priority, not only within the homes from which that loved one is missing, but it must become a matter of top priority within our nation. From each home and heart across our land, reaching even to the highest levels of our government. I know that this problem is a unique one and a terribly difficult one for our country. But I am completely confident that America has the talent, the dedication, and the abilities from within her greatest natural resources, her people, to honorably find the solution to this problem. There has never been a difficulty or problem too great for the American people to resolve or solve. And with all America joining together in prayer and action, we will not fail these our men, nor will we fail America. Thank you.
[Applause]

Dole:
One of the great friends in Congress of mothers, wives, children is Congressman Olin Teague of Texas, and he must catch a plane immediately after he makes an introduction. Congressman Teague.
[Applause]

Congressman Olin Teague:
Thank you, Bob. And thank you people for coming here tonight. A lot of things have happened in the last year, but not nearly enough. It will never be enough until our men who are prisoners are home. [Applause]. Almost a year ago, a movement started for four people to go to Paris. And it hasn't been told who motivated that trip to Paris, but it was the veterans of foreign wars in Philadelphia. The reason it wasn't motivated was because they were told – advised -- that if you go over there sponsored by our government, or sponsored by any organization, you won't see anybody. So, four young ladies, wonderful young ladies, a credit to our country, Bonnie Singleton, Paula Hartness, Sandy Mcelhannon, and Joy Jeffrey, went to Paris. And they were the epitome of what we would want from our country. They went down to that compound and pushed the bell and said we want you to tell us. Are we wives or are we widows? And to a degree, they broke the ice. And as I said before, I think that much has been accomplished and it was accomplished by the families of our men who went over there and faced these cruel, heartless people and said we want to know. One other factor that has been involved has been Ross Perot from Dallas, Texas. [Applause]. Ross, I don't think the people know I give a continental damn what we think in this country, but they sure care what the rest of the world think. And you've done more than anybody, including our government, to make the rest of the world express themselves. [Applause]. I'm not critical of our government. I love this government, and I know they did what they thought was right. But it's time for our government to tell the rest of this world where we've got representation that you tell the people in Hanoi to do something about our prisoners over there. I've got to catch a plane for Texas. I know what Bonnie's going to say and it's going to be good, and you'll enjoy it. Thanks for coming tonight. Bonnie Singleton.
[Applause]

Singleton:
Thank you, Congressman Teague, and thanks to all of you for the opportunity of coming here to meet with you. I'd like to quote for you a prayer that I say constantly. And although they may not use the same words I do, I'm sure that this is a prayer similar to the ones said by every family and every friend of every man who is listed as missing in action or prisoner of war. Dear God, thank you for the miraculous gift of human life. And thank you, too, for those who concern themselves with the preservation of human life, and who spend at least a portion of their lives trying to save that precious gift, which only you have the capacity to grant. To our men who are now languishing in Communist prison camps, provide them, Lord, with the strength and the courage you gave them in the face of combat, to survive the torture, anxiety, and loneliness they must constantly endure. Give them the security of knowing that, although theirs has been a long ordeal, the American people for whom they have sacrificed all are determined not to betray the devotion they have so freely given. May your blessings be upon those in the United States government. United we stand, the Veterans of Foreign War and other organizations who have worked to bring relief to the American prisoners of war. May the vision necessary for seeing the way to freedom for our men be granted and a safe return for our loved ones in the short time remaining when their strength of spirit is still strong enough to sustain the afflictions imposed upon their bodies and minds. Amen. Thank you.
[Applause]

Dole:
I want to thank Senator Griffin for his introduction to Mrs. Johnson and Congresswoman May for the very fine introduction to Mrs. Stockdale. Now I ask Congressman Burt Talcott from the state of California, who was a prisoner of war himself in World War 2, to come forward with Mrs. James Mulligan from Virginia Beach, Virginia, a POW wife, and Mrs. Iris Powers, an MIA mother from Orlando, Florida.
[Applause]

