Back in the 1980s, I thought of the Vietnam war as something that had happened long before I was born, so all those Rambo movies seemed a bit out of place. Obviously, only 10 years had passed since its conclusion, but I was born in 1970 and it was over before I was ever aware of it, so it was ancient history. I mean, what’s all this ridiculous stuff about Rambo going over to rescue P.O.W.’s still being held by the Vietnamese? Come on, any POWs would have to be really old by 1984!

When I worked at the Highground Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1989, I respected the people wearing the POW/MIA patches but I thought that it was pretty much a lost cause, considering any prisoner of war would have been captive for 20 years or more, and why would anyone go to the expense of guarding and feeding a prisoner that long?

Well, shows what I know. In nearby Korea, a man held in a North Korean prison has finally escaped and made his way back to South Korea. He has been in prison for 50 years, ever since he was captured at age 22.

My mind is boggling. I don’t think I’ll ever look at a black POW/MIA flag the same.