Congressman Burt Talcott:
Senator Dole, fellow Americans. I am very privileged to participate in this appeal for international justice for prisoners of war. Convocations, resolutions, and letters are not new to the odyssey of prisoners of war and their loved ones. They may seem redundant and futile, but they are necessary and probably beneficial. So, I commend and thank the organizers and the participants. I speak as a private citizen and a former prisoner of war. I would like to briefly make several points which have not been emphasized enough. First, I have served with some extraordinary Americans, including recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor. But never have I known a more patriotic, brave or devoted group than the wives and families of our prisoners of war and those missing in action. Never has a nation owed so much to so few. I was a captive of the much-maligned Nazis, whose mentality ordered thousands of human beings to be gassed in ovens and permitted lamp shades to be made of human skins. Hitler and Himmler ordered the extermination of all prisoners of war, including Americans. But their grisly orders were contravened at great personal peril by the military. Evil as the Nazis may have seemed, the Communists are immeasurably more demoniacal. We were confined in groups so we could at least lean on each other. We could, with restrictions, correspond with our families. I knew within three months that my son was born. But some of the women here tonight, whose husbands were shot down five years ago, do not yet know whether they are wives or widows. None of you can imagine their longing or anxiety. Some time ago, an enemy photograph purporting to show an American prisoner was circulated among the wives. And 22 of them identified one man as her husband. Think of the poignancy of that episode. Now I have a serious message for Hanoi. If they are listening, I hope they will heed my suggestion. It's not made in rancor. Twenty-six years ago, we and the Germans were fierce diplomatic and military enemies. We bombed their cities and their war plants, and they shot us down and confined us. Today's rhetoric of gooks and war criminals is reminiscent to me. In my day, the enemy were goons and we were loof gangsters. But today we and our German captors are friends. We are mutually welcome in each other's homes. This friendship is based upon individual, mutual respect and appreciation because we treated each other's prisoners with dignity and humaneness, and this treatment strongly influenced the free world to assist Germany in her economic and diplomatic rehabilitation. Times and conditions change kaleidoscopically, but personal attitudes change slowly. 26 years from now, the North Vietnamese may need and want acceptance in the community of civilized and peaceful nations. The North Vietnamese government today would be well advised to emulate the United States and other governments who comply with the terms of the Geneva Convention and who treat their prisoners decently in spite of their diplomatic and military differences with enemy nations. Recently, at the 25th annual reunion of the American Air Force Prisoners of War in Cincinnati, we conducted a seminar on the present POW and MIA situation. It was a moving, emotional session. We cried together for these wives and families. No one left their seat for two and a half hours, and we unanimously adopted another resolution urging humane treatment for prisoners of war. But it was different in style and thrust, because former prisoners joined to plead for today's prisoners on a basis of decency and comradeship in the military tradition. We are being joined by former prisoners of the Japanese and I hope that we will soon be joined by German, Italian, and Japanese nationals who were prisoners of the Allies at another moment in time. Our appeal is for basic humanity and universal comradeship without regard to color, nationality, charge, or station in life. Let me read just a few excerpts from this resolution. “We, as former prisoners of war, knowing first hand the agonies of prisoners of war and their loved ones, realizing that individual servicemen have no authority in determining the military or diplomatic decisions of their national governments, and believing that humane treatment should be accorded every individual, regardless of his race, nationality, station in life, or charge against him, and shocked by the knowledge that the government of North Vietnam refuses to disclose to our government or to the next of kin information concerning the capture, condition, or location of prisoners, and appreciating the anxiety and loneliness of wives, parents, and children who are not informed concerning the locations and conditions of their missing servicemen, and having uncontroverted evidence that prisoners now in the custody of the North Vietnamese government, the Viet Cong and the Pathet Lao are being mistreated and their families subjected to unimaginable torment, in clear contradiction of the Geneva Convention and the fundamental rights of man. Now, therefore, in the interests of basic humanity and universal comradeship, we urgently urge that all civilized persons of all nations insist on the elemental judicial privilege of habeas corpus for themselves and for all others, and strongly advocate that all nations and government comply fully with the Geneva Convention pertaining to prisoners of war and earnestly implore every human being in every land to make their feelings known directly to the authorities of North Vietnam. Executed in open convention during the 25th National Reunion of the Americani Kriegsgefangener, former American Prisoners of War, at Cincinnati, Ohio, April 25, 1970.” Our resolution is framed only in our hearts. We want only to share its spirit. If you care to join us, if you want to help console these gallant ladies, if you care about our men in Communist confinement, please write to Hanoi, to the United Nations, to private persons or public officials in other lands, and to our own news media. International appeal for justice may end this horrendous travail. [Applause]

Iris Powers:
I'm really so overcome with emotion that it's difficult for me to say anything, but thank you so much for being here. [Applause].

Mulligan:
I'd say that there was a slightly larger crowd than last February 21st. [Applause]. It's very heartwarming to see so many of you here. Senator Dole was here on February 21st with many of the wives in the Washington area, and he promised then to fill the hall within 90 days. He has done this and more because we have created the interest and the concern and the active interest, I'm sure, of hundreds of thousands of people throughout this nation. It's very difficult to express in words our gratitude. It is very appropriate that this is being held on May Day. Not only that it is International Law Day, but May Day is also. It has another connotation. I'm sure most of you military men are very aware of what it means. It is an international call. Mayday. A call for help. A call of distress. People have estimated that normal lifetime for the world's great nations has been about 200 years. The pattern of these civilizations of nations runs something like this, from bondage to spiritual faith. From such faith to courage. From courage to liberty. From liberty to abundance. From abundance to selfishness. From selfishness to complacency. From complacency to apathy. From apathy to dependency. And from dependency back into bondage. This sequence may seem pessimistic. But there seems to be enough truth in the fact that nations do rise and fall, that prosperity seems to carry within it the seeds of selfishness, that we should ask ourselves: what of America? What can be done by us to turn the tide, is a question. But to see the problem is itself half the battle. We beg of you, hear our call. Mayday. Mayday. Do not turn your back on the hundreds of mothers who want their sons returned. Do not ignore the children who cry out for the love and guidance of their fathers, and the hundreds of wives who have grieved for years, some for husbands who will never return. Hear our call of distress, and the cry from within the walls of the prison camps. Mayday, mayday. Help, please help. Thank you.
[Applause]

Dole:
Thank you, Mrs. Mulligan. We've had a very active committee in the Congress, a bipartisan, non-ideological. One of the most effective members of that committee has been Congressman Bob Sikes, or General Sikes, from the Great State of Florida. Congressman Sykes at this time will present a resolution to two of our great volunteer POW wives, Candy Parish and Kathy Plowman. Would you all three come forward?
[Applause]

Congressman Robert Sikes:
Mr. Chairman, I know that you and this great and wonderful audience want to join me at this moment, and in a special show of appreciation to the moving spirit behind this great meeting tonight, and this great appeal, which has gone out over the land, the man who heads the Senate-House Committee on Appeal for International Justice, Senator Bob Dole. Will you join me? [Applause]. Wives, mothers, families of America’s missing servicemen, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, tonight it is my high privilege to present a resolution which has passed the Congress and which has been signed by the President. A resolution in which you will have much interest. And it is my privilege to present it to Mrs. Charles C. Parish of Alexandria and Mrs. James E. Plowman of Arlington. And I think you will want to hear it. Because this resolution, which speaks for the Congress and has the approval of the President, was passed in record time. It says this: “Whereas the safety, health and well-being of every individual American serviceman is of great value and importance to this nation, and whereas over 1500 American servicemen are imprisoned by Communist forces in Southeast Asia, and whereas these captors have failed to identify all of these prisoners of war or servicemen missing in action or provide information to their health and condition, and whereas these captors have denied these prisoners of war the right to regularly communicate by mail with their families, and whereas these captors have refused to permit the inspection of the facilities at which these prisoners of war are confined, and whereas these captors have refused to exchange or permit medical treatment of sick or wounded prisoners of war, and whereas the contended callous exploitation of these helpless men brings anguish and sadness not only to the families and friends of these prisoners of war, but to compassionate people everywhere, and whereas the first day of May each year is recognized as a day of dedication to law and justice. Now, therefore, let it be resolved that it is the sense of Congress, one that Friday, May 1, 1970 be commemorated as a day for an appeal for international justice for all the American prisoners of war and servicemen missing in action in Southeast Asia.”

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